Oil & Fuel Crack or bad weld in oil tank

[ponytug]

Dear Carl,

I hope you aren't planning on sinking the PT, so that you have reduced the problem to one your cousin-in-law is familiar with.

I think the issue is whether you can get the crack clean enough to get a good weld. Really cleaning the crack might involve solvents that you might not want in your hydraulic oil.

Personally, I think given the amount of oil in the tank, I doubt it, but I'm a complete novice when it comes to welding.

It never hurts to ask around. You might try local heavy equipment operators. My welding guy here does heavy excavation full time, but since he repairs his own catepillars, he knows how to weld really heavy steel, and iron.

All the best,

Peter

Frankly, I am seriously considering doing it myself. My cousin in law is a licenesed underwater welder among many things. I think I am going to have him come down and knock it out.

Because it is oil, and is above the level of the oil, everyone has said I do not and should not drain the tank.

I am going to hit it with a grinder this week so see if I can figure out how extensive the cracking really is.

 

[toy]

Frankly, I am seriously considering doing it myself. My cousin in law is a licenesed underwater welder among many things. I think I am going to have him come down and knock it out.

Because it is oil, and is above the level of the oil, everyone has said I do not and should not drain the tank.

I am going to hit it with a grinder this week so see if I can figure out how extensive the cracking really is.

I'd say that if your cousin inlaw is a certified underwater welder that his welds can pass xray tests then I'd say your in business, he'll know exactly how to go about fixing it we hope. Good luck let us know how it turns out.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Well, best laid plans. My cousin in law is also some head mechanical honcho with a yacht company (they do 150 to 450' super yachts). He flies all over the world, and is currently somewhere other than Seattle..

Grumble..

 

[KentT]

Well, best laid plans. My cousin in law is also some head mechanical honcho with a yacht company (they do 150 to 450' super yachts). He flies all over the world, and is currently somewhere other than Seattle..

Grumble..

Well, since it doesn't appear structural, and is only leaking a little bit, just keep using it until you can connect with him. Just check the oil level with each use.

I've put many reliable miles on cars that "burned a little oil" -- it just became a matter of routine to make sure that you kept the oil level up where it should be...

 

[woodlandfarms]

I am going to grind a bit on the machine this evening to see if there is any sort of crack on the top. If there is then structure will be an issue, if not, it is just a crappy weld and I will JB Weld it or something similar until I can get family to fix it.

As for leaking, this tractor is like a sieve. Actually kind of frustrating. I think I am going to wait until winter and spend time hunting for all of them.

 

[SpringHollow]

Hi Carl,

I was thinking I would track down all my small leaks this winter too. My brother sent a message about a tractor that got cooked because the starter overheated starting a small fire - another reason for calling them a starter? This became a big fire when all the grease and fluid leaks caught on fire. Major tractor with something like $100,000 loss. A pressure washer might be moved higher on the list of needed items. But will have to be careful not to get water where I do not want it. Maybe soaking with a cleaner first (something like Simply Green?) followed by a good rinse would work.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

Gallon jugs of Simple Green concentrate are about 10 bucks and last a couple years for me. I mix it 50-50 with water in a spray bottle for my 50 hour engine cleanings. Spray everything down, wait a few minutes. Wash it off with a low pressure garden hose. When everything is clean and shiney, I then do my filter changes.

 

[woodlandfarms]

When I do my 8 hour, if I have not done it previously, I use the air hose and spray all the oil and stuff out the drain hole. Its like a lake. I am so polluting my land.. Yeah, I worry about fires and would not let the tractor get to that point. But I swear I drove around for at least 10 minutes with diesel shooting all over my engine (yes, it does clean well).

Carl

 

[AlanB]

If I can add in here, (not a PT guy, but do weld a bit)

BEFORE you start grinding, see if you can clean it up a bit. Looks pretty clean, a rag, little solvent of your choice, some elbow grease and get it cleaned back.

A little paint stripper to see where the end of the crack lies. Once you start grinding, it adds to the difficulty of finding the end of the crack.

I am assuming this is an oil tank as in motor oil?

If it were mine, I would strip back, find the end, reference it, then grind clean. I would then Mig it up assuming it is above the oil level. Do a couple cap passes, cooling with rags, fire extinguisher handy.

I would not drain, nor particularly worry about it catching fire, other then the normal concerns of working on equipment.

As long as the oil is below the level of that crack, your cap passes should not be negatively affected.

Good luck. Hope you get it going.

 

[Marks481]

I would drain it, make up a catch inside, drill the ends of the crack, grind out/bevel the edges of the crack, and then TIG weld it.

But that is just because I do not have a MIG welder... yet.

Seriously, $200-300 is way over the top. We are talking about 20 minutes to dress up the metal, 5 minutes of welding. Generally you should be able to find a welder for about $50 an hour.