Don't do crack!!

[MaineTWLSB]

Hi everyone
I have a bit of a problem here. The "cross-bar" (not sure what you call it) on my loader has cracked along its seam. Fellow TBN'r GaryE and I tried welding it shut, drilled a hole to stop the crack and grooved the seam. But this weekend while digging rocks out of next years garden it pulled apart again, followed the seam again and went past the hole (plug you might call it)[pic 4]. Originally it had "y'd" when it got to the weld that holds the bracket for the hydraulics and has done the same again [pic 3].

I do admit to beating on this machine some (have more rocks than dirt here) but I was very conscious of not using the "ends" of the bucket (to keep it from twisting) to dig the rocks out of the garden. Gary's thinking (and I think I agree) is that one side or the other is not lifting/working correctly causing the arms to twist and in turn "pop" that seam.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen/dealt with this problem before? Any thoughts on repairs/fixes/etc are appreciated. Pic #5 is the soon to be garden with about 2/3 of the rocks that were pulled from it. (and this is one of the "less" rocky areas!)

Thanks all.

John

 

[Egon]

I am just making a guess but would think that maybe the original material used had a faulty seam in the pipe.

You may be looking at grinding out the whole seam and welding it again. It might not hurt to weld a few straps over the seam weld?

 

[wushaw]

It looks like you ground it flat therefore leaving very little weld left.

I am no certified welder or anything but this is what I would do;

Groove it out again and fill the groove then lay a bead on both sides. This should add significant strength to the area.

 

[kennyd]

WOW, never seen that before! That piece is called the "torque tube"...Have you thought of contacting your dealer on this? looks like maybe a factory defect? But now that you have attempted a repair yourself they may be unwilling to help.

 

[Danno1]

.

From what I understand, when you get a crack, you need a patch (and drill holes at the end of the crack).

Cut a 120 degree section out of a piece of steel pipe of appropriate length and diameter. Weld this over the crack.

Ya I know, easier on flat sections, but............

.

 

[Ryan03]

I personaly would drill the ends of the crack again, and take a whiz wheel and cut through the entire crack, so that you have a 1/16 or so gap in the crack, and mig weld it up. The 1/16 gap should let your weld lay down pretty flat, so minimal grinding would be required. I then would take a couple say 6in x6in peices of 1/4 plate, , drill several 3/8 holes in the plates, then center them over the crack, welding one end to the tube at first, then warm the plate to just beyond cherry red with a rosebud tip on an oxy/acetelyn torch, and begin tapping them down with a hammer an inch or so at a time while still hot, then tack welding every inch or so to keep the plate tight against the tube, and continue forming in this manner until plate is completly molded to the shape of the tube. I would use several narrow plates rather than one big plate the entire length of the crack, as a big plate would be realy tough to work. Once all the plates are formed and tacked on, {how ever many you end up needing} simply weld solid passes around them and solid passes welding the plates together. Now for those 3/8 holes you drilled in the fishplates earlier, the loader tube should be exposed at the bottom of the 3/8 holes, in these holes, weld the loader tube to the fishplates, filling the entire hole with weld. It is up to you to decide the best spots for these plug weld holes, based on your crack and accessability.

 

[john_bud]

Follow Ryan03's advice. That sounds pretty good. You could also just cut the tube off and weld on a new one. That's probably what I would do, Fresh start with good metal.

Or find a tube that would slide inside tight after slitting as Ryan stated. Then weld it deep and weld the outside ends of the tube to the frame. Maybe drill some holes on the other side of the original tube and plug weld.

THEN, I would double check the torque on ALL the loader related bolts. You either have a defective tube material or a loose bolt allowing motion and stress build up.

jb

 

[MaineTWLSB]

THEN, I would double check the torque on ALL the loader related bolts. You either have a defective tube material or a loose bolt allowing motion and stress build up.

jb

That is the biggest question is "why?" is this happening. I just started a welding course two weeks ago and the instructor is very, very good, so I'll ask him too. Will also pass on everyone's advice here. John-bud I kind of like your "start from scratch" idea but all that welding is beyond me right now.

Thank you all for the ideas.

John

 

[Cyclone Jake]

I'll echo what others have said in that I believe that welding on an overlay of a larger tube would probably stop this from happening in the future. At least that's what the welders would do where I work. I think that if you keep grinding it out and rewelding it you could develop more problems down the road as to its strength.

 

[john_bud]

John,

When I took a welding class, the instructor was real eager to have home projects brought to class. More "real" than gluing angle iron or flat stock. Can you take the loader off, bucket off and load it on a trailer or back of a truck?

With a sawzall, you can "un-weld" the old tube in about 10 minutes and then grind the old welds off in 10 min and weld on the new tube in 10 minutes more. Prep time is the biggest part of that and flipping the frame over. I do that with a engine hoist, but two adults will have no problems. It's probably only 2-3 sticks of 7018 per side and you can flip it around so it's always in the down position. Mig welding it would be even easier.