Fixing Cracks in a Backhoe - Big ! with pics

thingy · Feb 10, 2007

Yeah,its been cold,,up around where you live espeicially,,,course,you guys ought to be more used to dealing with it,,,its been in the teens here in southern w.va. every night for over a week and we got about 5-6 inches of snow on the ground,,I know,no big deal right?,,,up in new york in places they say there is 8-9 foot on the ground,,can't imagine that,,how do they go anywheres? roofs gotta be ready to cave in,,,,if it warms up quick and they get some rain,they are in trouble I bet.
Those welds will probably be just fine,,thats what you get at a machine shop I'd say,,not saying a person working at a machine shop can't weld,,just saying they are machinest first,welders second,or maybe third,,thingy

john_bud · Feb 10, 2007

I really think that the distributors of fuel were skimping on the additive. Maybe the usual additives have too much sulfer? Maybe they were counting on the mild winter continueing? All I do know is that an epidemic of gelled fuel hit and it was at temperatures that we normally expect and don't normally have issue with. I've run my truck at -30 and -35f without issue and with the same 1/2 strength dose of powerservice (insurance dose I call it). Well that was worthless! Some have said that the new USLD has a need for greater dosing to get the same cold weather performance. Others that USL kerosene is in short supply. All I know is it cost me a bundle and I don't like it.

(Yeah I know --- waaw, waaw, waaw! )

JimR · Feb 10, 2007

My oil man has told me that the government is making the oil producers clean the deisel fuel and heating oil to be more pure. He said that heating oil was filtered at 500 microns. The government is going to require 5 icron filtering now. He wasn't sure about the deisel. I wonder if this has anything to do with the lousy deisel? Maybe there was just a major screwup in shipments. It could be that they sent north a shipment that should have stayed down south. I know I ran 10 gallons of heating oil in my tractor last winter. That was a big mistake. It was about 15 degrees out and my tractor gelled right up. What a PITA when that happens.

john_bud · Feb 11, 2007

Did some more welding on the box of the backhoe today. The bottom of the box had some ugliness that needed a bit of beautification.

First ground out then welded back with a couple passes. Then did some more grinding to make it sort of flat and uniform. Then added a piece of iron across the top. You can't tell, but I did chamfer the edges of the repair piece. Tacked it in place, welded the corners then went inside to let it cool.

After lunch and watching some of the Daytona qualifying, went back out and welded the sides. Took a break for it to cool then welded around it again. Some of those pics didn't turn out as well, so they aren't included. Must have been pressing the button too hard or something as they were pretty blurry.

There is already a piece of angle that was scabbed in long ago by welders unknown. It's gonna stay there and I think this should be good to go.

jb

whodat90 · Feb 12, 2007

Can't really comment on the quality of their welds, but I do want to point out that stick welding is not the end-all be-all process for structural welding. If they used a mig in spray transfer mode, it's quite possible that they put more heat and filler in the weld than if they used stick. Spray transfer mig is high-amperage and high-current. Just as there are different versions of stick welding, there are different versions of mig welding and mig is not inherently less strong or has less penetration than stick.

thingy · Feb 12, 2007

Thats true about spray mode,,[but I bet ya they used short circuiting mode],thingy

3RRL · Feb 12, 2007

John,
Personally I think your welds are looking better and better. You must be getting pretty comfortable with that MIG set up by now ... it shows. Pretty soon you'll be able to show thingy how to do it.

Just pulling your leg Richard, I know you're still the greatest.

john_bud · Feb 12, 2007

Rob,

Biggest thing is new metal vs old nasty oily rusty flux filled metal. It's very rewarding to see that the welds aren't flaming after you run a bead!

(seriously)

jb

thingy · Feb 12, 2007

Naw,anymores I'm in the coaching mode,,eyes about gone,,used to make that puddle do about anything I wanted,,now,,just lucky to catch the edges,,,,welded alot of pipeline with about a shade 8 lens,[before autodarkening lenses],,worst thing I ever done was when I started,,welders helper on non descrept jobs,,,use what ever you got,,no safety,,,burned my eyes shut several times,don't let this scare you,,,just,take care,,if after welding your eyes feel a little sandy,,maybe figure it out,,outside you can get by with lighter shade,,inside,,darker,,always use safety type glasses when grinding or brushing,,I've went to hospital three times to get metal taken out of my eyes,,they say every time you get your eyes burnt,,that there is a layer of scar tissue,,,kinda like a catoract,except,don't think you can take it off like one,,just take care of your eyes,you know if your burning them,even slightly,,,thingy