Good Evening Folks,
I have a situation that I am looking for a recommendation to resolve.
I was cutting my pasture a while back, and I hit something that did a number on my brush hog. I have some gouges in the underside of the deck, blade bolts are stripped, blade pan bolt holes are worn, and it appears that the surface on which the gear box is mounted is somewhat bent. In my elemantary troubleshooting, it seems to me that the clutch bolts were too tight and when I hit that... elephant, or whatever it was, rather than the clutch slipping, all of that torque went into damaging parts. I can see that the gear box twisted horizontally some, but it also appers that it has twisted, to some degree, vertically. So, rather than the gear box sitting 90 degrees to the top of the deck, it's sitting at 87 degrees or something like that (depending on which side you're measuring ;-) ). It's not enough that it stands out, but if you're looking for things that aren't right, like I was, you can see it.
So the question is, knowing that if the gearbox is sitting cattywampas, that means I am at a much greater chance of having continued deck strikes with the blades, how would you go about re-leveling that area where the gearbox mounts? I thought about the ole stud-welder and slide hammer, but this isn't exactly your standard sheet metal here. It is considerably thicker. I have considered leaving the "dent" in place, and just layering in some 7018. Then grind that back to level before reinstalling the gear box. I'm still pretty new to working on this kind of equipment, so I am deferring to the experts here.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
I have a situation that I am looking for a recommendation to resolve.
I was cutting my pasture a while back, and I hit something that did a number on my brush hog. I have some gouges in the underside of the deck, blade bolts are stripped, blade pan bolt holes are worn, and it appears that the surface on which the gear box is mounted is somewhat bent. In my elemantary troubleshooting, it seems to me that the clutch bolts were too tight and when I hit that... elephant, or whatever it was, rather than the clutch slipping, all of that torque went into damaging parts. I can see that the gear box twisted horizontally some, but it also appers that it has twisted, to some degree, vertically. So, rather than the gear box sitting 90 degrees to the top of the deck, it's sitting at 87 degrees or something like that (depending on which side you're measuring ;-) ). It's not enough that it stands out, but if you're looking for things that aren't right, like I was, you can see it.
So the question is, knowing that if the gearbox is sitting cattywampas, that means I am at a much greater chance of having continued deck strikes with the blades, how would you go about re-leveling that area where the gearbox mounts? I thought about the ole stud-welder and slide hammer, but this isn't exactly your standard sheet metal here. It is considerably thicker. I have considered leaving the "dent" in place, and just layering in some 7018. Then grind that back to level before reinstalling the gear box. I'm still pretty new to working on this kind of equipment, so I am deferring to the experts here.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
