rear blade hub welds failed: welding question

[DavidVT]

Hello,
Sitting in my warm living room I look out at my snow covered kubota with only the top half a rear scraper blade mounted to it... This scraper blade has two axis. RB84 woods I believe is the name.

1)The axis that brings the blade closer to one tire or the other is one axis. That one is fine.
2)The axis that allows one side or the other to dig deeper into the ground. That is the broken axis. Basically a round tube parallel with the ground aligned with the direction of travel. There are two vertical plates welded to the tube that travel up to the scraper frame. The welds on the seam from the tube to the plates both failed.

I must have caught a chunk of ice which caused the welds to fail.
I was able to press the two parts back together and I believe I can probably stick weld enough of a repair to get through this current storm... BUT

MY QUESTION (pretty novice stick welder, mostly inside SS food plant TIG experience):

1) is it safe to DC weld while laying on frozen snow. (don't beat me up as I am trying to avoid the Darwin awards by asking the question) The welder is a Hobart stickmate 235/160 AC/DC powered off a 50AMP breaker in the house. I only planned to weld in the summer (ok that was a dumb plan) so the welder is wired with a long power cord setup and short welding cables.. That puts the welder out in the weather near the tractor if I do this... Yes, as I type this question I am starting to talk myself out of it... Open to constructive ideas... Sunday and storming so not many options available...

2) is it safe for the tractor systems to weld while the attachment is still connected to the GrandL3430? The 3 point hitch is acting like a nice vice and is holding the mess together while I do this homework on the web....

Thx

 

[DavidVT]

Obviously done by some..
YouTube - welding in the snow 12-26-08 lincolin wirefeed

 

[kenstrac]

Yes you can do it but take it off the tractor and avoid touching the electrode and ground or you will get a shock most welders run 75-105 OCV.

 

[DavidVT]

Thx for the feeback.

I called a local friend with years of farm experience.

He told me to go ahead but cover the welder with cardboard if it looks like it will get snow blown into it.

He also said to take no chances with the welding ground and keep it between the weld and the tractor.

The snow slowed down a bit. I ground down the area around the broken welds. I ground down an area on the upper blade frame for my ground clamp.

I wound the dial up to 120 amps and piled a ton of 6011 into the failed weld area. NOT PRETTY but I just plowed for quite awhile and it held! I won't quit my day job just yet.

 

[Matt_Jr]

Take any pics of the snow and welds? Don't feel bad about the welds. Pobably better than mine. As long as it holds, you did a good job in my opinion.. for home repairs that is. If I'm purchasing something I want the welds to look good. If I'm at home, as long as it holds.

 

[Dirtnut]

Any time you weld on your tractor or something attached to it you should disconnect the negative battery cable to prevent possible surges through the electrical system,especially if it has a computer.I have welded in wet condtions with an AC unit & got some tingeling sensations from it.I try to stand on a rubber/plastic floor mat when possible.

 

[DavidVT]

Thanks for the inputs...

It works for now!
My first YouTube posting..
YouTube - fun with Kubota

 

[Earl Ohl]

Any time you weld on your tractor or something attached to it you should disconnect the negative battery cable to prevent possible surges through the electrical system,especially if it has a computer.I have welded in wet condtions with an AC unit & got some tingeling sensations from it.I try to stand on a rubber/plastic floor mat when possible.

I know I'm kinda late to the party here, but I agree with Dirtnut. I got a good heavy rubber mat from TSC a couple years ago & it works well for this purpose. It's also good for when working on something where you're standing in one place for a long time.

 

[DavidVT]

Just bringing two threads on this same RB84 together:

Above welds held but now a new crack for me to deal with:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/164397-rb84-woods-3pt-blade-more.html