What MIG wire for Hardfacing ?

   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #1  

TWD

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Sierra Nevada Mountains - CA
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More of an I want than an I need to do this :) at this point... but I'd like to get some wire for it.

I'd like to add hardfacing to my backhoe buckets as well as for my auger bits.
No crazy patterns or 50lbs of weld... more of edge repair and strengthen.

What MIG wire is everyone using for hardfacing to protect against rocks\abrasive when digging and drilling.

Not too worried about my FEL bucket as that's used 90% in clay, but the backhoe buckets come out when I need to get through rock, and the auger inevtibly grinds against rock too.
 
   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #2  
I've never done any but you could inquire at your local welding equipment supplier.
 
   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #3  
Is there such an animal? never seen any. I use Lincoln Electric SMAW hard facing rod and it ain't cheap either. 10 pounds is around 150 bucks at the LWS.
 
   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #4  
I stand corrected, there is (looked) but it ain't cheap. Lincoln has some. I may get a spool from my local Air Gas and give it a try. I'll have to save up the jack first, it's over a grand a spool. 75-25 shielding gas, reverse polarity and high wire speed.

For now, I'll use up my SMAW rod at over a hundred a box of 10 pounds.
 
   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #5  
There are gas and gasless options is hard facing wires. Both work well. I sold Stoody for a lot of years and it never disappoints but as stated above it's pricey. There are a lot of different alloy contents so price will also show how much alloy is in the mix. You are also limited to a couple passes only and if it's been done before it will help to know what was used so your not putting standard hard facing over manganese based. Good luck !
 
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   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #6  
More of an I want than an I need to do this :) at this point... but I'd like to get some wire for it.

I'd like to add hardfacing to my backhoe buckets as well as for my auger bits.
No crazy patterns or 50lbs of weld... more of edge repair and strengthen.

What MIG wire is everyone using for hardfacing to protect against rocks\abrasive when digging and drilling.

Not too worried about my FEL bucket as that's used 90% in clay, but the backhoe buckets come out when I need to get through rock, and the auger inevtibly grinds against rock too.
You really need to look at the websites of welding alloy suppliers to find out which alloy is correct for your particular situation. There are many choices unless your welder is a 120 volt machine. A few years ago I looked for hard facing wire for my 120 volt Lincoln welder and could only find one alloy. And only one maker. So I bought it, on sale for 14 bucks a pound, 10 pound minimum. It did the job, it happened to be the right kind of alloy for the stuff I had to build up. It was very liquid and hard to control. Only flat welding could be done. If I had a higher amperage machine I could have used a different alloy that would have worked as well and would have been easier to weld with.
Eric
 
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   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ? #9  
Since you arnt using this daily why not use say a 7018 stick and build up some "patterns". Those fancy patterns are used to trap material to keep the metal from wearing.
Good point. Many folks buy old crappy rods at garage sales etc. to build up and re-surface. Most mild steel rods are pretty soft for wear but better than nothing for sure. The nice thing about all of this is you don't need to be too neat on the weld beads.
 
   / What MIG wire for Hardfacing ?
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#10  
Thanks everyone! Based on some searching and the price it does seem like using normal wire + scrap steel will do what I need.
The replacement cost for some of my buckets don't even exceed $400 😁 I can't see paying $300+ for a 33lb spool.

I may end up just grabbing some hard facing rod to use on my stig\tig machine for the auger that's the only thing i'll likely ever NEED to do it for.
 
 
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