Hey guys, im working on re-flooring a 48" Geith bucket at one of my jobs. The floor im installing is 5/8" thick hardox 450. Normally on these types of projects i will run 1/16" Dual Shield wire but a wire feeder is not available at this time. So i will be stick welding! There is a serious amount of welding here so im thinking of running 7018 for my roots and 7024 to cap. All welds are in position and are fillets. I have never run 7024 on abraision resistant plate. Anyone have any experience with this? Is 7018 necessary for a root or can i get away with 7024 all the way? I am limited to 3/16" rods by the way. Hope to have some pictures up in the near future
My favorite welding rod. However for what you are doing I would use 7028. 7024 is OK for us to use on structural steel that is grade 44W or less. So we can not use it on 50W or HSS sections since HSS is 50W. 7024 will not be as strong as your base material. It will be weaker. 7028 is a "7018 jet rod" so to speak. It is the same strength as 7018, just not all position. It welds as good as 7024, just not as smooth. Now with that said I have done buckets in your method. 7018 root and then use 7024 to fill. This was 20 years ago, outfit I was working for had no wire feed and I was repairing/rebuilding buckets and wanted some speed to get things done. Never had a bucket come back due to falling apart. They all seemed to dig as required with minimal maintenance. Cheers Lowbed Driver
and particular reason your rooting with 7018? If your running open roots just run them in with 6010 and back gouge and weld up the other side.
Lowbed Driver, good call on the 7028. You are absolutely correct and it would be wise to stick with a low hydrogen rod for this type of material. Dualie, i've never really run 6010 for my bucket work. Its always been 7018 for the quick stuff and Lincoln Ultracore on everything else.
if you can get a reliable open root weld with 7018 more power to you
I will be looking for 7028 after having the gut wrenching "crack" as thick hard stuff cooled. Never had trouble with lots of preheat and 7018.
If you can find it 7016 is preferable for open root welds using lo-hy. You can lay A LOT of metal down if you have good conditions and a big V-bevel. 5/32 jetrod runs hot and fast and FILLS. But its only avalible in 50Lb cans