I am looking to weld on a thumb on a case 580c non extendahoe. The stick looks to me like regular steel and not cast iron. It has rolled edges and welded seams and is hollow inside.i was thinking it was fine to weld on but after searching the net I am not sure now. is it ok to weld on or not?
yes, but you still want to weld it right, even if it's not a 24/7 production machine. Better to put the thumb on a pad the width of the thumb and only weld the edges. At the very least, do not weld across the stick.
That is welded steel plate. It may be high carbon steel. If you can't learn what the steel specs are, play it safe. Clean everything down to bare steel & preheat to about 400 degrees F. Weld only lengthwise of the stick. I'd choose Dual shield wire feed with shielding gas, or 7018 stick. Yes your 7018 needs to be new, or baked.
Thanks
Post photos. Thinking of doing the same to my 580C. Also, if it helps, I'll seen welded repairs on the stick of a 580C. Looked like arc welding and looked to be holding well.
Nice, check out the titan thumb from pallet forks.com. I’m not their spokesperson or anything but you can’t beat the price. 36” thumb with 5/8 plate around 250 shipped
I like that titan design. The manual thumb is the same as the hyd, meaning I can get the manual thumb and add the hyd later if I want it. Still looking for the best way to tap into the hyd system to drive it. Adding plumbing on to the hoe would be helpful for other tasks....