Can anyone recommend a welding rod to use for hard facing a bucket? Probably not necessary but Ive got some time to kill and Id like to increase the wear resistance.
how about a picture of what you're trying to accomplish on your bucket? or is this a brand new bucket? Most backhoes on here have their buckets rust out, or get pulled apart on stumps long before they wear out.
Go to your local welding store and tell them you want hard facing rod. Not cheap.
There are choices. True hardfacing is a one layer product you might use on a new bucket. Manganese/steel, usually including other alloys is a product you might use to build up a point of wear. You can use it on side cutters of a digging bucket or bottom of a loader bucket.
What exactly are you trying to do? If you need to build up a worn shank, you can start with something like a 7024 or 7028 rod, which is a low hydrogen high deposition rod. They weld like a very "wet" 7018, so they're only good in flat or horizontal welding. Once you get the profile built back up and shaped as needed, you can then run a hard facing rod over it. For a hard facing rod, you don't need to go too crazy. Indeed, it's probably overkill on a TLB anyway. I'd look at something like a 42405 Supercote, which is pretty cheap as far as hard facing rods go. Every manufacturer seems to have their own designations and proprietary blends for hard facing, so if you can't find Supercote (which is available on Amazon, btw), you can find something comparable at your local welding supply store. Basically, you're looking for a "cheap" hard facing rod with good abrasion resistance and okay impact resistance. Keep things clean between passes. You can get away with a lot when you're just sticking things together with 6011 or 6010 rod. When you're trying to build up and hard face a part, proper surface prep, good technique, and heat control become much more important. Also note that hard facing rod runs differently than structural rods. You need to use a longer arc and (unless the hard facing rod is marketed as crack-free), you'll likely notice a fine cross-hatching of cracks in the surface. That's normal and, in fact, desirable. On large weldments with a lot of heat, we would actually mist with water after depositing to encourage those small check cracks. They relieve internal stress without affecting the integrity of the coating.
There are several different hardfacing rods. Most are limited to a maximum of 2 layers but buckets generally only get 1 layer. The other factor is how much do you want to spend? Something like Stoody 31 is a good general purpose hardfacing rod. UTP 711B is a less expensive general purpose rod. It probably won't last as long but is less expensive to buy. You can get other rods that have better abrasion resistance or better impact resistance. If you need to build up shanks you can get build up rod. It is a medium hardness rod that can be used for multiple layers if required. The big advantage to using it is that it doesn't mushroom like standard welding rods do.
I've had good luck with Stoody 31 in Stick and MIG. I prefer to weld on blocks of AR plate with 7018 or just MIG it if it's clean enough. Cheaper and faster than traditional hard surfacing.
You can get Abradisc's. Abradisc.qxd (vecowelding.com)
7018, with a DC welder. That's my opinion.
7018 for hardfacing isn't worth the effort. Something like UTP 711B isn't too expensive.
Another vote for Stoody 31 I’ve also had very good performance from Lincoln Wearshield ABR
Build up with 7018 and cap with hard facing rod chances are a cheap hard face rod will probably do the job unless your in real rock Been doing this style of pattern my whole life that buckets 20 years old and has well over 8000 hours on it