Had a front wheel that wouldn't stay tight and had lost some lug nuts when I noticed so I took it apart and looked at it. Cast iron lip is broken off a lot on the two holes in the picture and broken off a little on another hole. My mechanic says I can't keep working on it like that. That I can crack the whole thing open. So my question here is, can I get a piece of metal the same thickness and weld it in with nickel rod? Or 7018? Or stainless? What about brazing? I'm a good stick welder but don't know anything about brazing and torches and stuff. Thanks!
Take the hub apart and replace it you don't need a wheel falling off and killing somebody. Was probably caused by loose bolts to start with.
That's a good logical answer but not the one I was looking for ha ha. Besides stuff being real expensive where I live, availability in the whole country is a huge problem that makes prices a moot point. Can't wait three months for a piece to come from the states at an ex$$$pen$Ive price. I don't doubt it was caused by loose bolts but it's difficult to stay on top of everything. By the time I noticed the damage was probably done. Anyone with experience welding "special" metal that can tell me if I can patch those thing up with nickel rod or something else? I welded a cast stabilizer foot on my case that broke in half, it's been holding for a couple months now. Thanks!
I wouldn't trust it especially on roads at speed or doing loader work if you were only wheeling around your property and never used the front t end I might roll the dice but to go to a paying job no way if that let's go on a slope it could dump the whole machine
Do you have the old piece? You should be able to weld it back in with proper as in very expensive cast iron rods, preheating before, not welding too much at once and peening the weld as you go. I would would weld it back together with the hub bolted on and the broken piece clamped to the hub so it stays flat.
Look here. There are some machines in Mexico too, which is a bit closer to you. https://www.machinerytrader.com/lis...etail&Manufacturer=DEERE&Condition=DISMANTLED
FWIW ! If I used the correct part number. It is available on ebay. It says $20.00 shipping to Cost Rica . Delivery by mid October. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1648649142...id=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&shqty=1&isGTR=1#shId
If it is cast iron, (I don't know if it is) it'll be dirty. Dirty cast is tough to weld, new metal doesn't want to bond. I've had some luck with AC TIG welding it, or TIG brazing it. If I were to try I'd begin with only the AC arc. Play it around to clean, if a puddle forms cleanly, add a bit of filler. Some recommend stainless filler, I can't remember what is best, but 312 sticks in my mind. You'll only get a small surface at first, then keep working until you coat the entire broken surface. Lots of Stainless wire brush between tries. If building up, use stainless to "butter" the cast, then use ER70S6 to build. If joining two broken pieces, grind away enough cast to butter both surfaces, then fill a V shaped joint with open root. I don't have a lot of confidence it'll hold. Even if it does, it'll be so distorted, you'll need machining to true it up. Another thought is bronze, either aluminum bronze, or silicone bronze.
I think his cover is ok. Just needs a backing plate.
Could one be made if memory serves me its a pretty simple part
It isn't the planetary carrier that's broken. There is a plate behind the carrier, I'll presume it's the inner machined face with holes to carry the 3? planetary gears. It'll have some means to attach to the stub axle from steering knuckle. These axles turn backward, it's the planetary gears that make it turn forward. It has holes exact size, ribbed studs press into. The outer only has loose fit holes the studs pass through. It has been a while for me, memory is a bit foggy, but there is a whole lot of machining in this piece.
I thought perhaps the holes in the carrier took a beating also. FWIW which isn't much.
Thanks! I really appreciate it, good looking out. But it's the piece behind it. Which may be connected to the front axle in some capacity I've never disassembled it before. Kinda know what to do cuz one time a trunion bearing broke and my whole front axle fell out, but all I did was put it back in with a new bearing.
RC, I don't have the old piece but was just planning on finding a piece of metal thick enough at the machine shop around the corner and grinding it into shape. I really like your idea of bolting it to the outer hub cover to keep things straight(er) as it's welded. The importance of preheating was made glaringly important to me the other day when I welded a cast stabilizer foot that had broken in half. That repair has been holding and was good practice for this occasion. I bought up all the nickel rods for that repair hopefully they'll have gotten more in.
Wil Willie, thanks for the advice. I work with stick welders and nickel rods for cast, or 7018 when they run out. Stick is the only process I know or have access to. But I do it a lot. I realllly want an oxy torch and to start learning about brazing etc. I could almost be convinced to go buy one for this repair but probably a bit silly to learn how to use the thing on something so important. Probably just figure out how to make the stick welder work and keep it moving.
If you have a "machine shop around the corner", one idea might be to remove the part that is broken and find a piece of metal a little thicker that the broken flange. Weld it on with access from both sides and leave it a bit above the finished surface on both sides then have machine shop dress it of to the proper thickness.
UPDATE: upon cleaning and closer inspection it's clear that this had broken before for a previous owner. Their solution was to simply weld the bolts to what was left of the broken holes and keep working. I just did a more spectacular job of breaking off more bigger chunks. But it had been working for over four years and who knows how much longer. Talking with some of the old school operators around here that is the customary repair for this, to just weld the screw heads to the backing plate and keep partying. But I'm worried that enough metal is cracked off now that the next time could start getting into the inner workings of the hub. So I'll probably try to patch it up somehow so it has more metal to grab onto.
I very well may do that, thanks.
Send it to me, I'll try. I don't think you will succeed with stick. Cast (if it is cast iron) is full of voids & crap. If it has been exposed to oil all bets are off. to weld it you have to "cook" the contaminants out. This means something hot without adding filler at first. In the old days, before I owned a TIG welder, I did it with oxy/acetylene torch. TIG uses shielding gas, so the hydrocarbons that contaminate cast iron don't burn.
I've run a lot of nickle 99 and nomacast rod on equipment and industrial repairs, preheat it important and so is post cooling.
If you do repair it perhaps making a shrink fit steel band around it would add more strength. Maybe/maybe not !
Sooo, the dudes at the machine shop sold me a nice piece of metal for about $5. I used this as the excuse to buy that oxy acetylene I've been wanting for several years now. Found a cheap one on Facebook. Had to learn how to use it for a week or so. Made a patch with the nice piece of metal...
Then I had to glue the patch in. Was worried about filling 5/8" thick with a stick welder, that much heat could cause it to warp like a potato chip. Did a combination of a little welding and more brazing. Beveled it a little on the back side and a lot on the front side. Bolted the whole thing to the outer housing and heated it up in the kitchen oven for a while. Put a bead of 1/8" nickel around the backside with a stick welder just to hold everything in place. Unbolted the hub from the outer housing and threw it back in the oven for a bit while I got the torch and workbench ready. Then I filled the big bevel on the front side with bronze. That was difficult, the cutting torch I was using didn't want to heat up the 5/8" metal very effectively and the bronze wasn't flowing optimally. But I muddled through it and hopefully it's more stuck than not. Took it to my machinist buddy and he machined the front surface so everything would meet up nicely. Tomorrow I put it all back together! Thanks again everyone for all the advice, I've fixed major, major problems (like this one) with advice from all the helpful people on this forum.
Good work on a patch You going to order a hub for the shelf in case it let's go
Spare one? https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.v...o-eje-delantero-retroexcavador-john-deere-_JM
Looks good. Though why didn't you weld the other end where it's missing a little piece?
Oh, just because I can tack weld the head of the lug screws to the backing plate and they'll stay put just fine there. I figured that's strong enough the way it is rather than hacking it all up just for fun.