Hi all, Firstly thanks for all the great advice I've been given by everyone on here! One of the stabilizer pads on my 580k has cracked nearly all the way through. I was thinking of grinding out the crack and re welding, but they look cast? I'm a musician by trade, not a welder. I've only got a dodgy old stick welder and an ESAB smashweld 180 MIG. (I've also got an ESAB tig, but it doesn't seem to work) I'm wondering if I should either hunt around for a replacement pad or two? Pay a professional to weld it properly or give it a go? I use the machine only on my property for general farm stuff and maintaining several kilometres of driveway, so it will never end up on a road or worksite. Thanks in advance!
If you do get this welded I would suggest a couple changes so this doesn't happen again. Cut out the center rib so you can get at the crack, then weld in a new one that goes all the way across. Stopping in the middle creates an unnecessary stress point. With the top and bottom plates there are major changes in height/width which also creates stress points. (circled areas) These should either be a constant size all the way across or blend the area so there isn't an abrupt change. It looks like the cracking may be due to resting the machine on the outside of the pad, in which case you might consider making the top and bottom plates taller to handle the load. ISZ
Thanks for that! I've been thinking I might take it to a professional. I've got to straighten the plate out as well. I've always thought it was an odd design with the step on the edges and the centre bar only going halfway across. It looks like someone has previously welded bits of it, so maybe it's been modified?
if you weld it yourself go with stick and 7018 welding rod. get a nice camp fire going and put the plate after you grind out the cracks and cook that plate almost red, this will get rid of all the oil on the plate and preheat the plate to avoid cracking, then pull it out and wire brush where you have to weld, weld it up and then bury in sand overnight and allow it to cool very slowly and you should be good to go..
Much of the 580K components are Ductile Iron. Many have cast into them the words Ductile, Do Not Weld. My friend used a welder similar to yours to fix a dipper on an 880 Case excavator. It holds a few years, then cracks beside the weld. It isn't that the weld, or fusion fail. the iron near the weld is under stress. If I were trying it, I'd try to finish the break, or cut with torch. V it out from both sides so you have good, full penetration from both sides. Pre heat in a gas grill, or oven as high as the oven goes, up to 500 degrees. Use 7018, and keep it hot between passes. Peening with a needle scaler between passes would normalize some of the stress that will build up. Use as many passes as needed to fill. Wire brush with a grinder between passes. Still hot, put it back in the oven at 500. Turn down 50 degrees at a time at half hour intervals. This is a big job. It may fail anyway. I have to think used ones are available. Willie
Another option would be to cut a steel plate that would cover the whole underside of the pad and bolt it to the existing holes. They also have rubber pads that bolt into those holes for use on streets or concrete areas. Might spread the force out some with them installed.
Thanks for all the advice. I've had a chat with my local welder and he has done these sorts of jobs a lot, so I'll take it to him and save my self the headache of it possibly failing after spending lots of time on it. I'll post pics once it's done.
The only thing I don't like about your advice is carbon. The problem I see with this product is too much carbon. You want it clean. Adding more carbon is NOT a good thing! Willie
If it's cast it won't cut with a torch. Taking it to someone with experience is a good idea. If it is cast, another option is to make a new beefier pad out of mild steel.
I like that one, just after calling a salvage yard about a used one.
Agreed, but its a non critical part, even if it cracks all the way it wouldnt be a catastrophic failure...but putting it in the kitchen oven might make for some domestic issues in the home..LOL...unless he has an extra oven in the shop....
Women must be trained. Seriously, old ovens are a dime a dozen. I don't even know if these things are cast. Lots of parts on these tractors are ductile. I'm no metallurgist, but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night, therefore, I must be pretty smart. Every other cast looking part on the machine is labeled; DUCTILE DO NOT WELD. This does not, but as you say
We're expecting temps of about 45degrees C over the next few days here, so I could have just left them in the sun to melt back together. I dropped them off with my local welder this arvo, he reckons they'll be done in a day or two. He said regardless of what sort of metal it is, he's going to heat it and weld some reinforcements on aswell as fixing the cracks. I'll post pics.