Need advice welding my skid steer

[acesneights1]

I am a little rusty using a stick welder and I wasn't that good at it when I used to but what rod and what setting should I be using to weld the arm back together on my skid steer. I started doing it with 3/32 7018 but I have to use alot of heat and have burned though in a few spots. it's a tough spot to weld. Plating over it will possibly interfere with where it fits in. I snapped a pic of the settings on my welder. it's a Lincoln Ranger 8.
Thanks.

[Boostinjdm]

Good thing you took that pic. Change your setting to DC+.

[acesneights1]

Is that what I'm doing wrong ? I know I used to be able to weld a little better than this has turned out so far. Thanks. I forget, is DC- for overhead welding ??

[Boostinjdm]

Also, you can grind your weld down flat, then cut a hole in a piece of plate to fit around that bushing, use 3/16" to 1/4", and then run one pass around the perimeter of the reinforcing plate and one pass around the bushing. As long as the over all width of the arm is less than the width of that bushing you should be ok. Hope I explained that ok. I fixed a lot of bobcat arms at work.

[Boostinjdm]

7018 is always dcep. the only thing I can think of to run dcen (with stick anyways) is 6013 on thin material.

[acesneights1]

dcep= dc+ ?
dcen=dc-?
Yes I understand what you mean I wa thinking about trying to do that . The only place I have a clearance issue is the bottom. I can't plate that so best thing then is to grind down flat what i did and then plate the outsides around the bushing.
Got it.
Thanks.
Is 3/32 the rod to be using ? The only thing I kinda know is the 70 or 60 part is the tensile stength right ? And the 13 or 18 is the flux. Just want to make sure I'm using the right rod.
Thanks.

[Boostinjdm]

7018 is the right rod. Plating the sides is pretty much a must, the top and bottom aren't always nessesary(sp?) , but do help. Sounds like you understood everything else I said. Good luck.

Make sure you run that rod uphill.

[acesneights1]

Thanks. Got it.

[geezer]

125 would be my going in setting for 1/8th, especially on .250 material. If my material was thinner, I would not hesitate to use 3/32, but at a lower initial setting. Just my approach.

Works on my Ranger 8. Then I use remote control to adjust heat if needed.

7018: 1 stands for all position. Last number coating.

We weld overhead routinely with 7018 and 6010 DCEP (reverse polarity).

[acesneights1]

OK so DC+ is reverse Polarity. I am new to this welder. I learned on an old Lincoln Torpedo and it didn't have that option.

[acesneights1]

What does the other adjustemnt do ? I kinda figured it was like a fine adj.

[geezer]

You set the initial setting with the large toggle switch. 75, 90, 125 etc.,

Then use the round dail to adjust the current from minimum to max. EG, If you set the toggle switch at 125 and turn the round dial all the way clockwise, in theory you are at 125AMPs. If you turn the dial counterclockwise you are reducing the current.

I think there is an operators manual on the Lincoln www site you can download. That would help you allot. If not there, try google and one will probably pop up.

[DSW]

Thanks for the pict of the machine settings that helps alot in attempting to determine issues.

7018 likes clean steel and doesn't like a lot of rust, grease, paint etc. so be sure and clean all of that up real good. From the looks you didn't do that to start. All of that crap can get trapped in the weld and cause a failure later. I would definitely plate that end where ever possible and extend it up a bit to strengthen the damaged area.

Be sure to check that the bore is still in line with the bucket if that ripped apart as bad as it looks to have been. That could cause 2 issues. 1st just being able to put the unit back together. Nows the time to just check, before you plate it up and have to cut all of it apart when the pin won't go in right. 2nd is if the pin is out of alignment some but not super bad. Hard to tell with that from the picts. Sometimes you can move the joint by hand to see if you can feel a bind. If not, just keep an eye on that pin for excessive wear. A badly worn pin can be almost impossible to remove if it wears eccentric.

Also I don't know how you damaged that side, but from experience, I have found that often both sides may have similar issues. I would clean up the other side very well to remove all grease and loose paint and carefully check for signs of cracks in the area that failed. It would not surprise me to find more cracks if you look close.

[geezer]

http://content.lincolnelectric.com/p...r/im/IM510.pdf

this may be the Ranger 8 manual, not sure, dial up too slow for me.

Good advice DSW. 7018 likes it clean. Same as 6013. 6010 and 6011 can tolerate not so clean material. I find best success running 6011 on AC and 6010 on DCEP.

[Graydevil]

The other dial is for arc control for start up.. like for instance if you are welding on really thin metal then you want to turn it down and just the opposite for thicker metal.. it helps the penetration for start up basicly.. 70 or 60 is tencile strenth 1 is all position and the 8 is the flux.. If ti was me i would grind it all back out and start over dc- is less penetration dc+ is what you want for penetration.

[acesneights1]

I actually welded as much of it as I could while the pin was still in so it wouldn't be out of alignment so hopefully i did ok. I did wash the area I was working with cleaner and did grind but if I go larger, I'll have to grind more. Pin was tight and in good order. I "think" I actually broke it backing into a tree. I will clean it up better and I am definitely going to plate it. I would have power washed it but like a dope I took it apart in the garage so now I have to clean it the hard way.
Thanks again.

[acesneights1]

Originally Posted by Graydevil

The other dial is for arc control for start up.. like for instance if you are welding on really thin metal then you want to turn it down and just the opposite for thicker metal.. it helps the penetration for start up basicly.. 70 or 60 is tencile strenth 1 is all position and the 8 is the flux.. If ti was me i would grind it all back out and start over dc- is less penetration dc+ is what you want for penetration.

Yeah, I am not happy with the way it looks. I'm going to grind it back down.

[Hammack_Welding]

Originally Posted by Graydevil

The other dial is for arc control for start up.. like for instance if you are welding on really thin metal then you want to turn it down and just the opposite for thicker metal.. it helps the penetration for start up basicly..

arc control for start up??? The Ranger 8 is setup just like my GXT. You have the range selector. 90, 125, 175, etc.... and the dial is the fine current control. Set the pointer to the range you want, and then the dial is used to fine tune your amperage.

[farmersamm]

Just to stir the pot. Not in a bad way

Every printed procedural reccomendation I've seen from Lincoln regarding rods says to remove loose rust with a wire brush. That's on the rods we're talking about here.

I always figured as long as you got a good electrical connection, can start, and maintain the arc, the flux takes care of the rest. I might be wrong. I always thought impurities rose to the top of the puddle.

An Iron oxide, is after all, an Iron oxide. It's basically the parent metal. I'm not sure on this.

Grinding seems to be a must on low voltage low amp wire welding, but seems to be not too necessary with a stick process at higher amps

[farmersamm]

180 max on the GXT means max. Then you dial it down from there. Next lowest range being 130. So you're dealing with a range between 130 and 180amps. The fine tune lets you set it from 130-180 in increments

Like Hammack said

[acesneights1]

No DSW is right. there was grease on it. I should have cleaned it better. I don't have alot of welding experience but I do know that 7018s are real finicky. I know If I had to weld something rusty and I couldn't clean it up and strength was not an issue I would use either 7014s or 6013s. They were alittle more forgiving but I notice if you do lay a nice bead the 7018s look pretty good. Anyway tha's what experience I have had. In reality this arm is so thin it could probably be mig'ed with a good mig welder but mine is a glorified batt charger. it's only good for doing sheetmetal/autobody stuff. I actually still braze alot, not this obviusoly

[sidthss]

It all depends on the type of rod you are welding with. Like it was previously stated, 6010, 6011 rods dont care as much about what is on the surface of the metal, but they are deep penetrating rods, so it isnt as much of a worry, 7018 ..... are not made to have the same amount of penetration, so any oxides or other crap on the surface of the material you can get off makes it that much easier for the rod to get better penetration and to keep from contamination the weld.

[acesneights1]

But the 7018 is the rod to use for strength right ?

[sidthss]

Yes, just as long as you have prepared the base metal corretly, 7018 is the rod I would use for this fix.

[DSW]

7018 would be my choice for this.