Weldability of grader blade for structural use.

[AKweldshop]

Can a guy trust welded grader blade?
I have a guy who wants about 60 grader blades welded together to make a beef carcass hanging rack.
It will hang over 20,000lbs of beef.

Is it a good idea?

John

[Firemanmike69]

Can a guy trust welded grader blade?
I have a guy who wants about 60 grader blades welded together to make a beef carcass hanging rack.
It will hang over 20,000lbs of beef.

Is it a good idea?

John

The moldboard or cutting edges?

[AKweldshop]

The moldboard or cutting edges?

The cutting edges.
The road company gives them away up here.
They are about 3/4" thick on one edge and taper down to 1/4".
Are they good structural members?

[Welder Dave]

For something to hold 10 tons, I wouldn't trust grader blades. They are a very high carbon steel for wear resistance not for anything structural. I'd use drill stem before I used grader blades but structural sq. tubing or pipe would be the best material to use. Let me guess that this guy doesn't want to spend anything on this rack? Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and buy the proper material.

[Kelvin]

Any idea what steel they're made of?

My hunch is that it might be medium- or even fairly high-carbon steel (to get more hardness than you can get from mild steel), and high-carbon steel can be tricky to weld. Apparently the carbon from the hi-carbon steel wants to mix into the weld puddle, making the weld deposit a fairly high-carbon steel. If you allow this weld to cool without postheat, it effectively gets "quenched" when the heat quickly dissipates into the base metal, making the weld deposit brittle / non-ductile, which can cause cracking. Post heating and wrapping in fiberglass to slow down how fast it cools should help normalize the steel and reduce brittleness. Also, to increase ductility of the weld deposit, Lincoln recommends a 25-20 filler with 25% chrome and 20% nickel for welding HC steel...this is about what ER310 is.

This is all assuming it's HC steel, which may not even be the case. If it is HC steel, the guy might be better off selling the steel to blacksmiths and using the money to buy some mild steel!

[Willie B]

I believe they are manganese steel. Weld them without lots of preheat, they pop a hole where the filler attached.

[theweldor]

That will never hold itself in that lenght without being supported from a structure. More information on how this is to be supported would help greatly. Or if there is even anything to support it from?

[blawless]

Yes it will. 16" spacing on your hangers and possibly up to 40". Need to know more about the setup.

[AKweldshop]

I will try and get you guys some pics of the design.
Later this week when I get a chance....

[BD1]

Maybe consider over lapping and bolting together to match holes and weld beside.

[OPUS FERRO]

AKweldshop

Your cutting edges have utility - but not as structural elements.

See post #14: http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...e-rock-crusher

Cutting edges, and crusher surfaces have the same parents . . .

Pass on this application - but tell 'your guy' that you are 'still in'
on an appropriate use for his stock-pile.


Opus

[DanD78]

I would think that they are equal to AR plate if not tougher. I would not use them for anything overhead weight bearing.

Dan D.

[kingnero]

whatever they will be, it will be something not readily weldable.
high carbon, this has been covered before. need lots of preheat.
manganese, you need austenitic rods and you have to weld cold (eg, waiting few minutes after every 3-4 inches of weld
hardox or other wear-resistant metal: you need special (lo-hy) rods

whatever it'll be, you'll need additional costs to make sure what you're building, won't fall apart.

[Boostinjdm]

Bad idea.

[MinnesotaDave]

I don't know what grader blades are made out of, but I welded them back to back this summer to make 2' ripper teeth (subsoiler) for my WD Allis Chalmers.

I used some old, free 7018. Grader blades were also free.

The blades drilled fine too.

[drujinin]

I keep asking the County Guy for a free Grader or Plow truck edge. He always says he'll deliver. I'm thinking they are selling them for Beer money?

[Excalibur]

Can a guy trust welded grader blade?
I have a guy who wants about 60 grader blades welded together to make a beef carcass hanging rack.
It will hang over 20,000lbs of beef.

Is it a good idea?

John

John,

We have stacks of grader blades stacked around the shop as well. Cutting edges of every type vary in hardness from one manufacture to another. Here is a link to some tungsten carbide impregnated edges we use on loaders and the such. https://www.kencoengineering.com/gen...arthmv#earthmv
I have cut standard CAT edges into 12" lengths and have them welded all over asphalt plant high wear areas as well as on roadway equipment. I have used no special process or material just a 6010 or 7018 whatever is handy. Now with that being said I have had a few welds pull from the cutting edge surface if struck by force as you would envision a weld on cast reaction. Personally, I would pass the suggestion of taking a the truck load of edges to the recycle yard and use that 8-10 cent a pound to offset the purchase of some A36 of proper shape and size. The few hundred dollars he saves will not go very far at the Emergency Room.

[Meltedmetal]

1) Is there any way to know if they are all the same material? And what is it?
2) Are they the shape and size you would use to make this rack anyway or are you designing around free material? Sometimes that costs more than just buying the right stuff in the first place.---Meltedmetal

[whtbaron]

I'm inclined to agree with the guys that say pick up enough scrap to cash it in and buy the appropriate metal. That being said the right design could probably work with enough support but I would do more bolting together than welding. Not all grader blades are created equal either. My local operator had some that were very brittle and he didn't like them because they cracked frequently. I got an 8 foot section to replace the wear blade on the front of my 4020 JD tractor. Not too surprisingly I managed to break it playing bulldozer. I welded it back together cold, still on the tractor with my buzzbox and 6013 rods. That lasted about a year until I started playing bulldozer again and I managed to break both that weld and the supporting frame so it did take a lot of abuse. Our municipality has used them for sign posts etc. but 10 tons of bull is a lot to take. I'd be very careful on that one.

[Bob]

I made a mesquit root cutter for a man several years ago by welding a cutting edge to the ripper teeth on a D5 dozer. It gets stuck in the ground about a foot and when they drag it through the ground, it cuts the mesquite roots low enough so they don't come back. I welded it with 7018's after consulting with my 2 old geezer weldors, one a 40 year Brown and Root weldor and the other a heavy equipment weldor. They both said the blades are hardened but only where the taper is. It held up just fine so I guss they were right.

[farmshop]

We tried using them for fencing. They were hard and brittle.

[AKweldshop2]

[AKweldshop2]

Well guys,
Here's the deal....

It was two days putting this rack in this 40' connex.

Bash at will....20lbs of 7018 went into this rack.
All welded in position.
With a redface....

[AKweldshop2]

[AKweldshop2]

~John