CAT Loader Repair

[12V71]

Hated silage, it would always want to bridge in the hopper. Corn loads were the best.

Must not have been the feed mixer trucks. I think most of them would grind up tree trunks.

[whtbaron]

Finally got back to this one yesterday. I was able to get at the entire crack without removing the loader, and as it turns out, that part of the casting is hollow, so grease wasn't an issue and I really wasn't dealing with as deep of a crack as I thought I was. I put the loader up on a solid block to gain some clearance. I consulted with some experts at a local welding shop that does a lot of big jobs. When I asked for the best rod, of course I opened myself up for the most expensive, but I want this job to last. He didn't like the idea of using the plasma and said I'd have to grind the remains back anyway, so I went at it with a cutting disc and a couple Snap On rotary burrs in the die grinder. I washed everything back before I started with brake clean and I think I was into the grinding for about an hour and a half. I was going to start with the easy crack over the lift, but it washed off with brake clean so that was an easy fix. Unfortunately that didn't give me an "easy" spot to try out my new blue rods but they weren't bad to work with. I was pushing the high end of the heat scale because I wanted penetration. That was alright for the flat part of the upright, but tended to droop a lot when working out of position on the side. I got good penetration and solid metal in the crack, but I had to work in short bursts to keep the rod from overheating (I was running around 135 AC) so it didn't leave the prettiest weld. My new needle scaler got a workout and I used Rose to help me with the warmup act. I really wasn't happy with it and thought I was going to have to grind it all out again until I started grinding and found it was all solid metal except for a couple gopher holes away from the crack. There was a blemish in the cast that seemed to be letting water into the crack so I ground that up and sealed it as well. I'm not sure if that contributed to the problem or not. I do want to thank everyone that helped with the advice..

No cracks here... I got off lucky...

These are the rods I ended up using... high tensile strength and they are supposed to leave a more flexible weld. For $500 Cdn. they come in a pretty blue color that makes me thirsty...

[whtbaron]

More pics...

[whtbaron]

Still not 100% happy with the front of the weld. I've got a DC machine coming in hopefully before the end of the month and I would like to grind it down a bit and try a few beads with that. I also found an old repair and a small crack on the inside of the casting that will require some overhead so I'd like to have the DC for that as well. The other locations aren't as critical for strength so I'll give it some small jobs (like lifting a sick 35 ft. cultivator) to test out my work.

[vwguy3]

Are they castings or forgings?

[whtbaron]

I believe it is cast steel, not cast iron. You can see where they have been welded into the original framing during construction. Seems to weld well...

[Josey]

That seems like a good strong repair. Those must be expensive rods. but I suppose for a one off a kind repair
if the weld is successful they are well worth it. I thought you got an Lincoln Ideal arc Last year. Did the deal
not work out? Any way you are doing a good job with the repair on your own.

[12V71]

I believe it is cast steel, not cast iron. You can see where they have been welded into the original framing during construction. Seems to weld well...

Yep, cast steel. I've done plenty of repairs on Cat equipment with excellent results.

[whtbaron]

That seems like a good strong repair. Those must be expensive rods. but I suppose for a one off a kind repair
if the weld is successful they are well worth it. I thought you got an Lincoln Ideal arc Last year. Did the deal
not work out? Any way you are doing a good job with the repair on your own.

Yes, I'd give it a small F for presentation, but it seems to be a solid, well penetrated weld that is slightly thicker than the original metal so I'm hoping it's good. Looking at that 2nd crack out in the sunlight yesterday and I'm thinking it might not be a crack at all.... have to get in there with a light grind or wire brush and see what's going on for sure. I lifted the center section out of the sick cultivator and replaced it yesterday with no problems so I think it's good to go.

In hindsight, the shop did offer to split the $500 package up for me, but I thought I'd be replacing a lot more metal than it ended up being. I'll keep them for sensitive places like frame repairs so I'll still get my money's worth out of them.

The big Lincoln is still a purchase in the works... nothing wrong with the deal it's just been complicated with the distances and Covid restrictions involved. Might be time to just bite the bullet and pay the frieght bill. I bought a Miller Dialarc off Dave last fall and the border restrictions are finally being relaxed enough that I can go pick it up so that's the one I hope to have here before the end of the month. With all this hot dry weather it's looking like we could be in for an early harvest so it's not giving me much time this year to get through all the equipment and get it ready for next year.

[old miner called Pop]

Yes, I'd give it a small F for presentation, but it seems to be a solid, well penetrated weld that is slightly thicker than the original metal so I'm hoping it's good. Looking at that 2nd crack out in the sunlight yesterday and I'm thinking it might not be a crack at all.... have to get in there with a light grind or wire brush and see what's going on for sure. I lifted the center section out of the sick cultivator and replaced it yesterday with no problems so I think it's good to go.

In hindsight, the shop did offer to split the $500 package up for me, but I thought I'd be replacing a lot more metal than it ended up being. I'll keep them for sensitive places like frame repairs so I'll still get my money's worth out of them.

The big Lincoln is still a purchase in the works... nothing wrong with the deal it's just been complicated with the distances and Covid restrictions involved. Might be time to just bite the bullet and pay the frieght bill. I bought a Miller Dialarc off Dave last fall and the border restrictions are finally being relaxed enough that I can go pick it up so that's the one I hope to have here before the end of the month. With all this hot dry weather it's looking like we could be in for an early harvest so it's not giving me much time this year to get through all the equipment and get it ready for next year.

That looks good from here, how did you like welding the cast steel? Ive always felt welding cast steel was easier than welding plate or structural shapes especially if Im stick welding...but most folks tell me Im crazy and nuts. For some reason most guys I work with hate weldin cast steel for some reason.

You can find out with your torch if that one you think might not be a crack is a crack or not. Just heat it up a bit if it is a crack it will open up....or....did you notice any of your grindings hanging in a line where you think this crack is? For some reason and I dont know why, but grindings will hang out in a crack, whether its overhead flat vertical or any other crazy angle it is. I discovered many cracks just keepin my eyes open for that.

I like your needle scaler...best doggone thing since the zipper

[Lis2323]

WHAT??? Don't tell me I'm in the sh*thouse now !!



I figured my Lincoln Idealarc was off the table when you picked up Dave's Miller which was closer.

I just sold it along with other welders within the last month.

Three Millers, two Forneys, two Lincolns and my Lorch.

This loaded this one......




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[old miner called Pop]

Thats a nice lookin little welder there, ol boy up the road from me has one just like it it aint as pretty as that one though and he really could use some decent weld leads for it. His leads got more electric tape on them what he got rubber. I offered to GIVE him 100 foot of my old 2.0 leads after I bought the 4.0 stuff Im usin now but he wont take em, so I gave them to Joe for them to use in the shop

[12V71]

That looks good from here, how did you like welding the cast steel? Ive always felt welding cast steel was easier than welding plate or structural shapes especially if Im stick welding...but most folks tell me Im crazy and nuts. For some reason most guys I work with hate weldin cast steel for some reason.

You can find out with your torch if that one you think might not be a crack is a crack or not. Just heat it up a bit if it is a crack it will open up....or....did you notice any of your grindings hanging in a line where you think this crack is? For some reason and I dont know why, but grindings will hang out in a crack, whether its overhead flat vertical or any other crazy angle it is. I discovered many cracks just keepin my eyes open for that.

I like your needle scaler...best doggone thing since the zipper

That's "poor mans magnaflux" when the grindings collect on a crack.

[old miner called Pop]

That's "poor mans magnaflux" when the grindings collect on a crack.

yup it works dont ask me how or why but I found a lot of cracks that way while workin on other stuff...its all good...makes for a bigger paycheck at the end of the month

[12V71]

yup it works dont ask me how or why but I found a lot of cracks that way while workin on other stuff...its all good...makes for a bigger paycheck at the end of the month

A crack is a disruption of the natural magnetic field in the steel. And like you, I have found more than the original repair by that method.

[Welder Dave]

You can always get dye penetrant to check for cracks. Those Eutectic rods are good for removing broken bolts too.

[whtbaron]

WHAT??? Don't tell me I'm in the sh*thouse now !!



I figured my Lincoln Idealarc was off the table when you picked up Dave's Miller which was closer.

I just sold it along with other welders within the last month.

Three Millers, two Forneys, two Lincolns and my Lorch.

This loaded this one......




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lol.... not a problem.... I was going to say the way things were going, if you had a chance to move it, maybe you should take it. Guess you did.

[whtbaron]

That looks good from here, how did you like welding the cast steel? Ive always felt welding cast steel was easier than welding plate or structural shapes especially if Im stick welding...but most folks tell me Im crazy and nuts. For some reason most guys I work with hate weldin cast steel for some reason.

You can find out with your torch if that one you think might not be a crack is a crack or not. Just heat it up a bit if it is a crack it will open up....or....did you notice any of your grindings hanging in a line where you think this crack is? For some reason and I dont know why, but grindings will hang out in a crack, whether its overhead flat vertical or any other crazy angle it is. I discovered many cracks just keepin my eyes open for that.

I like your needle scaler...best doggone thing since the zipper

I thought I could feel something there with my fingernail, but the more I look at, the more I think it's something like tar that got winged at it. I'd rather not put more heat into that casting if I can avoid it... pretty sure I can get a hummer disc in there to check it out without dismantling anything.
I didn't find the casting to be especially challenging... that was more an issue with getting room to work in awkward positions. That being said, I was also working with rods I had never tried before so a better test would have been seeing how it welded with something like 7014 that I'm more used too. I didn't notice any grindings going that direction, but I didnt' spot it until after I had painted so I was really watching for it. The needle scaler is a beast... I think I'm going to like it for slag removal. I ran that , a cross peen, the chipping hammer and wire cup in a drill over the weld between each bead.

[old miner called Pop]

I thought I could feel something there with my fingernail, but the more I look at, the more I think it's something like tar that got winged at it. I'd rather not put more heat into that casting if I can avoid it... pretty sure I can get a hummer disc in there to check it out without dismantling anything.
I didn't find the casting to be especially challenging... that was more an issue with getting room to work in awkward positions. That being said, I was also working with rods I had never tried before so a better test would have been seeing how it welded with something like 7014 that I'm more used too. I didn't notice any grindings going that direction, but I didnt' spot it until after I had painted so I was really watching for it. The needle scaler is a beast... I think I'm going to like it for slag removal. I ran that , a cross peen, the chipping hammer and wire cup in a drill over the weld between each bead.

Good...you kept it clean thats very important with these repairs and the needle scalers are the cats nuts for peening and takin off slag, spatter and other stuff, love them things for that. I dont do much welding without hookin mine up to the compressor, I have a air chisel I use too for some stuff as well. I figure since I got a compressor on my rig I may as well use the thing, otherwise its just dead weight on the truck, sorta like carrying an empty oxygen bottle on the truck for a week like one guy that was workin with me used to do. Then he goes to light his torch and oops....Popeye can i use your torch I got no oxygen? Got tired of it one day and told him to run back to the shop and get his own damn oxygen. Joe wasnt happy with him that day.

I always liked welding cast steel on this stuff, whether its a wear shoe or tooth base or a boom on a shovel or excavator, to me its like butterin a piece of toast. Most of the guys out there seem to think its so much harder to weld and always grumble about it, I dont understand what they are doin different with it, Ive watched them and they have watched me and they still have trouble with it.

[whtbaron]

I never thought of using a blunt air chisel for peening.... have to make note of that for next time. I was really pushing the hot end of what the rod wanted for penetration so I didn't have a problem getting it into the cast. I'm really not used to working with a gap that wide and I couldn't seem to come up with a pattern or weave that could work the entire width of the weld as I got closer to the top. I normally just work in a small swirl pattern, so this meant I either started going side to side or end to end with a single bead as it got wider. As long as I kept the slag clean, I didn't seem to have a problem with gopher holes in the weld itself, but right at the top outsides it didn't blend well the cast.... it just seemed to go cold at the outside edges, hence the grinding to get back to solid metal. I don't think it was an issue for strength, but like I say, it got a little ugly.

[whtbaron]

I guess if we're going to talk about the ugly, I may as well post it. The holes aren't as serious as they look... I was already above the original surface of the casting. As I ground things flat, they disappeared.


You can see on the old repair that the guy had a nice downhill weave going on.... I just couldn't seem to get that kind of control with the heat I was putting into it.

[MISSING LINK]

Don't worry about trying to run from one edge to the other on a wide opening. Stick to stringer beads, best bet for strength. Vert, flat, horz or overhead stringers are my go to for cracks, AC or DC current. Although vert down I don't use much. I have used it with a E9045 rod when I needed to have the weld pull a certain direction.

[Lis2323]

I sure wish we had internet and this forum 30-40 years ago when I could have really benefited from the knowledge you guys contribute.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[whtbaron]

A winter in welding class back in my 20's would have made a huge difference too... kinda wish I had done it now.

[old miner called Pop]

I never thought of using a blunt air chisel for peening.... have to make note of that for next time. I was really pushing the hot end of what the rod wanted for penetration so I didn't have a problem getting it into the cast. I'm really not used to working with a gap that wide and I couldn't seem to come up with a pattern or weave that could work the entire width of the weld as I got closer to the top. I normally just work in a small swirl pattern, so this meant I either started going side to side or end to end with a single bead as it got wider. As long as I kept the slag clean, I didn't seem to have a problem with gopher holes in the weld itself, but right at the top outsides it didn't blend well the cast.... it just seemed to go cold at the outside edges, hence the grinding to get back to solid metal. I don't think it was an issue for strength, but like I say, it got a little ugly.

I try not to open something like that too much,just enough to get a good full pen root, but there is times it just aint gonna work out that way and you get a wider opening, so what I do if its a wide opening is run small stringers on the inside edges with a 3/32 rod, usually 7018 if its somethin critical like a boom or arm on a loader or trakhoe or whatever. Just enough that i can run a real full pen root, it takes some time and a lot of patience especially if your all twisted up tryin to get in at it

It looks good though from what I can see of it