How to correct a bad weld.

[Mark @ Everlast]

A weldable collar type jack would probably worked better in this situation.

 

[dcyrilc]

Add 2 triangular braces on each wheel as shown?

I'm looking at the pix and thinking that the welds holding the jacks bracket to the square tube are what broke. They have good length front to back, but not much to hold them from side stress. For some reason I don't think he welded the round tube of the jack. I'm thinking he needs to install a side gusseted plate to the top of the square tube to bolt the jack to.

 

[SandburRanch]

I'm looking at the pix and thinking that the welds holding the jacks bracket to the square tube are what broke. They have good length front to back, but not much to hold them from side stress. For some reason I don't think he welded the round tube of the jack. I'm thinking he needs to install a side gusseted plate to the top of the square tube to bolt the jack to.

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That's what I'm seeing.

The jack's bracket was welded on in a way it wasn't intended to be welded on when it was designed. That's why I say to add a short second tube and weld the flat side of the bracket to the sides of the tubing.

 

[tommu56]

The whole 3ph mechanism will rise all the way to its stop before the top illustration happens. Only extreme circumstances are sufficient to cause this.
larry

I do agree with more gussets too but you are still putting a lot of stress on the gauge wheels and tubing.


Have you ever brush hogged with a solid top link

My neighbor did it with his 8N and broke the the top link bracket off the rear of the tractor but this might have been a extreme situation.

To level out the best thing is a long wheel base with the blade between the wheels like a road grader. This will average the humps out the best.

tom

 

[SPYDERLK]

A bushog is too long for a solid top link.
larry

 

[Egon]

Hes got a bolt on Jack. He's welded the bolt on portion to the square tube.

That's the weld that breaks.

The first rule of welding critique is "Look at the Pictures"

 

[PILOON]

Also the welded bracket is galvanized and welding that to steel is very poor fusion, generally messy looking and fails every time.
Grind clean, add gussets and should be OK.

 

[2manyrocks]

Probably chinese mystery metal, too.

You could remove the jack, weld on a bracket the same size or larger as the jack mounting plate and then bolt or weld the jack mounting plate to the bracket on all four sides.

 

[2manyrocks]

Poor photo editing on my part, but general idea would be to add a mounting bracket to the tube and then move the jack mount onto the bracket. The bracket would be on the outside edge of the tube and not the inside.

 

[crazyal]

when all else fails look at how the commercial units do it.

 

[danktx]

I'm curious guys, why not weld the triangular gusset to the top of the square tube then he could weld the gusset to the jack bracket and if he put a small right angle bend in the gusset he could brace the jack in two planes. What's the group opinion on that solution?

 

[cowski]

why don't you weld the square bracket on the jacks to each end of the rake. it will be a lot stronger.

 

[D7E]

Just from what i see from the pic grind it out and re weld , That set up is'nt strong enough any way ..too light.... wheels are too small etc !...all too flimsy, Gussets are fine but those tinny jacks are nothing to work from !

 

[ole farmerbuck]

I think th OP also needs more of a floatation type tire. Those small skinny tires are gonna pull pretty hard in loose dirt.

 

[IslandTractor]

Looking at the wheel setup it is way under sized compared to factory supplied gauge wheels too. Trailer jack wheels, axles or vertical tube won't last long in this application even if the welding and support gussets are perfect.

 

[simonmeridew]

how about a couple of U-bolts around the round pipe and fastened to the flat plate?
simonmeridew

 

[SPYDERLK]

Rakes are relatively light. Those wheels are not likely to trouble in that application. Their support however undergoes a lot of leverage force if they catch. That appears to be the only problem the OP is seeing. Those jacks are not flimsy when well overlapped. I have accidently dragged heavy things a few feet with full weight on them ... no damage.
larry

 

[lhfarm]

Wow, been away from TBN for a couple of days and missed all the replies!

It would help if we knew what type of welder you are using. also could the wheel not be swiveking and putting a side load on the weld? As you go up and down with the adjustment the angle of the castor changes and this could make it hard to turn just a idea.

I have a Stickmate, running DC and using 6011 rods. It is a great machine, just operator error.

I like your gauge wheel implementation and think ill use some variation of it.:thumbsup: I dont see where the weld of jack tube to square tube is made. Looks like there is a bracket on the jack that would be welded to the square. Maybe you are augmenting this with another weld to the jack tube?

At any rate, grind off as much failed weld as possible and use 6011 rod at highest non burnthru level. Chip slag, inspect the weld and touch it up while hot if you can. Bracing too as mentioned previous. ... oopps - you are stick welding right?
larry

The picture is from this post http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/108102-my-version-skunkwerxs-gauge-wheels.html when I built them in late '07. You can see it wasn't my design, but has worked well on both my rake and box-blade. I did have to replace the 8" wheels with 10" non-flat tires.

Looked at it more closely. Cut a plate, bolt it to the jacks and then bolt or weld plate to the main frame.:thumbsup:

No penetration, a little more heat?

I'm going to rethink the mounting design and either weld on a plate and bolt to that or add gussets.

Thanks again and I'll report back with whatever changes I make.