I was all set to cut the grass and enjoy a beer on the deck wen done and this happened

[muncybob311]

Here are some pics after a bit of cleaning. The QA plate looks OK? I cannot see any stress fractures?

 

[ponytug]

Here are some pics after a bit of cleaning. The QA plate looks OK? I cannot see any stress fractures?

I think you were just really unlucky. I also suspect that there was probably a metal defect in the axle, and you clipped it just right to shear it. I can't see any sign of a pre-existing crack that spread in any of your photos.

I think that in the hands of a great welder with the right tools, anything can be welded. That said, I think that welding at your break is a high stress location and I think it would require cutting enough of a gap to weld in, and then a great welder, but even then there will be a heat affected zone that will be prone to failure. I wouldn't go that route if it were me.

I suspect that the repair is a new axle, then gouging or plasma cutting the old end out of the Q/A plate, and then welding the new one in. That would be fairly easy for a competent welder, and would get the heat affected zone away from the highest stress area.

Good luck!

All the best, Peter

 

[RayIN]

I think that in the hands of a great welder with the right tools, anything can be welded

Yep. I watched a man weld 2 sections of aluminum wrapper out of a pack of Pall Mall's together.
Others were betting on the outcome. That Navy-trained welder won nearly $1,000 with that feat.