Renewing a Pulverizer Drum?

[TORQUIN]

I have a very old pulverizer and the spike on the drum are worn down to almost nothing. I am trying to think of a way to renew it in a time and materials-efficient way. A search here yielded nothing that looked relevant to me, but if you know of a thread, please send it my way.

My first thought was to weld new spikes on, being made from cut pieces of 1/2" rebar, as they should wear longest. Just seems like the welding would take forever.
Next was drilling and tapping holes beside the worm spikes and putting 3/8" or 1/2" bolts in it, which I may be able to replace when they wear down.
My third idea was to drill new holes from one side to the other, just a little smaller than the 5/16" or 3/8" stock I would use for new spikes and drive the stock all the way through the drum so it stick out either side.

I realize that anything I do will take some time, but I don't want it to be a lifelong project.
As far as a new drum, I know nothing about what brand this unit is, as I dug the rusty thing from under a bunch a briars and junk at the sellers farm a few years ago. I imagine a new drum would by pretty expensive anyway.

I am open to ideas.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[junkjunkie]

You'll likely get the best longevity by torching off the old spikes and welding new ones on. I've broken a few on mine (rolling over rocks and such). Grind the spot you want to place it and weld a new stub on. I've used 3/8" CRS, and a few times I simply welded a 3/8" bolt from the junk bucket on by the head.

I don't know what brand my pulverizer is either, but I believe the drum is filled with sand or concrete; I had to replace a sheared pivot bolt, and the drum was significantly heavier than a 6' piece of pipe. If your's is the same way, drilling could be problematic.

If you ever need teeth for the pulverizer rake, just search "spike tooth harrow" several companies sell those relatively cheap.

-Dan

 

[TORQUIN]

Yes, that surely will give me a bit of welding practice. Thinking about it now, I did come into a bunch a pieces of angle iron. I could cut those down and weld them on, standing on end. They wouldn't be pretty but I'll bet they'd do a good job of breaking up dirt clods.
I purchased new teeth from Agri Supply a few years ago. I believe I was having problems finding the new u-bolts to hold the teeth on so replacement got shelved. New teeth are somewhere in the garage, but fortunately the current spikes are not worn out yet.

Thanks,
Chris