Repaired a friend's mower deck

[BravoXray]

A friend asked if I could repair his mower deck, it had rusted and one of the idler pulley mounts tore loose. I said I'd give it a try. Didn't look too bad, someone had attempted to fix it a couple of years ago, and that repair had failed because of more of the area had rusted out. I cut out enough metal to get decent metal to weld a patch panel to, though it was still pretty thin in a few spots. Made a patch out of 11 ga. plate and spent some time getting it trimmed and the front side rolled up to make a better surface to weld to. I used my Miller 211 and got it tacked into place then welded it in place. I'm not a great welder, but the thin metal was a real challenge. I also had to do some cutting and grinding on the pulley mount to get it to lay parallel with the other pulleys, but I got it pretty close. Welded up some other cracks and loose deflectors, so it should be good to go for a while.
I used the BX to get it off the bench and set it outside.

 

[Smokeydog]

That’s a tuff repair. Fatigue cracking, rust, thin metal mower deck repairs take considerable amount of time and skill to properly repair. I have turned down similar repairs because people think (non welders) it’s a 10 minute, $10 repair. Good job and saved your friend from buying a new deck.

They says with 0.023” wire and 110v input the Miller 211 has good thin metal capability. The 110v has a better arc over the 220v input for thin materials. I’ve never tried it yet.

 

[BravoXray]

That’s a tuff repair. Fatigue cracking, rust, thin metal mower deck repairs take considerable amount of time and skill to properly repair. I have turned down similar repairs because people think (non welders) it’s a 10 minute, $10 repair. Good job and saved your friend from buying a new deck.

They says with 0.023” wire and 110v input the Miller 211 has good thin metal capability. The 110v has a better arc over the 220v input for thin materials. I’ve never tried it yet.

Yep, the dealer told him to get a new deck.
I had a total of about 4 hours to repair it, but I'm an old slow, gotta cogitate on it a while before I decide how to fix it, type of guy.
I've never tried running it on 120 volts, I'm running my 211 on 240 volts and was using .030 wire with C25 gas.
Of course, in the middle of the job I ran out of wire and had to put in a new 10# spool.

 

[oldballs]

Nice job Bravo........wished that I had your skill. If'in I could start over in life, I'd get some welding skills.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Smokeydog]

Yep, the dealer told him to get a new deck.
I had a total of about 4 hours to repair it, but I'm an old slow, gotta cogitate on it a while before I decide how to fix it, type of guy.
I've never tried running it on 120 volts, I'm running my 211 on 240 volts and was using .030 wire with C25 gas.
Of course, in the middle of the job I ran out of wire and had to put in a new 10# spool.

Your faster than me. My cogitator must have some crud.
You did your friend a real service. I get friends that bring broken stuff then tell me how to fix. “Just fill in the cracks”. It’s rarely that simple. Hard to charge friends for money and I rarely weld for money. I think it was Jodie on one of his tips and tricks videos, so much per hour of shop time plus, $1/inch cutting, $1/tack, $1/inch welding and materials is a good start to put a dollar figure on a repair job.

 

[Alan46]

Nice job bro!

 

[BravoXray]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

Your faster than me. My cogitator must have some crud.
You did your friend a real service. I get friends that bring broken stuff then tell me how to fix. “Just fill in the cracks”. It’s rarely that simple. Hard to charge friends for money and I rarely weld for money. I think it was Jodie on one of his tips and tricks videos, so much per hour of shop time plus, $1/inch cutting, $1/tack, $1/inch welding and materials is a good start to put a dollar figure on a repair job.

I've had friends bring me a few repair jobs that weren't repairable. One was a wagon to pull behind his garden tractor. Had set outside all it's life and showed it. It was rusted beyond repair, more rust than metal. I saved the wheels and axle, cut the rest up for scrap, not very good scrap either.

 

[jaxs]

I enjoy repairing for friends and neighbors if I'm able to do a job that will stand up under scrutinization. Patch it up to get them by until they can shop for a replacement and they tell everyone in the state when it falls apart 2 years later.

 

[Sberry]

They says with 0.023” wire and 110v input the Miller 211 has good thin metal capability. The 110v has a better arc over the 220v input for thin materials. I’ve never tried it yet.

The wire doesnt know what voltage the machine is running on. Its the adjustment but,,, the 023 is certainly easier on thin material and can work down near foil thickness. Only reason to use 120 over 240 is if you dont have the higher voltage, no difference in the output down low, only on the high end.

 

[jaxs]

They says with 0.023” wire and 110v input the Miller 211 has good thin metal capability. The 110v has a better arc over the 220v input for thin materials. I’ve never tried it yet.

The wire doesnt know what voltage the machine is running on. Its the adjustment but,,, the 023 is certainly easier on thin material and can work down near foil thickness. Only reason to use 120 over 240 is if you dont have the higher voltage, no difference in the output down low, only on the high end.

Say wutt?