Roller repair - broken end shaft

[DaveMueller]

This is from our Ford 917L flail mower. I can't find any info on exactly what to do with this. All of the roller repair threads are for damaged rollers (cut off the ends and weld them to a new tube), not the end shafts .

It looks like this was a short shaft welded onto the end, inside the broken hole I can see what looks like the machined end of another shaft, or the hole in the end plate isn't a through hole.

The shaft on the other end is worn, looks like the bearing froze and the shaft turned inside the collar.

Grind it clean and try to get it the new shaft as concentric as possible and weld it on?
What type of steel should I use for the shaft, mild steel rod or something harder like tool steel?

New bearings are on the way.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Shaneard]

It looks like that shaft was harder than normal cold rolled steel the way it pulled away from the weld. To fix it right, the roller needs to be put in a lathe and drilled out so it will be concentric. Otherwise your fighting a loosing battle as it will just continue to break no matter what kind of metal you use.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Looks to me like the stub is just butt welded to the roller and doesn't protrude at all which would explain a lot, especially with the lack of penetration on the rod.

As for the best fix, I'm not sure.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Is the roller solid steel or hollow? If solid steel that changes the dynamics of the weld. You will need to preheat it. Like Shane said you need a counter bore for the shaft to fit in. Line up and later distortion problems will crop up also. These type things are usually set up in a jig to prevent misalignment. Probably doesn't turn fast enough to worry about balance. Minor misalignment or distortion can induce undue stress though. Doubt any of the assembly is harder than cold rolled stock. Roller if hollow is probably made from pipe.

Ron

 

[DaveMueller]

Definitely hollow, I wouldn't be able to pick it up if it was solid!
It looks like a flat end cap welded to the pipe, but there's lots of extra weld material, almost as if they built up the end curve with filler.
I think the best solution would be a solid rod as an axle and a bunch of boat rollers, I do a lot of maneuvering around fencing and trees, that would allow better turns.

Thanks all
Dave

 

[DJ54]

Just for giggles, I'd have to check with Messick's, and see if they could find a NOS one. Depending on the width, you can find the part number for it here. Official New Holland Online Parts Store and Online Parts Catalog for New Holland and Ford Tractors. I did a Google search, and Messick's shows a price of $210.00 for one, but that's no guarantee that is a current price. Although it says that part is discontinued, they encourage a person to place an order, as they have sources for said discontinued parts. New Holland / Case IH: ROLLER, Part # BU8371. I'd expect shipping to be half the cost of the roller, yet, if you take to roller to a machine shop to have it align bored, material, and/or go ahead and have them weld it, could be more.

Depending on how big of a hurry you're in, I'd think if they could find one, then get it shipped, it could be done within a week. Just throwing that out there, as you never know what NOS parts maybe out there. 16 years ago, I found a NOS 3 speed aux. transmission for my Ford 2000 3 cyl., brand new in the box. It had been on the shelf for 30 years. He was ind enough to sell it to me for what he paid for it back then. He showed me the original invoice on it from Ford Motor Company. I paid the man with Presidents, and we were both pretty happy.

 

[BHD]

find some one with a lath have them mount it up in the lath and center the pieces, and weld them in the lath,

 

[Big Barn]

You don’t have an awful lot to lose welding it up yourself. Like Ron mentioned, it’s not turning at any high speeds. Counterbore, line up in a lathe or similar device and weld it up.

Good luck.

 

[DaveMueller]

I finally remembered to post a follow up
I screwed 3 casters to a long board to hold the roller and allow it to spin. I drilled a 3/4" hole in a scrap of plywood and used the stub on the good end to align the plywood to the jig. I then flipped the roller end for end and put the broken stub through the hole and welded it to the roller. It isn't perfectly centered, but it's been good enough for regular mowing of 10+ acres for 5 summers so far.
Thanks for the tips.
Dave