welding cast housing?

[revitup]

Well I done 'er good this time. I have cracked the flywheel housing and clutch housing on the right side of my john deere 110. Right where the ROPS bolts over the front loader frame onto the bell housing/ clutch assembly. I think I probably stressed it or cracked it in the winter plowing snow. I do remember hitting something really hard last winter. I was moving some smaller logs with the clam bucket today and clearing some pile of dirt when i noticed something felt wrong.
So, what are my options besides spending $7000 on those two new cases? Find used ones? I believe those two parts are cast, can you only braze cast? Is it possible to fix those parts? Brazing is week though isn't it?
Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
Kelly

 

[Tx Jim]

I'm not a welder but they're are welding rods to weld cast.

 

[RoyJackson]

Are these cast iron, steel or aluminum?
All will require pre-heat for a successful weld repair....and you might want to grind out the crack first.
I'm guessing any repair will require stripping down all the gears and other internals, if you pre-heat and weld repair.

IMHO, consider all the costs involved and then determine if replacement of the castings is worthwhile. I'd try looking for used castings, but I'll wager they'll be tough to come by.

 

[newbury]

Welding cast is a "special art". It needs to be warmed and cooled properly. Not all welders can do it. From what I've read many claim they can, few are actually successful for good welds.

 

[Baby Grand]

Welding cast is a "special art". It needs to be warmed and cooled properly. Not all welders can do it. From what I've read many claim they can, few are actually successful for good welds.

^Second that! Also, as Roy mentioned, material type and material prep will determine how difficult/successful the finished weld is.
From your description of the break locations, it sounds like this is going to be a weld that will be subjected to major structural loading, not just a weld to patch a leak in an oil filled compartment housing. So weld quality will be paramount or it will fail in use, and you'll be doing it all over again. As long as the breaks don't go through any bearing bores or other machined, tightly held surfaces, an ace welder with lots of cast metal experience should be up to the task.
Either way, it sounds like you're going to have to split the tractor to get the parts out so they can adequately be prepped for welding.

 

[skyhook]

Any chance of a snap-shot of this.

 

[Dave M7040]

Bronze can be a great alternative to other methods of welding cast iron.
Getting the right heat and right flux are critical.
The repair below lasted 40+ years and is still in service.

Dave M7040

 

[pmsmechanic]

Some pictures would be nice.

Bronze has pretty well the same tensile strength as cast iron so I wouldn't be scared to do that.

If you know what to do with a welder I wouldn't be scared to do that either. Just prep as already mentioned and preheat good and then make sure you have a way to let the pieces cool slowly. I usually wrap them in fiberglass insulation over night. I like to use Arctec 223 rods as they have 28% stretch in the weld. I would weld in multiple passes.

The biggest thing here is to figure out why this part broke and figure out what to change so that it doesn't happen again.

$7000 gives you lots of room for repairs.

PS: Isn't a 4600 or a 4700 the same tractor? Might help for finding used parts. You can alway type the part numbers into the "where used" search in JDParts on their website.

 

[varmint]

If you watch select TurnWright Machine Works videos, you'll see ace machinist Keith Fenner fix all sorts of cracked cast iron. Like earlier posters noted, pre-heating and slow cooling to prevent warping are key. Should be doable.

 

[flusher]

First, do a spark test to determine if it's cast iron or cast steel.

How To Weld: Basics of Spark Testing - YouTube

If it's cast steel, you're in luck because you can stick weld with common rods like 6011, 7018.
If it's cast iron, you'll have to use nickel alloy rods.

I recently stick welded a broken part back onto the engine block of my 1948 Farmall Cub. I used Super Missile rod (1/8", DC+, 90-110 amps).

Super Missileweld | The Harris Products Group

You have to run short beads (1" long) and let the workpiece cool down to near room temperature before laying down the next bead. A cheap infrared thermometer from Harbor Freight was useful in measuring the temperature.

I used the backstep weld method to control distortion.

Weld Distortion

Good luck.