Welding Draft Arm

[RNeumann]

Lots of good ideas guys. I am going in to town and will try to find some 7018 rods, grind the angle and try to weld it the same day. This is not where downtime is of the essence. I like the idea of putting a reinforcement chunk on it though. I would hate to have the arm break and no catch it right away and have my 900# deck or box dragging behind be and break the other side. I just need to be more careful and stay more aware.. I probably won't get to it for a few more days and maybe someone someone else might come up with a better idea. Either way, I am just glad the casting on the tractor didn't break.

The welder you have is AC. If the plan is to weld it with that you will want 6011 and 7018AC. Regular 7018 isn’t designed for your machine.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Double HH Weld-On Repair Ends - Top Link

Have at it! If you look closely at the OP痴 photos it looks like his might have weld on ends similar to the ones linked above. Several folks sell them. My local tractor supply store has several on the shelf.

Thanks for the link. I've used those type of ends to build my hydraulic top link out of a regular 8" stroke cylinder.

So far I've held off on the bottom links because I have other priorities. I still have questions too. Like will it work with straight arms? I don't like the bend in the factory arms because it puts a lot of twisting side load on the lower lift arms and my lower fittings are already significantly worn out. Another question is will the factory sway arms still work or will I need to modify them too?

Also the factory bend introduces a bit of flex into the design because of the bend. If I take the bend out will it be harder on my aluminum rear housing? The holes are already pretty beat up because I do a lot of heavy three point hitch work. I the long run I'll probably leave the bend in even though I don't like it.

 

[Fireman Bill]

Thanks for the link. I've used those type of ends to build my hydraulic top link out of a regular 8" stroke cylinder.

So far I've held off on the bottom links because I have other priorities. I still have questions too. Like will it work with straight arms? I don't like the bend in the factory arms because it puts a lot of twisting side load on the lower lift arms and my lower fittings are already significantly worn out. Another question is will the factory sway arms still work or will I need to modify them too?

Also the factory bend introduces a bit of flex into the design because of the bend. If I take the bend out will it be harder on my aluminum rear housing? The holes are already pretty beat up because I do a lot of heavy three point hitch work. I the long run I'll probably leave the bend in even though I don't like it.

Hi, I have welded several arms with no failures. Do a good V on both ends and don稚 grind the ends much or it changes overall fit up and length. Take a torch and heat until your spit boils then make one tack with 6011 on each side. The. Make one pass all the way around with 6011. Restart your rod on the unwelded potion and drag back to the spot you need to start welding at. That way your welding over your arc spot which will
Make it stronger.. make all the other passes with fresh 7018AC rods. 1/8 about 120 or 130 amps. Keep the arc tight and don稚 weave just use straight beads stacking beside each other. Overlap about 1/3 over the last bead or so. Build up just above flush. Clean your slag between each pass. If slag comes off easily and little splatter then the amps are good. When your done wrap the arm in fiberglass insulation and let cool do not cool with water. You値l do fine and if you have a mess up just grind it out. It will be fine. Someone mentioned a fish plate. If you ever do that make sure you don稚 have a weld that goes straight across the arms. Make it like a v or u. That way there isn稚 a straight line to break at.

 

[Deere Dude]

Hi, I have welded several arms with no failures. Do a good V on both ends and don稚 grind the ends much or it changes overall fit up and length. Take a torch and heat until your spit boils then make one tack with 6011 on each side. The. Make one pass all the way around with 6011. Restart your rod on the unwelded potion and drag back to the spot you need to start welding at. That way your welding over your arc spot which will
Make it stronger.. make all the other passes with fresh 7018AC rods. 1/8 about 120 or 130 amps. Keep the arc tight and don稚 weave just use straight beads stacking beside each other. Overlap about 1/3 over the last bead or so. Build up just above flush. Clean your slag between each pass. If slag comes off easily and little splatter then the amps are good. When your done wrap the arm in fiberglass insulation and let cool do not cool with water. You値l do fine and if you have a mess up just grind it out. It will be fine. Someone mentioned a fish plate. If you ever do that make sure you don稚 have a weld that goes straight across the arms. Make it like a v or u. That way there isn稚 a straight line to break at.

Thanks for the tips. I already welded it but will remember this in case it craps out again. I made a vee on both sides, tacked it with 7014 on both sides. Then down side and then the other side with 7014 rods. I didn't have any 7018AC rods and didn't get any because I though it would be a bunch of expensive rods that wouldn't work on my machine. I did grind out all the slag spots and kept on overlapping until all was filled. In case it breaks again I will revisit this post.

Ultimately I did get some 7018AC rods for some I beams I was connecting. They seem to work okay once you get the arc started, not as good as 7014s though. People do say the holding power is greater.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Hi, I have welded several arms with no failures. Do a good V on both ends and don稚 grind the ends much or it changes overall fit up and length. Take a torch and heat until your spit boils then make one tack with 6011 on each side. The. Make one pass all the way around with 6011. Restart your rod on the unwelded potion and drag back to the spot you need to start welding at. That way your welding over your arc spot which will
Make it stronger.. make all the other passes with fresh 7018AC rods. 1/8 about 120 or 130 amps. Keep the arc tight and don稚 weave just use straight beads stacking beside each other. Overlap about 1/3 over the last bead or so. Build up just above flush. Clean your slag between each pass. If slag comes off easily and little splatter then the amps are good. When your done wrap the arm in fiberglass insulation and let cool do not cool with water. You値l do fine and if you have a mess up just grind it out. It will be fine. Someone mentioned a fish plate. If you ever do that make sure you don稚 have a weld that goes straight across the arms. Make it like a v or u. That way there isn稚 a straight line to break at.

Very nice and complete set of instructions Fireman B. I like all those embedded tips. Learners like me appreciate that kind of detail. Thank you.

gg

 

[MoArk Willy]

It doesn't hurt to try welding it since as you said, you can always buy another one if you aren't successful.

And that should be the welders creed. If you don't try you will never know.

 

[Big Barn]

It doesn't hurt to try welding it since as you said, you can always buy another one if you aren't successful.

^^^THIS^^^ is exactly what we ALWAYS did on the farm as we could never afford to wait for the replacement part. A new part was ordered immediately “just in case’”.

I don’t recall a repaired part ever failing but did we ever have a PILE of new OEM pieces in our parts room.