Welding a Crack

[jd4210guy]

I have a rear blade that hooks to the 3 point hitch on my tractor that is cracked at the mounting bracket which is 1/4". My question is do I just "V" the crack then fill it in? I have been told that I should drill holes at each end of the crack then V. Also how wide should I weld the area aound the crack on the mounting bracket? Thanks in advance, this is a great forum!

[greywynd]

Without seeing a photo it's hard to tell what you should (or could) do. It might also depend on your welding skills. I know I broke the bracket on my rear blade last year, it happens to be the one the swivel adjustment pin goes through, alignment was fairly important. In my case, I got everything lined up, ground it out, and run multiple passes of 7014, cleaning between each pass. If there had been space, I would have plated the area to strengthen it, but thre simply wasn't room. The bead went from being about a 3/16" fillet to more like 3/8-1/2" though, next time it breaks will likely be the last.....something else will likely break before it now.

Mark

[David Vance]

V it out use 6010 1st pass . use 3/32 7018 2nd pass this should do it . be sure and drill holes at each end of crack.

[hankj]

I have a rear blade that hooks to the 3 point hitch on my tractor that is cracked at the mounting bracket which is 1/4". My question is do I just "V" the crack then fill it in? I have been told that I should drill holes at each end of the crack then V. Also how wide should I weld the area aound the crack on the mounting bracket? Thanks in advance, this is a great forum!

Drilling a hole at each end of the crack is a stress relief technique, and it's important to do that. Omitting that step invites the crack to reappear PDQ!

I like the 6010 root/7018 cap plan.

Hank

[TOMWELDS]

Is it mild steel? If so, i'd bevel each side 60deg., and hit it with 7018 1/8" both sides. I'd go with the 6010/7018 if it was thicker. My .02

[Masher Mfg]

Finding the end of the crack is the difficult part as it will extend farther than you think. Ving the crack is importiant. If you have a 1/2" thich plate you want to butt weld, you would never just run a pass over top and call it a day, same for a crack, you need to fuse the plate through it's full thickness.

[Pangea]

Is it mild steel? If so, i'd bevel each side 60deg., and hit it with 7018 1/8" both sides. I'd go with the 6010/7018 if it was thicker. My .02

+1 Stop drilling has it's place but on a piece of farm equipment as described here, it's overkill. If you're worried about it cracking again, grind your repair weld flush then put a scab patch over it .

[billie-1]

if your part is cracked to the outer edge...after prepping the weld area (V ing out and such) place a small piece of plate at the outer edge to "run your weld off on or start on"..when your repair is done grind off this piece and your weld will have no porosity from a bad start or stop

[jd4210guy]

Thanks for the replies, appreciate it!
Drilled 3/16" hole at the end of the crack, did a "V" then welded.
I only have a mig so the stick welding info was helpful but not used.
I think it turned out Ok

[weldteach]

I'm going off of hours and hours and hours and hours (well you get the idea ) of custom farm fabrication and repair experience...Generally if the crack is in mild steel drilling holes isn't required, however, you need to find where the crack begins and ends by griding your "V" futher past it's visible edges. I usually "V" out almost the full thinkness and run my first root pass, then crank up my machine for a HOT pass just to set everything in. Then, if needed, turn the machine to normal settings and continue to fill. I would also add that 99% of my work was done on a Miller 250 MIG. When done correctly and with correct fabrication techiques MIG will give you plenty of strength for the application.

Good Luck!