[TheForge] broken weld on mower deck

[terry l. ridder]

hello

thank you for the reply.

I think i have got it.

this appears to be a common problem with mower decks.
some say that is from the vibration of the mower and hitting the ground.
some say that it is just from hitting large objects while mowing.
I tend to think it is a little of both.

i have to pick up the mower deck with the bobcat so it is at a height
that i may work on it. I am not getting down on the ground to work on
it.

my paraphrase.

drill a stop hole at the end of the weld.
pull the broken weld together with gentle force.
clean up the broken weld and remove any paint in the area.
weld the broken weld.
take a similar metal and weld diamond shaped pieces over the repair
weld.
clean up welds.
spray paint with kubota orange.

repeat as necessary ;-)

On Tue, 6 Jun 2017, jerry Frost wrote:

> No, don't try heat treating the welds. First thing to do is drill stopper
> holes at the ends of the cracks. After you weld it up, fish plate them it. A
> fish plate is a diamond shape piece of steel of the same or similar
> thickness as the piece being welded.
>
> NO! Do NOT use thicker steel it will defeat the purpose of fishplating. You
> want the fish plate to flex and spread the force over a distance. Slightly
> lighter weight steel is more effective. Fish plates are NOT reinforcements
> they distribute stress, two entirely different things, related but
> different.
>
> Fish plate the high stress or high flex zone. You lay the plate over the
> weld so none of the corners of the diamond line up with or fall on the weld.
> Perimeter weld it over the weld. Mig it is good, the smoother the beads the
> lower the stress at the edges. Do NOT torch weld, the HAZ (Heat Affect Zone)
> is way too large.
>
> What a fish plate does is distribute the stress formed by the ends of a weld
> bead which is a stress riser. A final touch to maximize the effect is to run
> the beads towards each narrow end of the plate and carry the bead past the
> point in a J shaped finish. Called a "J tail."
>
> The "J tail" distributes any flexing stress over a distance in a curve
> leaving no stress riser.
>
> I hope this is clearer than it sounds.
>
> Frosty
>

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>