Welding a cast iron tractor lug

[andyt41]

Hi,the lug on this massey ferguson tractor has broken could anyone please advise on the best way to repair?

 

[andyt41]

If brazed would there still be the chance of the cast cracking in a different place like when welded.

 

[andyt41]

Hi Brad thank you for replies.Could you give a bit more detail please does the area all round the damage have to be heated and then heat kept on after like welding?

 

[Turbo]

That looks like the lower connection for the top link of the implement lifting gear. That comes under a tremendous amount of tensile pulling when used so I would doubt if that's cast iron, it just wouldn't be strong enough! Cast steel would be my guess so it could be stick welded with the correct rods.

 

[brightspark]

put an angle grinder across it if its dull sparks its cast iron . steel they would be bright

 

[roofman]

Looks like its broke in the past below and still intact..what was that procedure?

 

[hobby_machinist]

It looks like it was brazed/welded before if im correct. There are guides on youtube how to test what type of cast it is. You can weld it with 7018, nickel rods and some other special types but the most successful is for sure oxy brazing, it holds the cast iron bench vice for the last 30-40 years in my friends workshop

 

[chris pruteanu]

I repair often this sort of implements, i vee the edges properly and use my tig welder at max amps with some Oerlikon arc rods called monel 628, i use them as filling rods. The weld its a lot stronger than the parent metal and its hard to machine if its needed...Couple i welded years ago hold pretty well day in day out being used !

 

[Jay1st]

cut the entire lig of clean and have a a new one plasma cut and welded in place, that's what i would do for the lo,g term.

 

[m_c]

That looks like the lower connection for the top link of the implement lifting gear. That comes under a tremendous amount of tensile pulling when used so I would doubt if that's cast iron, it just wouldn't be strong enough! Cast steel would be my guess so it could be stick welded with the correct rods.

It's the mounting point for either old fashioned holey drawbar stabilisers, or I think a pickup hitch uses them.
For it to be burst the way it has, somebody has been doing something they shouldn't have.

And having looked again, that looks like somebody has welded in a bit steel bar, possibly even just a bit box section going by the way the top edge has bent.

 

[Robert Mullins]

I wonder as to whether this is cast iron, look around the casing, any numbers or letters stamped into it, then its cast steel, cast iron any letters/numbers will be cast with the casing
The raised edge has twisted, cast iron by virtue of it character cracks, and the crack face has a very distinctive granular appearance,
You can also do a spark test with an angle grinder, best look on U-Tube as it's easier to watch than I describe it
IF, it is cast iron,(if), and you weld it with the stick , you need only bevel a third of the material thickness either side, 2/3 over-all, the tensile strength of the weld deposit being much greater than the parent material, keep the heat input as low as your able, consistent with good fusion, and let it cool, (cold enough to handle) between stringer beads, and do not rush,

 

[andyt41]

Only got the tractor recently that is indeed a bit of box badly tacked on.Chris if you have done this job before is this cast iron or cast steel, if cast iron is there any danger of the heat spreading and cracking the cast somewhere else?If I get a plasma cut one I presume you mean steel, could this be welded to the cast with the
"Oerlikon arc rods called monel 6282"

 

[m_c]

I'm pretty certain it's cast iron.

In all honesty, unless you have some specific use for those holes, i.e. you're going to fit a swinging drawbar, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[chris pruteanu]

Yep,its definitely cast iron...Dont weld it cold although to penetrate properly you will need to preheat that corner...Get some rods that are meant for copper/nickel alloys, it will mix properly with the cast iron and will dilute a bit the carbon however the weld will be extremely hard !
http://www.oerlikonline.hu/files/166.pdf

 

[andyt41]

Got this from a guy on a tractor forum.
"It isn't cast steel , it isn't normal cast iron either.
The rear ends are cast from Spheroidal cast iron , a very different metal that combines some of the easy casting properties of grey cast iron and the toughness and flexibility of steel .
It welds Very well , almost as well as mild steel

Typical deep V cutting and the use of the right rod will create a good repair. No need for preheat or long cooling
processes either .
I can't help with the type of rod , I have forgotten what's used , but they are not the ones used on normal cast iron ."
Could anyone tell me the rod it might be?