Re: Re: Darned if I do. Darned if I dont.

Posted by lee on March 30, 2001 at 18:06:49 from (198.133.22.67):

In Reply to: Re: Darned if I do. Darned if I dont. posted by Charlie on March 30, 2001 at 08:18:37:

This is in fact a tough one to figure, especially
not seeing the crack. You need to decide if the crack is highly stressed and has compromised the structural integrity of the casting. It almost seems it is stressed in this case as a 16 inch crack has likely grown to this length. If it is structural, you are probably ahead of the game to replace it. There is almost no doubt it can be fixed IF it can be properly prepared for welding which means it needs to be drilled at the ends, grooved rather deeply along it's length and filled with weld to regain the castings structural integrity as best can do. The cast prior to welding must be free of oil. Nearly impossible with these old tractor castings. The casting should be pre-heated to avoid starting other cracks due to thermal stress. This is probably the most troublesome aspect of welding cast. Cast is brittle and weak in tension. The thermal stresses tend to start more cracks. The only avoidance is to preheat and the best preheat is to heat the entire casting. So there can be some very practical limitations with large castings. Pre-heating with a torch is often done for this reason. Here again you can get in trouble with thermal stress. The welding is best done with the casting removed from the tractor, with the casting inverted and the crack on the top side. But if you go thru the trouble to remove it you are probably ahead to replace it. Some castings just aren't available to be replaced so welding can be the only option and all the steps needed to get a good weld can be justified. The above description is a worst case and a best can do fix. As you can see there are few guarantees welding cast. In the case of a non-structural you can sometimes do a shallow groove or surface weld to stop the leaks.
I have welded several cast pieces, but I am not a professional welder.

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