The hated plastic fender, so has anyone repaired one?

[Rollerman 290]

I'm wondering if any members have had any success repairing a plastic fender?

The normal suggestion is to replace the plastic fender pan with a later stamped steel piece.

Call me odd, but I like the looks of the brittle, can't lean on them, hard to pour gas into plastic fenders.

I have a C85 that has one crack in the fender & not sure if I should try glue of some kind?

Maybe tiger hair on the back side?

I want to fix this one, not wanting to drill it & back it up with another piece riveted or screwed in....that looks tacky.

Ideas?????

 

 

[MalMac 1,332]

I have seen a few repaired with fiberglass, how that's done i am not sure. I have never worked with it. The problem you got there as you already know, is that fender is so brittle it's just not one for a working tractor. Now there is or was a guy on that auction site that was or is making aftermarket ones. Maybe someone will chime in here that has more knowledge on that then I do. I have seen them things crack just from the vibration of the tractor in cold weather. My advise is, if it's a working tractor put the steel pan on.

[baerpath 517]

I've seen people use the kits for repairing car bumpers. drill a hole at the end of the crack first and ad a piece under the crack at the same time

 

 

[pacer 3,174]

Those things will tax anybody's patience!!

 

I started in to repair one using fiber glass as I had a bit of experience with it - and, IMO, that would really be the only way to do it. After about 20-30 mins I had added another 4-5 cracks and the one I had started to work had extended another 4-6 inchesjust from handling it!!

 

I donated it to the plastic recycling bin....

[clip 185]

You could try plastic welding kits, but the whole thing is probably brittle. Whatever you do, make sure to drill a hole at the crack tip to stop its propagation.

[Brian01 481]

I agree, remove the fender, drill a small hole at the top of the crack,  go to the backside, add a small metal brace of some kind to bring the crack back together, grind the screws flush, give it a good sanding, rough it up  a bit, buy a small fiberglass kit, mesh, hardener etc, apply, let dry, sand it a bit n leave be. Won't even notice it.

[RedRanger 1,468]

Plastic weld or just leave it alone.

[refracman 167]

I've repair these a number of times with just glue. the one on my 195 was in bad shape when i  started with it. I did redeveloped one crack a couple years ago but it has held up well and I did it in 07. I'll have see if I still have the glue and get the name. Its a special type just for this application. It was busted up around the lift levers the worst and now you can't hardly tell. the frustrating part was getting paint to stick. The OE paint likes to peel when the new paint is applied. Took 7 or 8 repaints to have it come out acceptable. 

[Pullstart 63,268]

I have no experience with these fenders, but I had a plastic hydraulic tank that had quite a large gash in it on a plow truck one time, I used a MAP gas torch and heated a 1" wide chisel along with heating the plastic without burning it, then used the hot chisel to melt the two pieces back together.  It sealed by itself, then I used two part epoxy and fiberglass matte to further strengthen it before sanding down smooth.  It might work the same... who knows.  Good luck!

[Rollerman 290]

Thanks for the replies & ideas.

I remember seeing a type of tape on another plastic fender before....no it wasn't duct tape.

Almost like an aluminum foil & it wouldn't peel up, but I can't seem to find anything like it searching the webs.

There is only the one crack in this fender & it still fits together without any gaps.

If I could find that tape I mentioned & some glue or bonding agent inside the crack itself this would be good to go.

 

 

[clip 185]

3M sells foil tape for hard to stick surfaces and it's a very good product.

[RedRanger 1,468]

Correct glue that will actually bond depends on the type of plastic.

 

 

Good luck.

[refracman 167]

well it looks like i pitched the tube i had or more than likely its lost in the abyss lol

But i believe this is the product i used. If I do have to repair another one this is what I will use.

http://www.eplastics.com/plexiglass_glue

 

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/plexiglass_glue/ips16-1-5oz

[DennisThornton 4,769]

My 2 cents...

 

Take a hammer and beat the crap out of it!  OK... I'm frustrated... 

 

Mine had a similar crack.  First winter it broke off.  Second winter the other side broke!  Oh, 2 more cents.  If you work your horse in the cold buy another metal fender pan!  Maybe too fragile period but way too fragile when below zero!  As far as I know the worst thing WH ever did!  Still love my C-85 but she's got a steel pan waiting for her!

[Rollerman 290]

1 hour ago, refracman said:

well it looks like i pitched the tube i had or more than likely its lost in the abyss lol

But i believe this is the product i used. If I do have to repair another one this is what I will use.

http://www.eplastics.com/plexiglass_glue

 

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/plexiglass_glue/ips16-1-5oz

Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

1 hour ago, DennisThornton said:

My 2 cents...

 

Take a hammer and beat the crap out of it!  OK... I'm frustrated... 

 

Mine had a similar crack.  First winter it broke off.  Second winter the other side broke!  Oh, 2 more cents.  If you work your horse in the cold buy another metal fender pan!  Maybe too fragile period but way too fragile when below zero!  As far as I know the worst thing WH ever did!  Still love my C-85 but she's got a steel pan waiting for her!

It's only the one crack & a worker, so I'm going to run it till it can't be repaired.

For what it's worth I pushed snow for years with a C175 that had the plastic fender & never had a problem or a crack in it.

[DennisThornton 4,769]

1 hour ago, Rollerman said:

Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

It's only the one crack & a worker, so I'm going to run it till it can't be repaired.

For what it's worth I pushed snow for years with a C175 that had the plastic fender & never had a problem or a crack in it.

I'm thinking that if you don't bump anything and don't lean on it getting out they are probably ok.  My C-85 is a worker too but what is left of the plastic fenders, (not much!) is gone when I get a few minutes.

I have a plastic welder from HF and with some skill, time and practice it will weld thermoplastics.  I'm not the best!  But even if you do weld it there's a lot more that needs doing to make it look good, just like welding steel.  Sanding, finishing, priming and painting and plastic is very different then metal!.  Before mine got worse I was going to weld only the underneath and try to reinforce the edges with something like metal door edge guard and just leave the small, not terribly visible crack.  But then the other side cracked and now there is little left...

[Brian01 481]

If you have a lady friend that's into crafts, could borrow her hot glue gun and glue it, but just about any type of glue won't hold up to the vibrations and etc...that's why I mentioned fiberglass, it hardens and the mess keeps it in tact.

[RedRanger 1,468]

With glue, the issue is the chemical bond.  Some glues will not stick, some will peel off, some will crack, some will work, some could damage your plastic.

Same with fiberglass.

[JimD 3,345]

Anyone have any thoughts about PVC glue on the plastic fender pan to seal Roll's crack? Well, that didn't come out right butt you know what I mean.

Edited December 18, 2015 by JimD

[Ironman 115]

I had a C-145 that had pieces actually broken completely off and I had excellent results with fiberglass mat on the underside to secure the pieces. I roughed up the surface with course sandpaper to give the fiberglass something to bite into. On the top side I used a disk sander to dig into the plastic over the cracks followed by fiberglass and then a skim coat of body filler. The repair was actually stronger than the original plastic.

[Adams94 1,068]

We have new reproduction fenders made out of fiberglass