Frame Repair

[lae1967 35]

So I kinda pushed the old girl a bit too hard and caused multiple breaks in the transaxle mounting plate.  Over worked with the grader blade one weekend and then snow blower the next.  With the chains and the blower on I didn't notice any wobble which I'm sure it was giving me on the 10 driveways I clear.  Finally knew something was wrong when the clutch pedal failed to rotate the tensioner.  So I did some research on the forums and found some similar repair/reinforcements here on Red Square.  I decided my best option was to just cut the back plate off. There was 3/8" from the end of the frame rails to the face of the original back plate so I used a 6-3/4" square of 3/8" plate to replace the back plate. Since I was only left with the 3/16” vertical “fins” I used some 5/16” angle (1/4” would have worked but I was able to get some shop scrap 5/16” cheaper) to help transfer the load. Then I added a couple of 2” x 1/4” angle braces.  I bolted the front of the bars since there was already a hole in the frame rails that worked perfect.  My welds are not the best looking but I don’t weld very often and was using a DC inverter stick welder I picked up at Harbor Freight a few years back for the occasional repair. I think it should hold for the application, just won’t win any awards.  Dash tower is cracked as well so that repair is next, then since I have it tore all apart I guess I’ll do that full restoration I’ve been wanting to do.  A bit of an overkill but I shouldn't  break it at this location again and I added some weight.  I'll add the drawing I have for the pieces when I get a PDF copy of it made.

Edited January 28, 2019 by lae1967

[wallfish 17,112]

Nice fix!

Yeah, it certainly appears you had a catastrophic failure. Couple pieces of angle iron wasn't gonna fix that one.

As far as welding goes, it's NOT like riding a bike, especially when you don't do it often.  

[Lee1977 6,868]

You did good saved another Horse.

[The Tuul Crib 7,338]

That s one horse that ain't going to the glue factory! Nice work!

 

to 

 

will be watching this for more pics!!

[Achto 27,913]

Great job on the frame repair!!

[bds1984 1,453]

I completed a very similar repair to my 520H a couple years ago.  Your repair will hold up just fine!  Don't lose any sleep!  My C165 will be getting a very similar repair as a precautionary repair but I will most likely use 1/4"-5/16" plate and dropping the mount holes an inch or two so I can raise up the back end of the tractor to match the height of the swept axle with 18-8.50s on it.

[lae51967 14]

Thanks guys. This is the aggressive tooth bar I made for the grader blade which I think put the most strain on the frame. It did a great job of breaking up the hard packed CA6 rock but apparently did just as good breaking up the back plate. I think I'd be safe to use it again on rock with the beefed up back plate,  or should I make one to utilize the dozer bracket off the rear axle? I think I saw one that someone made on here.

[roadapples 6,983]

1 hour ago, bds1984 said:

 

 

 

 

dropping the mount holes an inch or two so I can raise up the back end of the tractor to match the height of the swept axle with 18-8.50s on it.

That may open a whole can of worms with belt, linkage etc. Easier to add taller tires..

[dells68 7,498]

I’m impressed with the ripper idea in the blade.  Are they bolt on or welded?  I wish the gravel I work could be made to look like that, but my Dad’s drive has a lot of riprap packed underneat to make a solid bed.  Seems the finer gravel make their way under them and they are always within an inch or so of the surface.  They do help with washing out though!

[Sarge 3,464]

That's exactly how I plan to tackle the 1277 this summer and it's shattered rear plate, which has already been welded back together twice.

 

That particular welder, just an fyi - can barely run 1/16" rods. Look into the AHP 160ST - I did a review on it in the tools/equipment section. For the money - that little box can't be beat and will run 1/8" 7018 plenty hot enough for heavier repairs if needed.

 

Sarge

[lae1967 35]

3 hours ago, dells68 said:

I’m impressed with the ripper idea in the blade.  Are they bolt on or welded?  I wish the gravel I work could be made to look like that, but my Dad’s drive has a lot of riprap packed underneat to make a solid bed.  Seems the finer gravel make their way under them and they are always within an inch or so of the surface.  They do help with washing out though!

It's bolted on with  four 3/8" bolts.  I used the old dozer blade edge bar I kept after replacing is a few years back (knew it would come in handy for something) I used some chisel points similar to the photo, cut them in half and welded them with different sized spacer rods so the center tooth was the farthest out then sequentially stepped back similar to a road grader, each step is only a fraction of an inch but it seemed to work.

[bds1984 1,453]

13 hours ago, roadapples said:

That may open a whole can of worms with belt, linkage etc. Easier to add taller tires..

 

Not that big of a deal for me.  I already have larger tires on it and I have a machine shop at school I can use if needed; the tires didn't clear the fenders, so I raised them, but I want a little more clearance.  Long story short, I'm slowly making my C165-8 look like the C195 I regret selling.

[Lee1977 6,868]

Here is my set up.

I have a home made grader blade on the hand lift. It's a pain to get the hand lift to unlatch with the pulverizer on as it's so heavy. I could lift it easy with both hands, but the winch work better.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Lee1977

[lae51967 14]

Here's the drawing I used to layout the steel pieces for the frame repair.

 

[lae1967 35]

I noticed the files I uploaded yesterday were poor quality. I don't see where I can go back and edit them so here's what should be better quality files.

Wheelhorse Repair Page 1.pdf

Wheelhorse Repair Page 2.pdf

[richmondred01 2,268]

Nice repair job.