Cat 304 broken boom ear

[Portable Welder]

MMW, Very nice looking job, years ago I had a similar repair, I lined the plate up and welded it together, everything went fine until I took it outside and stood the stick up vertical, my heart sunk when I realized the stick was crooked, I had to cut it back apart and redo it.

Lesson learned, I always level the machine out and get the stick vertical to tack prior to fully welding.

[Auto_Tech]

Nice build up on the "tracks" of the CAT's boom and the customer should be pleased, but the original damage only confirms why I use JDs (or Hitachi) on the farm -- sure you have to rebuild a cylinder on two on the hydraulics, but they've done equal or harder work and the booms have remained in one piece.

[digr]

I am always nervous when I look at a post like this about what I will see but in your case you did a A++ job, well done.

[ryanjones2150]

Nice work. You're a valuable member of your crew there and clearly as asset to your company. The down time on that machine can very costly. <br />
<br />
Did you at least have some help in the shop?

[Olivero]

Yeah, seems like a very thorough and decent repair. I would probably have done the same thing myself. I might not have thought of the plate but that seemed like good assurance. Would take quite some effort to wreck that.

[MMW]

I don't claim to be an expert, just working from experience so this is how I did it. Disconnected stick & dropped it down to give me room to prep the area, veed it out. Reinstalled the stick with the broken ear using pin to help align it. Measured from numerous areas, dropped string lines down each side to check also, used a level & "eyeballed" it. Once it was set to my liking I tacked the outside & removed the stick again. Cut a spacer the right size to take the place of the stick, reinserted the pin & clamped it all together. Pre heated until my spit sizzled & then did a root on the inside, ground in from the outside using the edge of the grinding wheel until I hit my root pass from the other side. Welded two passes on the outside & then alternated passes in & out until done. Ground off the outside & welded on a plate, then also welded a plate on the other ear. Let it cool, then cleaned it up & hooked everything back up. Final measuring shows I am very close & looks perfectly aligned to the eye. This would have been more difficult out on a job site & probably wouldn't of turned out as well. I used 7018 rod. Time will tell if it holds up but I don't see any reason why it won't.

[MMW]

Before & after.



[ATTACH=CONFIG]n574877[/ATTACH]

[MMW]

All done & customer is very happy. I give up on trying to make these photo's large. It comes up on the preview but then they are still small when you post..

[MMW]

No I didn't. Try again. One picture will not load & that was part of the problem.

Welded in & out. Plate welded on.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n574867[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n574868[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n574869[/ATTACH]

[ryanjones2150]

Bet you didn't think the hard part of that repair would be posting pictures of your victory.

[MMW]

Won't let me post more pics tonight. I'll try again tomorrow, frustrating.

Trying this morning & still getting an error when I try to post more pictures.

I'll try again later. Why is it so difficult?

[MMW]

Vee'd it out, tacked it up', then welded alternating from inside to outside.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n574844[/ATTACH]

[MMW]

Took awhile to get it aligned correctly but after that it welded fine. Ran some string down the sides to try to keep it centered.

[ryanjones2150]

It was probably an old 580 I saw that do not weld thing on then...<br />
<br />
Get any back story on how the crew broke it? Might have been a crack in that casting from the get go. Looks pretty clean and fresh in the pictures, except for maybe down at the bottom. Hard to tell from the picture angle. <br />
<br />
What alloy are you planning to use? Some fancy schmancy maintenance rod or just 7018?

[Bls repair]

Are pin and bushing tight ?If not may not line straight