Tractor Fender Repair

[Don52]

The next step was to us a picking hammer and a dolly to straighten out the cracked metal. Then I used a small c-clamp to force the edges of the crack into alignment. The last step was to spot MIG weld the edges together. I used my LE 31 MP with .025” wire to minimize burn through on the .048” thick...

[Don52]

My friend and customer Rick’s fender on his tractor cracked on both sides in the rear. On the left side the sharp cracked edges protruded from the fender, so they were a cut hazard. The first picture shows the entire fender.

1. Fender


I like to weld bright shiny metal...

[Don52]

Thank you.



Thanks, I really like my Clausing Colchester lathe and use it all the time.

-Don...

[Don52]

I agree that the DoAll saws are robustly built. In normal operation the bracket is more than adequate.



It broke two time in 75 years. I can’t address the first time but the second time was due to abuse. We were tipping the saw vertical by lifting under the table on one...

[Don52]

Here is a picture of the saw painted.

16. Saw painted


My friend John was in a GM plant downriver and noticed them scrapping a similar saw that was caught in a flood. He asked them to send him the selection dial for my saw, which the did. I don't typically use the selection...

[Don52]

11. Outside of brazed joint


12. Entire bracket repaired


I decided to paint the saw. The first step was to Dual Action sand the saw to blend the paint chips. I didn't bother to use primer surfacer to make the surface completely flat.

13. Saw DA sa...

[Don52]

I mounted the bracket in the table to hold all of the pieces in the correct orientation.

6. Bracket in place for brazing


My friend John used one of my Oxyacetylene torches to preheat the casting to 900° F.

7. Preheating with one torch


...

[Don52]

In the process of moving my DoAll saw we put too much force on the table and broke the cast iron table bracket. When we inspected the bracket we could see that it was repaired by brazing in the past. The first picture shows the saw with the table askew due to the broken bracket.

1. DoAll...

[Don52]

Here is a picture of the mounted closed gate from the street.

21. Gate closed


Last but not least here is a picture of the opened gate, looking towards the street.

22. Gate opened


-Don...

[Don52]

Last Saturday we installed the gate. Here is a close up picture of the hinge block and the pintle. After some experimenting we found that it was easiest to mount the top block to the gate leaf, then hang the gate and then slide the lower bearing block onto the lower pintle and finally mount the lower...

[Don52]

11. Gate leaf welded


I found that the pivot pin of the gate actuator wouldn't fit in the bore of the gate bracket because of the powder coat, so I brought home the gate brackets and reamed them with an adjustable reamer.

12. Reaming off powder coat from bore
...

[Don52]

The next step was to do a dry run with all of the details to insure that we had all of the proper hardware and everything fit.

6. Checking fit and our measurements


The first thing that we found is that the pintles bottomed out by hitting concrete before they were in...

[Don52]

Last fall I prepared detailed drawings for the driveway gate for my friend Scott, who is an engineer that I work with. Scott had previously designed the piers and arranged their construction. The piers are actually an armature of stainless steel, which goes about five feet deep into a footing. The bricks...

[Don52]

11. Drilling out head bolt


Next I wound out the portion of the screw that was still in the female threads. (The portion that I removed looked like a Helicoil). To clean up the threads, I ran a tap through the hole..

12. Cleaning up threads with tap


...

[Don52]

Unfortunately my welded nut wasn't strong enough to extract the broken off portion of the head bolt. My welded nut broke off which meant that I would have to drill out the broken off head bolt. To support the motor I made some cleats to help me to clamp the motor to my Bridgeport.

6. Counter...

[Don52]

My friend John's buddy brought his lawn mower to a lawn and garden repair center because it was making a clattering noise. The center told my friends buddy that there was a broken connecting rod and the mower wasn't worth fixing. When John took apart the engine he found that the original problem was...

[Don52]

No, and the self leveling Nivomat shocks are not available for it....

[Don52]

I agree. If you have a nice tight lathe it is easy to use the parting tool.

-Don...

[Don52]

6061-T6 Aluminum



No, it was what I had on hand.



Using the lathe I could square up the bar, ensure a parallel cut and chamfer the edge....

[Don52]

The last picture shows the exhaust manifold painted and installed in the jet ski.

6. New cap welded in

7. Two manifolds done

8. Manifold painted and installed


-Don...