Question about side frames on 450B

[crawler123]

This question is about the side frames, not the track frames.

What type of steel are they made of and what type of arc electrode should be used to weld them?

Unless the frame is removed from the tractor this would be a vertical weld.

Any ideas?

thanks

[jdlou]

Hi Crawler 123,
Don't make the same mistake I made when I welded on my 350B. Disconnect the battery cables before welding. I had to replace my regualtor after I welded with DC on the bucket

[jdemaris]

This question is about the side frames, not the track frames.

What type of steel are they made of and what type of arc electrode should be used to weld them?

Unless the frame is removed from the tractor this would be a vertical weld.

Any ideas?

thanks

Deere Company told us to use 7018 when repairing them. If you use it, make sure it's been kept in a dry place before using. 7018 "low hydrogen" rod soaks up moisture like crazy.

[crawler123]

Thanks jdlou and jdemaris.
Yes I saw a note in the manual to disconnect the neg terms on the batteries before welding.
I've heard horror stories about ruining bearings and hurting electrical systems. I am an electrician by trade and I just don't see how electricity can take a side path like that. Seems if you have your ground connection very close to the weld then you should be ok. but then I didn't think lightning could strike twice in the same place until I moved to montana

Yes I thought it would take 7018 rods.
Unfortunately those don't do well in vertical.
Any suggestions?
thanks
Dennis

[jdemaris]

Thanks jdlou and jdemaris.
Yes I saw a note in the manual to disconnect the neg terms on the batteries before welding.

Yes I thought it would take 7018 rods.
Unfortunately those don't do well in vertical.

I guess "well" is a relative term. I've done a lot of vertical welding with 7018 with reverse-polarity DC and did fine. I weld up, not down and use a triangular weave motion. The rod needs to be bone-dry and use a low amps as possible. Works OK in AC also but less amps can be used with DC. When I last worked at a Deere dealership, we used 7018 when the side-frames were on the machine, or a special 120K PSI "high-tensile" rod when the frames were off the machine. The high-tensile rod has a higher tensile strength but is near impossible to use on a vertical weld. The high-allow bead kind of looks like stainless when done. It was a 12018 rod instead of the conventional 7018.