In reply to oldopelguy:
The problem with that is since they designed it with two drag links there was no need for a tie rod, so the steering arms are up at the same height as the frame and engine. The tie rod would need a big u bend to miss everything. Plus the splines are bad between the spindles and the arm, there is quite a bit of play. I also think the rh spindle is bent because the tire runs really close. The combine axle should eliminate all these problems.
I got my combine parts home. It looks pretty wide, but i think when i take the big tires off the axle and put my skinny tires on it will be close to the same width as the outside of my rear tires. I hope so, because i would love to not have to narrow the axle.
Theres no turning back now.
I had been putting off the inevitable, cutting parts. I started with the steering column. It goes through a hole in the dash. To remove the dash you are supposed to remove the steering wheel. I assume that the splines were shot, because at some point the steering wheel was welded to the steering shaft. So i cut the column. Its dead now. Dash removed.
Next came the front axles. They slide into the center section and are made so you can change the front track width. They no longer slide. They no longer budge, even with a bottle jack and mini sledge helping with persuasion. So they got cut too. Its just as well because the part that remains will reinforce where the new axle gets welded in.
I am now "pot committed." Its either complete the steering conversion or part it out.
Oh man its been a while since i posted an update. The tractor project went stagnant for a while because of other more pressing matters getting in the way, but i pushed it back to the forefront this weekend. I cut 9 inches out of the center of the combine axle and butt welded it back together, then plated it with some half inch thick angle iron to reinforce where it was cut and spliced. I made U-brackets and tacked the new axle to the remains of the old axle. I have to tack because my 110v welder wont make sufficient welds on such thick material. So i am cutting and fabbing and tacking everything at home, then the whole assembly is going to come back out of the tractor so i can take it to my uncles shop where i can use his big monster hobart unit for final welding.
In reply to gearheadmb :
Are you MIG welding 110v, or a different method?
At work, we frequently arc and TIG structural material up to 5/8" thick with 110v suitcase welders; the trick is to make sure everything is beveled correctly and then run two or three passes. Actually results in a better weld than a single hot pass...
Recon1342 said:In reply to gearheadmb :
Are you MIG welding 110v, or a different method?
At work, we frequently arc and TIG structural material up to 5/8" thick with 110v suitcase welders; the trick is to make sure everything is beveled correctly and then run two or three passes. Actually results in a better weld than a single hot pass...
Can you elaborate? I just bought a 110v DC arc welder and keep getting told (exaggerating somewhat) that you can’t weld anything thicker than 3/16th and even then you need to preheat and you’re better off welding 1/8th, no thicker.
In reply to ebonyandivory :
Stick welding is a tad trickier, but it can still be done. Ideally, on any thick metal, no matter what kind of voltage you have, you need to bevel the edges to be welded together. You’re generally looking for a 45* bevel that takes up about 75% of the thickness of the piece. For 1/2” plate, that means the bevel will be 3/8” deep, and 1/8” will still be vertical. Next, you tack everything in place. Clean your tacks, and run what is called the root pass. Chip all the slag off, clean and grind the weld until it’s flat. Next is the hot pass. Turn up your amps til you are 10-15 amps hotter than the root pass. Run the hot pass right over the top of what you just welded. Clean, grind, etc. Finally, you run the cover pass. The cover pass can be run colder than the hot pass, and it should fill the valley you made when you beveled the piece. The weld will be flush or a little higher than the surface, so you’ll be able to grind everything flush to get a smooth joint. When we fit pipe, the cover pass is left alone, as it protects the structural part of the weld and gives it some extra stability.
For the 110v welders, it’s important to let the welder cool off between passes, and it’s a good idea to let the welds cool as well. Not til they’re cold, usually 5-10 minutes is plenty; it gives the metal time to settle down and can help prevent warping.
The type of rod you use is important, too. For a root pass, use 6011 that’s 3/32” thick; everything else gets 7018 at 3/32” thick. 1/8” rod is nice for thicker metal, but you have to run it hotter than most 110v units can go.
My number is on the GRM assist list for Idaho, if you’ve got more questions, shoot me a text. I do this stuff for a living, and I really enjoy helping people learn...
Recon1342 said:In reply to ebonyandivory :
Stick welding is a tad trickier, but it can still be done. Ideally, on any thick metal, no matter what kind of voltage you have, you need to bevel the edges to be welded together. You’re generally looking for a 45* bevel that takes up about 75% of the thickness of the piece. For 1/2” plate, that means the bevel will be 3/8” deep, and 1/8” will still be vertical. Next, you tack everything in place. Clean your tacks, and run what is called the root pass. Chip all the slag off, clean and grind the weld until it’s flat. Next is the hot pass. Turn up your amps til you are 10-15 amps hotter than the root pass. Run the hot pass right over the top of what you just welded. Clean, grind, etc. Finally, you run the cover pass. The cover pass can be run colder than the hot pass, and it should fill the valley you made when you beveled the piece. The weld will be flush or a little higher than the surface, so you’ll be able to grind everything flush to get a smooth joint. When we fit pipe, the cover pass is left alone, as it protects the structural part of the weld and gives it some extra stability.
For the 110v welders, it’s important to let the welder cool off between passes, and it’s a good idea to let the welds cool as well. Not til they’re cold, usually 5-10 minutes is plenty; it gives the metal time to settle down and can help prevent warping.
The type of rod you use is important, too. For a root pass, use 6011 that’s 3/32” thick; everything else gets 7018 at 3/32” thick. 1/8” rod is nice for thicker metal, but you have to run it hotter than most 110v units can go.
My number is on the GRM assist list for Idaho, if you’ve got more questions, shoot me a text. I do this stuff for a living, and I really enjoy helping people learn...
You sure you would not recommend a J-Bevel? :P
He means the upper detail. The size limitation is because for piping you are trying to hold pressure. For your purposes you should be fine with it.
Recon1342 said:In reply to gearheadmb :
Are you MIG welding 110v, or a different method?
At work, we frequently arc and TIG structural material up to 5/8" thick with 110v suitcase welders; the trick is to make sure everything is beveled correctly and then run two or three passes. Actually results in a better weld than a single hot pass...
Its a mig. 125A iirc. I havent done any arc welding since high school when they taught us how to in ffa. I could put down a good weld with it back then, but that was 20 years ago. My dad has a portable arc welder that is old as the hills, and when i have tried to use it it seemed like the current fluctuated an awful lot so i havent really messed with it.
In reply to gearheadmb :
With 125A MIG, as long as you take your time and let the welder cool, you should be good. How thick is that combine axle?
Mad_Ratel said:
He means the upper detail. The size limitation is because for piping you are trying to hold pressure. For your purposes you should be fine with it.
You sure you would not recommend a J-Bevel? :P
I never went to school for welding; everything I’ve learned has been on the job, working with certified fitters and welders. All I know is, if you take your time to prep, you can do a lot more with a 110v welder than folks on the internet say you can. Our steam fittings only run to 300psi, but I also weld Hydraulic line. It’s way easier because of socket fittings. Almost everything else is stainless steel, with sanitary thrown in on occasion.
Food processing is a fun industry!
Thanks for posting the graphic, it’s neat.
That code mentioned in the graphic covers most all coded piping in the united states.
ASME B16.25. A J bevel is usually used on piping greater than 1" thick holding steam pressures over 900 psi. It allows the tig cup better access for the root pass without adding too many backing passes to the work.
-Piping "engineer" (I need to get my damn PE...)
Recon1342 said:In reply to gearheadmb :
With 125A MIG, as long as you take your time and let the welder cool, you should be good. How thick is that combine axle?
The axle itself is 1/4' wall, most of the stuff I'm welding to it is 1/2 or 3/8.
In reply to gearheadmb :
You’ll be fine. Weld in sections after everything is tacked into place, working from opposing ends of the piece, and weld 6-8” at a time, then let the welder cool for a few minutes. That’ll keep the welder happy, and your welds should be just fine in terms of strength.
Edit to add: make sure your metal is CLEAN. Grind off paint and rust, make everything smooth, and wipe it down with acetone to remove any oils. Contamination kills welds.
My dad has an IH of that size and vintage (well, his is a '65). It has full hydraulic steer. It's nice when you have a heavy load in the bucket. It's not nice when the carb is out of adjustment and you're running down the road in high gear when the engine dies. Do not press in the clutch!
Thursday night I did the final welding on the axle. It burnt in pretty good and I'm confident in them. The way I ended up mounting the steering wasn't exactly what I had in mind. The steering arms bolt on to the spindles in a way that lets you mount the steering front or rear, high or low. I wanted the tie rod behind the axle, but I couldn't use the high mounting in the rear because of interference with the oil pan. If I mounted it low the tie rod and steering cylinder hang below the axle, which would be bad. So I mounted the steering up high in the front.
I also got the wheels painted whilst I was at it. I think the paint job turned out really nice considering my minimal prep and the fact that I did it with a brush. I used rustoleum farm and implement paint for everything. It worked nice. It does a really good job of flattening itself out. Hopefully I can thin it out enough to run it through a spray gun because I also want to paint the rest of the tractor before I put the loader back on.
Nice Mustang!!
Also, good job on the steering.
Here it is standing proudly on its own two feet as god intended. I thought when I started this steering conversion it would end up looking ridiculous (which didn't necessarily bother me, it's a tractor after all) but I don't think that front axle looks bad in there. It is definitely more beefy than original, and if all goes as planned it should be much better to drive. I guess that makes this a restomod, barn find, with patina. I'm hella cool.
Did you wind up using your welder?
In reply to Recon1342 :
No, i did them using my uncles big welder. Im not doubting your claim that it could be done with my little 125, but i dont have the skills to do it and be confident when i was done. The axle needed to come out of the tractor for the welding anyway and my uncle only lives about a mile up the road. Plus it gave me a chance to sit and hang out with him a while which is always nice.
I made some more progress last night. The wiring on the tractor was in pretty bad shape. The insulation was cracked and rubbed through in places, most of it had been cut and spliced several times, and it was oddly routed which made disassembling and reassembling the tractor a bigger pain than it needed to be. So i made a new wire harness for the whole tractor. That sounds like a big deal, but since a previous owner removed all the lights it only takes five wires. Thats for every thing, which is awesome. So its got all new wiring and connectors now, its tucked safely inside corrugated plastic conduit, and its rerouted in a manner that should make service a little faster. I think this small investment of time and money is something i will be thanking myself for in the future.
Another issue was the shifter. It had an issue where the pivot pin would try to back out of the hole, let the mechanism pop up, and not engage the shift rails properly. There is supposed to be an expansion plug to hold it in, but its gone. For now i put a steel ball in the recess where the plug went and i put a hose clamp around the shift tower to hold it in place. It looks kind of janky but it works good. I will probably try to fix it right in the future, but for now this hould keep it from trying to engage two gears all the time.
I almost forgot to mention, my new priority valve showed up. I can start plumbing. Once that is done it is time to fire it up for a test drive. The moment of truth. Stay tuned.
I mounted the priority valve last night and started trying to compile a shopping list for hoses and fittings. What i wouldnt give for a hose crimper at the house for a weekend.
Plumbing seemed like it would be the easy part of the job, but the parker store works on bankers hours, so it was one trip saturday, realize I got mostly wrong stuff (completely my fault for going there without a strong knowledge of hydraulic fittings,) return that monday, get the right parts, give them a small fortune and my left kidney, plumb some, realize I don't have everything, get more stuff tuesday to finish. So after taking the kids trick or treating last night I figured I would try to finish up plumbing. Its not my cleanest plumbing job, but it is what it is. I put the steering wheel on, installed the battery, topped off the hydraulic fluid, said a little prayer, and fired that mother up.
At first I spun the steering and wheel and nothing happened. Thats not very comforting, but I thought maybe it just needed to purge the air from the lines. I ran the rear hitch up and down to verify that I still had hydraulics. That worked, so I felt better. Back to the steering. I kept going back and forth, and I could feel the steering effort increasing. Assumed that was a good sign i kept going. I see a slight movement from the wheels, then they sprang to life. It must have just taken that long to purge the air from the lines. The only issue, I steer right, the wheels turn left. No big deal, since it is fully hydraulic all I had to do was switch the two hoses that attach to the steering cylinder. Easy peezy. Time for a test drive.
Down the drive way I go. All I can say is the conversion was worth every penny and every minute and every minute I put into it. Before there was at least a quarter turn of free play in the steering, now there is none. Before you had put a ton of effort into the wheel, to the point that I didn't think women, children or the elderly would be able to drive it. That was without the loader on. I think it would have been undriveable with the loader. Now there is very little steering effort required. It feels like a factory hydraulic steering. My only complaint is its a little slow, not bad, just a little. This could be changed by putting a smaller hydraulic cylinder on, but that would decrease the force available and most likely increase the steering effort. The other issue with that is the cylinder already plenty small and I built my axle to fit THIS cylinder. Since it is only probably 10-20% slower than I would call ideal I'm not going to mess with it. Overall I am very happy with how the steering turned out, and if I had it to do over I would definitely do it again. I have a couple slow dripping leaks to fix, and I need to pick up some clips to secure the hoses, and put the hood back on it, but its ready to rock out.
When I bought this thing my goal was to have a working loader tractor for $2000 or less. So far I think i'm about $1500 into it, So I'm feeling pretty good.
Next on the agenda is to use it some and figure out what other repairs need done. As far as mods go, I need to add some lights. Stay tuned and thanks for listening.
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