small front end loader repair

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son in law picked up this 64 power king tractor from his Dad, loader needed a little bracing & welding. didnt feel like haulin it back to the shop, so i did the repair on site. i love the miller passport for jobs like this. sorry for the crumby cell phone pics, any way just a small repair no big deal.                       Bob Attached Images
Reply:sorry about that, they were right side up when i was posting, dont know what happened                                Bob
Reply:Cool. Someday I will own a Passport."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Old piece was cracked or rotted out?PowerKings were awesome tractors in there day!They would do alot of work that even equivalent era garden tractors could not do!Looks like the tie rod on the steering is a little bowed, guessing it doesn't like the front end loader.
Reply:stickman, all that welding, plus a few plates on the backside, & a couple of other small repairs @ the shop & fooling around after i bought it on 1 tank. I bought another tank & carry it with me just in case. also picked up a spoolmate on ebay for 120.00. the passport is awesome! drujinin the cross member between the loader arms had cracked @ the welds just about all the way around. so i pulled it back into shape, welded the cracks & ran a 1/4" plate all the way across the arms & cross member, installed gussets & plated the back side. yeah the tie rod among other things is bent a little but doesnt really affect any thing. they are very simple tractors & very easy to work on, & unbelievably strong. i started out with a 1980 powerking with loader, & then built  a backhoe for it & made quite a few bucks on the side,then finally sold it to buy a kubota, but i still see it around & it is still going strong!
Reply:It looks like you only welded on a plate onto the front of the cross-member - is that really going to help much if the metal was fatigued from torsional loads (vs. boxing it in)?Lincoln Handy Mig
Reply:dave, i pulled everything back toghether,  ground out the cracks, rewelded, then plated front & back & added gussets past the damaged areas to add strength. these little machines are always pushed past their limits & after 48 years of use & abuse this is the only weld repair that was needed. any way it lasted this long &  the next time it breaks i probably wont be around to fix it                    Bob
Reply:Ah! There's more to it then.  All I saw were those front pictures and thought "hmm, one plate just don't seem right..."Lincoln Handy Mig
Reply:Why did you put gussets in the middle of a hollow box section?Would the metal behind it deflect/crush if the gussets load up?
Reply:larry, just added the gussets for a little more strength & weld surface, the box tube i plated is 2" wide not saying it couldnt happen, but i dont think it ever will. if i had the tractor in my shop, i probably would have done it a little different, i only had minimum materials & tools on the job. I am confident in the repair & that it will last, son in law was happy, time will tell.                                          Bob
Reply:Thanks for the reply.I suppose the placement of those gussets show they provided more welding area and i dont think by their placement that they will get loaded up that much.It gives that cross piece a little more hold.Im sure your repair will outlast the OEM design.