First welding project... HELP!

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So i am fairly new to welding, but my old man has a job for me... he says it will be good practice and way cheaper for him. Plate up the bucket on his 2008 Cat 315.I will be using a Marquette 225 amp AC arc welder that is older than dirt. Here are my questions. 1. will welding the plates distort the bucket? if so how what do i do in order to not wreck it. 2. should i remove the bucket from the machine to weld it? (will welding mess up any electornics or the alternator?)3. Are 6013 rods going to be ok? (this machine moves alot of boulders and i don't want my plates falling off.4. what size rod should i use? im assuming 5/32.As far as my welding abilities... my slag doesn't peel up behind each weld but i definitely am good enough not to make a mess everywhere. Edit* i plan in making 3 passes on each side of each plate. Thanks for the help guys... I am kind of nervous about this because if i f*** up that machine he will kill me.Last edited by Silverado; 10-21-2009 at 11:33 AM.
Reply:Most buckets r made out of high carbon steel which makes them very strong but also heat sensitive they require special rods such as 7018 h8 7016 and also would require preheating to avoid cracking and considering the bucket moves big heavy boulders that impact the bucket like crazy unless you a pretty confident you can pull off a pretty much perfect weld minmimal undercut etc id hold of and let someone that does this do it Goodluck Steve*Edit* yes i would remove the bucket as it can kill the electronics of the loader          no 6013s arnt ok          3.2      hope my answer helps outLast edited by Bozzza; 10-21-2009 at 05:04 PM.
Reply:7018  1/8" would be my choice, 8018 if I could get some easy. I doubt you need to remove the bucket as long as you ground to the bucket and not the machine. Pull the battery cable off if you are concerned. I assume by plate, you want to add or replace the wear plates on the back or sides. On the buckets I've worked on we frequently tack the strip to the bucket than use the machine to help roll the plate tight to the back and then tack the other end. If that doesn't work the first time, It will usually go if you heat the plate with a rosebud a bit in the problem area and try again. Leaving the bucket on will also let you easily reposition the bucket to make welding as easy as posible. Side plates I might pull the bucket so I could roll it over on the side to work.You'll want to get that bucket as clean as posible first. We usually pressure wash with the 0 deg nozel to knock as much crap off as posible before we start to grind. Grind everything shiny including the new steel. Most of the strips we've replaced are with AR plate or T-1. Don't go nuts getting things super hot. Weld one place then move and weld somewhere else. Let things cool between passes..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:We almost always have a bucket from one of our track-hoes in the shop.  We generally rebuild them and the hard-face and add wear plates.  We use 7018 to weld the buckets up and generally add wear pads on the sides and bottom of the bucket.  We use hard-facing rods over those plates.  Also my employes do not weld on any machine of mine without disconnecting the battery, I have never had any thing happen because we didn't but I dont want to learn an expensive lesson.
Reply:Thanks for all of the help guys, im going to get a little more practice in and ill be posting again when the time comes... we have a couple of old buckets lying around ill do some test welds on one of those before i tackle the new 315 bucket...
Reply:Just out of curiosity if this machine is new why would you do anything to this bucket.  If your digging in a lot of rock why not get a machine with an extreme duty bucket.  I realize this cost a little more but, generally speaking it cost just as much in time and materials to build the bucket up to the capabilities of a rock bucket especially for a 315.
Reply:I think he got it in late 2007... it runs 6 days a week... the bucket is ready for some plates.