Help: Cattle Guard Repair (Railroad Tracks)

admin

Greetings, I have a cattle guard origionaly fabricated from railroad track. It consiststs of of about 10 rails resting on 2 supports from bellow. There was a strap welded on top at both sides to hold the spacing on the rials but some of the tracks have broken free. I want to weld a piece of 3/8 flat plate on each side to hold the rails but have heard that train track is very hard to weld. To make matters worse the cattleguard is on an incline so the welds get pulled on somewhat when a car passes over.  I only have a lincoln promig 180. Whats the best way to do this? .45 flux core?Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks,Rich
Reply:You might try an arc welder. I personally have never welded rr track but that is what i would suggest using.American by birth Southern by the Grace of God
Reply:You will need a heap of preheat to weld that rail.  I woudl try somewhere around 300 F six inches on both sides of the area you intend to weld.  Use something like a propane week burner torch set on the joint for five minutes before you weld.  You must use a low hydrogen process,  Wire feed or low hy electrode.
Reply:Do the preheat like lotech is telling you. If you haven't bought the flux core yet be sure and get a multi-pass like T-11. The GS wires exhibit the same characteristics as the track you're trying to weld to, so you'll be doing good if the initial pass doesn't crack while it cools. Go slow, plenty of heat, check closely between passes.
Reply:If it was done in farm country, by somebody way back down the road, I'd almost bet it was burned in with 6010 or 6011.You'd be amazed at what 6011 was/is used for"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by 74fencerYou might try an arc welder. I personally have never welded rr track but that is what i would suggest using.
Reply:It was built with scrap? Anyhow it is mild steel.If it is on a country road somewhere with large trucks passing over it at 100kph it was never engineered right to begin with, but if it is access (We Call Them Texas Gates Here) to a pasture for light oilfeild trucks at 10kph and perhaps the odd water truck, 6013 may be ok. It may be a different story, if it is on a rural country road allowance, in any case a 60xx has already failed obviosly at the welds because it is sinousoidal.You may wish to use some existing holes and bolt the rail to the stringers.Last edited by pistolnoon; 03-09-2009 at 01:52 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by lotechmanYou will need a heap of preheat to weld that rail.  I woudl try somewhere around 300 F six inches on both sides of the area you intend to weld.  Use something like a propane week burner torch set on the joint for five minutes before you weld.  You must use a low hydrogen process,  Wire feed or low hy electrode.
Reply:The rail contractors at my work use 309L-16 rods to weld mild steel tabs on to railLast edited by LarryO; 03-10-2009 at 01:46 AM.Reason: not complete
Reply:Originally Posted by LarryOThe rail contractors at my work use 309L-16 rods to weld mild steel tabs on to rail
Reply:Originally Posted by lotechman  So being a city boy.. Is it true that a horse can negotiate a cattle guard but not cattle?
Reply:Thanks for all the replies everyone. I can preheat the track to problem. When you sugest wire feed and a low Hydrogen do you sugest .045 mig wire of flux core?  I have the mig and a generator so I can give it a go with either of those two. Another alternative is my local rental shop rents a nice trailer stick welder for $100 a day. Many people are sugesting stick electrodes so would that be a better route?It takes about 0-4 light trucks a day at <1mph and the occasional hay trucks 2x per year when we stock the barns. With the exception of the UPS truck no one is taking it at 100kph. Rich
Reply:A H4 class wire like E71T-12M  H4 or a rod like 7016 or 309L-16.  All with pre heat.depends which is more cost effective for you.You would need decent MIG to drive that wire as it is available only in bigger sizes.  My book tells me about 280amp for 1.2mm and 360amp for 1.6mm.
Reply:I'd use a stick with nickle rods, preheat, and post heat, and let it cool slowly.I had a horse break an ankle on a "cattle gap", no way I'd let one near one now.........one wrong step.... then they panic when they step off in gap, not a pretty sight.
Reply:i have welded the same exect thing is this guy from wyoming cause that is where i did it i used  lots of heat bout 400deg but i never held with any thing i used every rod on the truck 6010,6013,7014,7018,mg600,309 bluemax, even pulled out the jet rod tried no dice but then i remembered that i had to weld some 4180 4"shaft to the top of a manganese rock cone so i pulled out the coolest most expensive rod i have ever seen cranked up the heat and burnt it up and it is still holding today it was called BRUTUS made by the rockmount.co. bout 6.00 per rod but o man it is so kick ***
Reply:I wonder if that JB weld stuff Billy Mays advertises would work??????If it's too . get an office jobLincoln wp225g7 Lincoln 250 idealarcFrankenstein O/A set-up Weld-tech  tig set-upLincoln sp 175 plus profax  arc gouger