I told him this would NEVER work!

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A very good friend of mine called me up today with a problem. When I say "good friend" I mean that we have been like brothers since childhood. Anyway, his woodchipper engine had a cracked piston. It's gonna take a few days to get parts for it, and time to fix it too. He owns a tree service and needs this chipper tomorrow. He asked me if I thought I could weld the crack up. I burst into laughter, and asked if he was joking. He was serious. After he explained the situation, and I explained all of the likely issues that worried me, I said "why not". It should be interesting to see how long this holds up. We ran the chipper for about 5 minutes after the repair, ran fine. The fact that it rank OK even for a minute was enough to blow my mind.This was done with my Econotig at about 130 amps. Not my prettiest bead by far. I had to grind off the first 2 beads due to contamination from behind, I decided to quit while I was ahead on the third.I'll let you know when it breaks, shouldn't be long. Last edited by Joe H; 04-27-2008 at 05:25 PM.Miller EconotigCutmaster 38Yes ma'am, that IS a screwdriver in my pocket!
Reply:Just when you think you have seen it all..Film at 11.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Wonder why it cracked in the first place.Nice job DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Amazing.
Reply:Great job, Now would you like to weld the head back on a valve for me?
Reply:This will be interesting.... I hope it dont trash the walls when it goes. Who knows, it may last forever.....
Reply:good stuff....you can always count on friends for a good laughA friend once asked me if they could borrow a 1/4 of an inch, of a drill.....what they actually wanted was a 1/4" drill bit..........-Graham-Mechanical EngineerAutosport Mechanic/Fabricator
Reply:Joe,Chippers are notorious for burning up because they tilt over and the motor oil doesn't get distributed the same way as an engine on level ground.  My best friend runs a tree service and over the past 15 years we have seen this over and over.   On his last replacement engine I built an add on base that will keep the engine lever when in operation.jim
Reply:A few years back in the North woods of Minnesota a friend bought an old running steel wheeled Allis tractor.  She ran but had a miss in it.  He tore it down when I was painting the unit for him.  He found leather harness belts inserted around the crank and the #2 cyl had a dummy spark plug and a wooden plug for a piston pinned to the rod.  Damn thing was running when he tore it down.Charlie
Reply:Originally Posted by TEKThis will be interesting.... I hope it dont trash the walls when it goes. Who knows, it may last forever.....
Reply:Originally Posted by Trap DoctorJoe,Chippers are notorious for burning up because they tilt over and the motor oil doesn't get distributed the same way as an engine on level ground.  My best friend runs a tree service and over the past 15 years we have seen this over and over.   On his last replacement engine I built an add on base that will keep the engine lever when in operation.jim
Reply:"All this yappin' about full penetration and all..When is the time for minimal penetration?..Keep it clean.....zap!"This could be a good example Zap.Too much peno and all you will get is contamination...PS thats amazing Joe!A good guess is better than a bad measurement
Reply:you would think, as long as it didn't slam against the head, it would increase the compression.
Reply:I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that ain't gonna be the thing that fails next.  I have confidence in you.  Besides, an engine with a bunch of hours on it is likely to have a lot of slop all over the place and that might make it more forgiving for this kind of repair...it probably wasn't the best way to fix the problem, but, since the motor was old, tired, broke and, the owner gave you permission to experiment, why not?!Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Did the same thing to a motorcycle engine about another lifetime ago.   It ran for at least a year, taking a guy to and from work 3.5 miles each way.  Don't have a clue whatever happened to the bike.
Reply:Originally Posted by 59halfstepA few years back in the North woods of Minnesota a friend bought an old running steel wheeled Allis tractor.  She ran but had a miss in it.  He tore it down when I was painting the unit for him.  He found leather harness belts inserted around the crank and the #2 cyl had a dummy spark plug and a wooden plug for a piston pinned to the rod.  Damn thing was running when he tore it down.Charlie
Reply:so inseted of putting in domed pistons or milling the heads i could just weld the piston tops and go from 8:1 to 10:1ChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:That was my thought. A high compression chipper! 0 to "Oh my god" in 6 sec flat.
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWThat was my thought. A high compression chipper! 0 to "Oh my arm!" in 6 sec flat.
Reply:I like yours better.
Reply:ROFL!I don't see why this won't hold for quite a while, actually.  There IS pressure in there, but maybe not enough to go through a weld like that.......who knows lol.I tend to agree with smithboy, something else will probably fail before that does.  We should start a running bet on this thing!   My wager is it'll go at least 3 months hassle-free.Nice job! Have a Jeep Cherokee?  Click Here!
Reply:My buddy just called me to tell me that he ran that chipper for two solid hours today with no issues. I'm pretty suprised, still shaking my head over this one.Miller EconotigCutmaster 38Yes ma'am, that IS a screwdriver in my pocket!
Reply:Don't know till you try ...right!Nice repair, you got more guts than me.Patriot Performance AutoLincoln Power Mig 255CLincoln AC-225 StickVictor Journeyman O/AQuincy QT-5 Compressor
Reply:Great emergency repair!I am curious about the exhaust valve in the second cylinder.  Do I see a crack there, too?Member, AWSLincoln ProMIG 140Lincoln AC TombstoneCraftsman Lathe 12 x 24 c1935Atlas MFC Horizontal MillCraftsman Commercial Lathe 12 x 36 c1970- - - I'll just keep on keepin' on.