Some side work - abused riding mowers.

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A few weeks back, we were discussing proper maintenance on mowers and blades. The mower deck and the frame were 2 SEPERATE riding mowers, but similar brand - TORO. I mentioned my buddy runs a very successful power equipment repair shop. These are an example of probably 30-50% of what comes in...ALL the time.  So, I get the repair work - fabricate and weld. Not too hard. Just tedious and you have to be careful of the grass fires.  First is a mower deck off a TORO or Wheelhorse 20hp 46" cut rider. Here you can see the damage from lack of maintenance, too much stress on the pulley and a vibrating blade:Here is the pulley assembly after it was pushed through. It was fully detached from the deck. It only needed a little encouragement to fit through the already existing hole. A pic of the hole with glove for size comparison: A pic of the replacement plate tacked up. I used the same thickness material and cut out the deck and plate square. From the stress it had more than several cracks, so out all the cracked and bent material came:More next post...John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Mower deck - continued: Start welding, a little practice with vertical up. It was cold, so after this bead, I turned up the heat a little: Finished welding from the bottom, you can see good penetration on top:Finished weld on top, primered and ready for paint: Center hole measured and aligned against the two other pulleys, cut with plasma then mount holes drilled: All done, ready for pulley to be installed then installed on mower. John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:I'll post pics of the frame repair on the OTHER riding mower tonight. That job was so much more fun!Yes, I use the obvious colored paint so the repair STANDS OUT. If it comes back, I know I repaired it by the welds and the paint. John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Thats a nice repair.  It looks like the whole thing could use a coat of paint.  lolCome try it out and stay a while.
Reply:Thanks rusty! Yes, most of the stuff that comes into his shop needs much more work than intended but most customers only pay for the minimal amount to get it running again.  I'll post pics of the big tractor with the broken frame tonight.  I had to complete another repair today - broken fuel tank mount on a brand NEW Troy-Built Zero turn rider. The guy hit something HARD on the left side. Broke the 1/8" metal in half. John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Originally Posted by MicroZoneThanks rusty! Yes, most of the stuff that comes into his shop needs much more work than intended but most customers only pay for the minimal amount to get it running again.  I'll post pics of the big tractor with the broken frame tonight.  I had to complete another repair today - broken fuel tank mount on a brand NEW Troy-Built Zero turn rider. The guy hit something HARD on the left side. Broke the 1/8" metal in half. :shock:
Reply:To quote one of our most famous weldingweb memberYou get all the fun jobs ( Copy rights @ Zap ) Nice work, good to have some small jobs to top up the day and pay.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:...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:Whatever the customer paid, he got more than his money's worth.Nice job.Favorite right now is a Miller Syncro 200.Tons of tools and I blame at least one of them when things don't go right.
Reply:Thanks Phila! Here is the BIG rider, as promised. This was a seperate job and a little tough. A few pics of the frame. It is actually attached to the rear axle, which is cast aluminum, via 4 bolts. That's it! Replacement 3/16" plate cut using the plasma (old plate was only 1/8"), new holes measured and drill with the drill press: Plate tacked in place: A little practice with Vertical UP (this is a good pic to see the difference in metal thickness - look at the bolt holes): More next post...Last edited by MicroZone; 05-31-2007 at 11:56 PM.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Some practice with Vertical DOWN (outside edge): Same side, without flash: All done welding it in, very happy with result: Here is the result, nice and straight, sits even: Thanks for looking and the comments. John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Great job micro...When will it get its turbos?single or double?My Babies: HF Drill pressHF Pipe Bender3   4.5" Black and Decker angle grindersLincoln Electric PROMIG 175that´s it!
Reply:Wow! Holy crack batman.    Did they drop it out of an airplane?  Lucky the bracket cracked instead of the casting (although I'm sure you could fix that anyway!).Nice fix.  Did you have to crawl under that thing to get to it?'Nother question -- did you drain the gas tank or remove it or anything special?  A friend asked me to do a minor repair on the frame of his snowblower before next winter and I'm contemplating removing the gas tank before getting busy on it.  What do you think of the risks if I just let "sparks fly and metal burn?"Favorite right now is a Miller Syncro 200.Tons of tools and I blame at least one of them when things don't go right.
Reply:elvergon - turbos?  Probably not but that is something I'd like to mess with in the future. The guy tows alot of stuff with it. He could probably use one...or two. phila - Not an airplane but I think, from what my buddy tells me, he tows a big trailer with it and has quite a few accessories for the hitch. It has a standard truck hitch on the back, so who knows what he tows with it. Yes, I worked on it from the ground. My buddy suggested hanging it from a cherry pick but my son comes in the shop alot and don't want anything teater tottering that could possibly fall over. I had it on jack stand and jacked up a little. The jack and stands also assisted in keeping it level. I did a few things - removed a ton of grass and clamped off the fuel line. It was caked with grass, I don't think the owner ever cleans it. Clamping off the fuel line kept the gas from going any further than the motor. It wasn't tilted or angled so not much fuel gets out. I also kept my shop VENTED while grinding and welding. Fumes can ignite just as easily. I also used GMAW - in my opinion FCAW creates too much sparking and flying metal. The only issue I had was when plasma cutting the front frame. In order to facilitate the new plate, I severed the broken pieces and cracks. When cutting near the top, a few of the grass pieces caught and were smoldering making smoke. My son actually noticed and said, " daddy, there is smoke coming from the mower".  He has a good eye! You can never be too safe - remove the tank and other items if you want. Better safe than sorry.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com