Roller repair?

[Cub Cadet 123]

A couple of days ago, I bought a 270 lbs. M.T. yard roller that had a 12" gash in the roller. My initial thoughts were to pour cement in it and let it harden, then good to go. However, it would be a lot more handy if I could remove the fill when needed for ease of transport or re-location. So, my question is has anyone successfully repair a poly roller that has cracked or split for re-use with sand and/or water? I was wondering if I there was an epoxy or something that I could use. I saw commercials for "Flex-seal", but doubt that it would hold under the stress of the application and use.

Thanks for considering my question.

With much appreciation,

Cub Cadet 123

[Sam Mac]

Maybe this will help.
https://www.google.com/#q=plastic+welding

[Berwil]

What if you turn the crack into a hatch. Cut out a rectangle maybe 6"x12" around the crack, get a new piece of plastic 10"x16" x 1/4" thick and glue/screw the old piece to the center of the new one. Buy some spikey T-nuts or glue nuts to the back of the new piece of plastic. Put the patch inside the hole so the original plastic is flush with the rest of the drum, bolt the hatch in place with taper head bolts so they are flush (after drilling the appropriate holes). If your never going to remove it, you can silly cone the overlapping flange to seal the patch. Also you should try to curve the patch to match the drum so you don't have a flat spot, a heat gun should work. A piece of poly 55 gal drum may make a good patch as well. Good luck Maxwell

Bill

[Yosemite Sam]

Years ago we used to "weld" rubber bumpers in the body shop, I guess they held up ok, I don't know of any that ever came back.

I guess it would depend on the location and severity of the split as to how much stress the repair would need to take and getting the right material or "rod" to use as fill. Depending on where the split is, spray flex-seal on the inside after your repair.

I don't know if you could ever get the repair to be water tight but I would think that it will keep sand inside unless it were a bad split or if it were to split open again.

Worst case, if it did split open again you could go back to your original plan and fill it with concrete.

Good luck.

[Yosemite Sam]

Originally Posted by Berwil

What if you turn the crack into a hatch. Cut out a rectangle maybe 6"x12" around the crack, get a new piece of plastic 10"x16" x 1/4" thick and glue/screw the old piece to the center of the new one. Buy some spikey T-nuts or glue nuts to the back of the new piece of plastic. Put the patch inside the hole so the original plastic is flush with the rest of the drum, bolt the hatch in place with taper head bolts so they are flush (after drilling the appropriate holes). If your never going to remove it, you can silly cone the overlapping flange to seal the patch. Also you should try to curve the patch to match the drum so you don't have a flat spot, a heat gun should work. A piece of poly 55 gal drum may make a good patch as well. Good luck Maxwell

Bill

I also like this idea.

[Cub Cadet 123]

Wow, glad that I asked the question. A lot of really great ideas that I would never have considered. One of the comments in the U-tube video mentioned using Qbond and nano powder. I have never heard of these.....has anyone else used these before and if so, what results did you have?

I spoke with a friend of mine who works for the gas company and stated that they use plastic welding on their gas lines all of the time. I hope to post some pictures soon of the gash. The hatch idea would work with just about anything if I just wanted to hold sand. I was even considering coil stock as the inside plate.

Thanks again fellas for the great suggestions!

Cub Cadet 123

[DoubleO7]

Since your in Ohio..............What if you bought a poly roll up snow slide and used that to wrap all around the roller. Or a local circle track supply house will have the same stuff. They use it as skirting and body panels on super modifieds, etc.
Or just the portion that needs to be fixed.
Silicone adhesive and some closed end pop rivets would be pretty close if not watertight.

[Cub Cadet 123]

Here are pics of my "ouch"....


With much appreciation,

Cub Cadet 123