Fixing a Frame
 

I knew the dash tower looked pretty rough on on side when I got the tractor but until today I didnt know how bad It looked....But I was holdin out wishin for the best..I took it off and here is what I found...I bought a new to me tower off flea bay in good shape.. but this frame under the tower is gona have to be repaired....This is fixable for me but a pain it will be...My welder bit the dust so I have to load her up and take her to a buddys.... I could just skin this but I dont like cover ups....Thinkin about just cutting out the tunnel cover and replacing just that if I could find a piece of old frame as a doner.The frame channel itself is not that bad under on the side.....Any thoughts guys..Am I thinking right...Randy..:bash2:

What is it?

What ya mean? Its the part of the frame under the dash tower...where the steering tube goes through..

Sorry about the pics....phone camara

What model tractor is it?

Its our little 70

Find some clean steel plate the same thickness as the 70 USED to be.... and fabricate a replacement panel for all the rotted stuff. You will most likely need to change the entire horizontal surface and go down the sides a bit as well until you get to non pitted solid metal.

The trick is to make the patch so it is exactly like the original piece and butt weld it in place. It is fussy work but in the thickness you have there it should be fairly simple. Avoid any overlapping, there are special clamps at Harbor Freight and Eastwoods to hold in a butt welded patch until you tack it...

Also, tack weld the corners first, then half way between the corners, then half way between the tacks, etc, to avaid serious heat damage and warping. A mig welder would be ideal for this, but it is thick enough oxyacetylene could work as well.

I just noticed the jog in the top piece along each side.... you may have to hire that done by someone with a press brake or good leaf brake.....but if you can duplicate the entire top cover it would be a far superior job. THen all you have to do is spot weld it if you have a large enuf spot welder, or drill holes where the spots originally were and plug weld them shut with a mig.

Thanks for the input TrucknTran...What your saying is exactly what I was thinking too...I didnt think about it the warping with the heat of welding so Im glad you mentioned it...My little Miller mig I think is toast when I turned it on it smoked up the shed good and my grinder went up this week as well...Not been a good week for power tools here...I have the access to a good brake so if I can get a couple of good bends at the right distance apart that would be a good start...I am also going to check with a guy that lengthened his 100 frame by using another 100 frame. If Im luck he still has the back 2/3 of it laying behind his shop that would make things easier and I wont be cutting up another would be cub.