Yes, eyes were cut off old rods and welded on the new ones. Based on the dozen or so rods I’ve had made in the past, I was expecting something similar to the image below, where a noticeable bevel was cut, welded, and machined back down. The majority of the area where the eye and rod met was welded together, rather than just a bead on the surface, which is how these two new rods appear to be.
They did send me home with the old rods. After inspecting them, it looks like they may have built them similar to the factory. The picture below does not show much of a groove cut prior to welding. I expected more than this.
I was concerned that they may have done an unsatisfactory job, but that might not be the case.
These rods are 2” diameter and for a 54000 pound Tesmec trencher. One is for a stabilizer, the other raises and lowers the crumbshoe over the end of the trencher chain.