Cat 324E Thumb Cracks

[CatCrovalley]

Hi all, looking for input. Just got this hoe, and noticed the thumb has had some weld work. Cracking at all 4 corners of the thumb mount on the stick. Not terrible cracks but poor workmanship on the repair the first time around. Looking to patch up nice so we never have to worry again. Looking for lots of input. Would the correct repair mean cutting off thumb mount and putting a large fish plate on the stick first? Maybe fish plate Both sides of stick as well? Let me know your thoughts and what you notice. I’m a novice over here.

 

[HarleyHappy]

So, you have some cracks in the boom and in the mounting plate.
The plate looks like it could have been a little thicker but looks well made and while a little short, they did it right.
Unless to plan on grinding or cutting the original plate off, I would Vee everything out and reweld it all back up.
You can see where they were chasing the cracks in the boom horizontally.
Unless you plan on cutting it all off and fixing the boom, then making another mounting plate that’s 2” longer on each end, you will be chasing this till the machine is scrapped.
Honestly, it doesn’t look all that bad. Just needs to be welded up.
Whomever welded it before, did a decent job but probably didn’t get full penetration on the boom.