Welding the buckets JD 310c Backhoe/loader

[Swetz]

This is the drift I like to use...I think it is 1" steel. I like it because I can put the vice-grips on it to hold it. I do have larger drifts that I use...up to 2", depending the pin size. Again, these are just cutoffs.

An example of an EBay cutoff:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283469777860?hash=item42001d8bc4:g:PT0AAOSwnLFdQ0jm

 

[aighead]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm intrigued by stick welding and will undoubtedly get into it at some point but knowing my habits I'll never get good at it.

I'll definitely look around for a mobile welder. My neighbor welds and claims he's pretty good at it but I probably won't bother him with it.

I found a brand new bucket for a reasonable price but don't know if it'll really fit and it sounds like a miserable process to remove and replace one. (I started writing this before @Swetz so graciously told me otherwise!)

You guys all rock! God bless HEF!

 

[T-town]

Hey aighead...... your talking about your loader bucket aren't you?? Your pics are of that??

I think Swetz was talking 'bout his hoe bucket.....???

 

[Swetz]

T-town...I hope it is the rear bucket...surly this cannot be the front loader.

 

[aighead]

@T-town it is the backhoe bucket, pretty much cracked all the way around the joint that connects to the pins and dipper. I did realize after posting the pictures that I didn't give much context of where the issues really are.

 

[Delmer]

Aighead, how long have you owned this backhoe and how many hours have you put on it? I'd bet those cracks were there when you bought the backhoe, they might have even swapped a bad bucket onto the backhoe and kept the good one when it was sold. I think I see a weld repair that covered the original crack, if you do a little better than that you could get a lifetime of your use out of the bucket. If you're not running your business around this hoe, then I'd let the neighbor have a shot at it with whatever he's comfortable with, and let us know how it holds up. The cracks should be ground out before welding, but if you weld right over it with enough amps you'll get decent penetration, and the worst that will happen is it cracks again and you have a little more weld to grind off.

 

[Finca SDR]

Aighead, how long have you owned this backhoe and how many hours have you put on it? I'd bet those cracks were there when you bought the backhoe, they might have even swapped a bad bucket onto the backhoe and kept the good one when it was sold. I think I see a weld repair that covered the original crack, if you do a little better than that you could get a lifetime of your use out of the bucket. If you're not running your business around this hoe, then I'd let the neighbor have a shot at it with whatever he's comfortable with, and let us know how it holds up. The cracks should be ground out before welding, but if you weld right over it with enough amps you'll get decent penetration, and the worst that will happen is it cracks again and you have a little more weld to grind off.

It's true, just have your neighbor weld it up a little and keep working. These aren't the kind of things that demand a lot of attention or stop you from working.

Buy a stick welder and start playing with it. It's an important skill to have if you play with old machines. They aren't even that expensive anymore. Have your neighbor show you how to use it. It takes a half hour to learn how to weld thick metal on a flat workbench. Eventually you get up to doing it on thin metal upside down and backwards with your eyes closed while hanging off a safety harness.

 

[Swetz]

while hanging off a safety harness.

...LOL

 

[T-town]

Sorry guys......
Some of that 'bracing' in the pics looked a lot like what's on my loader bucket brackets....

Don't have any of that on my older JD hoe bucket......which by the way I have 'ripped' open at the seams a couple of times now fighting with buried boulders..... talk about a hack welding job.... but its holding for now.

But I am going to look at a used bucket this weekend...

 

[aighead]

@Delmer I got it in April of 2019, so it just had it's 3rd birthday in my possession. I've probably put less than a thousand hours on it, maybe significantly less, I haven't paid attention to the hour meter lately. I was trying to get a good look at some of the pictures I took when it was brand new to me and there do seem to be a few signs that it was a repair job, but I can't tell for sure. I don't believe that the bucket was changed between purchase and delivery, but could be wrong there.

I also think you guys are right, in that I should try a reweld rather than a new bucket. My neighbor wasn't talking to me for several months but I've hopefully solved that this past weekend, when I went over to mend fences. Maybe I can talk him into helping.

Thanks, as always, fellas!

 

[Willie B]

I use my backhoe as a welding booth. Might have something in the loader bucket, or on forks on a table. In some cases I chain a heavy object to the hoe bucket to turn it for easier position. The work lead is always clamped to the workpiece. I've never had an issue.

With stick welding; I can't say what the steel is. I'm sure it is high carbon, likely alloyed. Cutting edge has several alloys including manganese.
Torch cut, grind, plasma, or gouge to expose for full penetration weld. Grind clean!
Preheat is important. It drives away hydrogen, slows the cooling to form more favorable crystalline structure. Most important; it expands the bucket so when the weld shrinks as it cools it doesn't have to stretch as much.

7018 I believe is your best filler. It is quite ductile. As it shrinks, it stretches rather than break. There are higher tensile versions of 7018 (11018) but it lacks ductility. When it shrinks, it tends to break fusion with the workpiece.

 

[T-town]

Here are a few pics of the "patches" we put on my old hoe bucket.... ripped her open at the 'seam'.. I was fighting a rock.... and the bucket lost.




But.... I now have a couple spares..!!