started work on some PA rims

[souNdguy]

some of you may remember last year I picked up a real beater of a 950 and it had some big 14.9-28 tires on PA rims..

the good: the rims were 100% cancer free.. not a spec of rust. centers looked great too.

the bad: some idiot moron dufus welded the rims up darn tight.

one side is 100% welded. there is a beat all along the PA center to the rim, including the keepers and stops welded up and the bolt holes for the keepers. bands of metal were even added along the inside edge to facilitate even more welding. the other merely had 4 mostly evenly spaced around the circumference triangle pieces crudely buzzed on from center to rim.

worse: they were adjusted totally different!!!! had they both been adjusted similar and equal.. I would have left them and ran them.. but one side is dished in, other dished out, and adjusted in different spots so that the stance is significantly offset.

sad part is is that the rims and centers looked great.. no real wear.. heck.. look better than the ones on my 63 4000 and they were darn good too...

anyway.. I set them aside for another day and just thru a set of 11.2-28 on the 950 to get her going..

well.. today was the 'another day'.

felt like a project, and looked the rims over.

the 100% welded up one is a lost cause.. torching out all those welds would eat the rim upand ruin the center as well.. so I decided to leave that one fixed, and see about getting the other side cut apart, and either adjust it like the other and weld up if I can't get it to lock down tight, or if it will lock tight, then adjust it like the other then clamp down.

In wanting to save the rim and center I went sparingly on the oa, and opted to do much of the cutting with a die grinder and air chissle.

got the center free from the rim, and got about 80% of the weldment cut off. still need to clean up the center so I can unscrew it from the rim, flip, then screw it back on. upon further checking, the dufus welded some scrap on either side of the inner and outter grooved pieces on a couple places, so i will have to cut one of them out to unscrew the center normally.. no biggie.. it's on the outter edge he welded a chunk to it.. I can cut that off without ruining the grooved section.

manhandling the 14.9-28 tire was a lil harder than I thought it would be.. guess loosing 25 pounds this winter didn't help any

ran out of daylight and didn't feel like working with all that fumes and metal and cutter dust in the shop, so i called it a night at about 7:30pm.. besides.. ran out of gas and die grinder discs anyway... will pick up more tomorrow and finish cleaning up the edge of that center so it will glide thru the grooved rim slots.

already hit it with a good dose of pb oil to get it lubed, and pulled out the locking frogs and carriage headed bolts/nuts.

with any luck i'll have the centr out, cleaned up and reinstalled by this time tomoorow.. or if not, at least by friday at noon before i have to head out to work.

now I just have to figure out what tractor gets these darn tall tires...

soundguy

 

[crazylocha]

jiggy dance dance (trip, oops) dance jiggy dance!!!

He finally getting to them!! Wait a second, I smell a rat....

NO PICS??!!??

Glad you finally getting to them. Hope you can relook over the other one and figure out a way to get it operational. Keep hearing that harder and harder to find P.A.'s. Was wondering since was much dufishness, maybe used low grade sticks or wrong type that may not be as hard as thinking (non dufus type smart person you are)to get them beads off there maybe? We used to heat slightly with blue wrench (but not burn) and drive a chisel into beads to break the hold back at scrap metal yard. Were a few pieces we operated that had welds holding 5 or 6 other welds together. Not sayin bunch of dufusses there, just sayin.

 

[RodinNS]

Mabey it's just the cynic in me... but I suspect by tomorrow night you'll know why the wheels were welded... When I do things like that there is a more than valid reason... Anyhoo, good luck with it.

Rod

 

[souNdguy]

well, I cut the gussets off the one that wasn't welded around the circumference.

with the gussets cut free, and the frogs still bolted in place, the center to rim connection was solid. when i removed the frogs and sprayed oil on the center edge, I could bang the leading edge with the long heavy handle of my 3/4" breaker bar and see the center start to turn in the grooves.. though tightly. that one looks like it should have been fine with no welding.. heck.. it's tighter than the PA rims on my 4000 that have just a lil slop in them in the grooved area.... don't know why someone welded that one up. the other one? who knows.. it's been welded along that edge and grooves so much it's impossible to say how loose it was or not. they even welded the frogs and studs in. i'm not messing with it at all.. i'll just get the other one adjusted to match.

soundguy

 

[souNdguy]

no pics cuz it's just me out there working. no one to hold the camera while i'm torching to cutting, or swinging a hammer... not to mention greasy hands. and lack of daylight when i finished.

the one rim I'm working on will be fine i think.. the other will have to stay welded.

they welded bands of metal around the circumference of the center, to the rim, plus welded the center to the rim, plus welded the center to the grooved areas.. welded them up including the frogs and studs..to cut all them welds out, even if I was real good with a torch.. and I'm only just barely adequate would likely take an entire o2 bottle and the rest of my acetylene.. plus due to the way it's welded.. i'd either be undercutting the center by about 1/4" ( if lucky.. or 3/8 if not ) all the way around, or the seam I cut would split the rim in halfie.. 2 circles split in the center.

the welds are full penetrating.. at least on the gusseted one as I have a die grinder cutting them out and an air chissle working on them.. ain't nuttin come apart easy yet..

just trying to save that one so have used the smoke wrench very sparingly to only cut the heavier parts of the gussets and stay away from the rim and centers.

i looked at it again, and still have some dressing work to do on the center before I can unscrew it thru the grooves.. then will have to grind down the weldment onthe rims before i can adjust pass those places when i flip the center over .

soundguy

 

[crazylocha]

Nice. Definitely sounds like the Tweedle-Dumber was the AR-Tist there.

Had to hope. Was even crossing my pinky toe hoping for you. Do forget that you don't have rows of crops to contend with, so the variable part of P.A's not quite as important to you. Having to switch between 30" rows and 18's is interesting concept my neighbors introducing me to. If I ever get through my hydro's to get mine plowed and disced before fall hits, lol, will have to clean my PA's up also.

Trust me when I say your metal working is far superior to my experience level. Any general pics will do of stages. Gives me (and sure others) general directions to go. Trying to get my 3pt documented step by step for other newbies like myself. Figure If can stop for 30 sec's and ponder where am at, can snap a quickie or two to help someone else. When and if reach your level of experience, and other guru's here, most of this will seem like second nature.

One of the keys to my being successful at Customer service even in a crappy place like where I work, is to reverse the shoes. To think like I have never walked in my store before myself. Unless am really really stressed out, I think back what it was like to shop there before I started working there. Even go into other chains with same attitude, like first time ever in grocery store in my life. Helps keep my perspective real as can.

In way, many of us newb's look at you all same way. I wasn't a real apprentice marine mech. was an oil changer and part/wrench holder for my boss. Did mild grinding of flashing when was at aluminum foundry. Have some basic concepts from there, only just rudimentary though. Rest of my resume equally scary enough info to just get me into trouble with this stuff, am learning as quick as can thought thanks to yours and many others help. Any and all information is appreciated. What you can and are willing to put out there is always gratefully welcomed my friend.

Thank you for all that you do.

 

[souNdguy]

whatever machine these go on.. it will only adjust on one side.. I do have other machines with woking PA rims if I needed spacing differences.

will try to get some pics tonight before it gets too dark.

soundguy

 

[crazylocha]

Thanks SG, you are the bomb!

 

[Ultradog MN]

What you need for cutting away welds like that is an Air-Arc. Washes away the welds so nice and clean. Air-Arc takes a lot of practice to get good at but once you get the hang of it it does SO much better of a job than OA.

 

[souNdguy]

since I don't have a mig or a plasma cutter.. or even a dc stick.. I think it's a long time off for that air arc thingy..

I just need to blow a few bits more out then some grinder and bur and die grinder work and i think i'll have one rim loose and put back together.. if daylight holds out on me..

oh to have all the toys one wants in his shop..

soundguy

 

[souNdguy]

wanted to update you.

I posted a new thread with pics.

I got that sucker apart. center was in good condition.. even after me torching on it rim was good.. can't understand why the prev owner welded it.

the frogs were all good and tight and lock in, and I even saved the stop piece... cleaned and chases all threads, and got the center dised and reinstalled and locked down to match the other welded up rim. that tire beat me up though.. 14.9-28 rubber is just a wee bit mor ethan I wanted to tackle.. at least tonight it was I keep saying I'm gonna stop doing my own tires.. and yet.. I'm so cheap..er.. frugal that I keep doing them... that tire sledge wore me slap out...

anywho.. pa rim saved.. still can't figure out WHY it was welded up in the first place.. now the other one.. I can understand. I looke dit over and it has some perhaps previous torching damage to the center that made the center appear to be loose in the groove plates.. and perhaps that's why they welde dthat one up frogs, stops and all. just wish they would have adjusted both rims identically before putting 10# of rod on each one...

so.. 8hrs work to salvage a single pa rim / center.. hmm.. I'm not sure that's a 'win' or not..

soundguy