Welding Cast Iron

[Anonymous-0]

A piece broke off of my John Deere 14T knotter assembly. Can I weld Cast? I've heard yes and no, so i'm a little confused.
Any help is appreciated!
(If anyone has any John Deere 14T parts they want to sell, that would be good too!)
Thanks!

 

[Anonymous-0]

You can weld cast iron with Nickel 99 welding rod.You will need to grind a bevel on both pieces then weld together. As the weld cools, you can peen the welded area with a slag chipping hammer to make a stronger weld. No need to preheat the small area as you have to do. Nickel 99 rod can be purchased at most farm hardware stores, even Menards, Home Depot and Lowes..

 

[Anonymous-0]

Cast iron can be welded. The last time I bought rod, it was about $35 for 5 sticks. You have to preheat the metal, keep it hot while welding, and then slowly cool it down. When finished welding, I buried my parts in a 55 gal. drum of oil dry to slowly cool it. I would try and find a replacement part first and only weld it as a last resort.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Be aware that the part may not be ordinary cast iron. DEERE is great for using "nodular iron", which looks like cast iron, but doesn't weld like cast iron. (Nodular iron is stronger and more ductile than ordinary "grey cast iron".)
<ul><li><a href="http://www.esabna.com/EUWeb/oxy_handbook/589oxy15_4.htm">Welding nodular iron</a></ul>

 

[Anonymous-0]

you might want to get new from deere, irepaced a knotter a couple of years ago and it was pretty darn affordable considering it is green.....and it was also on a 14 t...knotter arm, bill hook , gears,and shim kit was a little over a hundered bucks.....cheap pice of mind that everyting will line up properly....Shawn....oh, you might want to consider braising as well , cast iron and nodular iron are a little more tolerant of them over stick welding....

 

[Anonymous-0]

Those seem like great prices. My Deere dealer in eastern Washington wants $95.00 for a bill hook, a little less for a knotter sweeper arm; the small knotter gears are $45.00 each; the intermittent knotter drive gear is $200.00; or you can buy a whole new knotter assembly for $800.00 - these are all 24T parts.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have a 14T and a 24T for parts. E-mail is open if you want more info
<ul><li><a href="http://www.geocities.com/trants_mrg/ourhobbyfarm.html">Hobby farm</a></ul>

 

[Anonymous-0]

old, e-mail sent.

Thanks to all for the replies, very informative.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Well so far no e-mail
<ul><li><a href="http://www.geocities.com/trants_mrg/ourhobbyfarm.html">Hobby farm</a></ul>

 

[Anonymous-0]

I generally try to replace cast parts if I can.... but if I'm stuck, or even stuck waiting for parts, I'll weld them. Sodel 35 is my choice of rod, and they aren't cheap. Preheat, weld, and then cool slowly as suggested already. It'll hold just fine.

Rod

 

[Anonymous-0]

The knotter sweep arm can be bent on a new holland baler.A bill hook for My NH baler cost 60.00 last year.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If it is cast iron , yes you can weld it ,
but it is best done with oxy/acet and cast
iron rod ,NOT with arc weld . Here is a part
of an article written by Gary Reed about cast
iron welding . He is probably the most
knowledgeable person in the country about cast
iron repair. Link at the bottom to the rest of
the article .

" The most important thing for you to understand is that electric welding on cast iron is actually the very worst decision you could make to attempt to repair your cracked cast iron part. If you want to make a complete mess of your part, go ahead and arc weld it with nickel rod. Cast iron cannot stretch and withstand the contraction and hardening caused by cast welding with preheating below 1200 deg. F. The brand of welding rod does not make a very big difference. It's the heat that causes the changes to the cast iron itself. Sure the nickel weld is machineable but the cast iron will become as hard as a drill bit or tap and therefore will prevent the proper machining that is often required. 50% of the casting repairs we see have been arc welded on with disastrous results often costing the owner at least twice as much to repair properly."


george
<ul><li><a href="http://www.locknstitch.com/CastIronWelding.htm"> cast iron welding</a></ul>

 

[Anonymous-0]

old,

e-mail sent again. I hope it got through this time.