Dipper snapped

[selftot]

It happened digging out a large rock.

I expect a good welder can fix this but is there a reason not to go that route ?

I know a good welder - this is beyond my skill level.

FYI-The black line on the cylinder is a zip tie.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

easy to repair, four fish plates, four hours

 

[Vlach7]

Wow, never seen that before, if it was mine, I’d pull it all off and do some heavy horizontal arc welding

 

[L35]

Impressive!

 

[cliffboyer]

I'm no expert on metal fatigue, but that break seems to have a lot of rust on it. No shiny metal anywhere except where paint is flaking on top side.

 

[Bee-Positive]

I hate it when my dipper snaps.

What Jay said - plates and weld er up.

 

[selftot]

I'm no expert on metal fatigue, but that break seems to have a lot of rust on it. No shiny metal anywhere except where paint is flaking on top side.

The corner seen in the photo is not nice at all. At the edges on the other corners, the metal looks clean.

Metal fatigue is why i asked the question. The work i was doing was not excessive and I believe this problem had been building over time - just waiting to happen.

 

[jimh406]

I agree with might as well reinforce it while the welder is hooked up.

 

[Nicksacco]

The break is remarkably straight!
Welding will repair that however I would carefully inspect the interior.
The metal reinforcements should be cut to ensure proper overlap and yet look good once painted.
Goodluck with it.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Wow, thats quite a "crack"

I agree that a good welder should be able to take care of that.

Hell, I would even attempt it myself.

I would pull it off so I could weld it on a table. Then cut it apart, grind it clean and weld it with some “strategically placed” reinforcement plates.

Thats just me though…….

 

[hagrid]

The corner seen in the photo is not nice at all. At the edges on the other corners, the metal looks clean.

Metal fatigue is why i asked the question. The work i was doing was not excessive and I believe this problem had been building over time - just waiting to happen.

It's been slowly failing for some time.

 

[Yooper]

Interesting that a stress riser was created at the end of the weld for the gusset plate even though the weld was extended beyond the corner to prevent that! I see no issue with repairing this.

 

[John T]

If it's not completely broken in 2 pieces, I'd Vee it out a bit / put a chain or come-along on it and close up the gap and tack weld it back into position first...

THEN take it apart and put it on the bench and fully weld the crack/grind it flush/then fish plate it and weld it up better than new.

Not a difficult job. If you delivered it to me I'd probably charge $500 .... plus the cost of 3/16 or 1/4" plate if I didn't have some hanging around.

 

[selftot]

The other side is clean metal.
The side next to cylinder is still connected but obviously weak.

 

[selftot]

I've been reminding myself today of the times in the past that I trusted the integrity of the backhoe and put myself (or other things) in harms way.

Not so much recently since i learned about the dangers of hydraulics giving out.

But this could have happened in a much more dangerous situation.

 

[Tarmy]

Soooo….why did that break there?

Almost looks like that metal was made brittle to crack straight like that by the vert weld. Almost looks like the manufacturer drilled a strain relief hole and welded over it on mine and OP.

 

[selftot]

For speculation, here are some detailed pics.

From below


From above


From behind


The other side

 

[skeets]

It's been slowly failing for some time.

As have we all

 

[D2Cat]

Better be careful even moving it to the welding shop!!

 

[JohnDB]

Interesting that a stress riser was created at the end of the weld for the gusset plate even though the weld was extended beyond the corner to prevent that! I see no issue with repairing this.

For speculation, here are some detailed pics.

Really good point @Yooper. IMHO that sort of weld detail is more common on HT steels - real engineers (i.e. not me) may disagree - so I'd design the reinforcing and weld process with that in mind.