Rear Fender Stud/Bolt - L185F

[duckstab]

Good afternoon,
On my L185F one of the bolts/studs that you secure the rear fender to is snapped off. It appears this stud is welded to the rear axle case. Is the best option for repair to simply grind off the old and weld on a new one? Is there an easier/better/newer option for replacing one of these bolts?

Thanks

 

[aquaforce]

This is one of those threads where a pic is worth a thousand words.

If it is like my L175 there is a plate between the fender and the axle housing and there is an alignment stud in this plate.

 

[Russell King]

I believe that happened and was repaired (before I purchased it) on the L185 that I recently purchased. I will look and see how they repaired it. I personally would not arc weld to the cast iron axle housing. You should be able to braze another stud/bolt on but you will need to worry about items that don't tolerate heat well - seals and such. Experienced welders may be able to give better advice on welding to the axle housing.

You may be able to weld to the broken off stud by grinding it flat, putting in something like a small dowel to align the ends and then butt welding the new to the old.

I'll take a picture of how mine was repaired this weekend.

 

[Stubbyie]

I think you'll find the stud sticking up is not cast as part of the cast iron axle housing.

If you can get to it you can try drilling it with a left-hand bit with drill set in reverse. Be gentle and use lots of lube. At some point might get a spade-blade EZ-BoltOut or a standard spiral eze-out into the drilled hole and turn it out. This may be a function of how bad you really want that sucker out.

A truly good welder can weld a nut over the broken-off stud and then you let it cool and try turning it out. There are unique rods / electrodes that make this easier. Consult local 'break-sown' machine shop that does field service work---perhaps not for a trip to your place but rather for their capabilities and knowledge.

It's worth a shot but if the steel threads are galled to the cast iron (they didn't put it together with lube of any sort) you've got a low probability of success--maybe 50-50, based on experience over time in similar situations.

If you have to weld to cast iron do so only using nickel rod after throughly degreasing base metal and grinding both repeatedly and preheat if at all possible. As per another poster, be aware of heat-affected seals etc.

Next, you have to get inventive to find a work-around.

Please post back with photos and how resolved for all of us to learn.

 

[Apogee]

Why not just drill through the center of it and tap it?

 

[duckstab]

I will take some photos tonight and upload tomorrow. Apogee's suggestion sounds like one that I would be able to perform.

 

[duckstab]

Here is a picture of the stud in question.

http://i.imgur.com/WICFT.jpg

 

[Apogee]

Duck,

That housing is steel tubing, not cast iron. It's easily welded as can be seen by the adjacent welds.

Another option you might consider would be to grind off what is there and replace it with a square U-bolt with a piece of metal that spans both legs. Essentially, once the existing stud has been ground off, the u-bolt would be placed under the axle housing with the "retaining" piece of flat-bar placed on top of the axle housing and over the two legs of the u-bolt. One leg would then go up through the fender mount with a lock washer and nut placed on it, and the other leg would receive just a lock washer and nut that would tighten down against the piece of flat-bar.

Since the links can't be copied and work correctly, click on the square u-bolts:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#u-bolts/=jkw7kv

The pic of the rubber-coated u-bolts has a pic of what I mean by the piece of flat-bar:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#u-bolts/=jkw830

I'd use a piece of 1/4" flat-bar for strength.

I hope this makes sense. Would be a fairly easy non-welding fix.

The other obvious option would be to just grind it off and have a new stud welded on. The would be what I'd do. It wouldn't cost much to have it replaced, but you'd have the hassle of needing to bring the tractor someplace to have it done.

Best,

Steve

 

[aquaforce]

Here is a picture of the stud in question.

http://i.imgur.com/WICFT.jpg

Nope.... not at all like my L175.

Good luck with that.

 

[MagKarl]

Generally speaking, hardware isn't often welded on most equipment. Any chance that is a boss with female threads that is welded onto the axle housing? If so, you may be able to back what's left of the stud out if you weld a not on top, then just replace the stud.

 

[MagKarl]

I went out and took a close look at my fender mounting and believe it is the same as your picture. I was wrong in hoping it was a threaded boss, mine are in fact just threaded rod welded to the axle. There is no room for a u bolt on mine with the way the gear reduction boxes are built right under there.

If I were in your shoes I would just clean up what's left and weld a new stud or bolt onto the axle. I'd probably try to weld the new part onto what's left of the stud and not too much onto the axle. Make you own decision though, I have no problem welding on my tractor or vehicles any time I need to, but some guys do.

 

[Russell King]

Here is what the studs originally looked like on my L185F:


Here is how the other side was repaired - new stud welded to side of broken stud:


On mine it looks like you could use a u-bolt or long bolts through a plate that clamps the fender to the axle.