Grouser bar replacement

Date 05-03-2009 08:59

Hello Rob, I can't think of any particular reason why E7024 wouldn't work for the application that you have listed here. As you said, providing that you won't be doing any out-of-position welding the high-deposition rate of that rod would be well suited to your purpose, the strength is sufficient as well.
Are you simply adding some more mild steel extensions to the grouser points or are you using something hard?, if you are using something hard then you may have to consider an electrode change as well as a possible pre-heat/post heat regimen. Best of luck and regards, Allan

By NWPAwelder (**)

Date 05-03-2009 09:18

Hi Allan, Thanks for your reply. The majority of the work would be in the flat position and anything out of position such as buttering the ends would be done with 7018. The customer is going to get replacement grouser bar stock from the Cat dealer which would then be cut to length and welded on. I'm figuring that it would be an AR type material... hence my uncertainty of whether or not the 7024 would perform well in this application. I had figured on a pre-heat regimen for this task as well. Customer is willing to furnish all consumables/fuel for the project and so I am trying to figure out what is fair to charge also. :o)

By 803056

Date 05-03-2009 13:59

I'm no expert when it comes to grouser bar replacement, but I would think you would be best served to use low hydrogen electrodes (E7018, E7028, E8018, etc.) for all the welding considering the alloy content of the grouser bars.

If you do use low hydrogen electrodes, then it would be advisable to employ low hydrogen practices as well, i.e., proper electrode storage, limited exposure times, preheat when necessary, etc.

Best regards - Al

By Joseph P. Kane (****)

Date 05-03-2009 19:03 Edited 05-03-2009 19:07

NWPAwelder
Absolutely not!!! E-7024 is the wrong electrode.

Assuming that the grouser bars are Abrasion Resistant material, E-7018 is the minimum electrode you would use.

If you are using Caterpillar Grouser bars, There used to be a notice from Caterpillar saying that 11018m was the proper electrode.

I have done hundreds of them with Lincoln NS-3M Flux Cored Electrode. I never had one break off, even though that is not an electrode recommended by Caterpillar.

By tnhnt

Date 05-03-2009 19:22

I have done plenty grouser bar replacements and I alwas run wire on them. Push the blade down and rippers down. Gets the track off of the ground and sit on a bucket behind the track and go to town!!!

By J Hall

Date 05-04-2009 01:38

Any time I was around a grouser bar project, it was 7018 or NR232

By NWPAwelder (**)

Date 05-06-2009 01:55

Thanks for all the replies. Much apprecited! Looks like its gonna be low hy for the job.

By Marsh Welding (**)

Date 05-06-2009 03:19

how do you do the grouser replacements? my d6r is in need of bars and i dont wanna spend the 20000 for tracks right now rails are good so i was gonna weld bars right to the side of the existing bars. do the existing need torched off and new put in their place? probably a stupid question but ive never done it. and im new to heavy equipment

By uphill

Date 05-06-2009 10:35

Replacing the grousers is just time consuming. The easiest way is to bend the ends of the new replacement grouser to get the best fit to your tracks wear pattern. Usually the last two inches need to get a little kink to match the curve. Main reason to do it that way is because of speed but your machine turns a lot smoother with slightly rounded grousers. If you have a welder buddy and a track turnable helper it can go fairly fast. Getting the angle of the grouser so it ends up square to the track when you full weld one side then finishing the other side as the track reaches the other end works decent. I have done it with the semi auto two wirefeed in the past but the heet is extreme. Never done any torching because it makes for a lot of extra manhours. A big plasma might make it faster to cut the tracks square if you get a hankering.

Have fun

By 357max

Date 05-06-2009 14:00

Use a low hydrogen flux cored wire and do not let welding current go through bearings. Put the work clamp on the pad being welded.