Bolens G11XL Deck Repair

[Sawdust]

This deck is in great shape except for two spots I'm patching & the rollers. I've never done this before or do I weld very well. I patched these two areas. The long one worked out better than the small square one. I'm thinking the deck metal was much thinner near this area. I kept burning through but eventually got it plugged good.



After I cleaned the welds up I spread a thin layer of JB Weld to fill in some voids.


I need to get this lift handle off so I can replace the spring under the button. I have been pulling, soaking, & heating for over a week now but still not coming off.


Next up I'm going to make some rollers. These are too bad to do anything with. If I replaced them it would cost me more than the tractor. I'm thinking of cutting some pieces of 2" PVC pipe with hardwood inserts in each end of each piece with a 3/4" bushing. I might try to coat them with the black Flex Seal spray.

 

[KennyP]

Too bad your rollers are on 3/4" pins or you could use these:

https://www.etrailer.com/Boat-Trailer-Parts/Yates-Rubber/YR12243-4P.html

 

[Sawdust]

Too bad your rollers are on 3/4" pins or you could use these:

https://www.etrailer.com/Boat-Trailer-Parts/Yates-Rubber/YR12243-4P.html

They have them with 5/8" I might could adapt the rod brackets to make these work. Thanks Kenny

 

[MH81]

Looks good.
Don't be hard on yourself on the welds.

They'll work. Stick welder?

 

[Sawdust]

Looks good.
Don't be hard on yourself on the welds.

They'll work. Stick welder?

I'm a lot better with my old Lincoln tombstone & thicker metal. I just got my Hobart 140 Mig. I have trouble with getting the wire speed & heat regulated usually too much of one or the other. I've had it back to a shop twice under warranty because of the wire speed circuit board being bad.

 

[KennyP]

What size wire? I usually use .030 in my 140. Heat on 3 (2 if burning through). Speed 20-25.

 

[Sawdust]

What size wire? I usually use .030 in my 140. Heat on 3 (2 if burning through). Speed 20-25.

I was going back & forth with the heat on 2&3 WS stayed around 20-25 but I'm using .035 wire. Should I go with the .030 for thin metal I have both. I've done pretty good with other projects.

 

[KennyP]

I like the .030, does seem to weld good for some thinner materials.

 

[Sawdust]

Well like most of my many projects sometimes they take awhile. Someone welded one of the arms to the 3/4” bar. I had to grind that off to remove the bar.

I started out making six 3/4” thick solid oak discs to slip into each end of the three rollers. To keep it simple rather than making several for the center area I just made one long one then two short ones on the outside.
I bolted three together then spun them down on my drill press using a wood rasp then used my finish sander to get them to fit. I only had to sand about a 1/32” off to fit.

I’m using a 3/4” metal conduit which I had to drill a 1 1/32” hole in the center of the wood disc to except the conduit. Because I already drilled a 1/4” hole in the middle of the wood disc my forstner bit wouldn’t track that hole. Using my forstner bit I drilled a hole through a piece of scrap wood. I centered the discs on the back side of the hole then brad nailed it. This hole in the scrap kept the bit centered while it drilled the disc behind it.

I epoxied one wood disc on the end of the conduit then slid that down inside the 2” pvc pipe. On the other end I epoxied the remaining wood disc.

I recessed the wood disc on one end of each end roller. This will prevent the cotter pin on the end of the bar from sticking out. I will be spraying some expansion foam inside the long roller to give it some rigidity. Maybe tomorrow I can also spray coat some bed liner on the rollers to finish. Thanks for looking.