A Job Worth Doing

One of our customers had a farm tractor bucket that was in need of repair.

Metal will bend and flex if not properly supported. The first order of business was to add a steal channel inside the bucket to maintain the structure. The bucket could have bowed outward or splayed open without the support, making the repair difficult and time consuming.

Once the bucket was reinforced, we removed the bottom plate and a section of both side wings. Cutting the steel with a torch leaves a rough surface and melted droplets, called dross.

The dross was removed and the surface was trued with an angle grinder and appropriate metal wheel.

Once trued and smooth, the new steel for the bottom of the bucket was positioned correctly and held into place with wedges, it was then welded flat from the top.

The bucket was then tilted where we could get to the rear of the bucket. We ground through a portion of the metal to insure the weld had properly penetrated the existing and new steel. The bucket was then welded from the backside insuring we had complete weld front and back.

The cutting edge was then added with wear bars on the bottom of the bucket. Wear bars are made from hardened steel. The goal was to extend the life of this bucket as it is often used in rocky environments.