inyati13
Well-known member
I backed my Bushhog Model 296 into a log. It bent the frame that support the tail wheel. The left arm of the frame was three inches out of alignment. It broke the left side welds at the middle braces. I checked with the Bushhog dealer. That frame minus the wheel costs $362. I expected the worse but not that bad.
I sit looking at this mess for an hour. I thought about anchoring it and using my FEL as a press and trying to bend it back. I said no, I have no way to control where it might bend and whether I might break more welds. I thought about cutting off the left arm and reattaching it. What I settled on was slabbing another piece of steel on the side of the arm and leveling up the frame. Here is a series of pictures to help get a visual idea of what I did. Keep in mind, that what needed to be corrected was the abnormal angle the wheel was tilted due to the bent frame.
First I braced across the broken welds with a sandwich of angle iron:
Then I used 6013 rod, turned the voltage higher than normal and deep welded the crack:
Then I slabbed a mild steel plate on the left arm to allow me to align the tail wheel so it ran level:
Finished project. Frame and wheel now level:
I sit looking at this mess for an hour. I thought about anchoring it and using my FEL as a press and trying to bend it back. I said no, I have no way to control where it might bend and whether I might break more welds. I thought about cutting off the left arm and reattaching it. What I settled on was slabbing another piece of steel on the side of the arm and leveling up the frame. Here is a series of pictures to help get a visual idea of what I did. Keep in mind, that what needed to be corrected was the abnormal angle the wheel was tilted due to the bent frame.
First I braced across the broken welds with a sandwich of angle iron:
Then I used 6013 rod, turned the voltage higher than normal and deep welded the crack:
Then I slabbed a mild steel plate on the left arm to allow me to align the tail wheel so it ran level:
Finished project. Frame and wheel now level: