Lawn roller squashed

[DekeT]

Over the winter a tree limb fell on my roller. It put about an inch deep dent on the surface. Now the edges of the dent are raised so they rub on the frame. The roller steel is about 3/32 inch. Will a slide hammer be able to pull out a dent on that thickness of steel or would I have cut into the end and hammer it out from the inside? Don't have a slide hammer but I would get one if I had confidence it could move that much steel. Roller is 24 x 72 for reference. No issue welding the ends back up except it would take longer than a slide hammer if that worked.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...t.php?attachmentid=541417&stc=1&d=14595191829.

 

[ilovevocs]

What about heat shrinking the proud areas with a torch. The thicker the steel will make the movement created by the slide hammer to become more localized. Would have to weld a ton of studs or drill a bunch of holes to get the dent out then I believe you will still have shrinking let that needs to occur. Maybe both in combination.

Pounding from the inside will help remove the dent but its my opinion that some shrinking is still going to have to occur to get the part back in shape.

My other thought would be to find some sonotube the same size, put a piece of pipe in the center and fill it full of concrete to make a new roller.

 

[BD1]

What about filling it in with weld ?

 

[SkinnyG]

I would think that a slide hammer would work if you heat the entire area with a torch at the same time. Like ilovevocs said above, though, you'll still need some shrinking to get everything back in line.

And forgive my ignorance on this topic, but what the heck is a lawn roller used for?

 

[astroracer]

Cut it out, fix it, weld it back in.

 

[kkroger]

Sometimes if you work the "Rise" around a dent it will raise the center of the dent... I've seen me do it... I don't have a means at the moment to draw it up but if you look at the dent if it is elongated (oblong Oval elliptical) then there will probably be a crease at each end or at the least a rise at each end... of ROUND then there may well be a rise all around or toward the ends of the roller front center... Taking a hammer and driving down the rise will generally raise the center of the dent... the dent is not an issue with this tool, it is a lawn roller not a precision item... but you could ding it down, around the dent, the depth of the dent is not all that bad... but the rise is hitting your rigging right?

 

[TLCObsession]

What about sticking a piece of pipe with a cap on it through the water fill hole and banging out the dent? If needed, you could buy a big bung, cut the end with a holesaw,pound out the dent and weld in a new bung.

 

[joe49]

Drill a hole opposite the dent, round the end of a piece of bar stock, use body dolly or hammer on raised areas, while sliding bar in the hole into the back side of the dent. Also a word of warning DO NOT WELD ON ANY SEALED VESSEL YOU WILL LIKELY PAY THE PRICE FOR DOING SO. Make sure you adequately vent.

 

[laser3kw]

Drill a hole opposite the dent, ........ DO NOT WELD ON ANY SEALED VESSEL

if you follow this procedure, would it not be "unsealed"?

 

[beakie]

if you follow this procedure, would it not be "unsealed"?

his advice was in regards to others saying to weld as a fix.

2 paragraphs would have helped.

 

[brownbagg]

i saw a guy once get the metal cherry hot and then hit it with ice cold water on a sponce and it pop the dent right out

 

[koditten]

I'd go for the slide hammer first. Even if it doesn't work, you got a decent slide hammer now.

I picked up the $50 slide hammer kit from HF about 2 years ago, amazing the uses I find for that tool.

It works awesome for removing steering wheels. Just make sure if you are sitting in the car, have your head to the side. If not, you can knock yourself out when the wheel pops off. That kinda hurt.

 

[astroracer]

I'd go for the slide hammer first. Even if it doesn't work, you got a decent slide hammer now.

I picked up the $50 slide hammer kit from HF about 2 years ago, amazing the uses I find for that tool.

It works awesome for removing steering wheels. Just make sure if you are sitting in the car, have your head to the side. If not, you can knock yourself out when the wheel pops off. That kinda hurt.

 

[DekeT]

Thanks for the fix tips guys. I will likely use a combination of all these methods. I dumbly thought I might have had to cut out the entire end, crawl inside and hammer it out, leaving myself a 6 foot open root to weld - duh. As kkroger pointed out it is not such much a problem of a dent as it is the high spots not clearing the frame. A lawn roller is not a precision instrument and my yard does not look like a putting green so getting it rolling looks doable with this advice.

For SkinnyG, we use a lawn roller in the spring, while the ground is soft, to flatten the bumps from moles, frost heave, and whatever unknown forces. In my case the roller is 6 feet long and 2 foot in diameter. That makes for about 1200 lbs of water and steel. If not done early it leaves you with a lawn that is teeth chattering brutal to ride your mower on when those bumps get rock hard in the summer. Worse than speed bumps on the road.

 

[joe49]

if you follow this procedure, would it not be "unsealed"?

Right up till you weld it shut.

 

[hemifalcon]

I'm with the idea of punching a hole 180 degrees opposite the drum.. Hammer out with a long rod or pipe, then close it up in reverse fashion..

 

[DekeT]

Right up till you weld it shut.

Lawn rollers have a large 1.5 inch threaded opening on the end for filling and emptying fluid. The "vessel" will not be sealed while torch cutting or welding. I wanted to do this today but it is freaking cold and snowing in Michigan.

 

[lakeroadster]

A couple things:

Using weld to overlay the low spots is problematic, as the heat from that much welding tends to shrink the roller o.d.

Making a patch, and then gmaw it just around the perimeter is probably the easiest and quickest fix.

Make sure there are no explosive vapors in the drum. I used to add just a bit of kerosene to my roller every time I filled it... to help prevent internal rust. Yours ever had anything like that done to it? If so that 1-1/2" hole likely won't help much.

 

[joe49]

Lawn rollers have a large 1.5 inch threaded opening on the end for filling and emptying fluid. The "vessel" will not be sealed while torch cutting or welding. I wanted to do this today but it is freaking cold and snowing in Michigan.

I know, in post 8 I'm warning about taking said plug out.

 

[ovrrdrive]

I'd probably just hammer down the high spots personally..

 

[Showkey]

Just a thought:

Lawn rollers cause more problems than they cure.........soil compaction is never good unless your making a driveway or foundation.

Top dress and aeration ............