Mower deck crack repair

[Ben Buck]

Small crack on my mower deck.

Have been advised by several non reputable sources to drill a small hole near the top of the crack and run a bead, and grind it down & paint.

Is the hole to be drilled at the crack start , or above it, and is it necessary to run a bead underneath?

Any advice would be appreciated. I have a Handler 140 & gas

 

[msharley]

Me?

Would run a bead on it.

Quick grind.

Fit up a small piece of flat bar...and series tack it around...about a 1/2" to 3/4" overlap...

Will out last the deck..

 

[acer66]

Unless you plan to paint the rest of the deck afterwards I would skip the grinding and painting after welding.

 

[Bert_]

I'd put some metal over the top too. That corner probably flexes quite a bit

 

[rancherbill]

Drilling a hole stops cracks, it is a good practice. I would not worry about on this deck that is closer to the end of it's life cycle rather than to new.

 

[Jswain]

Probably fairly thin sheet metal so even your 140 should penetrate fully to do a one sided weld.

I wouldn't even worry about drilling, clean the paint and rust up & weld it hot. Start with 1 tack on the outside edge, then weld it from the interior of the crack towards the edge should help from burning through at the end.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Definitely drill a hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from spreading further. Then "V" out the entire crack line a bit, sand/grind paint and rust away to get good clean metal, and stitch weld it. I would then dress the weld if desired and put some sort of paint on top of it to prevent rusting.

 

[Wrench97]

Drill, grind, weld and plate.

 

[428PI]

I wouldn't worry about it. That crack will end at the rusted out hole. You're good to go.

 

[cpttuna]

I would a pop rivet a piece of ss underneath. grind the crack and weld ensuring to get all 3 pieces welded. Drill out the pop rivets and weld the holes getting the metal underneath at the same time.

 

[The Cobbler]

I wouldn't worry about it. That crack will end at the rusted out hole. You're good to go.

to me that looks like a square punched hole.
but,
I would drill a hole at the end, run a bead on each side and grind the top side to make it look pretty spalsh some paint on her , and call it done.