[Farmall] broken easy out

[Greg Hass]

In reading this thread, I was surprised that almost no one mentioned welding 
out the stud.  By this I do not mean welding a nut to it, although that can 
sometimes be done.  I learned the technique in an adult welding class 20 
years ago, adn had it fine-tuned by my brother who worked as a welder in a 
factory for 15 years.  And, yes, it does take a special welding rod.  The 
welding rod we use is "Crown Royal 220M".  It is basically a stainless steel 
rod with different alloys.  It has a tensil strength of 120,000 lbs. 
(compared to 70,000 lbs. for low-hydrogen rod) which makes it extremely 
strong.

The one secret is that when you start to weld you have to use a test metal 
first and make sure that when you strike the rod you get good penetration, 
because the first strike is what determines how good a job you will do.  The 
ting about this rod is that it will build up upon itself.  You weld a little 
until the spot gets red, then quit, and as soon as the red dulls you hit it 
again.  Do this until you are just above the surface of the hole.  With this 
rod, you do not have to chip the flux off between weldings, as it flows to 
the side and actually helps protect from the weld sticking to the casting. 
At this time, you weld something like a 3/8" by 1" strap metal of whatever 
length you want to the built up stud.  They will usually come out with no 
trouble.  One thing that we found out is that the piece that you weld on 
must be fairly heavy or the stud will not come out.  My brother learned this 
at work.  From my experience, I will not even try to use an easy out on 
broken off bolts.  The only thing we have used one on in the last 15 years 
is once in a while we will have a brass fitting break off in a casting.  We 
have always been able to get these out with an easy out.

I forgot...the welding rod must be no bigger than 3/32".  The only place you 
can probably get the rod is at an industrial supply house.  They are not 
cheap.  I seem to remember about $2.50 a rod, but still a bargain 
considering the alternatives.  Probably more than you wanted to know.

Greg Hass
Michigan's Thumb