Got started today on replacing some steel on our 30+ year old (probably 40-45 year old) H&S Manure spreader. The side supports on the hitch were rotted and patched about 7-8 years ago and have since cracked again, so I was gonna try to just cut them out and replace them, leaving the center alone.
After cutting them out with the torch, and doing some looking, the center, by the time it gets to the drawbar hole, is bent up about 1 1/2", and it's got holes rotted in it in several spots. (Big surprise) Now, after only ordering 2 7' sticks of 4" channel for the sides, I need another 24 1/2' to finish the job, but this also means I can fab up the hitch itself at work on a large, flat weld table, with either a miller 200 or 350P wire welder, and have it come out much better than it would have in the driveway at the farm.
Didn't take pictures of before, as I hoped it wouldn't have to go this far, but I'll try to take some pictures as it is now with the hitch torched off and some as I build it up again.
Here's the only picture where it even made it in at all-
Probably gonna go ahead & repaint it after it's done. May end up going green though because the cheap red paint turns pink really quick without a clear over it, where the green still looks good 10 years later on something else I painted. Just something to protect the metal a little bit is what I'm looking for...
Donovan from Wisconsin
After cutting them out with the torch, and doing some looking, the center, by the time it gets to the drawbar hole, is bent up about 1 1/2", and it's got holes rotted in it in several spots. (Big surprise) Now, after only ordering 2 7' sticks of 4" channel for the sides, I need another 24 1/2' to finish the job, but this also means I can fab up the hitch itself at work on a large, flat weld table, with either a miller 200 or 350P wire welder, and have it come out much better than it would have in the driveway at the farm.
Didn't take pictures of before, as I hoped it wouldn't have to go this far, but I'll try to take some pictures as it is now with the hitch torched off and some as I build it up again.
Here's the only picture where it even made it in at all-
Probably gonna go ahead & repaint it after it's done. May end up going green though because the cheap red paint turns pink really quick without a clear over it, where the green still looks good 10 years later on something else I painted. Just something to protect the metal a little bit is what I'm looking for...
Donovan from Wisconsin
