Blimey, I only did it!

Despite my total lack of welding expertise (and experience) my cheap Chinese welding machine came into its own again today. I was determined to cut my grass today before the rain that’s forecast for the week-end. However, my plans were thwarted. I hit what I thought were a couple of bumps on the ground but should have checked before reversing and carrying on with my cutting because the problem was much more serious.

It turned out that, as they often do, one of the securing pins for one of the forward facing rods that support the cutter bed had fallen out and the rod had then dropped out and driven itself into the ground. This happened a couple of times and because I hadn’t noticed what had happened the lug securing the rod to the cutter bed got bent and was eventually torn off.

The bed itself wasn’t badly damaged – there was just a small split where the lug had originally been welded to it – so after banging the lug as straight as I could (not easy as it’s made from thick metal and I don’t have a suitable hard surface to use as an anvil) I thought I’d get my welding machine out and see if I could weld it back on again myself.

And much to my own surprise, I managed to do it! And without taking the cutter bed off. The hardest part was getting it held in position before I could get a couple of tacks on it but after much sweat, tears and bad language I succeeded. Now OK, the results aren’t pretty but this ain’t no beauty contest. All I need is to get my mower back in working order so I can finish the job and continue using it in the future.

Here are a couple of shots of the results it doesn’t look too bad from the front but welding the back lying on my back looking upwards with a welding mask on wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.

Incidentally, when I was wire brushing the metal before welding I noticed that there was already some rust inside the old welded joint, so it was either like that from the factory or had been failing for some time. But anyway, that’s now twice my welding machine has got me out of trouble with repairs to my mower, so it has to have much more than paid for itself. I reckon at the price it was a pretty good investment.