Want to do some arc welding on my BX23s loader to install hooks. Should I disconnect the battery? Any other issues I should be concerned about?
Welding on loader
- Thread starter SRRGC1
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Make sure you have a good ground connection and as near to the point of weld as possible. I don't disconnect the battery when welding on tractor, but you do what you feel comfortable with.
This is an endless debate.
I'll just leave you with three questions:
- How hard is it to disconnect the battery?
- How expensive are your electronics?
- Why would you not?
I did not disconnect for mig welding the hooks to the bucket BUT for tig I always disconnect, I fried some motorcycle parts with the high frequency. BUT your newer tractor may have a lot more computer stuff than my older b7800. Not that hard to disconnect.
GreensvilleJay
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Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
If the hooks will be welded to the bucket, remove bucket ? I assume NOT SSQA version ?
Before welding COVER the hood and dash and seat real good !! It's amazing how far welding 'splatter' can go and destroy plastic pieces... !!!!!!!!
disconnect battery negative ? sure, maybe but energy can and does run through ALL the wiring NOT just the 'ground'. especially true for 'inverter/HF ' style welders. 'cross talk', the coupling of energy from one wire to another was the bane of telecom life in the late 80s.
Before welding COVER the hood and dash and seat real good !! It's amazing how far welding 'splatter' can go and destroy plastic pieces... !!!!!!!!
disconnect battery negative ? sure, maybe but energy can and does run through ALL the wiring NOT just the 'ground'. especially true for 'inverter/HF ' style welders. 'cross talk', the coupling of energy from one wire to another was the bane of telecom life in the late 80s.
I can't imagine that disconnecting the battery will do much. If a high current is induced in the tractor wiring then what ever is in the path will take a hit. I know that some recommended it to prevent current traveling from the battery ground, back thru the battery to the wiring, but there are numerous other grounds. The best advice for the OP is to remove the bucket.
85Hokie
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BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
As D2Cat well said - ground near welding area as for battery......
Unhooking the battery is a "good" idea - and gives you a chance to clean a terminal or two!!!!
Curious - bolting not an option? Reason being - not that a is not good enough, IF you pull a little to hard on something, the bucket metal could bend.
I supporting plate adds to the hook thus allowing more pressure to be placed over more area on the bucket.
Then again - many will say - the BX series will not be strong enough to mess up the metal on the bucket!
Unhooking the battery is a "good" idea - and gives you a chance to clean a terminal or two!!!!
Curious - bolting not an option? Reason being - not that a is not good enough, IF you pull a little to hard on something, the bucket metal could bend.
I supporting plate adds to the hook thus allowing more pressure to be placed over more area on the bucket.
Then again - many will say - the BX series will not be strong enough to mess up the metal on the bucket!
As D2Cat well said - ground near welding area as for battery......
Unhooking the battery is a "good" idea - and gives you a chance to clean a terminal or two!!!!
Curious - bolting not an option? Reason being - not that a is not good enough, IF you pull a little to hard on something, the bucket metal could bend.
I supporting plate adds to the hook thus allowing more pressure to be placed over more area on the bucket.
Then again - many will say - the BX series will not be strong enough to mess up the metal on the bucket!
View attachment 85036
i have 2 hooks on my BX welded at the outside seams (free install by the dealer). they arent going anywhere. probably wreck the loader before you would hurt the bucket.
when welding on something with electronics i always disconnect the battery, for the bucket though, if its SSQA its much easier to just drop it. like Jay said, cover stuff up. OR if you drop the bucket back the tractor up a ways.
Thank you for all your quick replies. I do have a ssqa bucket however was thinking about welding some grab hooks to the ssqa plate. Can just remove the loader but didn't want to do that as many have had issues with reconnecting the hydraulic lines. I have owned the bx for two years and have never had a reason to remove the fel/bh yet. I have another bx I use for mowing and snow plowing. That way could lift without the added bucket weight and more visibility. I have seen others do this. Tks.
If I understand what you're planning to do, I don't recommend it. If you load one end of the adapter, you'll twist the adapter out of time. That connector piece is intended to withstand just the torque to keep the ends in phase so you can attach the bucket, etc. Many have twisted the adapter when one side of the bucket came unlatched.
If I misunderstand, disregard.
I welded my hooks to the large angle iron and bolted that large angle plate across the entire bucket top. Put hooks in line with the bucket arms.As D2Cat well said - ground near welding area as for battery......
Unhooking the battery is a "good" idea - and gives you a chance to clean a terminal or two!!!!
Curious - bolting not an option? Reason being - not that a is not good enough, IF you pull a little to hard on something, the bucket metal could bend.
I supporting plate adds to the hook thus allowing more pressure to be placed over more area on the bucket.
Then again - many will say - the BX series will not be strong enough to mess up the metal on the bucket!
View attachment 85036
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
or...
make or buy a 'blank SSQA plate' and weld hooks on it.
You really only need the outer 8-10" of 'plate'(with notch of pin) and then 'horizontal bar' to make the 'frame'
make or buy a 'blank SSQA plate' and weld hooks on it.
You really only need the outer 8-10" of 'plate'(with notch of pin) and then 'horizontal bar' to make the 'frame'
mcmxi
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***Current*** M6060HDC, MX6000HSTC & GL7000 ***Sold*** MX6000HST & BX25TLB
This thread got me thinking about this. We all know that the current will take the path of least resistance so grounding near the weld makes sense intuitively. But perhaps we don't think about the fact that when a current passes through a wire it generates a magnetic field. If a wire moves in a magnetic field a current is generated in the wire. So when you're welding near electrical circuits, you might want to think about the magnetic field that's generated. If the field is moving, and wires are nearby, a current could be generated just like two inductors parallel to each other where one is energized by the other.
Just a thought from left (magnetic) field.
Exactly right. And those currents can produce voltage spikes which can (not, "will") zap various electronic components.
Oh, and everyone please be clear on this: "zap" does not mean, "kills it dead right then so it's obvious".
Sometimes, "zap" means,
- "shortens the life of the component with no immediate obvious failure"
- "slightly damages a component such that it begins to fail in odd ways which may begin immediately OR after a few weeks or months"
- "slightly damages a component such that it begins to fail intermittently, which may begin immediately OR after a few weeks or months"
And then there's the question of how often these effects might be seen. Is it one in a hundred times? Probably not that often. Is it one in a thousand? One in ten thousand? I don't know what the numbers are, but I do know it does happen.
Then the question is, how much protection is provided by disconnecting the negative battery cable? Again, I don't have the numbers handy, but I do know it's a lot.
So again, just why would anyone NOT take that simple step?
Oh, right. Because somebody on the Internet said he welds all the time without disconnecting the battery and he's never had a problem.
In this case, it’s simply an academic argument. There’s no reason to disconnect the battery because the bucket comes off.
But only IF the bucket comes off easily. Which is easier? Remove the bucket or remove one terminal on the battery? Don't know...
Without electronics to worry about on my B2910, I just welded away on my bucket, reinforcing it and adding hooks. Never worried about it, and never an issue.
This takes me back to a link belt 75 ton crane I got called out to work on. Was up in white deer, PA. Customer called said machine would run, sometimes, then it would randomly shut off, no throttle control, ect. Very odd for the make of engine, and having relatively low hours on it. (Engine was still under 2 year warranty) Got on site, hooked up to it and has a massive amount of fault codes. Shorts, opens, driver faults ect. Figured the ecu had lost its mind, but wanted to be sure before replacing a $6k ecu. Traced all the powers and grounds, found many wires that were partially melted. Again this was odd. Finally got the ok to replace the ecu amd harness. Had the parts shipped up to the job site the next day. The ecu was in a compartment behind the seat. Pulled it out and there was a big arc mark from the back case of the ecu to the steel mounting Plate. This sent up red flags. Long story short. After a lift, they had found a crack in the boom of the crane, link belt sent out a welder to repair the boom. Best guess is he grounded on the deck of the crane and went about fixing and plating the crack in the boom. Never unhooked the batteries, and was very far away from where he had grounded. I don't know if unhooking the batteries would have helped or not, but it surly wouldn't have hurt and may have saved a ecu and wiring harness.