Cracked Bolster.

[Karl Bader]

Hey everyone! I have a 47 that has a cracked bolster. It leaks some water and in the past I just fill the radiator before mowing, and I've been fine. The PO used some sort of gasket type material or something to seal the crack, which got old and brittle. Right now I'm looking for something for a temporary fix to seal up through the winter and hopefully I can replace the bolster next year when the weather gets warm.

Any suggestions on properly redneck fixing this?

Thanks,

Karl

[Slim140]

Depends on location but you may be able to clean it really well and put epoxy or J.B. weld on it for a temporary fix. There's always brazing or welding it as well.

[Karl Bader]

Depends on location but you may be able to clean it really well and put epoxy or J.B. weld on it for a temporary fix. There's always brazing or welding it as well.

Right along the front of the grill, at a glance it doesn't look like a crack. I was trying to get it welded,my welder friend said I need to take it off the tractor since it's cast, it needs to be heated first before welding otherwise it'll crack again.

[Slim140]

Depends on location but you may be able to clean it really well and put epoxy or J.B. weld on it for a temporary fix. There's always brazing or welding it as well.

Right along the front of the grill, at a glance it doesn't look like a crack. I was trying to get it welded,my welder friend said I need to take it off the tractor since it's cast, it needs to be heated first before welding otherwise it'll crack again.

It does need to be preheated before welding or it will crack again. If it could be brazed you'd be better off, the brazing will be less apt to leakage and also look better if someone knows what they are doing.

[Eugene]

I would go for the brazing. The bolster on my Cub was brazed when I purchased it 15 or more years ago. Doesn't leak.

Depending on the crack, you may have to remove the radiator.

[Karl Bader]

I would go for the brazing. The bolster on my Cub was brazed when I purchased it 15 or more years ago. Doesn't leak.

Depending on the crack, you may have to remove the radiator.

and I understand that... just right now not an option, looking at doing that in the spring. I need to fill with antifreeze, and don't want that leaking on my lawn..

[Slim140]

" just right now not an option, looking at doing that in the spring. I need to fill with antifreeze, and don't want that leaking on my lawn.."

You don't want it leaking but don't want to fix it, that's a tough one to figure out.

[Bob McCarty]

Isolate the length of the crack, v it out a little with a grinder and fill it with JB Weld. That should hold until you have time for a more permanent fix, if needed.

[Karl Bader]

" just right now not an option, looking at doing that in the spring. I need to fill with antifreeze, and don't want that leaking on my lawn.."

You don't want it leaking but don't want to fix it, that's a tough one to figure out.

Didn't say I didn't want to fix it, as I said I'm just looking for a temporary. Taking apart the whole front end of the tractor to get the bolster off is a big job, and if I'm in there there's going to be other things that are either going to be might as wells to fix or things that break in the process. This means a lot of down time. Right now I can't afford that. My driveway is 150' long. I shoveled it once last year, don't want to chance having to do that this year, so it will have to wait for spring. The patch that they did before worked, obviously for several years, just need to redo it for the time being...

[Slim140]

" just right now not an option, looking at doing that in the spring. I need to fill with antifreeze, and don't want that leaking on my lawn.."

You don't want it leaking but don't want to fix it, that's a tough one to figure out.

Didn't say I didn't want to fix it, as I said I'm just looking for a temporary. Taking apart the whole front end of the tractor to get the bolster off is a big job, and if I'm in there there's going to be other things that are either going to be might as wells to fix or things that break in the process. This means a lot of down time. Right now I can't afford that. My driveway is 150' long. I shoveled it once last year, don't want to chance having to do that this year, so it will have to wait for spring. The patch that they did before worked, obviously for several years, just need to redo it for the time being...

Understood. Bob's suggestion should do the trick

[Eugene]

Drain the coolant, clean up the crack as Bob suggests. I would wash the crack with rubbing alcohol then gently heat the crack to remove any alcohol/water.

With crack still warm apply the epoxy.

There are a number of different quality, uses, epoxy on the market including steel epoxies.

[Karl Bader]

Understood. Bob's suggestion should do the trick

After reading some of your threads, I'm sure you would just manufacture a new bolster!

[Slim140]

Understood. Bob's suggestion should do the trick

After reading some of your threads, I'm sure you would just manufacture a new bolster!

Some things just can't be done, lol. I did swap one of ours out. If you can get by with a temporary fix on yours you could always contact JP tractor salvage at the bottom of the page and see if they have one you could get at a reasonable price. That way you could go ahead and repair what needs repairing on it and have it ready to bolt on when the time comes and not have to worry with another fix on yours.

[Karl Bader]

Some things just can't be done, lol. I did swap one of ours out. If you can get by with a temporary fix on yours you could always contact JP tractor salvage at the bottom of the page and see if they have one you could get at a reasonable price. That way you could go ahead and repair what needs repairing on it and have it ready to bolt on when the time comes and not have to worry with another fix on yours.

That is the plan... maybe. Up until about 2 weeks ago this was our workhorse around the farm, and we were initially thinking of restoring it as we used it... Then I found a 1952 already disassembled, in great shape with the cool invention of hydraulics (my current one is spring lift, great for the mower, no fun with anything else!) so we are going to put our energy into that one... we are undecided about this one currently, but still our workhorse until we finish the other one!

[Indy4570]

I thought about trying sealall on mine, it works on gas tanks so it will be impervious to the anti-freeze an it will remain a little bit pliable for a long time. JB is also at the top for such a repair