Metal spraying advice needed for farm machinery sheet metal

[Richard Winn]

Hardfacing Alloys

 

[Ziggy2]

Here's what the wear looks like. This is on a 42 ft wide stripper header. Similar things happen in and under the combine, tractors pulling other equipment during and post harvest, etc.

Bolt heads on height sensor mounts:
View attachment 311827

Sensor bracket and floor pan of header. The "serrated knife" look is typical for straw wear, as once a groove is started it deepens continually. We will weld these thick parts. I'd like to use a spray coating on the underside of the header since it is only 1/8 thick.
View attachment 311828

Wear on the skid plates. They were skinned with 1/4" hardox 2 years ago and are now worn through. We will patch and hard face.

View attachment 311829

The inside of the header. This is primarily what I want to coat. The auger, floor, sides, teeth, cover, etc. And none of this is easy to remove, so I'd like to do it in place as much as possible.

View attachment 311837

I think you are on a fool's errand. Almost all of the components you are talking about have a significant degree of flex and are fabricated from sheet steel.

You also will have the issue that the areas that the wear is occurring on that is in contact with the crop also needs a smooth surface to slide on to feed well.

I have way too many memories of having poor feeding on the header from surface rust of a seasons storage and attempting to deal with either green weeds and or crop.

All of the spray on coatings no matter if a plastic base or a spray weld will be very rough. All will peel as they wear. The poor feeding characteristics will be any past issues of poor feeding on steroids.

Bolt on UHMW or Nylatron bolted on with flat head screws will probably be your best bet. The other solution is to fab new parts from thicker and or tougher alloys. All of this equipment is designed to have a finite life.

I understand what you want to accomplish but you are going against the current.

 

[true temper]

I got some sample hardface rod from these guys at a trade show years ago. It melted on with a torch very easy and controllable. It looks like they have a lot more to offer now. Might give them a call.
Home - Broco-Rankin

 

[Pattnmaker]

I havr an idea to protect screw heads countersunk in uhmw. Watch some videos on ski base repair. If you did the same thing over your screw heads they would be protected by the plastic and would not wear. As well there would be less friction as it would be a smooth surface. It wouldn't take too long to try in an area where you have a uhmw wear patch.

 

[Clodbuster]

Well there is certainly no shortage of ideas out there. I always say being a farmer is like being a parent - everyone who's never done it before knows exactly what you're doing wrong

Among the chaff there's a little grain though:

Sounds like a thermal process isn't likely to fit for the thin stuff. I thought that might be the case but wanted to ask.

The astroturf is actually on the right track. We do that with grain handling - let the grain impact on itself, rather than steel. I think outdoor carpet bits, spray mud flap, etc. in the right places under could be a good tool. We have to be careful with solid shielding under the machine though, I made a UMHW sheet shield for the transmission and later replaced it with an open cage of angle iron. It caught too much straw and dirt which held a lot of heat in.

I'm going to refocus on cold applied two part epoxies, etc. The Belzona, Devcon and others. We already use a product called Rexroc, which wears extremely well but can be a bit brittle, and needs to be a little too thick to use everywhere. A roll on product would be fantastic!

 

[neilho]

How about powdercoating? It's basically plastic melted onto metal. IIRC, some include Teflon.

 

[DDoug]

How about powdercoating? It's basically plastic melted onto metal. IIRC, some include Teflon.

It involves proper prep, heat, and removing the part from under said machine.

 

[Richard Winn]

Bridges Portable Powder Coating | Resodyn Engineered Polymeric Systems

 

[DDoug]

Bridges Portable Powder Coating | Resodyn Engineered Polymeric Systems

"Certified Installers".....Op can't get that in a rattle can eh ?

 

[neilho]

It involves proper prep, heat, and removing the part from under said machine.

Correct. But...he doesn't have any trouble doing that, evidently.

 

[DDoug]

I think the bedliner/undercoat was a rattle can product. Have also used various caulk tube products, which seem to adhere better. We didn't do any prep on the surface. It was the usual wavy mirror finish that grain leaves. You can see your distorted reflection in it, it's polished, but unevenly grooved. Roughing would certainly help, but we were attempting a fast fix.

Here's what the wear looks like. This is on a 42 ft wide stripper header. Similar things happen in and under the combine, tractors pulling other equipment during and post harvest, etc.

Bolt heads on height sensor mounts:
View attachment 311827

Sensor bracket and floor pan of header. The "serrated knife" look is typical for straw wear, as once a groove is started it deepens continually. We will weld these thick parts. I'd like to use a spray coating on the underside of the header since it is only 1/8 thick.
View attachment 311828

Wear on the skid plates. They were skinned with 1/4" hardox 2 years ago and are now worn through. We will patch and hard face.

View attachment 311829

The inside of the header. This is primarily what I want to coat. The auger, floor, sides, teeth, cover, etc. And none of this is easy to remove, so I'd like to do it in place as much as possible.

View attachment 311837

Correct. But...he doesn't have any trouble doing that, evidently.

Uhm yes, OP has stated not wanting to dis-assemble, nor properly prep.
Ref: post #21 & #28 (see red hilites)

 

[neilho]

Yes, he has stated that many times. But....he does it. And, as someone suggesting a solution, I'm not bound by his parameters. Outside the box is what this is about. And seems like my suggestion is par for the course, since he may or may not use any of the solutions suggested.

 

[dian]

if smooth is not needed maybe try an epoxy-silica-sand slurry. it would be possible to apply a thick coat of epoxy and air blast the sand on it. then another epoxy coat. or would some loose sand grains be a problem?

 

[Rmacmt]

HDPE is a product used to coat the bottoms of jet boats for skidding across sandbars and rock/gravel areas. Application is relatively simple as most is glued to surface however it can be fitted or bolted.

 

[stkbgr]

Rema Tip Top(and others) make anti-wear rubber based adhesive attached products in multiple durometers and thicknesses that will never wear out and will never come off in your application. I have used them in the mining industry for >40 years for particle sizes from a <200 mesh product to a >12" product in wet and dry applications. You will have to properly prepare the metal surfaces(most likely sandblast).

 

[EPAIII]

After some testing with my steel part, which was very polished to begin with, I have to retract my suggestion for using bed liner in a spray can. I did sand it to provide grip and then cleaned it twice with alcohol but after two coats of bed liner were completely dry, one day for each coat and then another two days at shop temperature, which should have more than done it according to the directions, it still peeled off easier than the masking tape I used.

My conclusion is that the professionally applied bed liner may be great, but the rattle can stuff either needs improvement or better instructions. Forget it! I am sorry I made that suggestion.

I am using some spray can truck bed liner on some spring clamps I am installing, mainly to prevent excessive scoring of the aluminum tube they will attach to. No results yet, but it seems to me that it could be considered for this. But you will have to go over the mirror surface with some sand paper first. And a wipe down with some alcohol or other solvent that leaves little residue would also be advisable.

Of course, you could always have an auto paint shop apply it.

 

[o1bigtenor]

I'm trying to extend wear life on various farm equipment that handles grain or runs in fresh harvested wheat stubble. Our equipment is just getting absolutely killed with abrasive wear. On the inside from grain, chaff, dust, etc. And on the outside, the underside of the machinery, from straw rubbing it as it drives through the field.

This is serious wear. The straw will cut the heads off of bolts that stick out, wear the bottom out of a transmission in a couple seasons. And mild steel seems to take it the worst of all materials. So I'm looking for a relatively easy way to put material back on large surfaces.

I know flame and arc spraying, etc. are out there, but haven't done either. What processes are best for primarily sheet metal work? Ideally something cool enough not to warp thin parts, that will stick well to highly polished surfaces (the bottom and inside of my header are shined like a mirror). A process that deposits long-wearing alloys, etc. on to steel, stainless, even aluminum. If it comes off, I want it to come off in little bits, not peel off in big chunks that will wreck machinery.

Whether this is a machine I can buy and use ourselves, or hire a shop locally to do is fine, but share what you know please!

Suggest that you will have to be remanufacturing your equipment a bit.
Its much more challenging to bend but use something like hardox - - - there are versions availble that a file just won't touch.
Then you need to make those bolts (with the nuts sticking into the grain or straw stream) a little longer and place a guard that either shields the nut/head from the wear side or surrounds it. This will be a very big job but then you will be able to get some life out of your stripper header.
HTH

 

[TeachMePlease]

I feel like the simplest solution is being ignored.

If you know that a bolted on sheet of HDPE works, but the grain eats the bolt heads.... Recess the bolt heads and screw in a plug made of hdpe to cover them. Uniform surface provides good flow, and the bold heads are protected. A screw in plug means they can be accessed if/when necessary.

 

[Tungsten Carbide]

Have you tried adhesive-backed UHMW? Maybe it could solve the bolt head problem.

https://www.alro.com/divplastics/PlasticsProduct_UHMWAdhesiveBacked.aspx

 

[dian]

Expoxy-bonded hard compound | Kalenborn

thre are rubber backed ceramic/carbide sheets to be vulcanised on and even magnetic flexible sheets.

Conveyor Anti-Wear Lining | Flow & Anti-Wear | Kinder Australia Pty Ltd