Largest Square Bar

How about using tubing and filling with melted wheel weights. It would be heavier than the same size steel bar.

Dan

What do you mean by 'melted wheel weights'?

Are you talking about melting steel? How is this easy?

What I wanted to do was machine the tractor name into the block, and put a tapped hole so that I could install a ring bolt to lift the entire thing on and off.

A casting is probably what I need to do, but I have a mill and don't have a furnace and casting stuff.

Thanks.

I could weld pieces together too. So the biggest bar question, answered, would be helpful.

According to stone :

He was talking about melting the lead alloy weights which are used to balance wheels for automobiles. Every time a tire is changed, the old weights are stripped off the rim and tossed into a box somewhere. New weights (of the proper value for the combination of the new tire and the old rim) are then fitted.

These things consist of a steel hook which grips the rim, and the rest is lead alloy. Toss it into something hot enough and the lead melts, and the steel floats on top.

You would also have to lift this weight onto your milling machine's table to do the work. (And hope that something this heavy is not more than the knee's jackscrew can handle.)

I think that welding would be the better route. Perhaps start out with square steel tubing (or even rectangular), bolt on a nameplate on the front into which you have previously milled the letters. Weld on a cap on one end, and then start melting old wheel balance weights and pouring them in until you get it full -- then weld on a cap on the upper end, and prepare to mount it.

Good Luck, DoN.

"DoN. Nichols" wrote: (clip)-- then weld on a cap on the upper end, and prepare to mount it. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Let's make it even easier. Weld up your box, with the filler hole on top, and bolt it to the front of the tractor. THEN fill it by pouring in molten lead. And skip the cap--who needs it?

has up to 65" cross section, but since they only go up to 40 tons per bar it would be more of a cube than a bar. How much weight are you looking for? I imagine bigger bar can be found with a bit of looking.

-jiw

The Ryerson book shows 6" as the largest square; 24" diam round, and 18" thick plate.

Slabs at least 24" thick are available somewhere, as I've seen pictures of such slabs being cut in one pass by O/A. Steel weighs in at about 490 lbs/cu. ft.

Make it even easier; weld up the box and fill it with wheel weights, don't bother melting, just drop them in. Then you can take some back out if you need less weight.

It would be easier to purchase plate cut to the dimensions required. Most plate supplied over three inches thick is custom cut by the steel supplier. Cutting charges are minimal when you consider the time and expense of cutting it yourself and dealing with the off cuts. Randy

I was thinking of machining a solid front end tractor weight. And this would require something like an ingot.

Thanks.

If the OP can't get his hands on that much lead, he could use concrete. It's not as dense as lead, but it's still more than you want to drop on your foot. :)

I agree that using concrete is the easiest way to go. After only one evening working with concrete, reinforcing materials, plywood and stuff, the OP would have something that would serve him well over many years and would cost very little. Numerous counterweights (like on cranes etc) are made of concrete.

i

Lots of farmers in my neck of the woods..er..desert use oil field pumping unit counter weights.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Yes, it is denser. I guess it depends on how much weight you need.

If I were doing it, I would weld a steel box that I could pore the concrete into. That way, you don't have a chipping problem, and you would have the steel for mounting to the tractor.

Just use a length of structural steel tubing, perhaps 12" square and

1/2" wall. Mill the name into the side, 1/4" deep should be plenty, weld on an end cap, fill with concrete and then weld on the other cap. Simple relatively cheap, durable and no potentially hazardous lead.

Pete C.

Hey JW,

Right on!! The answer to his question was rather "How much money do you actually HAVE!" That is what sets the "biggest" category. The OP was a silly sort of question. Better had he suggested a size, or better yet, a weight AND size, he would find both desirable and manageable. Steel weighs in at close to 500 pounds per cubic foot, or 1 cubic inch weighs a little over 1/4 pound. You can call any steel supplier and buy it either way to almost any dimension.

So, still without any of that info, or an understanding of why he is doing this, I wonder why he doesn't just make a tank for the front with a fill at the top and a drain in the bottom, and fill it with water, or calcium chloride liquid when he needs to use it. Water weighs 62 pounds per cubic foot, and dry sand weighs 100. Empty, he should be able to lift it on and off by hand.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bot5\hwell, Ontario.

Indeed. Steel weights are better. Even if you build a steel tank and fill it with concrete, damp can often get inside and rust through the wall.

Chris

I think with the right clout and business - one could custom order what you want. It wouldn't be called a bar - but other terms.

Martin Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

st> What's the largest square bar available?

What I wanted was a single piece, machined replica, of the individual weights normally installed on the front of the tractor.

But from the different ideas offered up, I think I will build a steel 'box', styled similar to the standard weights and fill it with molten lead.

Thanks.

I'm going to look around for fishing weights. I seem to remember little BB sized weights with a slot. These should be easy to melt.

Try your local scrap yard or tire shop for wheel weights. Or ask at a boat building place where they get lead for keels.

Dan