[windfish]

Picked up a Case 644 a couple months back, pulled the trans off today to do some maintenance and there's a weld on one axle

I know you can only tell so much by a picture, but I'd like some thoughts on the weld job.

The 644 is a fairly heavy garden tractor, iirc somewhere around 1500lbs. I could potentially have a hundred or two pounds in the weight box as well, so there's a decent amount of stress on it.
Thus far its been fine, should I think about replacing that axle or does it look good enough?

 

[WNYTractorTinkerer]

That looks like womething I'd do!

It's hard to evaluate the weld with all the grease on it..

Clean it up and then post some pictures of it for better advice.. JMO

 

[orange j d]

It is hard to tell by the pictures. Time will tell.:thThumbsU

 

[huffy]

I might be off base here, and hopefully someone will come along to clarify this, but I'm not so sure that the strength of the weld itself is your only concern. If I'm not mistaken, the axle itself is made of hardened steel. So, the temper may have been ruined when they welded it, making the axle more prone to bend under a load.

 

[windfish]

Ah, sorry. Took a fine wire wheel and a rag to it
And answered my question, lol. Its got stress cracks, so I guess another week of downtime for her. Fortunately there's axle pairs on ebay that'll work for $50 or so, + sh

 

[gravely-power]

It looks like it was welded to take up slack in worn out splines. Is that true? if so, that weld will hold for ever.

 

[ubber_gearhead99]

That will hold, especially if it isn't rusting covered in all that grease, but I would replace it if you can get the parts. Better to have parts and not need them than to need them and not have them.

 

[brokenveather]

Some of my welds look a bunch worse than that one and they are still holding. But as the ubber gearhead99 stated better to have and not need than the other way around.

 

[marlboro180]

Uhh, that looks worse than I thought it might be. Poor penetration, cracking, and looks like a bird turd. :sorry1:

Sounds like you are on the right track with having another axle on hand, that axle you have would not be going anywhere under a tractor in my book until it was cut off, and welded up decently.

 

[tiretrx]

I've probably seen worse welds hold up, but IMO that is a poor weld. As said before, there's cracking, and I see a number of areas with little or no penetration. Not good. I'd rectify the situation when possible.

 

[hodge]

It looks like it was welded to take up slack in worn out splines. Is that true? if so, that weld will hold for ever.

That can't be- the OP has said that there are stress cracks already. Metalurgy is an important part of welding- not just the appearance of the bead. If you can get a set of axles for that reasonable of a price, I think you should go that route.