Little bit o' log splitter welding...

[Catenary Kid]

I have an MTD 25 ton vertical-horizontal log splitter that is, and has been, merrily splitting away for decades. I bought it from Quality Farm and Fleet back when my boys both moved out and I knew I would b e cutting, splitting and stacking all by myself ad infinitum. About 4 years ago (or so) I noticed it was leaking hydraulic oil but could not discern from where until a few weeks ago, when I tipped it up and thoroughly cleaned it with acetone and started checking it every day. What I found was the oil is weeping from either a pin hole or microscopic crack where a gusset supporting the engine mount is welded to the hydraulic oil tank which is also the axle for the wheels. The paint is powder coat so very tough to remove. My question is this: should I use a stick welder to effect the repair, and if so, which rod? Should I use a wire feed and what type? Will it be necessary to drain and clean the hydraulic tank prior to welding? Or can I just grind the paint off, tip it up to get the oil away from the repair and weld away? Never done anything like this so any advice will be well received....

 

[jjef]

I'm sure there's more knowledgeable folks but from my limited experiences welding pin holes in water tanks and tubes they had to be empty, dry, prepped, (usually involved completely grinding out the old weld) and wiped/ cleaned with some type of solvent to stop leaks.
Good luck

 

[RetiredMike]

Once you clean up the area and find out what you're dealing with, if it's a pin hole, I would simply drill it out, tap it, and install a teflon taped plug.