Case 1840 cracked frame

[dodonne2]

I just bought a 2000 case 1840 a few days ago. I made a huge mistake of assuming the hour meter read 2000 hrs but it actually read 20,000 hours, the owner and I both screwed it up he swears it has under 3000 hours. I bought it from the original owner and he swore his grandpa bought it new in 2000 and they have been using it for manure and ranch stuff ever since, also plowing snow. (picked it up in the middle of Wyoming/Colorado border). I got it home and started cleaning it and looking it down and was shocked to find a major crack on the right lift arm frame (see pictures). Then I found another crack on the bell housing cover (see pictures). THe good news is I am a half decent tig and mig welder. How should I go about repairing these? I am planning on putting a plate over the right arm crack and welding that up. What should I do about the bellhousing?

Bigger questions:
Has anyone seen cracks in these areas before? Someone on FB told me they have seen the lift arm cracks and it is somewhat common especially if it isnt properly greased.
What about the cracked bellhousing? How does that even happen? Should I weld it up or leave it?

Also please chime in on the hours, do you think this machine could actually have 20k hours?? I find that highly unlikely. Maybe key was left on for months at a time??

 

[mrbb]

there are no pictures here, I think you have to make a few posts before your allowed to add pictures,( I could be wrong though)
so maybe, try replying to a few other posts that you can add something to hem, to get your post numbers up!
and then try again reposting pictures

 

[dodonne2]

ok i thought they uploaded let me try again. three pics of the arm crack (inside and out), one of the bellhousing crack

 

[hoardac]

That sucks first thing I would do is see if they will make it right and refund you or help with the welding cost. Almost anything can be welded whether it will hold or not depends on a lot of factors, great welder with experience being the key. We have had many machines at the mill with 20000+ hours but usually the small equipment never makes it that far.

 

[Gearclash]

20,000 hours is not impossible if it was a dairy barn loader for most of its life. Check the attachment pivot pins. If it actually has 20K hours they will either be utterly wallowed out or will have been rebuilt.

I do question the year of the machine, I thought by Y2K the XT series had replaced the 18s?

The crack in the arm tower is fixable. I would not plate it. Just V out the crack and weld it properly. The crack in the bell housing is more concerning though. That is cast iron most likely. Probably just have to replace it.

 

[JaNeily]

More likely it's 2000.0 hours.

 

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I just bought a 2000 case 1840 a few days ago. I made a huge mistake of assuming the hour meter read 2000 hrs but it actually read 20,000 hours, the owner and I both screwed it up he swears it has under 3000 hours. I bought it from the original owner and he swore his grandpa bought it new in 2000 and they have been using it for manure and ranch stuff ever since, also plowing snow. (picked it up in the middle of Wyoming/Colorado border). I got it home and started cleaning it and looking it down and was shocked to find a major crack on the right lift arm frame (see pictures). Then I found another crack on the bell housing cover (see pictures). THe good news is I am a half decent tig and mig welder. How should I go about repairing these? I am planning on putting a plate over the right arm crack and welding that up. What should I do about the bellhousing?

Bigger questions:
Has anyone seen cracks in these areas before? Someone on FB told me they have seen the lift arm cracks and it is somewhat common especially if it isnt properly greased.
What about the cracked bellhousing? How does that even happen? Should I weld it up or leave it?

Also please chime in on the hours, do you think this machine could actually have 20k hours?? I find that highly unlikely. Maybe key was left on for months at a time??

I would weld it up and fish plate it where possible. As for the Bell housing and cracks I had that happen also. That's how I got it. The Starter mounted to that housing and would not engage right when cranking. Took a bit of time and a good welder to solve that. I can tell you the hours don't add up unless the key was left on constantly or the use was all day constantly. The bell housing you are mentioning is the engine? IF so fix it before it spreads more. I wonder about this one. Was it dropped. I think that the cracks were caused. by something question is what??