England explains, “Pitsch needed a wire that could lay down a good base, but that was able also to keep some ductility and take an impact. We had to be able to put a piece of equipment in the field and not have any welds fail again. So we ultimately settled on the TM-811N1 wire, and the rest is history.”

Welding less, tearing down more

When a bucket finds its way back to Pitsch's repair shop from the field, it frequently has suffered two types of damage. First, it may be worn on the front side or corner portion near the teeth, the area that is both the weakest point of the bucket (but ironically, also the point that encounters the most impact.) Second, it may require new AR plate on the front and/or side, or the existing plate may need to be reinforced.

To repair the worn bucket corners, Voet and Watts must first grind a V-groove into the broken area, gouge out any of the old welds, and remove (as much as possible on a used bucket) rust, dirt or other debris. Next, using the Hobart Brothers Tri-Mark TM-811N1 wire, they weld a stringer bead back and forth along the length of the cut away area. The TM-811N1, like other gas-shielded flux-cored wires, produces slag during welding, which has to be chipped away after each welding pass. Many welding operators will confirm that chipping slag can be difficult and time consuming, but Voet has found just the opposite to be true with the Hobart Brothers product.

“The slag practically falls right off,” explains Voet. “As soon as it's gone, I can start adding another pass of wire, and so on, until the area we've gouged out is completely level. It's a pretty fast process compared to before.”

Adding to that speed and the wire's relative ease-of-use is the fact that Voet and Watts now don't have to switch to a hard-surfacing wire to provide a final overlay. The TM-811N1 provides better resistance to wear and impact than the solid and hard-surfacing wire combination Pitsch used previously.

According to David Vinson, district manager for Hobart Brothers, the TM-811N1 wire is designed to provide such results, especially good impact strengths at low temperatures. This feature may be the reason for Pitsch's success with the wire, as its demolition projects put a year-round beating on the equipment, even during cold Michigan winters. The fact that the wire also wears well adds to its success in these applications.

“The TM-811N1 isn't a hard-surfacing wire,” Vinson observes, “but it serves that purpose for Pitsch. That versatility is saving them a lot of time for changing out wires, it's getting the job finished faster and the welds are lasting longer.” Vinson says that any company wishing to use a wire like TM-811N1 to obtain hard-surfacing properties should first consult their welding distributor to determine whether it can achieve similar results.

Voet adds that the previous hard-surfacing wire wasn't as forgiving or easy to use, as the weld bead was too fluid and had a tendency to ‘fall off' the previous weld pass, making the welding process more difficult and time-consuming.

Both Voet and Watts have found the same positive results with TM-811N1 when welding AR plate to the buckets, which saves them even more time — they can use the same wire for the job yet again. For smaller buckets, Pitsch uses a thinner AR200 plate and for the larger buckets, it uses a thicker AR400 plate. In both instances, the plate must be welded securely to the bucket (which, as mentioned above, could be one of many types of base metals) and then covered with dots that help increase the AR plate's wear resistance.

The final verdict?

According to Watts, since standardizing on the TM-811N1 wire, Pitsch Wrecking has cut four hours from the average repair time of a bucket, decreasing repairs from 12 hours to eight. He attributes the time savings not only to the fact that he and Voet don't need to switch wires, first using a solid wire and then a hard-surfacing one, but also to the fact the TM-811N1 wire is so much easier to use. Watts cites similar savings on Pitsch's other equipment, too, including its grapples and pulverizers.

Topping off the success of the TM-811N1 wire: welds on the equipment last up to 30 percent longer in the field than before. This is where the true savings has shown itself to Pitsch.

“These guys make their living off of equipment being in the field and having as much uptime as possible, and this wire has given them that benefit,” England explains. “So the savings isn't just in the time it takes to weld something. It's also in the time that the equipment stays in the field for Pitsch.”

Watts adds, “I can notice a big difference because I'm not seeing the same bucket as quickly. It can go on three different jobs, even large ones that last months, and I still don't get them back for repairs. Before I'd see them halfway between the jobs.”

That longevity is the greatest success for Pitsch, because having more time in the field helps the company to do what it does best — tear down the old to make room for the new.

---

Keith Packard is the sales and marketing manager for Hobart Brothers Low-Alloy Tubular Wire division, and David Vinson is a Hobart Brothers district manager.

The authors note that Bill England formerly of Purity Cylinder Gases, is now the position of Assistant Professor in the Welding Engineering Technology Department, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI.