Craftsman riding mover frame broken

I could run a few lap welds along where the plates attach to the frame to add a little more stiffness to the frame. I haven't mowed with it since repairing it. I'll see how much movement it'll have after a run today and then decide if welds are needed.
 
Very good idea because the bolts are in a shear situation when the mower is running.
Trousers held up with a belt & braces never fall down
 
I'm not entirely sure what grade bolts I used. They're 5/16"bolts I got from the bulk bin at Lowe's. I'll have to look at the head markings. I used 6 per plate with three on both sides and lock washers with the nuts.
I mowed for a few hours today and the plates didn't shift at at all.
 
Here we are nearly four years later and the repair is holding up well. I never got around to welding the plates. The welder I have is just a POS arc welder little more than a big battery charger.
 
Welding can be an art. When do right it is as strong if not stronger the original metal being welded. Done poorly it simply will break again. I do ACE/OX and wire welding here. I have yet to have many to fail afterwards.

When I first started wire welding the welds simply were no good. Then I found out my supplier was selling junk flux core wire. Now that I got the correct flux core wire the welds are very nice looking.

The repair should had been with angle metal as to re-enforce the area or make a lot closer to original design. Screws and nuts simply will not hold up over time.
 
The angle iron would have been the ideal repair but it would have been more difficult to find the size I needed. I wanted to do it on the cheap. The two pieces of steel I used look like it's still holding up fine. Sure it would have been even better welding them but there isn't too much stress on the repair that the bolts can't handle. The worst that could happen now is some bolts could could shear and that would be an easy fix.
 
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