Enviro M55-Cast Agitator Rod

Greetings all,
A few posts ago
Enviro Max pot liner in my Omega

figor was mentioning about his Pot Liner
I posted that I had purchased a replacement "Aftermarket Liner and Agitator Rod for my M-55

The Backyard mechanic in me thought about firing up the Hobart 140 Buzz box and see if I could "splice" some new agitator fingers onto my old (original) agitator rod. The rod shaft seems fine but the fingers are worn out (badly).
In an effort to do that I figured some finger length measurements (Old-New) were in order before I start welding.
I plan on welding it up on Sunday (if time allows) but I thought I'd post old vs. new measurements for anyone that wants them. Just a heads up....my new replacement rod has been in use for about 4 months so the measurements may show some wear and it was scraped clean but not pristine.

I have 7 fingers on my Agitator rod and I numbered them from the Screw socket down to the bearing surface. So #1 is from the screw socket end. I measured using a dial caliper from the finger tip thru the rod to the back side. So the measurement includes the rod.

Old (Scraped off but not pristine) might have some buildup on finger tips.
#1 1.640"
#2 1.560"
#3 1.555"
#4 1.555"
#5 1.550"
#6 1.525"
#7 1.580"

New
#1 1.623"
#2 1.623"
#3 1.640"
#4 1.623"
#5 1.640"
#6 1.630"
#7 1.640"

As you can see. The old fingers have about a hundred thousands of length wear on them. The width of some of them is worn down to points. Clearly worn out.
My plan is to weld on 2 side fingers to each of the old ones and create almost a paddle at each finger location. Not sure if it will work but only costs me some time .
I'll post more info when I get it done.
Thanks,
---Nailer---

 

Please keep us posted! Sounds like a really interesting project.

 

I had a local welder fix mine several years ago. He welded on several stainless steel "fingers" and a piece spanning the center which was badly eroded. It is heavier than the original but is working well.

 

Candidly, you are better off with stainless than cast, it lasts longer but you need to TIG them. Cast oxidizes too fast. I've replaced mine a few times now with 304 stainless rod, which I have in the shop. 304 is machine able. The heat from the fuel wears away the cast pretty quick. My experience at least. If you don't have a TIG, you can send it to me and I'll weld them on for you (provided the rod is stainless as well). No charge either. I tend to radius the ends too. A sharp end wears faster.

Getting colder here and I need to clean the stove. I was in the hospital for a week and my wife don't understand it needs cleaned so it's a mess and I'm on propane right now. Really tired of dealing with my cancer but then end game is I live a while longer. Got customers depending on me for their hay.

Keep thinking about selling out, I probably have 1/2 a mil in equipment but if I did that, I'd loose my impetus to keep fighting. Not a lot of time left at 72 but I want to live as long as possible. I'm greedy. So long as I can function, I'm good.