That's the electric cord for the grinder.

Thank goodness for that.

Neil, James’ uses a Wendy’s Pancake Welding Shield made in Terry, Mississippi; they are popular with oilfield and pipeline welders in my area. Check them out. wendyspancakes.net/
ROME/KG and catsilver, I went back through all the photos I took and there were none that had the ground in them. The ground was attached to the main frame above the crossmember and out of way of the welder but close to the crossmember and the first “tack” joining the crossmember to the frame was in this area.
Old Magnet, Thanks for all your help and suggestions. I found a picture that shows one of the joints early in the welding process.
www.mcmahanwelding.com/

Photo 1: The inside of the Wendy's Shield.
Photo 2: A better view of an early weld.
Craig

Seems like a good welding outfit.....but you never know who they send out and it always pays to look over shoulder.
Kind of peaked my concern when I saw that open neck shirt that welder was wearing. I know it's been hotter than hell there but that still seems like a job for leathers. Have you tried fitting up the bar suspension unit yet?

Hi Old Magnet, I used a welder/machinist named Kenneth Boothe in 1984 and we became friends over time. Jeff McMahan founded McMahan Welding Ltd. in 1989 and Kenneth has been the shop foreman from the start. I have never had a McMahan repair fail.
James’ father is also a welder and James has been welding since he started high school. Kenneth sent James to my job because he is the best welder he had available. James was not available Thursday because a company requested him as one of the welders for a high pressure pipeline connection. I decided to wait for James rather than changing horses in mid-stream.
BTW James agrees with you about the leathers (they were in the truck), but said he could recover from a few burns faster than from a heat stroke. More updates soon. The photo shows that his clothes are properly rated.

I failed to mention any of the above before, sorry. Thanks to everyone for looking out for me and replying.
Craig

~Rest assured, Craig, no nit will go unpicked on here.

"ronm" wrote:

~Rest assured, Craig, no nit will go unpicked on here.

LoL ronm.

I was in your neck of woods yesterday, take care.

Kelly

The daily high temperatures have dropped over 20 degrees F and we have had over 3" of much needed rain the last few days. That's the excellent news, of course it cools off after the cutting and welding is done!
The dimensions of the newly welded crossmember match the pre-cut and pre-weld notes. That’s the good news.
While the tractor was in the shop, on blocks, the blade removed, belly pans dropped and parts out of the way was a good opportunity to service the tractor. When the torque converter screen was removed aluminum shavings were present!
Colton had mentioned that the D6D had felt “sluggish” when first started and took an increase in throttle before the transmission “caught”; the transmission operated normally after this was done.
Parts are ordered and I will update as repairs progress, at least we discovered the converter problem before total failure on the job.
Craig

Hello everyone, I’m sorry it has taken this long for an update. The torque converter overhaul took Lone Star Diesel Service longer than estimated due to difficulty locating parts, Colton has been busy with other projects so assembly of the equalizer bar etc. is just now underway.
McMahan Welding Service and James have done an excellent job as all assembly has been a breeze.

Photo 1: Equalizer bar in place.
Photo 2: More parts.
Photo 3: Center caps installed.
Photo 4: Close up.
Thanks,
Craig

Thanks again Old Magnet and others. I recently talked to the owner of this D6D. He said the repairs are still good. He only operates the tractor on his days off from his job but after over six years of use not a single crack!
Craig