Got a 1955 HT4 that came without a belly pan.  Well today it wedged a stump into the oil pan putting a big hole in it.  It dumped oil but I caught it right away and shut it down.  Upon shutdown there was no knocking or indications that the motor is toast.  Crawled under it and its got about a fist sized hole in the pan with a couple cracks.  The dozer runs and works well and it is very unfortunate.

Has anyone ever built a patch plate and welded it in place?  How does the pan weld?  Not sure what kind of cast they used.  Building a patch plate is no problem for me.  Interested if anyone here has done it.

 

Never welded one up here, but consider yourself somewhat lucky it did not break where the springs rest. That particular spot gets worn paper thin sometimes and difficult to repair. I have always wondered if someone could fix pans in that spot with a powder torch or spray arc? Ideally one would have to be sure of decontaminating where you plan on patching. I am guessing you didn't plan on removing it from the machine? A royal pain either way. Good luck. JM

No springs on this tractor being that an HT4 it has a solid beam.

 

Decided to make a patch plate and bolt it to the remaining oil pan to seal it up.

Check out a post " 212 (?) sump repair without disassembly vidio"  by a user named Haus, posted 8 months and 1 week ago. I would attach it but do not know how. I found it interesting. They used a wire feed welder in small, short welds and pinged with a needle gun.

Started forming a plate to cover the hole.  Going to bolt it in place, there is enough meat left on the old pan to do so.  Going to take a bit to get it matched up just right.  Everything is too oily to weld as well as it's location makes it tough.  Onced fixed I will build a heavy duty belly pan so it never happens again.

 
 
 

Got it all patched up. $100 worth of loctite steel putty and 2 tubes of ultra black rtv.  Decided to use thru bolts to hold the plate in place instead of tapping it.  Went together pretty well, very dirty work crawling under that thing.  Hope the old girl is still healthy.  Going to fill it with oil, turn it over for a while with the compression released and hope for the best.

 
 
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Hope the fix holds!!!
I'd be a nervous wreck waiting for something to leak all the oil out again while operating.

Best of luck!! This will truly put Loctite to the test!

My D4 is an ag tractor and no belly pan which I wish it had. I use mine for a lot of demolition around the farm with the dozer and always worry about the pan.