Combines 30 1020 header breaking the support arms

I'm surprised but I'm not.It's not just the 30' header that has that problem.I have a 5 year old 25 footer and I think everyone has broken there.The poly skids saved alot of mishaps.I am sure it is just a flaw in the heat treatment process.A quick weld with some 7018 fixes it permanently.I'm surprised that they havent remedied this yet and glad that I din't replace them with the same design.Hope this helps!

This is a everyseason thing i have to replace almost all over them every season even the ones i have welded back.

Are you using a hot low-hydrogen rod like 7018...i know 6011_6013 wont do it.Mig maybe with lots of heat to anneal the surrounding metal.Try it,its cheaper than new.

Hey Canuck I am looking at a 1996 30' 1020 very soon am just wondering where exactly do I look to see if these supports have been broken or welded. I don't quite understand where you mean to look any info. would be appreciated.

We have two 30' 1020's and we've had the same trouble. I finally took each of the arms off, cut the old skid plate off and welded a new one to it. It's a lot cheaper than replacing the whole arm and seems to last longer than just welding the cracks.

If you look under your header,you'll see from 6 to 10(depending on width of your header) or so curved pieces of square tubing I would guess about 2 and a half inches square.One end is fastened to the back of the header via a swivel assembly.The front is attached to a special skid shoe and is what keeps your knife assembly in position.You will see 2 bolt holes that attach this shoe to the guard.Mine usually cracks about 2 inches behind the bolt holes(hard to see if you have poly skids).If you can twist the guard up or down(i use a boxed end wrench over one guard point),the shoe is probably cracked under the poly.I've also had one break where the tubing is welded to the shoe assembly.Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info Canuck I have looked at the header and some have been welded thanks for your detailed description.