I apologize in advance, this update is woefully short on pictures.
Busted off the steering arm you can just see under the axle beam. Welded it back on, and removed a footboard brace that was keeping me from making a sharper left turn. Not worried about the footboard sagging since the loader arm support runs just under it too.
Added a gusset to the steering arm when I put it back on, maybe it will last a little longer this time. Also changed the axle beam pivot, this unit used a 3/4" pivot pin, riding in a thin steel bushing in the beam (not even sure it was welded, may have just been pressed in). I had some 1-1/4" shaft and setscrew collars, so took two collars and a short section of pipe and welded them together. Drilled and tapped the pipe in the middle 1/4-28 for a zerk.
Took a section of 3/4 dowel 2" long and drilled a 1/4" hole through it lengthwise. That let me use a 2" holesaw with the center pilot drill in the dowel, which was in the old bushing. Did that from both sides, and the top of the hole was tangent to the top of the beam. Cut out the section of the top between the two holes in the sides about 1" wide, then welded in the shft collar bushing thing.
Before doing that, though, I took a chunk of the shafting and turned one end down to 3/4", about 5/8" long. I have a chunk of 1/2" plate inside the stamped axle bracket on the backside of the beam, so this will just stick through the existing hole in that plate. 2" further up the shaft (the axle beam is 2" thick") I used a cutoff tool to cut another 3/4" diameter, and then cut the whole thing off leaving that 1/8" long. I then drilled and tapped both ends with a 1/2" thread. The old pivot relied on the axle mounting plates to keep the pivot pin in place. There was a through slot 1" lower that had a 3/8 bolt connecting the two sides. The frontmost plate has a double-D shaped hole to catch two flats on pivot pin. So on the 1/8" long shaft stub, I filed matching flats. Stuck that in the bracket, and trapped it in place with a 1/2" bolt. Then used this whole plate-and-pin as an alignment jig when welding the shaft collar mess into the axle beam.
One side fit up nicely, and was real easy to get welded in. Cleaned it up flush after with a flap wheel. On the other side, the holesaw hole was not centered sideways on the beam, a little filing got it in place square, but the gap on the other side was between 1/8 and 3/16. So I used a trick I saw someone else use on a youtube video, I grabbed an extra rod (I was using 3/32 7014) and used that as a filler rod. More like held the tip in place and ran my arc across it than real tap-tap-tap in the puddle filler like a proper skilled tig or gas welder would do. Still let me fill that gap without burning huge holes all over the place.
Before putting the whole mess back in, I made sure to drill a grease gun access hole through the top of the bracket where it goes over the axle beam so I could grease the new bushing.
Then threaded the long end of the pivot into the frame half of the axle bracket (and thick plate) and bolted it in using the three top holes and another 1/2" bolt from the back into the pin.
Discovered I can't really grease it very well, the motor overhangs the access hole about 2" away. Maybe I can find an angled grease gun tip...
I will try and grab a pic of the steering arm repair and whatever I can access of the rest being it is already installed. I can't promise that my welds are anything worth looking at, I overcompensate by welding lots.
