I am sure there are some experienced welders on here and I need some advice on how to proceed on a repair.

I had a threaded bolt get sheared off. Unfortunately, the base of the bolt is a long J hook that is embedded in concrete (800 lbs of concrete). Can the bolt be welded back together?

This is the foundation for a Goalrilla basketball goal. There are basically 4 J-hooks with threads on the straight end. The 4 J-hooks pass through a plate and then are pushed down into a concrete footing (as the concrete is setting/curing). The plate and the threaded ends of the j-hooks (what I am calling the 4 bolts) are sitting on top of the concrete. There are nuts on the bolts that allow you to create a level base. The basketball goal pole then is bolted onto the leveled 4 threaded ends (similar to how stoplight poles, cement utility poles and many light poles are assembled). Intallation guide: http://www.goalrilla.com/sites/www.goalrilla.com/files/pdfs/manuals/b1002goalrillaanchorkit.pdf

I am getting new asphalt on the driveway and took the goal down. The asphalt guys clipped one bolt with a roller and snapped it off at the base plate.

He said we could either:
1) weld the bolt back together
2) weld the basketball pole to the base plate (never be able to take it down again)
3) redo the foundation (800 lbs of concrete to dig up because there is not really a good place to move it).

What is the best option? Does my description make sense? I can post pictures tonight.

If it were me, I would drill another hold in the mounting plate and another hole in the concrete. Epoxy a concrete anchor into your new hole in the concrete and then bolt through the new hole in your base. Unless you have LeBron hanging from the rim, this should provide you with plenty of strength.

What Karl said. If your concrete base is large enough, offset the post slightly and install four new anchors. These would do nicely, however,they absolutely don't need to be placed near the edge of the concrete or they'll blow out the side. What does the concrete base look like?

anchor at Lowe's (these are also used to mount car lifts...they're pretty darn strong).



You probably could weld the j-bolt back together by tinking out a little concrete around it to expose some of it, welding, and then filling with a little concrete patch. It's strength may be questionable but if it's in the front, nearest the backboard side of the post, I wouldn't be too concerned about it unless there was something behind it that would be damaged should it fall back.

this

that is all

Great input. I knew you guys would know what to do.

I looked at it when I got home and it snapped off above the nut. so I can probably still use it as a leveling point. I'll then drill through the base of the pole, the base plate and into the concrete. Epoxy an anchor in (that sticks up through the base plate and base of the pole) and use that as my 4th "through" bolt support.

Sound good? My 13 and 15 y/o and their friends need it pretty secure (it lowers down to 7.5 feet).

With using 3 of the original J-hooks and the new anchor pushing down on the decapitated j-hook - I should be good.

Hey Tom,

Good Luck with your goal for the kids.

Keep it tall for Larry.

B

did you just answer yourself? Either way, I concur with the second Tshan. You should be good.

You are probably going to want to buy, borrow, or steal a decent hammer drill. Trying to drill any significant depth into concrete with your basic hand drill is a major PITA. I had to do this a few weeks ago mounting basement stairs and it was not fun. I agree with the others though, just relocate and install a new anchor bolt.

sm

EDIT:
this is for the DAMAGED BOLT ONLY.....


completely ignore the old bolt as any part of the structure...... "levelling point" included ... it WILL cause you grief

your better off chipping away some of the concrete around that bolt, cutting the bolt off below 'ground level' and filling the recess with the epoxy to seal it off completely.


step 1
mark and drill a new hole in the base plate, stand frame in position and drill through that hole into the concrete

step 2
remove frame and do the 'fix' I've suggested to the old bolt.

step 3
replace frame and add the epoxy and the new bolt....... walk away, no more to pay




tools etc required:

hammer drill - builders or local construction firms WILL have one (borrow corosponding drill bit aswell)

drill capable of drilling through the steel base-plate and again a drill bit to suit.

air compressor & blower nozzle - you'll need to blow away ALL the dust etc before the epoxy is added
*** NB: the epoxy will NOT work 100% if the area is contaminated with dust or moisture ***


all thread - cut it to desired length ..... this is your 'new bolt'
here is Australia we have a fully threaded rod usually a yard in length we call "all-thread", the thread that's in the epoxy provides far more grip over a plain shanked normal bolt that's had the head cut off.

epoxy - here is Australia we call it "chemset", I'm sure the USA has a similar product.




Tip:
chemset cures fast..... you wont have time to stuff around with it, especially if its a warm day
So a practise 'dry run' or 2 is a good idea.

Placing the bolt in the chemset:
you need to fill the bottom 1/3rd of the hole with chemset, push the bolt in till you get the height you want, jiggle the bolt up & down slightly several times to squeeze out any air trapped in the hole, a nut & washer should then be added and let them sit at the base plate to hold the bolt from slipping further into the hole than desired




Kingy

Why ignore the old bolts? If they are not compromised they are fine. Go with the first suggestion, drill a new hole next to the broken bolt, insert anchor and tighten. You can get the epoxy capsules that drop in the hole, when you drive the anchor in it breaks the capsule and locks the anchor in. I've done this many times on equipment with higher loading than that basketball goal with never a fail.

Its possible the 3 remaining anchors would hold... but put the fourth in anyway.

C

I think he may have been talking about only the damaged bolt as one to be ignored.

your eye specialist says you don't need glasses......

others tho .......

I used the word BOLT ..... not bolts



but it was an easy mistake to miss read it so I've edited to previous post to clear it up

Kingy