Excavator Drive Sprocket Buildup - Part 1

Описание: Please note: I am not a welder!!! I have no idea what I'm doing!!!

I'm using 1/8" Lincoln E7018 welding rods with an old AC welder, set at some current that seems to have reasonable penetration, and also good buildup. The current adjustment mark has worn off, so I'm not sure what the current is. I purchased a 10lb case of Vulcan E7018 welding rods from Harbor Freight, but they do not work for me at all. They stick every time I try to start, at any current setting from 80A to 200A. Maybe it's because they are not really AC rods even though they say they are, or they need to be baked, but they are only a couple months old, and have been sitting in the plastic case unopened. The Lincoln rods that work perfectly are probably 20 years old and have been sitting in the shed in an opened box. The OCV on the welder is around 60V AC.

I do not plan on hard facing the surface as I want my welds to wear down, not the track bushings.

I'm building up one of the drive sprockets on my old 1970s Koehring Bantam C266 excavator. It gets limited use on our property, so I thought I would try this so the track doesn't slip. After spending around 2-3 hours of welding, I've build up 12 of the 25 teeth to about half the height of the good sprocket from where they were. I'm not sure how far I'll go, but once I'm done welding and grinding, I think this will hopefully be an improvement. I might end up trying to buy a weld-on sprocket since it looks like the other sprocket had been replaced not too long before I purchased the excavator, and that sprocket has two halves, so I could torch this one off, and weld on a replacement. Probably less work and a way better solution in the end.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to get weld on drive sprockets? I believe the excavator has a Berco undercarriage, but I noticed that the links say CAT on them. There are 25 teeth, spaced 3.5" apart.