Agriculture & Trucking
 
Friction welding is used extensively in the agricultural and trucking industries because the welds are of forged quality, with a 100% butt joint weld throughout the contact area. This bond is strong enough to handle the high stress and torque required of heavy machinery components.

Component costs can be significantly reduced by replacing expensive, totally-forged parts with forged ends welded to bar or tube stock, without a reduction in quality.
 
One example of this would be hydraulic piston rods, which have similar-size ends, but vary in rod diameter and length.Instead of stocking expensive forged components in a variety
of different diameter and length configurations, standardized ends could be welded to the required-size rod, reducing component costs as well as physical inventory requirements.
 

Other agricultural and trucking applications include front axle yoke shafts, rear axles, drive shafts, and gears.