Most often they cover those under warranty, in service, if its broken. Some just have a bead line around the weld that shows slight rust etchings here paint soaks into the weld seam, there are a variety of issue regarding poles and most usually they are all somewhat different and almost always related to harmonics. Over time these simple poles have had several changes, originally they had bronze grab balls that are now phenolic, they also now are pegged at bottom on the lower tongue, then came S bends, thicker pipe and a tab most recently increasing bite on the winch stand. There are a few more small tweaks, though that covers the bulk. Since your a welder and should know better than most, we assume yours is broken. The issues are always harmonics related and we have done many things to try and eliminate the vibration from harmonics. For now they are all pinned (pegged) inside with a solid short stem welded to the tongue first.