Check the ground rod clamp itself...

Wait, can you even taste the meat through all that?

Stick with the name brand stuff for magnets. I grabbed some from Harbor Freight that were total junk, but the ones from a hardware store have been solid for years. They hold my heavier screwdrivers without any issue.

Hold on, you're missing the point. Those old machines were built to last a hundred years, not to save a few gallons of fuel. My uncle ran a bucket ladder and that thing dug in conditions that would stall a modern rig cold. They were simple, strong, and you could fix them with a wrench and a hammer. Today's gear has computers that fail if they get damp. Sure, it burned fuel, but it moved mountains without ever calling the shop. That's real efficiency.

Ugh, tell me about it! We had the exact same thing happen at our place last year. It was such a mess and cost way more to fix than if we'd just done it right the first time. You live and you learn, but man, it's a tough lesson.