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I wasn’t smart and wasn’t careful when trying to take the bearings off my axle shafts and accidentally cut in about 1/8” deep on one (first pic) and about 1/16” deep on the other (second pic). When I got the bearing off the axle with the smaller nick, I noticed what looked like a big gash that was welded and then machined (second pic) and other holes that were there from previous replacement (third pic). I’m wondering if these cuts are bad enough that I will need to replace the axle shafts.
That's more than I could live with. I'd replace the axle shaft. Next time, make the cut straight inline with the shaft's long axis, and don't go all the way through. Then use a cold chisel to break the collar. An air hammer with a chisel head works really well.
Look at the rest of the shaft... is there a section that is narrower than how deep you cut? If so it’s probably fine.
Do you haul or tow with this truck? Do you beat on it off road? If you drive easy then this is probably just fine.
All that said there looks to be a lot of galling from bearings being pressed on dry or slipping. The “welded” section you pointed out looks like galling to me.
if you are really worried about it the cuts could be welded up and machined back but that will probably cost more than some used shafts
I would just try and find some good used ones. Compare the price to new ones and make a choice of what I could do. Me personally would weld it up myself, machine it back down and see how it looked. But that’s just so I can learn what I can do. Then I would just go get some new or used. But if you got to get your truck back up and going right away you’re better off just getting some different axles to be safe.
The technical answer is yes that axle has been compromised and it should be replaced. but the reality is it's fine. I've made draw bar pins out of used axles for 40 years and even when worn 25% of the way through behind a 200 HP tractor they never break.
If it were me and I used the pickup in a normal manor I'd go with it. if I overloaded it and abused it I'd replace it. not because it would break but because I wouldn't want to be thinking about it .
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