Add CHAIN GUARDS To Rotary Cutter

Soundguy · Aug 20, 2007

Looks great.. I'll sending yuo my shipping address via PM (wink)

Nice work as usual.

BTW.. did you have any burn thru trouble using that beefy 150a setting on 1/8 6011 rod?? Or did you do that to blow / burn the zinc off/out of the weld at arc strike/ puddle...?

Soundguy

patrick_g · Aug 20, 2007

Yeah, great job and a terrific increase in safety. Yet another item on which Sound Guy and I are in total agreement.

I need to do some serious repairs to my chains before I can brush hog near stock. Hopefully your example will motivate me.

Pat

3RRL · Aug 20, 2007

Thanks guys,
It's always nice to get good feedback.
This little project was much easier to do than I thought. Plus the price was right for me too.
Time to do yours now.

Clamping the cut chain links over the 1/2" bar like I did kept them in position so welding was very easy. I clamped them all on with the spacing I wanted first like you saw in the first photos. Then I started the puddle just short of the link on the 1/2" thick bar and worked my way to the link end, until built up and completely welded. Zinc was no problem at all that way.

No problem burning through the lighter gage metal on the cutter body either. I always start on the thicker material and pool towards the thinner stuff to prevent burn through. Then, cut off the weld at the right time for thick to thin welding. I only had to worry about that on the 4 corner welds anyway. The braces were all welded to the 1/4" thick angle iron going across the bottom of my cutter.

patrick_g · Aug 21, 2007

Rob, About the zinc that was no problem... It is good that you were welding outdoors as the zinc fumes are quite toxic. What we don't see when we are welding is just where the fumes are going. I have even set up a fan to try to avoid the fumes. My first experiment was with the fan mostly behind me, trying to put myself upwind of the weld and it was NOT a good result as the little eddies formed on the downstream side of me and swirled the fumes right around my head.

If there is a breeze or you use a fan then just about any other arrangement besides your back to the breeze is better for avoiding breathing the fumes.

I don't know how effective it is but a foundry owner with whom I did some product development drank large quantities of milk if he was exposed to zinc fumes. He claimed it was useful. Couldn't hurt although I have seen no such advice in the literature.

Here is metal fume fever ===> http://files.aws.org/technical/facts/FACT-25.PDF

Pat

Jimmyb33 · Aug 21, 2007

Hey Rob those look great! They should do the job just fine. I guess it time for me to learn how to weld so I can start some of these type projects... I've got plenty in mind. I'm sure I can get plenty of advice here... but that's another thread.

3RRL · Aug 21, 2007

Hi Pat,
Yeah, I know about the zinc. What I do is have the breeze or fan going sideways. As a right handed welder mostly, I try to have the breeze or fan come from that side, right to left. It keeps the welding area clear of smoke too. I can weld with either hand but prefer right for the dinky stuff and surprisingly, left for longer runs?

Jimmy,
Thank you for the compliment!
Get your butt in gear so we can see your new threads on what you are building. There are so many sources for you to learn that it's a no brainer anymore. It's not only a tremendous cost savings in the long run...since you probably have to buy a welder and associated gear to get set up, but it is fun. Plus you can build it the way YOU want. I have certainly gotten my money's worth investing in a welder for all the projects and repairs I've done with it.

patrick_g · Aug 21, 2007

Rob, exactly what I do breeze and fanwise. We are sopme alike except for preferring the left hand for long runs. I tend to use both hands for some things and right hand for most one handing but I do use the left a significant fraction when it is a more comfortable reach.

Pat

SkunkWerX · Aug 21, 2007

Rob,

Excellent outcome! I like the tight spacing of chains and especailly like the stand-offs you fabricated. Very nice!

I try to steer clear of Galvanized and plated metals, but there are times it can't be avoided.
I use a fan, open the garage door, and stand between the fan and the work.
Let's face it, we know Zinc fumes are toxic, but standard welding fumes aren't the best for us, either.

Great job ROB!

3RRL · Aug 21, 2007

Thanks Skunk...
It's great to hear somebody else's opinion that it came out good...lol... other than mine.

I agree 100% about the welding too.

Ductape · Aug 22, 2007

Rob, your chain guards come out great as i anticipated. I actually don't have much to say here, but much like when i lost my virginity..... this is my 500th post, and i just figured it was time to get it over with. Glad i could share it with you !!!

Scott

john_bud · Aug 22, 2007

Rob,

Sorry I was out and about not able to see your thread until now. Best way is to NOT weld (too late, I know!). You slot the metal that attaches to the cutter deck - one slot per chain. A rod runs thru the chain that sticks up thru the slots and the rod is bolted in place. That way when (not if!) you lose a chain, it's a 5 min, hand too only job to replace the missing or messed up chain.

Also, metal fume fever from welding zinc, while not fun - has NO LONG TERM EFFECTS. It is not posionous, deadly or any thing of the sort. The linked doc posted above shows that plainly on page 2/3 at the end. Don't go sniff the fumes, but also don't run back in the house and write your last will and testament or tell the boss what you really think of him after a quick sniff. You'll be fine in a couple of hours !

tlbuser · Aug 23, 2007

john_bud said:
don't run back in the house and write your last will and testament or tell the boss what you really think of him after a quick sniff. You'll be fine in a couple of hours !

3RRL · Aug 23, 2007

John,
Oh great, now you tell me.

Dave of Dave's tractor said in post #20 that's the way the factory ones are made. Pretty neat, but quite a lot more machine time up front milling all those little slots and then drilling and tapping for the bolts. I figure for all the front, rear and side bars about a good days work of set up and machining, although I agree it's probably the best way to do it.

When I break one off, I figure to grind off the stub, cut a new length and weld it. If it takes me 20 minutes, I'm still way ahead. lol ... That's a lot of chains to repair to get even. It worked out pretty good this way for me and I'm getting lazy in my old age.

john_bud · Aug 23, 2007

No no, not lazy. The new lingo is working smarter, not working harder!

Now me, I'm lazy. I ordered the chains with mine. Unfortunately, they didn't come in with the cutter and took some bit of time afterwards to get. The dealer felt so bad that he didn't charge me for them. So, it worked out "OK" in the end.

jb

patrick_g · Aug 24, 2007

If you use an O-A torch or plasma cutter you can cut holes to mount the chains with a "skewer" fast and easy with no machining. If you are after function and looks aren't super important you wouldn't even need to grind.

My OEM chains came mounted on a shish kabob skewer with little dinky pins for keepers and they came apart in brush and ALL THE CHAINS are out there somewhere, I know not where for a few years!

A very important part of the skewer approach is to make darned sure the long skewer is secured really well.

If the chain link that is welded to the mower is welded securely it should never need to be replaced or at least not for hundreds or maybe thousands of mowing hours. If the dangling part of the chain wears out just use one of those chain mender links to add more chain. Once you have as neat a weld job as shown in the pix I recommend leaving it intact and using the repair links to add chain if ever required. Why grind and weld again? IF you are as cheap as I act sometimes use a bolt cutter on a chain link, give it a twist to open it up so you can add it and then close the link and secure with a wire feed gun or very carefully with a stick. Why make a lot of extra work?

Of course I am writing this after coming in to the house because I picked up some one elses discarded wire with the brush hog and it brought the blades to a stop and killed the engine. I will have to take the blades and stump jumper off AGAIN to clear the wrap. Never had this happen before bad enough to freeze it up.

Pat

hill · Aug 28, 2007

I used six links per chain at first but found that one or another or more would flip up and over the mount bar at the back of the mower so I cut them all to five links. Now it seems like not enough chain weight flips onto the "landing" for the chain to stay up. The remaining weight pulls it back down I guess.

So length of each chain would vary with the depth of the cutter and the chain should probably only just reach the bottom level of it at their longest.

If I saw someone using a brush cutter without chain guards I'd want to run for my life. Rather be shot again than hit by some knarly old chunk of hardwood schrapnel fired out of a brushhog cannon.

You can lick galvanized steel - it's a necessary food ingredient (look at any multivitamin ingredient list). But watch out for Cadmium. That stuff's fumes can kill you.

TwinWillows · Aug 29, 2007

Rob,
Very nice installation w/the standoffs & welding. Anything you'd change after operating with it?

3RRL · Aug 29, 2007

Thanks Twin, and thanks for asking.
lol...when I tried it out I didn't run over anything to worry about!

So for now I'll just leave it as it is. I had a concern about the gap left by the standoffs and that maybe something would fly out of there. But there is the shroud lip that is lower so it's not a problem. Overall, I'm happy with the simple solution. I need to accidentally run over something though to see how the chains work though.

For now I'll consider myself lucky.