Brush Cutter Chain Guard homemade

ovrszd · Mar 7, 2013

Bought a used cutter with rubber belting in the front and nothing in the rear. Decided I wanted chain guards for the front at least. Called JD dealer and they priced a complete set of chains at $1000. After I got up off the floor I asked if they sold just bulk chain. They said yes and that it was $2.05 per foot. Now HTH can a set of chains cost $1000 if I can buy the chain for $2.05 per foot????? I didn't ask that question, just thanked them and hung up.

I scrounged my junk iron piles and found several old chains that I had stretched the crap out of and started hacking them into pieces. Rather than struggle with welding that many single links to a bracket on end, I decided to cut my strips with an odd number of links. Then using the center link, weld it to my bracket by it's side. This leaves two chains hanging from each welded link. Don't know if I gained anything or not but that's what I did.

I bought an 11' piece of 1.5x1.5x.25 angle iron to use as a bracket. Used the holes in the cutter frame for a guide to drill holes to bolt it on. Then welded up the chain pieces and bolted it to the cutter and shot on a little green paint.

Takes a LOT of chain to guard a 10' cutter. Approximately 90 feet. Please excuse the varying lengths of my chains. For some reason when I yanked all these chains into ill repair I didn't do it equally,,, so they vary.

I also welded some small triangle braces to the angle iron for added support. Not sure it they were needed or not but it made me feel better.

Here's what I ended up with.

jdtractor · Mar 7, 2013

Hi OVRSZD,
I own a john deere HX10,it has chains front and rear. If I had not have read your post I would sware that your chain guard was FACTORY!!!!! IMO you did GOOD. Your works looks good enough for the girl I go with! Good Luck to YOU. jdtractor.

DaveOmak · Mar 8, 2013

Nice chain guard...... did you find a use for the left over money ??? I would guess you did.....

ovrszd · Mar 8, 2013

DaveOmak said:
Nice chain guard...... did you find a use for the left over money ??? I would guess you did.....

Isn't that sickening!!! That was the only thing I hated about buying this cutter used, the fact that it was a John Deere. Parts are insane.

Got my eye on an old soilmover scraper so the money will definitely be spent!!!

jdtractor · Mar 8, 2013

IMO john deere maybe hi as H*** in parts and price , but u get what u pay for.

2458n · Mar 8, 2013

Alot of wildlife thanks you. Not to mention the back of your head. (keeps stuff from spitting back at you on the tractor)

ovrszd · Mar 9, 2013

jdtractor said:
IMO john deere maybe hi as H*** in parts and price , but u get what u pay for.

I agree. I was looking for a Bush Hog cutter when I found this one. I paid $1800 for it with a new PTO shaft, joints and new blades. I added stump jumper pans, rebuilt the clutch and replaced the skids. Now have $2300 in it. Most Bush Hog cutters I could find were $3500 and up. Anything cheaper wasn't worth dragging home. So surprisingly I'm in this JD cutter pretty cheap. I think Bush Hog makes a better cutter, but based on the price of used ones, so does everyone else.