Chain Guards

[dmuench]

It's a lot more chipped from shipping damage and sitting around at the TSC than the pictures show.. I think all the surfaces of the chain and the reflections were playing havoc with the digital camera. Those were the only two shots I took that didn't come out totally blurry.

 

[dmuench]

Thanks, and I tend to agree with the vibrations bit.. Just about when I was done tightening things I thought to myself "Why didn't I loctite all that?".. So maybe I'll take the rear apart and fix that tomorrow before I build the front.. If that doesn't hold it together once I get to use it, I'll have to come up with Plan B.

 

[Kodiak]

Just a suggestion.You might want to consider nylon locknuts, even locktite can be affected by vibration.

 

[njrqs]

David

Yes sensational job indeed. I wish I had thought of that when I got ripped off making mine.

Cheers

 

[dmuench]

The finished product..

Just finished the guards off. Ended up loctiting everything, including the already finished rear. Also decided to double up the nuts on the bolts that hold the angle iron to the deck in addition. So here's 4 pictures in case anyone is curious.. The front came out even better, I think.

This picture is the front, overall.

 

[dmuench]

Re: The finished product..

Here's a closer up shot.

 

[dmuench]

Re: The finished product..

Here's a close up shot of the back side of the guards..

 

[dmuench]

Re: The finished product..

..and finally, a shot from below. I used 1.25x2.25" angle iron so I'd have more room to mount it to the deck.

Now all I need to do is wait a couple weeks so I can brush hog our new land.

 

[TonyC]

Re: The finished product..

I have the feeling I'm about to ask a dumb question but I can't figure it out, so.... Why are the middle group of chains shorter on the front guard?

 

[Bird]

Re: The finished product..

<font color=blue>about to ask a dumb question</font color=blue>

Not too dumb./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif The first time I made a chain guard, I made'em all the same length, and as they drug over grass and weeds that pushed them back under the deck, the blades shortened'em for me./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[TonyC]

Re: The finished product..

<font color=blue>the blades shortened'em for me</font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gifHaha/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif That's one way to get them to exactly the right length!

 

[dmuench]

Re: The finished product..

Bird's right. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif In the first picture you can see the blade sticking out.. It comes much closer to the front edge of the kutter than the rear, so we made the center chunk 2 links shorter so they don't contact the blade in any way. Didn't have any such issues with the rear.

 

[TonyC]

Re: The finished product..

<font color=blue>we made the center chunk 2 links shorter so they don't contact the blade in any way</font color=blue>

Well thank goodness you posted those pictures. I'm getting ready to make a set and I would have missed that for sure. Nice job you did there too!

 

[JohnS]

Re: The finished product..

Great job and thanks for all the pictures. Let us know how it does on its maiden voyage. I will be using some if not all of your ideas, for my chain guards for a KK. The weather has not cooperated here in the NE. Will have the tractor very soon, so moving the mower inside would be much easier.

 

[rozett]

If you find that the locktite is not doing the job, retighten all the bolts and ding the threads with a cold chisel. If you ever have to replace a chain, just run the hacksaw down along the back side of the nut and it'll be off.

//bruce

 

[MikePA]

I just got a quote from my local Woods dealer. A chain guard kit for my BB60 Part # 57193 $268.00. Yikes. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I know they're important, but paying about a third of the cost of the mower for a chain guard doesn't sit well. /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

 

[TonyC]

<font color=blue>paying about a third of the cost of the mower for a chain guard doesn't sit well</font color=blue>

You got that right! I just don't understand why they're so expensive. I'm making my own!

 

[dmuench]

Yep, about the same price for the KK guards..

Now that I'm done and can figure out what leftovers I have (I bought extra everything so I wouldn't run short), here's what I figure I have into the project money wise:

About $20 for angle iron with pre-punched holes
About $45 for 55-ish feet of 3/16" chain
About $5 in 5 lbs of bolts, nuts, and washers
1 small tube of loctite red

So about $70 overall. It took half a day saturday and half sunday, but it was so nice out it was worth it. I also bought some $20 24" bolt cutters to cut chain, which I wanted anyway. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

My wife ended up cutting all the chain anyway.. She was having such a blast with those bolt cutters that I think I'm going to have to keep a close eye on them. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[BKColeman]

Mike, I got the chains when I bought my BB60 for $200 as part of the package. For the fit and finish, I think they are definitely worth it. The curved piece on the back side is perfect.

--Brad

 

[dmuench]

Mwahahaha

Just got back in from using the brush hog for the first time. What a cool attachment. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Mowed about 5 acres of 3-4' tall grass, and any bush/small tree that got in my way.

At any rate, the chain guards worked great. The rear one still looks new except for the grass all over it. I didn't see a stick or anything fly more than 5 feet. The front didn't fare so well - turns out the chain near the center was too long, despite making it shorter than the rest. The blades hacked off a lot of the chain, but in the process it bent the angle iron down a little (not too much). 5 minutes with a BFH fixed that, and I trimmed any chain left that was still too long. None of the loctited bolts came loose.

So, thumbs up except for me making the front chain too long. I think if I were to build them over, I would of used some thicker, wider angle iron to move the front guard away from the blades more.. But I think the pre-punched stuff I used will hold up.

BTW John, thanks for the other brush hog tutorial thread.. This is the first time I've used a brush hog and your tips made it a no-sweat process.