DIY skidplate

[Tachdriver]

I bought a piece of Aluminum diamond plate from Lowes yesterday - 2 ft x 4ft piece. Today I took advantage of the decent weather this morning and made my own skid plate for the rear. I used the rear two bolts to hold that end and made a 7/16" stud attached to the stock plate to hold the front. Easy to remove when I need to. Demension is 30" long x 18" wide.

Have a happy thanksgiving everyone !


later

 

[Argosy]

I'd flip the bolt so the head is down. The skid plate looks good but if you hang the bolt on something it will tear it up.

 

[buck12]

Neat work. I need to build something similar as I recently broke my hydraulic filter assembly on a log.

 

[Tachdriver]

IT's a stud, not a bolt. I can use a slicer and remove that extended portion of stud. :thumbsup:





later

 

[roma3112]

how did you get such nice even bends? I tryied to bend mine and it looks like crap?

 

[Shutesbury]

I bought a piece of Aluminum diamond plate from Lowes yesterday - 2 ft x 4ft piece. Today I took advantage of the decent weather this morning and made my own skid plate for the rear. I used the rear two bolts to hold that end and made a 7/16" stud attached to the stock plate to hold the front. Easy to remove when I need to. Demension is 30" long x 18" wide.

Have a happy thanksgiving everyone !

later

Excellent work! It's on my to-do-list, and I saw that plate at Home Depot, and thought of buying some. I'm admiring the clean lines, too, and I'm assuming the bends were easier with the aluminum stock than steel would be, but did you just clamp it under a 2x4 and flex or hammer it to the right angles... or do you need a metal brake to do it?

I caught the rubber boot on the shaft just before the fan blades and tore it up, but *fortunately* didn't get the blades. That flapping rubber really bounced the floor pan for a few seconds, and I was picturing the worst! Any opinions on my thought of adding a skid plate but not rushing into replacing that boot? There doesn't seem to be any lubed joint at the shaft/fan junction, so I'm not clear why they have a boot on the shaft end, and if I protect the area from dirt and debris with a skid plate, I'm thinking it will be fine until that part needs removal or repair down the road... ??

 

[Marveltone]

Beautiful work! Good looking and functional. :thumbsup:

Joe

 

[funwithahoe]

Sad part about that work is you can't see it unless you climb under.

Looks great.

 

[closs2sx]

Clamp it to bench with a 90 corner or clamp it to a piece of 1/4 thick steel and clamp the whole thing to a work surface high enough off the ground. Square it up by measuring from end of diamond plate to the edge to be bent over then measure to figure out where the next bend will be flip orientate and square up and re clamp to work surface and bend

 

[Tachdriver]

It's 1/8" aluminum diamond plate. I took a 2x8 and clamped it to the plate and my weld table and bent it evenly and steadily. Measure twice and bend once ! I will now make a plate for the front fan opening. I'll post some pics on that too..

Thanks for the comments.:thumbsup:



later

 

[radioman]

Do you think 1/8 is thick enough? It looks good, you really need to have front half done as this is the most vulnerable area.

 

[sxs191]

Nice skid plate. I have found that the exposed opening above the plate is where most of the sticks come shooting up though. (at least that's where they did on mine. Is there anyway you could have moved it forward more and bend it up to block some of that opening?

 

[FastPauly]

Nice work Tachdriver....probably the folks at the home improvement stores are going to be wondering why their sales of aluminum diamond plate has suddenly skyrocketed. :thumbsup:

 

[roma3112]

i made a pretty ugly skid plate fro an old street sign,however my bending/mfg skills were such that i couldnt make it in such a way as to let me use the mower deck with the slid plate attached. I want to re-make one with better more percise bends and have the plate folow closer to the trans case so I can make an opening to allow the insertion of the MMM driveshaft in the summer.
Has anybody made a home made skid plate that has provisions(ie a coverd opening) to allow the use of the MMM. I would be dying to see come close up pice or even measurements. I know bro-tec makes one but they are well over 200.00 with shipping, and I work for free so if i can do it why not

 

[Tachdriver]

Yes, 1/8" plate is plenty heavy enough to divert a stick or limb. You can make your plate with a turned up lip if you wish. That trans fan is way back in there, just looks closer in my pics. So the stick would have to have some intelligence - turn up, then make another turn and run back @ 3 feet and into the fan. That's double Jeopardy and I can easily live with what I produced.

Now if you have intelligent sticks, by all means beef it up some more. Don't leave a open space anywhere.:laughing:



later

 

[Dunno]

Bringing this thread back to life. I need to make a skid plate for my Ford 4610 to keep filters and lines safe. I thought about using 3/4” plywood as I have it lying around. I think it will be strong enough to not get punctured, and wondering if anyone has done so? I’ll be bush hogging 3-4” small trees in a large field. There are no punji sticks to get tires, at least that I know of. Thanks.

 

[Topzide]

I think you'd be "okay" with the plywood. I wouldn't want to rely on it season after season.
Can you find any 3/16 - 1/4 perforated of expanded metal and some angle iron? This way, you wouldn't need to weld, just bolt together. You might even be able to bend into shape with gentle persuasion from a BFH!
The plywood would hold water and dirt, which would weaken it. Understand trying to work with what you have. Good luck with project.

 

[tradosaurus]

There are companies that make custom skid plates as well as metal covers to protect filters.
Zooks Welding

 

[2manyrocks]

Plywood won’t skid over objects as well as solid metal.

 

[Dunno]

Hi Guys,
Thank for the replies. There’s a lot that needs to be covered up. I’m going to have to wait for warmer weather and no snow to get under there. I’m better working with wood than metal, so leaning towards the plywood. I have some thin metal sheet, will try to figure out how to attach to frame in the most critical areas. I’ll see what type of perforated sheet metal might be available as that would go together nicely. I have a MIG welder but have not really mastered using it or fully trusting my welds. Custom made shields would be nice. Will call those gentlemen.
Best regards.