JD 3032E brush guard and bucket hooks

[foggy1111]

I was looking at the forks you suggested below. Looks like the guy has a great product to offer....and his prices seem very fair. However, forks and a tooth bar provide two very different functions.

A tooth bar installed on your bucket will really help when digging soils and rocks....and serves to dramatically stiffen a light duty bucket lip where its most vulnerable. It will also allow you to pick up large logs and such...but that is not its main function. I have some bucket forks (clamp on types) but rarely use 'em.

I am sold on a tooth bar for my purposes.....they really improve the digging capability of a bucket. The tooth bar also serves to stiffen my bucket when using the clamp-on forks. Still....my clamp-on fork set-up wouldn't hold a candle to those forks you are considering .

(Thanks for posting the "how to" Roy. )

===============================================

Thanks for the comments, Roy. I might just do the C-channel thing underneath, easy to do, all it would take is longer grade 8 bolts. It would definitely break my heart to bend the top of this thing, being new and shiny and all.

The guard is fixed (four bolts). The battery access on this tractor is a big 11" empty space between the front of the radiator and the back of the grille, and there's nothing down in there except the battery and the coolant overflow tank. Because of that the grill on this model doesn't need to swivel and everything is easy to get to. Nice thoughtful design, one of the many little things I like about this tractor.

There's a guy who's a professional engineer that's created a one-man cottage industry making really nice laser cut (water cut?) pallet fork kits for JDQA's, he's been on TBN and also advertises on Ebay. Website is JD compatible Pallet Forks

The entire thing weighs just over 180 lb and is the slickest set of forks I've seen. Available in any of five or so stages of finishing, including painted and ready to use for $754 plus shipping. I think I'll look into that instead of the tooth bar.

 

[foggy1111]

OH....and this is why your going to be glad you added the HD brush guard to the front of that new tractor. :laughing:

 

[picker77]

OH....and this is why your going to be glad you added the HD brush guard to the front of that new tractor. :laughing:

OUCH!!! Yep, that's exactly why. First day I used it I picked up a 4' chunk of 12" diameter limb I'd cut up, and when I rolled the bucket back, a broken-off stub about that size came around and (thank goodness) hit the guard frame. It caught on the frame, but it was just pure blind luck it didn't end up looking just like yours. Right then and there I decided no more of that until I built some sort of better brush guard.

 

[foggy1111]

OUCH!!! Yep, that's exactly why. First day I used it I picked up a 4' chunk of 12" diameter limb I'd cut up, and when I rolled the bucket back, a broken-off stub about that size came around and (thank goodness) hit the guard frame. It caught on the frame, but it was just pure blind luck it didn't end up looking just like yours. Right then and there I decided no more of that until I built some sort of better brush guard.

Yep....and I made the new and improved version shortly after my above incident. Operating in timber is ruff on everything.....even if your careful. I'm going to be selling my 790 soon.....and its a nice tractor.....but I suppose that grill damage is gonna cost me something in value.

 

[jayste]

Nice job on the grill guard. Foggy's pic really speaks for the need!:thumbsup:

 

[Hank Walters]

Hooks can be attached without welding by using cable clamps as shown in the photos. I used 3/8" x 4" plate to reinforce the top of the bucket, with another same sized piece on the inside. Corner bolts are 3/8" and the cable clamps are 3/4" size.



Just got my 3032E this week and am running a Betst WC-6 wood chipper.

No complaints so far.

Hank
Oregon

 

[adirondackmtnman]

I'm just curious as to the difference in visibility due to the headlights being covered by the expanded metal. I'm in the process of building a very similar brush guard for my 5045D, using some similar expanded metal and covering the headlights is my one concern. I guess if it covers too much, that'll be a good excuse to add some auxiliary lighting elsewhere though...