M9540 Belly Skid Plate/Brush Guard

[Bob77064]

Great job, looks better than factory.

 

[ovrszd]

ovrszd did you ever think about making more of the tranny filter covers and selling them

Not much. The wife and I talked about it a few days ago. Unless I was gonna mass produce them the construction time is fairly large. Without rigging up a jig, I'd say 6-8 hours. If I figured my labor at $20 per hr, that's $120-$160. Buying new materials, I'm gonna guess $70-$80. Shop operational costs would be another $40-$50. So,,, using the middle of those,,, total would be $260 and all it would provide me is a $20 per hr job. So,,,, to make it interesting enough to spend my days doing it,,,, total cost to a customer would have to be in the $360 range. How many of you would pay that much???

 

[DT86]

I'd pay twice that, in a heart beat.

 

[ovrszd]

I'd pay twice that, in a heart beat.

Really?? Maybe I'm just cheap. I didn't figure anyone would pay that kind of money. My conscience wouldn't allow me to charge you twice that amount. I'd feel guilty at $500. Let me think about it and I'll PM you. We'll see if we can come up with something fair.

 

[DT86]

Really?? Maybe I'm just cheap. I didn't figure anyone would pay that kind of money. My conscience wouldn't allow me to charge you twice that amount. I'd feel guilty at $500. Let me think about it and I'll PM you. We'll see if we can come up with something fair.

Another idea... I'd be happy to pay for a set of drawings that I could use to duplicate it myself.

 

[TripleR]

Really?? Maybe I'm just cheap. I didn't figure anyone would pay that kind of money. My conscience wouldn't allow me to charge you twice that amount. I'd feel guilty at $500. Let me think about it and I'll PM you. We'll see if we can come up with something fair.

Let me know what you come up with.

 

[E/S]

Let me know what you come up with.

X 2

E/S

 

[DT86]

Well guys ovrszd and I worked out a fair price and he built me a skid plate like his. It arrived via UPS the other day in two pieces.

Weighing in at 40lbs this thing is well built!

He PM'ed me the correct size and quantity of bolts I needed to buy and I waited until it came in to even bother looking for them. That was a mistake on my part. My local guy stopped stocking fine thread metric fasteners to reduce inventory in these tough economic times. They should be in Wednesday though!

I'm probably going to install it when they do and then remove, sand blast and paint it when the warm weather returns.

Anyway here are a couple quick shots I got the day it arrived...










Thanks again Richard! I couldn't be happier with the craftsmanship!

 

[Rustyiron]

Glad to see commerce between members!
I'm about half way through building a front to back belly pan and am also ending up with a nice "toolbox" that will hold 2 5gal. buckets and has a place for 2 saws. A better step is another added outcome as well. It's jobs like this that I wish I had a lift for the tractor! I'm going to build a bumper and grill guard, incorporating a pair of "sweeps" up to a 4 post canopy but that might have to wait. I gotta work on some firewood.

 

[ovrszd]

Glad to see commerce between members!
I'm about half way through building a front to back belly pan and am also ending up with a nice "toolbox" that will hold 2 5gal. buckets and has a place for 2 saws. A better step is another added outcome as well. It's jobs like this that I wish I had a lift for the tractor! I'm going to build a bumper and grill guard, incorporating a pair of "sweeps" up to a 4 post canopy but that might have to wait. I gotta work on some firewood.

I'd love to see pics of your project when it's done. I've got a 12K drive-on lift in my shop but I did all the fitting work with the tractor sitting on the floor, laying on my back on a creeper. After a couple dozen trips under the tractor I was beginning to think I should have used the hoist!!!

Thanks for the compliments Derek. Hope it serves you well!!!