Been MIA

   / Been MIA #1  
S

Sublifer

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
310
Tractor
LS 4047
I know I haven't been active on the forum in a while. Sorry but I've been pretty busy lately. Wife and I are trying to plan a vacation, been busy with work, and I've been busy with a project that I didn't think would take quite as much effort as it's taken me. With the project I haven't even had the time to get out to my property and play on the tractor for 3 weeks!

Bet you're wondering what the project is...

Remember right after I got my R4047, think it was day 1 or 2 of ownership and I spent the entire day on it. I got burnt up pretty bad... After that I knew I needed to do something about a canopy... Yup, you guessed it, I've been building my canopy. Beginner welder plus cheap source for steel plus inventive mind plus perfectionist makes for a verrry long project. So that's where I've been when not at work or asleep, in my garage welding.

I didn't want to spend the money to buy one. I looked at ones I could find online and thought they all looked simple and not very protective in the fops sense. So I designed and built my own from scratch. Hopefully my measurements were good. It's almost finished, just a few more pieces of sheet steel to weld on then grind, clean and prep for paint. I picked up a paint that looked like LS blue but I won't know till I get it up there if it's a match. I'm going to post all the pictures in the build it yourself forum after I get to a point where I don't need to spend all my time in the garage. So probably after it's finished. I'm at work right now but I'll post a pic to piqué your interest after I get home. So much to say but I can only stand so much typing on my iphone
 
   / Been MIA
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Here is that teaser picture that I promised. I'll post everything in build-it-yourself as soon as I get a chance and post a link to it here.

canopy teaser.jpg
 
   / Been MIA #3  
Welcome back Sublifer -- I've been MIA on the forum lately too due to work and family stuff. Last week I finally finished the hydraulic diverter on the FEL project I'd been messing with forever. Not real pretty but it's quite functional. I too will post pictures when I get a chance.

Your design looks impressive thus far.
 
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  • Thread Starter
#4  
Hey Blue,

Thanks. I tried to design it for some impact resistance... running into branches or branches falling down on it. With the ridge and slope it ought to offer better protection and deflection as opposed to all the flat top canopies out there. It sure makes it more complicated to build though...

I'm looking forward to seeing your grapple set up. Will the curl be independent of the 3rd function or will they both operate in tandem?
 
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Sublifer said:
I'm looking forward to seeing your grapple set up. Will the curl be independent of the 3rd function or will they both operate in tandem?
Click to expand...

An electric switch on the FEL handle diverts the curl/dump circuit to the grapple clamp/release so I guess that's independent. It's kinda weird if I forget to center the loader control lever before letting go of the button though as it immediately jumps from clamping to dumping (or from releasing to curling.)
 
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  • Thread Starter
#6  
LittleBlueTractor said:
An electric switch on the FEL handle diverts the curl/dump circuit to the grapple clamp/release so I guess that's independent. It's kinda weird if I forget to center the loader control lever before letting go of the button though as it immediately jumps from clamping to dumping (or from releasing to curling.)
Click to expand...

Okay, that makes sense to me now. Clever way to get more functionality from a hydraulic remote. I can see the limitations... Can't dump and release the grapple at the same time, but that is easily worked around. Pretty cool.

Wish I could spend all my time inventing implements... It's fun stuff!
 
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  • Thread Starter
#7  
I promise to post the pictures and the project soon. I'm getting so close to finished... For some stupid reason I thought I'd try to make it look professional to the point of using spot/glazing putty to even out the welds and grinds before the final paint coats.

And here is a tip for those of you like me who try to make due with what's at hand... Do not try to glaze or fill welds with epoxy. It doesn't work and it doesn't sand. It cost me an extra few hours of work taking off the epoxy and redoing the primer.

Spot and glazing putty can be found at auto parts stores (and maybe walmart I've heard) but oddly it is not at hardware stores. Go figure

So I figure another half day of prep if if laid the putty well enough and then maybe a day or two to get the final paint and little parts done. After that I'm going to post the project
 
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