Everybody loves a guessing game

[jcliburn]

I've got enough 3/4" expanded metal left over from my grill guard mod to cover the back of the grapple -- at least the open area between the QA plates.

Sigh. I *JUST* got done Saturday painting the plates I added to the back of the grapple to mate up with the tractor's QA plates. Now I've gotta set it on fire again. Oh well...

Jay

 

[jcliburn]

Today I added an expanded metal shield to the back of the grapple, and I added a "lever keeper" to prevent the lock levers from getting kicked into the unlocked position. The shield should keep limbs from poking through the open grapple verticals that might unlock the levers. The lever keeper should prevent anything from unlocking them from below.

I figure, why not go with the belt-and-suspenders approach...

Jay

 

[dstig1]

Wow. You don't fool around, do you? Nice work!

How thick is that expanded metal? I need to get some myself - wondering what size would work well.

 

[jcliburn]

How thick is that expanded metal? I need to get some myself - wondering what size would work well.

3/4" expanded metal. I'm not well versed in metal gauges, but I think it's 9 gauge. It's pretty sturdy. Tricky to weld, too. I find it challenging to get enough current to penetrate the heavy understructure of the grapple without vaporizing the expanded metal. Too little current, and the expanded metal won't stick.

It takes a time or two to get it right.

Jay

 

[dstig1]

Yeah, that's my concern too - vaporizing the thin stuff as thin to thick welding is tricky. That was why I was curious about the thickness you used. So it is about 1/8" thick or so? 9 gage is listed as ~0.150"

 

[jcliburn]

My (Harbor Freight) electronic caliper says 0.110".

When I bought it, I just went to a welding shop and asked for some 3/4" expanded metal. What you see is what they sold me. Later, I also wondered what the thickness was, so I googled 3/4" expanded metal and hit on a couple of online sellers that declared it to be 9 gauge, IIRC. That seemed to be the only thickness they sold 3/4" expanded metal in. Admittedly though, I didn't research it all that deeply. (And clearly, what I have isn't 9 gauge. More like 11 gauge, unless my caliper measures incorrectly.)

Jay

 

[dstig1]

Yeah that sounds like 11 or 12 ga. The local supplier has 9,13, and 16 ga in 3/4 expanded, so I think I'll go with the 9. That should be easier to weld and sturdier in use. Thanks, Jay!