Ideas to protect the hydraulic filter?

[Captain Dirty]

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I'm ordering the FEL line and filter guard today. It's $279 but at the cost of the hydraulic filter and new fluid it well be worth it.

I just hope the guard holds up to the abuse.

Thanks for the photo. I also went on Specialty Repairs site and viewed a couple of videos. Paul Short (4shorts) was a prolific contributor to this forum up until a couple of years ago. Hopefully the Specialty website means he is doing well.

The battering on the filter indicates to me that you are likely running over brush, stumps, roots, and branches some of which spring upwards when run over and lodge between the filter and frame, fender, or whatever. Paul's device looks like it would deflect such debris and protect against snagging the hydraulic lines that also appear exposed. You could easily spend over $280 in time and aggravation thinking through a design and fabricating it. To sharpshoot a little, I'm not sure if 0.078" (14 ga) is robust enough to be considered a bash plate; the "no step" area is exposed, but you may only mount the tractor frorm the left side. Please re-open the thread after a few months of using the guard to report how well it serves you

 

[Fallon]

Specialty Repairs Custom Mods - Hydraulic/FEL Line Guard

Found a place that makes guards for the L series. Can't believe Kubota won't provide these as an option.

I have one comming for my L4060 from them. Finally ordered it a week ago after stalling for a year or so. The filters on the grand are a bit better protected, but the 3rd function lines are in a similar but more exposed place.

Pipe over the filter won't help at all really unless its mounted to the frame or something really well. A PVC or even steel sleeve would just transmit the forces to the filter & bend it just the same. It would help wit puncture damage, but that's not going to be the problem. You need to protect it from impact that will crack the mounting threads or otherwise knock it loose. A skid plate or something solidly mounted to frame or transmission somewhere.

 

[tradosaurus]

Thanks for the photo. I also went on Specialty Repairs site and viewed a couple of videos. Paul Short (4shorts) was a prolific contributor to this forum up until a couple of years ago. Hopefully the Specialty website means he is doing well.

The battering on the filter indicates to me that you are likely running over brush, stumps, roots, and branches some of which spring upwards when run over and lodge between the filter and frame, fender, or whatever. Paul's device looks like it would deflect such debris and protect against snagging the hydraulic lines that also appear exposed. You could easily spend over $280 in time and aggravation thinking through a design and fabricating it. To sharpshoot a little, I'm not sure if 0.078" (14 ga) is robust enough to be considered a bash plate; the "no step" area is exposed, but you may only mount the tractor frorm the left side. Please re-open the thread after a few months of using the guard to report how well it serves you

I'm concerned to about the 14 ga steel on the guard. I'm hoping it won't get damaged to the point of being unusable. I might weld 1/4" flat bar on the bottom if needed

 

[Gordon Gould]

What I did. May be over kill but I use this M5640 in the woods. Comes off by removing the four bolts into unused threaded holes in bottom of transmission







gg

 

[buck12]

I have one comming for my L4060 from them. Finally ordered it a week ago after stalling for a year or so. The filters on the grand are a bit better protected, but the 3rd function lines are in a similar but more exposed place.

Pipe over the filter won't help at all really unless its mounted to the frame or something really well. A PVC or even steel sleeve would just transmit the forces to the filter & bend it just the same. It would help wit puncture damage, but that's not going to be the problem. You need to protect it from impact that will crack the mounting threads or otherwise knock it loose. A skid plate or something solidly mounted to frame or transmission somewhere.

You are spot on. The filters on my 5460 are tucked away fairly nice but the the third function lines are a horrible design. I had a skid fabricated that protects the lines and even provides a little protection for the filters. Photos are included on a thread I started several months ago.

 

[ovrszd]

What I did. May be over kill but I use this M5640 in the woods. Comes off by removing the four bolts into unused threaded holes in bottom of transmission

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gg

Very similar to mine except I used expanded metal on the vertical panel.

Nice work Gordon. No such thing as over kill when building something like this.

 

[FTG-05]

Tagged since this is one of my planned 2020 tractor mod projects.

 

[Smokeydog]

What I did. May be over kill but I use this M5640 in the woods. Comes off by removing the four bolts into unused threaded holes in bottom of transmission

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View attachment 634990

gg

Good pictures detailing your nice fabrication work. Agree our tractors need better armor for protection for working in the woods. The area between the woods and clearing being the most dense and formidable to operate in.

 

[tradosaurus]

I received the Hydraulic filter and FEL line shield within 7 business days of ordering. It came from Canada and price is $280 including shipping and tax.

Took about 2 hrs to fit pieces on tractor, mark the two drill holes, drill holes and mount shield.

The drawing shows the pieces as they should be installed. The bolts on part 4 will be the holes you will mark and drill.

 

[Fallon]

I got mine 2 weeks or so ago from Specialty Repairs. Took me maybe an hour or so to almost mount it. Got it to the point where I drilled the 1 hole that you need drilled. I then removed it to pain the raw steel on the hole. I promptly realized the skid plate was covered in oil. Apparently I was a fair bit more tardy in getting it ordered & installed than i should have been. It should be about 20 odd minutes to reinstall after i debug & replace the leaky hose or fitting. I have faith that skidplate will prevent a future reoccurrence even if I hit a rock or stump with it.

The shield for the loader QDs is quicker to put on. It's also a lot lighter. I did have to spend 5 minutes with my belt sander making a divot in a bracket & 2 minutes with a quick respray of that spot. It looks like my QDs were a hair different in their mounting alignment than the ones they designed for. The skid plate is a plate I could beat on with a hammer & not dent. The QD shield is probably about as thick as the hood. Enough to prevent things from generally messing with the QDs & hoses, but not serious forestry class armor.

I'd get the skid plate again in a heartbeat. Probably get the QD shield too, but not as sure as I am on the skid plate.