Another CK2610 Brush Grill

[toukow]

Well, here's my shot at it. I thought I should get it done before I had too many hours on the new tractor (currently 7 hours) . Learned the hard way about making sure the 'L' pins are oriented correctly before installing the roll pin. That Chevy engine orange paint by Rustoleum as recommended by the forum is a great color match too.

I'm trying to develop my metal working skills for working on older cars, so tried to make it look clean. The other lessons learned were 1. grinding metal is somewhat an art if you want it to look good when painted and 2. a sand blaster would be nice to have.

Thanks, Toukow

 

[MAD777]

Beautiful job! Why aren't these standard on all tractors???

 

[JoelD]

Real nice! Do you need to remove to open hood?

 

[Threepoint]

Toukow, very neat work, indeed. :thumbsup: When you have a chance, I'd be curious about the construction. Did you happen to take progress pics?

In particular, how did you attach new guard to the upper "swing away" section of the factory grill guard. Looks like you may have welded it, but can't tell for certain from the photo. If so, I gather you don't plan to use the swing-away feature (not that it's necessary in order to open the hood).

 

[Threepoint]

Beautiful job! Why aren't these standard on all tractors???

I suspect it's because of the trade-off in effectiveness of the headlights once they're covered by the expanded metal. The better the grill protection, the worse the lighting from the headlights, such as it is to begin with.

 

[toukow]

Toukow, very neat work, indeed. :thumbsup: When you have a chance, I'd be curious about the construction. Did you happen to take progress pics?

In particular, how did you attach new guard to the upper "swing away" section of the factory grill guard. Looks like you may have welded it, but can't tell for certain from the photo. If so, I gather you don't plan to use the swing-away feature (not that it's necessary in order to open the hood).

Thanks All for the comments. The frame is back-side welded to the factory frame. The upper cross piece is not welded, but only has about 1/16" gap to the factory cross tube, so is supported when impacted. It would be stronger if welded on the front side too, but I'm really designing for blackberry and brush, not running into the end of 3" diameter logs at speed. I think there are much better designs from a strength standpoint posted on the forum if such impacts are a concern.

The folding mechanism is still fully functional, though I posted previously asking who cares, given as you note it's not needed to open the hood. I originally thought of making a 'Vee' shaped guard which would move the brush to the side away from the face of the grill, but realized it would simply move the brush to areas where it would abrade the hydraulic lines for the loader, so bailed on that approach.

I did extend past the bottom of the factory frame to gain a bit more protection, and could have been left even a bit longer for additional protection. I had to grind off the most forward edge of the pin locking bracket just to have room for the screen to slide by it, but the grinding was minor.

Thanks for reading, Toukow

 

[Threepoint]

Thanks All for the comments. The frame is back-side welded to the factory frame. The upper cross piece is not welded, but only has about 1/16" gap to the factory cross tube, so is supported when impacted. It would be stronger if welded on the front side too, but I'm really designing for blackberry and brush, not running into the end of 3" diameter logs at speed. I think there are much better designs from a strength standpoint posted on the forum if such impacts are a concern.

The folding mechanism is still fully functional, though I posted previously asking who cares, given as you note it's not needed to open the hood. I originally thought of making a 'Vee' shaped guard which would move the brush to the side away from the face of the grill, but realized it would simply move the brush to areas where it would abrade the hydraulic lines for the loader, so bailed on that approach.

I did extend past the bottom of the factory frame to gain a bit more protection, and could have been left even a bit longer for additional protection. I had to grind off the most forward edge of the pin locking bracket just to have room for the screen to slide by it, but the grinding was minor.

Thanks for reading, Toukow

View attachment 628377View attachment 628378View attachment 628379

Toukow, thanks for the follow-up! Nicely planned, and very impressive attention to detail.

I may do something like this eventually on my CK3510SE HST, although the CK10 series grill design is actually fairly robust to begin with. The greater need is on my NX4510HST cab, which has a larger area of unprotected plastic "mesh". I do a fair amount of work with an EA Wicked Root grapple on both tractors, and it's the small saplings and errant 1/2" branches that I'm most concerned about, rather than heavier stuff. My NX grill has a couple of 1/2" punctures to show for it.

 

[ovrszd]

Very nice, clean work!!!

The value of the guard is when you have the FEL raised up high and moving forward into brush. Such as using a Grapple to pile brush. At that time a V design or "wings" on the sides would be beneficial.