fecon bullhog trap door mod?

kiwi mulcher · Jan 18, 2015

The trap door supplied on the mulcher would have to be the lightest piece of crap i have seen what have people done to strengthen them up.I am contemplating making one from scratch out of heavier gauge or reinforcing the original..The hydraulic ram has just about put a hole right trough the middle of the door it is that light.

tonyoz · Jan 18, 2015

I welded a full length 3"x2" channel along the bottom edge over the top of the angle section that's there. It also makes a huge difference to the mulch size. Also I've had to beef it up at the hinges. On jobs where the vegetation is all crossed up I remove the door so it does not get damaged, only takes 5 min then refit to do the final cut.

Johnnybee · Jan 19, 2015

Fecon never sent a pressure relief with ours so the first job out it got destroyed. We had a local steel shop form up a new one out of 3/8" steel and heavier angle iron. Cost was minimal and I was able to cut the hinges off the old one to reuse. We added the pressure relief and haven't had any issues yet.

tonyoz · Jan 19, 2015

One other thing, the stroke of the ram is slightly longer than it should be on mine which causes cracking along the mulcher under the ram. I've welded gussets in that area to stop it cracking.

kiwi mulcher · Jan 20, 2015

tonyoz said:
One other thing, the stroke of the ram is slightly longer than it should be on mine which causes cracking along the mulcher under the ram. I've welded gussets in that area to stop it cracking.

Yep mine is the same.Any little stick that gets caught between the top of the door and the steel box section when the door is in the upright position will cause the flimsy door to flex a huge amount if you use the hyd ram to close.Even when your mulching with the door closed you can see it flex alot as debris is being thrown at it.Fecon have contacted me so lets see what they come up with before I head to the engineers.

treemuncher · Jan 26, 2015

Cut a length of 6" or 8" steel pipe in half, lengthwise. I don't remember what size fit correctly on the lowest fold of the door that takes all of the punishment. Weld this to the front face or the door (front when closed) across the entire width of the door. Stitch weld 2" or so every 6" across the front to allow some flex. This will stiffen the front door, allow brush to flow across it easier and keep it roughly the same size. You might also weld an angle on the lower front lip, inside edge to stiffen further.

Like others, my stock door was trashed in the first 50-100 hours of abuse. This mod built onto a heavier door skin has lasted over 1,000 hours of punishment.