Homemade Cab for Deere 2320 CUT

[Huskerplowboy]

Some progress... Roof Fabrication Nearing Completion

Spent some time last night and today on the roof again. I added gussets to the front and rear overhangs to stiffen them up and add strength against the rogue tree branch... THe gussets were cut to length from the 4 scrap pieces that were left from cutting the curves into the corners of the roof blank. Just cut them down to a length that fit in the overhangs. I had to add a 1" x 1/8" strap between the gussets to both strengthen and straighten the roof edge between them. It turned out to also be the perfect thing for hanging the work lights off of, since it's extra rigid compared to just the sheet metal alone.

Not too much more to do on the roof. I ground most of the welds down around the perimeter of the subframe where it sits on the cab frame yesterday. I will add a few ribs, strips of 1/2" x 1/8" flat iron on the inside of the roof to reinforce the big flat panel to keep it from wanting to oilcan. I will probably use a combination of some cosmetic Bondo applications and some caulking to seal up the weld joints since they aren't continuously welded and hide ugly welds (I hate sheetmetal). Once I get those couple of things done, I should be able to get some primer on it at the least, maybe go ahead and paint it green. I plan to use some rubberized undercoating on the inside of the sheetmetal to help deaden the sound since it's pretty much a huge speaker right now.

Attached are a couple pics of the overhang reinforcements and one showing a sneak peek of how the lighting should look.

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Outdoor shots taken in the daylight yesterday. The dog is unimpressed...

 

[rtm038]

Looks awesome!

Ryan

 

[meanmerc]

X 2

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Roof Fab Complete!

Finished up the fab work on the roof today. Welded in an X-brace on the inside to prevent oil-canning. Turns out after all the bending and welding and warping, the roof took on a nice dome of maybe 1/4" max on top which should help too. Couldn't have planned it better. I drilled the last light mounting holes too. Then I put a 120 grit flap wheel in the grinder and went to work smoothing out some of the outside surfaces. Some of the welds and tacks came through a bit, so I knocked those down smooth. Looks like along the sides I may need to use a little Bondo to even some things out, but it'll be a pretty thin skim coat of it, just enough to smooth out the puckers from welding. I'll probably use a combination of Bondo and/or caulk to seal up the other weld seams after I sandblast the thing to get the surface rust off of it. Hope to get it at least in primer by the weekend if my work schedule allows it. May not get green paint on it by then, we'll see how it goes.

Picture of X-bracing. You can also see one of the primed fender pieces in the background...

 

[mjncad]

Impressive work...keep the photos coming!

 

[meanmerc]

Man this is looking good!!! Any new developments?

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Not much news lately. Work's been a bit more hectic than I'd like. The roof is in primer right now, probably will stay that way for a good week since we leave for some vacation tomorrow. I had originally intended to be vain and spend time with the Bondo smoothing out the sides of the roof and things, but It's pretty good for hand-made with hand-made tools, so it'll get painted as-is, imperfections and all. Not too much of those on the sides except for a little waviness where the sides were welded to the filler strips...

I also unloaded 2 cans of auto undercoating on the inside surface of the roof to hopefully deaden the sound from it a little. Trying for more of a deep booming than a tinny rattle!

Once vacation's over, I plan to sand and paint the roof to get that all done. Then it'll be set aside and work can begin on the door frames and other fabrication.

 

[UP855]

your cab is looking really nice, one thing I would recommend is welding all exterior joints in the cab with a solid pass or else there is potential for rust bleeding through one more thing is do spend some time doing a little body work and paint prep, my cab I was going to get powder coated but that fell through so I painted it myself and have regretated not doing a better job one the paint
here is a picture of my cab on my 855

 

[CCWKen]

Wow! That's some great craftsmanship. I'm fixin' to build a cab this Winter for the 3910. Not for Winters down here but for next Summer, with A/C. Your framing and metal work looks down right nice. Can't wait to see more!

Ken