Side panel clips - where to buy, or what to use for replacement.

[Reg]

OK, so one of my side panels flops around and last night I decided to fix it.
That didn't work out and for the first time - IN THIRTEEN YEARS ! - I lost 1/2 of a side panel spring clip.

Yes, I did search the area with a strong magnet and it is still possible that it is wedged up somewhere IN the tractor.
Anyway, I want to replace a few of them that have rusted and I want a few just to have on hand.

So, who has them for sale ? and/or is there a better item to replace these with ? (again, who has the alternative ones ?)

 

[ptsg]

I don't know what style clips it uses but check McMaster-Carr. They usually have all sorts of hardware related stuff.

 

[Reg]

My "local" (~50 miles away) dealer has a few for $9.80 a piece, plus 6 1/2 % sales tax.
I think I'll try plastic push rivets for ~59c, the local (2 miles away) hardware store has some with phillips head screw slots, for unscrewing when they need to come out.
1/4 inch hole ones look about right, they also have a 7mm hole size version and I'm guessing that most things on this tractor are to metric standards.

 

[ptsg]

Dealer parts are always way too overpriced, not matter what brand it is.

The rivets might do the trick but I don't know how the side panels are setup on your tractor, as Branson has been using one piece hoods for quite some time now.

Since you didn't mentioned what tractor you have, I'm assuming that you have one of the older 4720/3510? Something along those lines.

 

[Reg]

It is the "Large Frame" circa 2005.
Century or Branson, they were both Kukje tractors re-badged for the USA market, I have the 42 HP version, 2 liter 4 cylinder naturally aspirated "Cummins" type diesel.

The clips are used to hold the front radiator grille and the side panels in place;
Hard to describe, but it is a 3 piece thing;
A sheet metal W shape with a very long middle ^ part that goes through the second part, a coil spring.
The outer "wings " of the W catch an end coil of the spring, i.e. it doesn't pass all the way through, they also prevent it from passing through the hole in one of the pieces of bodywork to be fastened.
The spring and inner ^ then fit through the two sheet metal pieces that are to be held together and the third piece is a sheet metal tab that feeds through a slot in one of the pieces and folds down.

It is the tension of the spring that holds the pieces together and keeps the clip assembled.

No matter, I think the plastic rivets are going to work well (enough).
The down side is that I will need a #2 philips screwdriver to get them out, the upside is price and availability.

If the worst comes to the worst I could go to a very cheap and straightforward NUT AND BOLT scheme.
Heck, it is a tractor, just a tractor - don't have to be fancy, it just has to WORK !

 

[ptsg]

Go with the bolts and get some wing nuts so you can still easily take it of without tools.

 

[LouNY]

Or possibly rivet nuts and thumb screws.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I don't have a clue about these clips, but could they have been Stainless Steel? And therefore not magnetic?

 

[Cougsfan]

This might be where I would go into my several boxes of "stuff" and invent a solution. I keep stuff that most people would throw away, only to re-purpose in a manner it was never originally intended, years later. Sometimes those solutions are superior to what the factory engineers came up with. (sometimes they are not)

 

[Reg]

Well, the factory solution often has merit that isn't obvious at first glance.

By the time most of us have put a few hours on the seat we have become very aware of vibration<grin>
Things work themselves free, some things flex, some parts NEED to flex or move a bit - or other parts break.
So, I am wondering if this "hold sheet metal together with spring tension" approach is deliberate.
(and what problems/issues were being solved or avoided).

I'll try the plastic rivets today (the tractor is ~15 miles away right now) and I'll keep thinking about it.
Something may present itself that makes it very obvious whay they did what they did - - (and I'll sheepishly go pay the $9.80 plus tax)