Skid plate

[IslandTractor]

Ghk7890,

I initially had the same thought. I'll look at it again but as i recall looking at the undercarriage showed a few of the mechanical linkages being just a bit too low so a plate would interfere. I guess I could use spacers to fix that. The other issue is that it would be a four foot span from right to left subframe and that would be tough with unsupported 10 or 12 gauge sheet. I'd need to figure out some support structure to but I'm not an engineer so that could get real ugly.

 

[murphy1244]

Island Tractor, Took some pkoto's today so tell me if these will do. Notice a big difference in subframes.

 

[IslandTractor]

Well, I am now thoroughly confused after looking at Bob's, Murphy's and my own photos of the area from under the FEL hydraulic connectors and back to the HST filter.

Bob's and Murphy's tractor have a solid grey painted zigzag metal support frame moving front to back with the zigzag making the piece move outboard over its course by ?4-5 inches between the FEL mount and the HST filter.

My tractor doesn't have a zigzag grey piece at all, instead there is a similarly sized solid black frame that is clearly bolted to a bracket on the FEL support but moves straight back with no zigzag.

I thought at first the grey/black difference was just a change in how the factory painted the earlier vs newer DKse but the zigzag thingy shows something quite different. I don't know if my tractor's zigzag thing was replaced by the Woods BH subframe (hard to imagine) or if Kioti changed the design of the undercarriage that much. ???

Murphy's photos clearly show the typical Kioti subframe which drops well below the zigzag piece and that complicates using Bob's original skid plate design at least for the HST filter area.

My unique black straight frame piece complicates using Bob's original front skid plate piece on my tractor but seems completely compatible with Murphy's as the Kioti subframe doesn't come that far forward.

It does occur to me that Kioti does make unannounced changes in how they manufacture (we learned that when it turned out there were about four variations on the KL130 loader torque tube a few years ago) so perhaps the black piece on my tractor is not really even part of the Woods subframe but just an earlier iteration of the Kioti design (exact same gauge steel and color as the Woods subframe though...black). Confused.:confused2:

I'll take a closer look and some measurements this weekend. It sure would be nice to find a single skid plate design that would accommodate all three possible configurations (and maybe the Rhino version too).

 

[murphy1244]

One more time??

 

[IslandTractor]

One more time??

Boy, if you just leave your subframe on the only vulnerable spot on your whole underbelly is just the FEL hose connection area. That would take the original Bob solution well.

Tougher to figure out just from the photos how to protect the hst filter when the backhoe is dismounted. Can you tell me what the clearance is between the top of the subframe and the bottom of the zigzag gray structural support right near the HST filter? Maybe something like Bob's could be rigged to fit underneath the zigzag piece if there was suffiicient clearance. I might need a couple of shots of the HST filter area from different angles including from the opposite side underneath to see where alternate attachment points are if Bob's don't work. Something like my photo #5 where you see the HST filter from underneath with flash would be helpful.

 

[IronHog]

Been watching this thread and planning for my own Kioti belly pan in the near future as I run the tractor constantly on top of logging slash clearing logging decks.....


Managed to jam a stick under the tractor today and bend the right brake linkage and broke a hard hydraulic line. Yippie.


Belly pan is going to be a must.

 

[cbrouilltractor]

Hi

I don't Know if we talk about it erlier in this tread but if your are near Québec in Canada. Distribution Payeur have a full line up of skid plates and forestry protection for Kioti tractors.

Last year when we bought our dk45se we installed à skid plate and was very usefull when working on our 100 acres of wooded land.

Also when they installed thé skid plates they installed tyres valves protection. It's à very good thing because loosing à valve in the wood when the tyres are loaded could be à nightmare.

I'll takes pictures for you the next time i go to my land.

 

[IslandTractor]

Murphy,

What is it about Bob's original rear plate that doesn't work with your subframe in place. Is it just the clearance between the subframe and chassis frame or is there another obstacle? The only thing that rear plate really protects is the HST filter so perhaps we can figure out something focused just on that. Did you notice how the hydraulic filter on the other side is protected by a simple plate. I think I showed a photo of mine. Maybe something like that attached to your grey chassis would work.

When I looked at mine this weekend I could see more clearly why Bob's won't work on my front due to the zigzag design of the newer chassis frame. I am thinking that perhaps the simpliest solution for me is to install a single side to side plate about 28x26 inches as that would cover everything except the front end loader hydraulics. Those would require an extension perhaps bolted to the big plate. I haven't decided to so this yet as it is not clear to me what the best way to attach such a plate (presumably 1/4 inch and heavy) to the chassis frame without drilling. I am wondering about welding some sort of clamp together that might be attached to the plate but haven't really figured it out yet. It would require being removed to access the HST filter but that is only every 400hours so not a big impediment. I don't think a full plate would work for you as the subframe will interfer certainly in front and possibly also have too little clearance between subframe and chassis on the sides.

 

[murphy1244]

Murphy,

What is it about Bob's original rear plate that doesn't work with your subframe in place. Is it just the clearance between the subframe and chassis frame or is there another obstacle? The only thing that rear plate really protects is the HST filter so perhaps we can figure out something focused just on that. Did you notice how the hydraulic filter on the other side is protected by a simple plate. I think I showed a photo of mine. Maybe something like that attached to your grey chassis would work.

When I looked at mine this weekend I could see more clearly why Bob's won't work on my front due to the zigzag design of the newer chassis frame. I am thinking that perhaps the simpliest solution for me is to install a single side to side plate about 28x26 inches as that would cover everything except the front end loader hydraulics. Those would require an extension perhaps bolted to the big plate. I haven't decided to so this yet as it is not clear to me what the best way to attach such a plate (presumably 1/4 inch and heavy) to the chassis frame without drilling. I am wondering about welding some sort of clamp together that might be attached to the plate but haven't really figured it out yet. It would require being removed to access the HST filter but that is only every 400hours so not a big impediment. I don't think a full plate would work for you as the subframe will interfer certainly in front and possibly also have too little clearance between subframe and chassis on the sides.

The measurement you wanted from the top of the zig zag frame to the bottom of the sub frame is 7 inches. Bobs plates would work on mine but I would have to remove the plate for the HST when the BH is on. No big deal cause I would drill and tap the frame. What do you think?

 

[IslandTractor]

The measurement you wanted from the top of the zig zag frame to the bottom of the sub frame is 7 inches. Bobs plates would work on mine but I would have to remove the plate for the HST when the BH is on. No big deal cause I would drill and tap the frame. What do you think?

So are you saying that you would use Bob's original design for the HST area plate but would remove it each time you mounted the BH? That would certainly work but has a bit of a PITA factor. I was wondering if there was a slight modification of Bob's plate that might work with the BH subframe. I assume that your grey chassis frame has about the same dimensions and size as mine when looking at the area around the HST filter (I know they are different dimensions forward of that point). As I look at the photo (below) of that area, I cringe at the thought of trying to drill and tap four or more holes while working upside down under the tractor and blocked by the rear wheel. Is that what you are proposing to do? I am still pondering how to weld up a bracket that would go around the chassis frame and just clamp on instead.