That looks substantial to say the least!
Did you add any protection under the tractor to prevent damage to exposed things (Filters, hydraulic lines, linkages) down there?
WHOA, there. John_Mc & I are playing in two different ball games. My grill guard is designed to deflect. Looks like John's is designed as an alternate to a chain saw. Just knock them down.
John - if it's not too much trouble. Could you take a complete picture of your tractor and bull-dozer style grill guard. I'd like to see the upper portion of that "crash cage". That entire front guard is the work of a master in steel. Thanks........
I use my tractor a lot in the woods for logging and firewood harvesting, so I've had some modifications made over the years. That grill guard was my most recent addition.
I had the belly pan and limb risers with FOPS (falling object protection system) added a while ago. I had knocked the HST hydraulic filter off a couple weeks after I got the tractor (back in 2001) while grading a drainage swale. I hit a flat rock at just the wrong angle, and it flipped up inside the rear wheel and knocked off the filter and mounting flange. I figured it was just a fluke, had it repaired and moved on. Then several years later, a friend harpooned the exact same filter and flange when he drove over a buried 2x4 while using my tractor to clean up some junk in his yard. I spent a bunch more years just being really careful and thinking I should add a belly pan, but never getting around to it.
About 5 years ago, I was driving through the woods (just driving, no logging going on). A 3" diameter dead limb just randomly fell from a tree, bounced off the roll bar and grazed my shoulder on it's way to the ground. Has it not been for my ROPS, It probably would have hit my head and killed me or left me with massive head trauma. I decided the woods was talking to me and thought I should listen to the warning. I decided to have some mods done to protect both me and the tractor.
I had seen some forestry mods the guy at a local, one-man fab shop had done for a forester and logger on a much larger tractor (belly pan, full operator cage, engine protection grill guard, and probably a couple of other things I'm forgetting). I was very impressed with the work he had done, and the amount of thought he had put in to making sure it was convenient and usable both for operation and maintenance. I arranged for him to do some work on mine.
I added a belly pan (either 1/2" or 3/8" steel plate). Most of this was mounted to the subframe I had added years earlier for my Woods backhoe. He put a lot of though into making access holes where needed to easily reach grease zerks (on larger tractors, he sometimes runs a hydraulic hose to allow mounting the zerks remotely, but that was not necessary on mine). He also incorporated some design features to make it easier to clean out the mud and sticks which some times load up on top of the belly pan. The most thoughtful feature: since the belly pan was too heavy to remove easily with one person, he made a small extension piece which attached to the front of the main pan with a sort of tongue and groove setup, then extends forward under the engine oil filter and wraps around the side of the filter to protect it. It's held in place at the front of the piece by one bolt on either side of the tractor (bolts which were already on the tractor, and are now doing double duty.) It's small and light enough that I can get it on and off easily when it's time to change the oil filter. Some of these things are details that I would not have thought to ask for, but he designed them in on his own.
I also had him add limb risers (the diagonal bars you can see going from the front of the tractor up to the roll bar), and put some protection over my head for falling objects. I asked for expanded metal on top, so I would still have good visibility over head. That is the one thing I would do differently If I were doing it over: I would made most of the top solid, and just leave the forward 6" or so as expanded metal. The solid part would keep all the little bits and pieces from raining down on me when I drive under cedar trees (or other trees that shed little bits when you brush under them). It would also keep the snow off of me in the winter.
The grill guard I added earlier this year. I had a run in with some brush which punch in the very light-duty factory grill and stop just short of damaging my battery and radiator. I had gone in asking him to just add some expanded metal with a bit of extra bracing to some framework that was part of the original tractor and the Woods 1012 loader. He suggested that expanded metal sometimes lets through just the wrong size of branch to poke holes in things. At least on the lower portion, he wanted to see something much more substantial. He had the round rod left over from another job which he said he'd give me a deal on. so what you see in the picture was born. I thought it had a sort of "Mad Max" type look.
Tractor in Logging Mode
Helping out on a community firewood donation work day
(This Elm was set aside for a saw log)
Storm damage cleanup on neighborhood trail system
Showing part of the belly pan extension that wraps up to protect the oil filter
(the other side wraps up to protect some hydraulic fittings for the FEL)
