Fabricating Shields for Rail-Mower

Spent the day fabricating shields out of used conveyor belting, 3/8" thick, to be pinned onto the front, rear and sides of the rail-mower with clevis pins.  These shields will deflect any debris that might be tossed by the mower deck.  As a realistic matter, there shouldn't be any obstructions in the middle of the rails for an operating deck to hit.  And certainly if we saw any obstructions while operating the mower, we would stop and remove them.  But the shields are to make real sure that debris won't go anywhere.  I also fabricated mats for the sides of the rail-mower on the inside, so we can carry tools, equipment and parts.  Here's a photo of the rail-mower with the side mats installed.

The belting to be used as shields is in the front.  The mats on the sides curve upward to the tractor body, preventing tools or parts from falling into the center opening for the mower deck linkages.  The mats will be bolted to the body when we are finished working on the engine and will come down about three or four inches from the position they are in right now.  I installed the hood even though it has a lot of work left to be done on it so as to provide a better idea of how the finished rail-mower will look.  Next up on this project is drilling the bolts.  I plan to use clevis pins to hold the front, rear and side shields, so we can take them off readily if necessary to inspect underneath the car.  The shield for the front has "Price Rubber Co., Montgomery, AL" and "Made in USA" embossed on it, which is rather interesting.

This was an all-day project.  Had to select the best piece of conveyer belting, measure and mark with a pencil the desired cut, put on my face mask, eye and ear protection, make the cut with a jigsaw, take the protective gear off, use my drill to wirewheel rust, grease and dirt off, give the piece a last cleaning with window cleaner, and paint it with low gloss black spray paint.  Had to make at least ten cuts, maybe more.  That doesn't sound like much but this material is truly tough to cut (that's why it will make a good shield).  I tried cutting with shears-didn't do it.  Also tried the angle grinder but it made a lot of nasty smoke, not good for the lungs.  The jigsaw was the only tool that could handle it, but at least I did have a tool to do the job.

And here is a photo of the rail-mower put to bed under the carport to close this entry: