Front gurard for my 5ft rotary cutter

wellmax99 · Aug 13, 2015

I bought a 5 ft piece of round baler belting to use as a front guard for my 5 ft rotary cutter.

but, after looking at it for a day or two, I have not figured anyway to attach the belt to the front of the cutter frame.

have to start cutting the noxious weeds on my CRP land in the next few days.

maybe after I get the weeds cut, I can figure out a way to attach the belt material.
sure hope I do not get hurt again, if so, then not attaching the belt will be a bad move.

those front guards sure are expensive, guess that is the reason so few small cutters have the front guard in place.

Tom H. · Aug 14, 2015

Why not try three links of small chain and bolt on about every 10" or so. It would be flexible and still catch any forward debris.

Tony in Mass. · Aug 14, 2015

A few fewer drilled holes than Tom's idea, is to drill thru both the box and a long steel strap, every6 inches? a bit more? 7/16's nut and bolts? bigger? Then sandwich the rubber between. I don't think there is an 'easy way'....

maxwell99 · Aug 14, 2015

On my cheap Howse brand 5 ft cutter, the blade tip is very close to the front edge of the cutter deck,

So the guard chains or belt material have to be mounted out from the cutter deck about 2" otherwise the blade tip will hit the guard.

The Howse brand 5ft front chain guard is $275 at my dealer. If I get hurt again by debris flying out from under the deck, I may think that price is cheap.

My ankle wound is almost healed up. I do keep the front of the cutter deck about 2" lower than the back side.

Armand · Aug 15, 2015

Max I got a Bush Hog 5 ft cutter. There is a rubber front guard that is just bolted to the front with 6 evenly spaced bolts. Bolts have the larger washer heads, I guess to hold better. Here is a picture of it

maxwell99 · Aug 15, 2015

If it works on yours maybe it will work on mine.

I bought a 5 ft piece of heavy baler belt to attach to the front of the cutter.

It has three holes in the front of the deck to mount the Howse brand guard, I will have
to drill a few more attachment holes.

It just looked like the belt would be chewed up by the blade, as the tip of the blade on
my cutter is very close to the front edge of the deck.

I assumed that was the reason their guard was mounted about 2" out in front of the deck
plate.

Armand · Aug 15, 2015

I'm no expert so I cant really say. The rubber guard is pretty rigid and its about 1/4 inch thick. It stays fairly straight when cutting. only the very bottom bends back toward the deck when mowing, possibly the reason for the 6 bolts

Charles in Aus. · Aug 15, 2015

The critical part of the rubber shield is the top two inches or so , anything hitting that will be deflected downwards . The tips of the cutter blade will most likely be a an inch or two lower than this . While it is probably more secure to have a full six inch depth of deflector the three or four inches that will be above the cutter tips will probably suffice . If you are still concerned two flat straps with the rubber sandwiched between with bolts can be bent to the profile of the front of your slasher . It would be a fairly simple thing to mount this onto two or three standoffs made from some scrap or all thread .

Front gurard for my 5ft rotary cutter

wellmax99

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Tom H.

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Tony in Mass.

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maxwell99

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Armand

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maxwell99

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Armand

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Charles in Aus.

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