Prop protection bars advice please.

[jed the spread]

Finally got round to straightening my prop protection rails this morning as they were toutching the gearbox I was really surprised to see how easy they bend back. Are these really supposed to take the weight of the van? I am thinking of bolting some angle iron on the sides of them to beef them up abit, what do you think?

jed

[KarlT]

Yeah they are quite light weight. But then a 2 metre bar to hold 2 tons would end up being a RSJ, no they must just be to stop sticks/undergrowth hitting prop & to give you some warning.

[syncrowjoker]

Some flat bar stitch welded to one side would help to beef things up a bit,angle iron might compromise clearances.

[syncrodoug]

My local blacksmith made me a pair from 40x60 x4 box with three pieces of flat bar joining them together.
I plan to brace to the parallel chassis rails at a later date

[justwill]

angle will strenthen the rails, if you put it on the top side you wont have clearance probs. But remember any thing is only as strong as the weakest bit, if you strenthen the rails will the brakets they are held on with take a good smack with out snaping? If so you are just moving the prob along, so leave the bit that bends the bit thats easy to get to!

[jed the spread]

Some interesting points and ideas chaps. I know the prop itself must be well strong but at the last Shipston event i had a few of these,





and the first part of this clip also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcf11t6YAA0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And i wasn't particularly going for it, but it managed to inch the already bent rails higher than the prop and rub against the cross member bit.

jed

[eric]

Hey Jed ..... another great vid! Thanks for sharing.

Btw, have you forgotten the `route` you took on your jaunt earlier this year? You said you'd ask your mate for the details.

Thanks mate,

Eric.