Good evening all, first of all i hope Im posting this in the right section of the forum.
If i have made a boo boo then feel free to move it to the right location

Second of all, i have to say it's great to be getting back into metal work again after all the workshack extension fun and my disability has been playing up with the weather getting colder leaving me not wanting to do anything at all
At least it has given me time to think on other projects, more on that in another post

Anyway, that's enough rambling on Onto the build..

I have been thinking of building a roll bar on the 312-8 for a while, so i thought it was about time that i got on with it.
The 312-8 gets the most use and abuse so a roll bar is a good thing to have safety wise, and it will also give me somewhere else to bolt the lights onto making the poor ol WH look a lot less like a kiddys cartoon tractor

Sorry, rambling on again

The best way to mount the roll bar is on the trans each side, which gave me my first problem of the build....
Problem?? well yes, the rear quick release hitch is mounted onto the trans.. And its quite handy for mounting the snowplow/blade onto

The solution was to make my own hitch that is part of the roll bar mounts

Ok, so how to make a copy of this



A rummage through my box of "might come in handy one day" metal produced a couple of bits of angle and some bent flat bar.
You can tell by the smile on the metal it has no idea what it's let itself in for



A bit of cutting, grinding and clamping down later it was ready to be zapped with the magical sparking arc welding sticks



Zapped...
My arc weldings getting better i just need to get welding T joints worked out.
Oh, the holes got plugged up too.



With two of the odd length bit of angle knocked up a couple of latch s were next on the hit list.
If you squint hard enough you might just be able to make out the pencil making lines



After a bit of cutting/grinding/sparking/filing action, i had a close-ish copy of the WH latch.



Looking good during a quick mock-up.
The slot for the plow to hitch into has been cut out, just need to drill a few holes to bolt it together.

Both sides of the hitch fit the... er hitch



Another search through the metal box turned up some more flat bar which came in handy for joining the hitches together.



To bolt the hitch onto the trans a couple of brackets that sit on top of trans was needed..
So.. i found this



A little while later it had been trimmed down and bolted in places
The idea being the roll bar gets welded to the ends and will clear the tin work on its way up
I will add a brace that bolts to the trans, using the bolt hole just below the dipstick, and maybe a brace that goes down to the pin that holds the towing hitch in place.



A closer view of the hitch under the trans.



And last photo for now is the old and new hitches getting to know each other



Its not the most of thrilling of builds, but its something do do while collecting funds for Project 6x6x6

Tune back for more metal mayhem

Ian, your illustrated posts during your builds are among my favorite on this whole site!

Thanks as well for the inspiration!


Duff

I beleive Duff summed it up very well!

Ian your buildup pics make your fab work look all to easy.
Your a very talented fabricator ....but thanks for your pics & threads....it gives us "less" talented fabricators the confidence & leaned wisdom to go at it ourselves.
Well atleast me anyway!

Wow! Im blown away.. Guys

Glad you like by posts Duff, as for the inspiration.. Your welcome

Stop it Stephen, your make me blush..

I think part of this fabrication lark is being in the right state of mind..
Don't think, "that looks complicated i wouldn't know where to start".
Think, "that looks fun to build, now where's the best place to start from"?

Also problem solving can take a while, if you cant work something out dont start pulling your hair out because: A. It hurts. And B. You might end up looking like me
What i mean is, walk away and do something else, let your brain stew on the problem for a while and a solution will present it's self


Right, onto today's fabrication fun
First on the list was to fix yesterday's slight mistake
For some reason when i welded the bit of flat bar between the hitches, i didn't copy the WH part and put the flat bar at the bottom of the hitches.. Result being the flat bar hit the base of the trans

So, off with the hitch and out with the grinder.



That's fits much better now
I also found some nice strong bolts to bolt the whole thing onto the trans.



Nothing is safe from the grinder in Stig's Shack, here's an old pipe bender about to get the chop



And here is where the bit of pipe fits
Now, if you were thinking "hhmm that bit of pipe looks a bit thin walled and not the strongest", You'd be right
I thought the same so a length of Westwood rear axle found itself being welded in the pipe first.



Some sparking later and it was tacked in place. Im starting to quite like this ARC welding lark



Time for bit mocking up of the actual roll bar



Masking tape is such handy stuff
Shame the roll bar will be too close to the tire..



A view from the front shows the roll bar will be too close to the seat as well



Don't panic, i have a cunning plan But your have to wait til Monday to find out what it is

Hey Stig, Your newest proejct is and your Welding is really looking good - far better than I could do with a Stick welder im sure.

Couple ?s thou.. whats the measurements on the angle pcs you used?? Specifically the side you lengthened...and Exactly how far apart are they?

Ive got to make another set to replace the crummy ones I bought off ebay, and yours looks soo nice, instead of buying a OE set...Ill just use ur pics for inspiration!

I'll be on pins'n'needles. Dang good work from a grinder.

Hi Scott, Ive just had a measure up of the angle on the hitch for you.
The short side is 2" long and the long side is 3 1/2" long. I think the long bit on a puka Wh rear hitch is about 1/4" shorter (why didnt i measure it while a had a tape measure in my hand ), but i didnt see any need to cut mine down as the extra metal wont be in the way of anything

for the kind comments on my stick welding, its getting better slowly and will improve (i hope) the more i do of it

Dont be scared of the magical sparkling stick machine, have a go you might be amazed at what you can do

To show the point My good friend Garry who had never used an arc welder before had a bash at making the sparks.. It didnt take him long to produce this bit of fine work

Looking good Ian ! Always fun to watch your projects take shape.

Eldon, these projects are always fun to build

And onto today's fun and games, or should the be grinds and welds

First task of the day after lighting the wood burner, making coffee etc was to cut the ends off the green box section in a nice fun angle.
I say fun because i didnt take the blasted things off first
Anyway, with the cut off bit placed on top the roll bar is finally going in the right direction.. yep, up



There are some times that even the most careful measuring and marking before cutting can go wrong
These two bits of box should of been the same size
Oh well, nothing a quick trim couldn't sort out




Ta-daa all four bits of box tack welded in place




And onto..................................... The lathe


A Westwood drive shaft spacer was bored out a couple of mm's.
If your thinking the cutting bit looks a bit high, i hadn't set the lathe up fully at this point



A little while later the first of two 5mm thick spacers was cut...
But more on them a bit later



I thought it might be a good idea to put the clevis hitch on the back of the trans, just to check there was plenty of space for it.
Oh, the bent clevis hitch....
It's what happens when you don't notice the hitch has dropped and you only find out when the WH wont turn left because the hitch is pushing against the trailer draw bar that's behind you



Back to the grind, this time a few notches.



Notches for... 2ft of slightly rusty scaffold pole.
Just right for mounting the rest of the roll bar on with plenty of space for the seat and driver




Oh, remember those 5mm spacers...
well, they now look like this, but more on them next time

Great update!!!

Absolutely great reading Ian!!
And as usual your project is coming together real nice, but I have to ask this....."What prompted the rollbar build??" Did you flip this tractor? Any pics ??
Mike..........

Ian isn't this the tractor you are working on makeing into a 6X6?
If so...I think Mike should be asking...who is going to draw the "short straw" & -*test*-('") the roll bar.

Ian really enjoying following another buildup from you...was feeling inspired even today & played with my arc welder even.

Looks good. I'd kill to have a lathe and torch. Dont know whare I'd put um.

Scott

No photo's of a flipped tractor Mike, as so far (he says with fingers crossed) all my 'orses have stayed on their wheels so far
But there's always that "well one might get flipped one day", thought. And as the 312 gets the most use and abuse it makes sense to fit the roll bar onto that

You'd be right there Stephen , but while Im selling the last of my old Westwood parts to pay for the project 6x6x6 parts Im going to need, i thought i might as well build the bottom half of the roll bar on a Wh that's at a nice handy working height and transfer the lot over to the 312 when it's ready.. Which may well be today

Happy to inspire you
Isnt this arc welding great on a cold day, it soon warms you up

Thanks Matt
Space in an workshop is over rated, the more space you have the more stuff you find to fill it, so you need more space again
Or is that just say saying i need to tidy up the Workshack a little