HYD QUICK ATTACH GAUGE WHEELS

[3RRL]

Since my other thread Rotary Cutter Tail Wheel Mod generated so much interest, I knew you'd appreciate adding this thread about the gauge wheels and their use. I've shown how the unit fits onto the brush hog and how it works there, so this thread will show how it goes onto the boxblade and how the switchover is done.

It has pivoting wheels, so they can turn in any direction as shown.
Here is the unit by itself before I added the handle to it.



Rob-

[3RRL]

Here are some more details like the self leveling links. They ended up being a very tight fit and there is no slop at all in the links. It turned out to be a super heavy duty construction...probably overkill for it's application. With the solid tires, cylinder and hoses, my guess is this thing weighs nearly 300lbs! It will make a great weight addition to my boxblade when raised up and not in use for leveling.

Notice how the hardened pins and bushings attach the system together. Each pin is drilled and counter bored from the outside with a Zerk fitting installed. There are internal grease lines that lead to the bushings and pivots. The other photo is a close up of the double pilot operated check valve mounted to the cylinder with hard lines. This will keep the wheels at the position I choose to put them. I got the DPOCV from Mark Carter at CCM. I have used them on several of my projects and they work great. Wherever you set the cylinder, that's where it stays ... no leak down.

[3RRL]

After all the fitting I realized I needed some kind of handle to move it around.
I also wanted to protect the lower hoses coming from the cylinder. So I built a square tubular housing and handle for both needs. The tube rise into the air with steel pipes inside. It's angled to get closer to the tractor to make the hoses shorter and they are suspended up in the air out of the way of flying debris. It also has a little better leverage for handling like this.



Below you can see the short hoses I used to connect the hydraulic cylinder to the steel lines inside the tubing. I moved the DPOCV to allow for up and down movement of the cylinder. I also made spacers and clamps to hold the pipes on the inside securely so the don't rub or move. You can see them in the last photo above. There is also a close up of where the hoses connect to the pipe at the bottom of the tubing. There is a cut-out in the tubing to allow this. I mounted the hoses like that so they would curl over the top of the cylinder for a little protection. I did all this fabrication at camp.

[3RRL]

Ok, so now that the QA wheels are built, I wanted to show how they interchange from one implement to another.
In the other thread, you saw how they were mounted onto the Rotary Cutter and how they worked.



Below is a video taking them off the cutter.
I had already disconnected the rear remotes and rolled the hose up onto the handle. This is pretty cool for me because it went a lot easier then I thought.
I guess everything must have lined up just right.