Anyone made a Lexan shield to cover the factory windshield? Would this be a useable alternative to replacing the factory glass? I won't be spending a lot of time brush cutting, but want the added protection when I do. I have a Tak TL230. TIA, Duke
Lexan scratches easy and attracts dirt like a magnet attracts metal shavings.
You are correct, sir. This is why I do not want it exchanged for the standard glass, which the dealer is willing to do for $500. However, I would like to rig a piece in front of the standard glass to do a little brush cutting every now and then. Surely, someone has done this!
yeah, a lot of the boat guys that run white water use it on their jet boats so if a wave comes through doesn't brake the glass. What a mess when that happens. Great product, but yes, scratches super easy. Wouldn't do it on equipment...............
Maybe I'm talking about the wrong stuff. What kind of windows are being run on these Forrestry packaged CTLs?
Yair . . . dukeyjoe I have to ask, why is it not possible to rig a piece of heavy mesh in front of the screen? You don't see it after a while and it would be pretty cheap. Cheers.
brush cutting tends to be dusty. I would expect the lexan to get hard to see out of rather quickly. I personally considered using expanded metal as Scrub Puller suggests. There was a guy on here from Canada that builds a lexan door at a decent price. I have been waiting for him to build one for the Alpha series CASE machine. A dedicated door I think is the best solution and the most costly. The guy from Canada who also advertises on Ebay, seems to charge around a grand for a door which is in my opinion reasonable.
I'm a machine repairman at John Deere davenport works, all the forestry cabs use 1/2" thick lexan for the windows. I wonder if there are different grades of lexan? The name of the company for the windows is called Sabic Innovative Plastics. Maybe if you got a hold of them they could give you some ideas.
Thanks for the info and point of contact rust farmer. I just want a detachable shield that I can remove when I'm not brush cutting. I like the stock glass just where it is I'm sure someone else has done this, but a search did not reveal any threads about it. We need to get Stumpy to do this to his New Holland so I can copy it lol.
Hey Dukyjoe, go ahead and try your idea, you won't know how it will work until you try it. All you have to do now is figure out how to attach the lexan. Good luck
DukeyJoe: I have no need for a lexan shield on my NH machine. but I like your idea of making a bolt-on shield rather than replacing the door. If your door is flat, not curved, that should make it easier. But don't the Tak doors roll up into the roof excavator-style?? That could cause a problem with clearances?? How about welding/bolting some hinges to the outside of the cab pillar & adding a hinged flat lexan shield over the front?? That might work great with your roll-up door...you could get in, hinge the shield shut, then roll the door down to keep the dust & yellow jackets out!! Give it a shot...be inventive...I'd like to see what you come up with.
Yes, StumpyWally the Tak has a slide up door. I, never, planned for the Lexan to move with the door. What I have thought of is a hinged shield similar to what you've described positioned, just, outside the door travel path / arc. On one side, I would like low profile, bolt on hinge bases with pin/cotter key mechanisms for quick detach. On the other side some king of latch with rubber stops that abut the door and keep it from vibrating. The latch could be a simple as a bungy strap or two. I want to keep it clean looking and low profile. I can just see me gouging the *#@% out of my "love handles"
Looking at the windows on the forestry cabs ,the bolt holes in the windows are drilled oversized and a steel tube spacer the thickness of the window is put in each hole. I think this is done to prevent the window from cracking at the bolt hole. If you build some sort of frame you might want to consider this to keep the window from cracking.
Good info, that is a good idea. I, also, will use washers that have rubber mounted to one side that we used on motorcycles. Btw, I went out between downpours and measured how far the roll up door swings out along it's path into the cab. Furtherest point is 12" at the apex of the parabola (i did need that geometry class, after all, ), so any shield would need to rest at this point centrally.I don't know if that stuff can be heated and molded to make it come under the little visor at the top or wrapped a bit on the sides. Another thing that I will have to consider is the auxiliary hydraulic lines. Here is a couple of pics of the front with the door up.
Yeah I've replaced excavator windows with lexan and it works great, yeah it scratches a little once in a while but no problem to buff out every now and then, also if you put "rain-x" on it frequently the dust doesn't stick to it as bad. The one thing I would recommend would be to disable the wiper, it will scratch the hell out of it. Also clean it with compressed air or power washer etc. try not to use a towel and rub in all the dirt you will have swirl marks Edit; I forgot to add that I install them either by existing rubber gasket or by cutting out the old glass and using the regular windshield urethane plus primer to glue them right back in the window frame, IMO there is no need to make a removable "shield"......either do it or don't. Also we use 3/8" and it's about $650 per 4x7 sheet is the best price we have found, we get it from safelite auto glass. Make sure to buy lexan and NOT plexiglass, Also for what it's worth the forestry grinder machines have thick 3/4"- 7/8" stuff so don't think your bulletproof in the cab with a 1/4" "shield" something else to consider is that the forestry machines will even protect glass on top of cab and even the lights (bobcat machines) to keep projectiles from entering the cab Pj
Thanks powerjoke. So you think that I should be looking for 3/4" sheets? I will be using an open face rotary cutter. Will not be using the forestry cutters.
DukeyJoe: Been thinking about your front shield, & the vertical handles on either side of your cab. How about something like this....?? StumpyWally
How smart am I to get an engineer involved You are the man StumpyWally. I think that will work, as long as the real door doesn't swing out past those handles. Thanks for the work you put into this. I'll start looking for the Marguard.
Well StumpyWally, back to the drawing board The door swings out 7.5" past the inner handles before coming to rest in the up position.
DukeyJoe: What do you mean by "...past the inner handles" ?? If you mean 7.5" past the inner surface of the outside handles on each side of the cab, that's a lot...does it occur near the top of the handles, the bottom, or in the middle somewhere?? How about just spacing the shield further out, by putting a block (wood spacer??) between the back side of the shield & the U-bolt mounting?? Would that push the shield so far forward that it would hit the bucket cylinders or arms?? StumpyWally
When moving the door into the up position, the bottom of the door makes a path that takes it 7.5" past (bucket side) the grey hand rails at mid window height.
I would use Margaurd.Cheaper and more resillient.
DukeyJoe: I understand your 7.5" sliding door projection now...but how about my 2nd question...How about just spacing the shield further out, by putting a block (wood spacer??) between the back side of the shield & the U-bolt mounting?? Would that push the shield so far forward that it would hit the bucket cylinders or arms?? StumpyWally
I'll have to check that out when I get home. I haven't used the machine enough to tell you, but I believe that would work.
Have you considered using tempered glass? It's hard to believe how hard it is to break that stuff with a hammer on the flat surface (the weak spot is the edge, it has to be protected). If it was me I'd find a panel out of a glass door, or any window that is marked tempered or safety or ansi in one corner. Or you could pull a back window out of a junk truck or car. NOT the front windshield, they're easy to break. Besides protecting the edges, you can't cut or drill the stuff!
Thanks Delmer for the response. I didn't know that you could hit tempered glass with a hammer and it'd be hard to break. Do you think that the glass that's in the machine now is tempered? StumpyWalley, I just checked the clearance of the arms and any spacing of the shield to clear the door would hit the top of the bucket cylinders and arms. I don't see any way to do this without some kind of cab operated electric motor that closes and locks the shield to the grey hand rails.
Yes, it's always tempered glass, just like car side and back windows, and patio doors, and windows in swinging doors, etc. I worked at a scrap yard briefly when I was younger and stronger, and we liked to use a random starter to throw at the car windows to break them, you wouldn't believe how hard you had to throw them. On the other hand a medium size bolt hit against the edge of a half open car window will do the same thing. It would take a sharp rock with a lot of velocity to shatter a cab window. You might compare what a piece of replacement glass costs against the possibility of breaking one?
DukeyJoe: Looking at the pics of your machine, I have 2 ideas to allow the blocked out door to work: 1. Put the loader arms UP to get in & out, so the shield can clear the bucket cylinders. 2. or, the part of the shield that hits the bucket cylinders is below the gray handrails on either side of the cab. The shield would be blocked out & hinged on one of the gray handrails. So, the portion of the shield below the handrails could be narrower than the portion on the handrails, & that narrower portion could be hinged to the upper portion. So, after you close the shield, you would hinge the lower "flap" down between the bucket cylinders. The "flap" could be operated with something as simple as a piece of cord, or some beaded chain, or just reach up under the upper shield & pull the flap down. Also, thinking about the about 8" blockout on the upper door...you could use cut lengths of PVC pipe, or even steel pipe. StumpyWally