Part 11: Bolting it down
I had bought 1” ready rod, 8 pieces, each 36” long, and flat washers and nuts, these would be the hardware to clamp it to the frame. I had dug through my steel collection, and found a chunk of ¾” thick plate that I could cut into sections and would be perfect for the bottom clamp plates. I put them into my band saw and let it chug away on each cut, slicing it lengthwise to get chunks that were 11 ½” long, 4” wide and ¾” thick. There was just enough of the plate to get 4 of these! Good thing I had salvaged that plate 15 years ago and hung onto it!!!!
Then I needed to drill some holes for the ready rod to go through. Thinking ahead, I had bought a 1-1/4” drill bit at Mac’s, so now it was time for the mill to go to work. Drilling that big of a hole through that thick of plate can be dangerous and difficult on a small drill press, so fortunately I was able to use my milling machine. That made short work of making those big holes by turning the drill bit nice and slow, with it clamped in the vice.
Once those were fabricated, it was time to bolt it down in 3 of the 4 locations:
The fourth location is a bit more complicated as it will need a spacer tube added to clear some supports that hold the hydraulic pump and tank. I’ll have to do that one later.
NEXT>>Part 12: Hydraulic system!
