Home-made fenders

My 560 has no fenders, and the prices I see for even the clamshell type put them out of my reach. Anyone here have any experience making their own? (I'd most likely use plywood.)

Pleasssssssssssse don't. if $$ i short now wait and save for a pair of steel fenders and even the extention kit. Clean the fender mount bolt holes and plug with oiled bolts till you can get a proper pair. you'll be glad you did and it will mean that much more.

I don't know why not. Just make a stout frame out of angle iron. You want them to stand the weight of a man against them in an impact.

It's your tractor, do what you want.
By the time you make a frame and brackets and a good piece of exterior plywood you may have as much as a pair of factory would cost.
I depends on how much material you have on hand.
If its just protection you want, and I agree they need to be there, look for any pair of fenders you can find and make a bracket so they fit.
Keep an eye out and you probably will find what you want at the right price.
Dell

Don't know where you live, but I've got a pair of Massey 44 fenders that I would let go for a reasonable price. They need a little work to be pretty, but would be completely functional as is.

Frankly I'm surprised more people aren't objecting to PLYWOOD fenders.

It just ain't safe. You're better off with nothing, because then at least you'll be less likely to become complacent, depending on the fenders to be there to protect you.

The only thing the clamshell fenders are for are looks. They do not cover the tire at all. If you want protection, then install flat top fenders.

If you are going to build an angle iron frame, then cover it with sheet metal, not wood. At least you stand a chance of the fenders looking halfway decent. Plywood will just look hokey.

Make sure they are flat topped, the day would go quicker and rides are more fun with your favorite dog along for company.

Dave

You could always look around at the local heating contractor for metal scraps,ask first,in their dumpster.Cut and weld up a set .It may be a long task,but its FREE, only time.

You can put any thing on you want, I had a super m with 44 MH fenders, looked good, we also put a set of MM 602 fenders on a M, Any fender from any tractor would work with little work. The H farmall crusier I put together has 424 IH fenders on it, because I had them and didnt want to spend any money on anything, just use you mind and check you local salvage yards, good luck.

Don't tell anyone, but I think the flat top John Deere fenders look darn good on an M.

I got nothing against putting "wrong" fenders on a tractor. My H has 504 fenders on it. Looks awesome, and should look even better when we paint it up this spring.

What I object to is the fenders being made of PLYWOOD. Unless you're Norm Abram, super woodworker, they're going to look like PLYWOOD scraps bolted to the tractor. Vibration for a few months will cause them to fall apart. Screws will wallow loose, nails will pull out.

Don't seem to be much to a set of fenders. Think some good pics, 1" angle iron, a couple of 12 packs (to get the creative juices flowing) and some sheet metal would do the trick.




Dave

I am with the others on this one. NO PLYWOOD OR ANY OTHER WOOD! It will not be safe, visually appealing, or long lasting. If you wanted to build, follow the suggestions of finding some sheet metal from a HVAC place that they make ducts out of. This and some light angle or tubing will be fine. By the time you layout, cut out, and fabricate wood or metal will be about the same. One will last a bit and the other may out live you. I also agree that fenders from another tractor can be made to look like they "grew there".

Good luck,

Charles

Two trunk lids off of a small car from the wrecking yard. If a way common car, they should be scrap weight price. JimN

> Two trunk lids off of a small car from the
> wrecking yard.

I like that idea.

I bought a NEW set of JD. 4020 reproduction flat tops for my M. Painted then IHC red and put lights in fenders. Now I have 4 headlights The other 2 locations on the fenders are vacant. My M did not have the sealed beam lights and now I have plenty of light. I made the brackets from 3" x 5" angle and i/4 inch plate Bolted the 5" leg to the four 1/2 inch holes inthe top of the axel housing. I am proud of them cost $165 each plus lights wire paint and iron.

Long before there was ever a "correct police" around, around here we didn't do fenders, we did ENTIRE CABS out of angle iron and plywood. From 560's on up to plywood bolted over the rollover protection bars on an 886. Plywood bolted on with plastic sheet windows on the sides and back and a glass window in an iron frame in the front.

Sure...they looked homebuilt. 'Cause they were. And nobody cared- they were a huge improvement over the old "comfort covers" made outta tarp, and an even bigger improvement over snuggling down in a haystack while holding the lines to a team when it was 20 below.

But were they "safe"???? Heck yeah...nobody ever froze to death in them. Usually two guys rode in them until it was time to pitch the hay, and never once did anybody "fall through" those plywood sides. Not everyone knows it, but back in the day before the modern saftey "fuel cells" were put into NASCAR and other racecars, it was standard procedure and even stipulated in some rules to make a plywood box around the race car's fuel tank since plywood is quite hard to penetrate.




Were they "good looking"? Heck no...but nobody cared.

Were they "long lasting"? We took 'em off in the summertime and they lasted for years and years. Still have some of them stacked in the corner of the shop that haven't been used for 20+yrs(since we bought green tractors with factory cabs to feed with) and those old homemade cabs would still bolt on and work today if needed.

Bottom line- if you have some plywood and angle iron around, build a solid frame out of the iron and go for it. Fenders are basically to keep the mud off ya anyways- as for the safety issue, I was 30yrs old before I ever saw or operated an H, M, 656, etc that had fenders on it. And that was just 'cause my brother put the fenders back on our 656 that had been removed the day it arrived new so that it could have that plywood cab put on it....

Ron,
Nice post. Sometimes a back to basics reality check is needed around here.
Dell