CTDPower is 'Da MAN.... If you use his template tell him thanks or send him a case of good beer or something
He sent me the template a while ago, last week I had the second stick try to skewer me wile woodsy riding....
Time to get this thing done...
So a trip to Alro plastics for a 4x 8 of 1/2 sheet, then to Staples
Staples was a disaster, first print was at 99%, glad I measured, second print.. ran out of paper, third print was good, they even printed it in color by mistake. The template made it easy to verify the size was right with #s on the sheet and rulers on the sheet.
I followed the lead of CTD, silver sharpie, jig saw hole saw, circular saw router. Trust the template, this makes this almost easy.
I have a plow mount, so I cut the front shorter and milled the sheet to fit over the mounts. I might add another plate here, I didn't have bolts long enough.
I cut the corners at the fold line on the template, not the shorter line, and did not do the folds.
I also decided that I need to cut and install the side plates, as the last stick came through the drivers side when I was backing up.
I made them full length, 44" on the inside, 42, and went with 16 5/8" wide.
I also went with rivnuts, 1/4-20 as I had a ton of 1/4-20 bolts in stock. I'm going to switch out to these bolts:
LOT 25 1/4-20 X 1 3/8" FLAT HEAD ALLEN SOCKET 35MM JOINT CONNECTOR BOLT BLACK NC | eBay
I clamped and braced the side plates in place and drilled 23/64 holes thru the plate and frame, used 3/8 bolts to keep stuff from moving around, then pulled the plates off to insert the rivnuts. I also pop-riveted an aluminum angle to hold the back inside corner.
I didn't take a lot of pics during cutting but here's what I ended up with:
Yea I know I should have washed it before I started...