Blower rack on JD 2500

   This started out as an idea to prevent a separate guy from having to drive around in front and behind each triplex mower blowing debris and clippings.  We need a blower rack on the triplex but where?  There isn't a good place with access to the frame on the JD 2500.  It needed to accommodate a stihl or redmax blower, not impede operator view and not have to be removed to service anything.  Between the ROPS was the only real option for location.  So, I drew it up on paper and it actually turned out like it was supposed to. Go figure...
   All total I spent around 3 days building this rack.  It could be done in 4 hrs now that I have the layout.  I added the 3/4 square tube to this rack because I didn't have enough angle.  This steel was ordered for racks on trailers but turned into a rack for triplex. The bushing is a club car front leaf spring spacer that I cut a 1/4" length off for each side. I put a bungee on it and bent the hooks closed so it can't be removed.  The operator simply lifts the bungee up and and over the blower backrest to remove blower.  The only thing I'm going to change on this one and the second one is to make the lower bolt (the one the rack rests on) a 4.5" long carriage bolt and put a spacer on it for the rack to rest on. If you have any questions about this just ask. cphillipsgolf@gmail.com or on twitter @CAPgolf
    

Getting the geometry worked out for
the bolt holes was quite fun.
Haven't used that Math in a while, good to
know I still can though.

Cocoa Mat Repair

This one involves our Cocoa drag mat.  I have seen several of these at various golf courses and nearly all of them had a rip or small tear on them.  This mat is heavy and most operators have to pick it up after each green. So, by the time they reach the 4th green they tend to drag it out of the cart bed.  This is usually where the tear starts. I've been told once a tear starts you try and minimize it until the mat isn't usable anymore.  I started looking into rubber bonding compounds. I found this Devcon Flexane 80 Urethane from Grainger and started doing my research into it. It is offered in a putty form and a liquid form.  After reading up on both I chose the liquid form because it has a higher tensile strength at 2100 psi and I thought it would flow into the tear and fill the cracks better.  Hindsight being 20/20 I should have went with the putty.  It has a tensile strength of 1700 psi and it would have been easier to apply and work with after applied.  However, back to the mat. I took my grinder with a sanding pad and buffed the areas around the tear until it was smooth.  This process also heats up the rubber on the cocoa mat. I then drilled two holes across from each other on the outer edge of the tear.  I used a med sized zip tie through these holes to help pull the tear together and hold it while the rubber compound set.  I mixed the rubber compound and poured it on the tear.  I poured fairly slow to allow the compound to flow into the cracks.  Here is where I wish I would have chosen the putty form.  I didn't have the tear pulled tight enough together and the rubber flowed through the tear and down onto the floor. By the time I got there the next morning, the cocoa mat was stuck to the floor.  I was able to get it free with little effort but I had to cut a couple nickle size chunks of rubber out of the cocoa fibers on the bottom of mat.  I completed this repair for 75.00 and a new drag mat would be a LOT more than that.

Here are some before and after pics of the repair

This pic shows the part of the tear where the liquid flowed through to the floor.  It also shows the zip tie I used at the edge to help pull the tear together.  That is one layer of 2100 psi tensile strength urethane.  Its flexible just like the original mat backing and it repaired a severe tear for only 75.00