Tiny-Tach install on B6100

[ShaunBlake]

Well, Tomcat tipped me over the edge, and I diddit. A little side note: I read on the Website that there are two choices, and they are only a few thousandths different in size. "Everybody" said that Kubotas use the 6mm fuel line, but I thought mine looked awful 'fat' to be 6mm (years of tool & die), so I stripped and scraped paint off a fuel line and miked it: 0.247".

I told Tomcat that he prolly had 6mm, but he could be sure by getting an 'F' drill bit and a 1/4" drill bit and comparing them to his line. But all this really isn't necessary; Design Technology will cheerfully swap the one you buy for the right one. I just didn't want to have to wait that long.

So, placed the order on a Friday. Monday morning, a sweet lady called me from Design Technology, suggesting that I should choose the 6mm version since I was ordering it for a Kubota. What great customer service!

So now that the Tiny-Tach is in hand, what to do with it? The only space on the dashboard is occupied by decals of some kind that are unreadable, in a location that I couldn't read even if they were legible. So: let's fab a mount!

Took the easy way and got a sheet of thin aluminum (or aluminium if you're reading this, OldeEnglish) and hacked a hold in it with my Dremel. (Well, hacked, and hacked, and hacked, then filed and scraped.) Eventually got the tach to fit in the hole and didn't have to use Bondo!

Then folded it a bit and stuck it on top of the dashboard. Then realized I hadn't addressed skeets' craving for pictures, so snapped some before painting it.

Here's what I came up with. Tomorrow I'll post some pics of the paint job and if that comes out okay, of the installation.

 

[sawmill]

Nice work. That's a nice looking mount, Shaun.

 

[skeets]

Well thank you my friend I appear to be a visual kind of guy,,lol,, Nice set up though I do have a question. Being a single piece of Al does it vibrate or have you put a gusset or extrusion in the sheet Al some place to stiffen it up?

 

[D2Cat]

Shaun, looks nice and functional.

When I saw the first picture I thought maybe you were making a frame to put your picture in! Maybe to remind a thief who owned the tractor?

 

[ShaunRH]

Tiny Tach but GIANT FREAKIN' BEZEL!

LOL! Just giving you grief man. Nice job!

 

[ShaunBlake]

You guys! Santa's going to be bringing appropriate gifts next Christmas!

Very insightful, skeets, the luminum is very thin. It doesn't wiggle, but I intended to fold all the edges 90° to stiffen it up, but got too far along to be able to accomplish that without a lot of unintended bends. As it is, it's steady enough... but. It looks too unfinished, so this one has become Prototype. Production model should be more finished looking, but maybe with the back open in case something goes haywire.

D2, that'd be a good thing to do. I'm sure you'd think nobody would want it, but I've been tying a string to it and wrapping it around my big toe when I go to bed. (And I'm not saying where I tie the string!) I guess if a thief could drive off with my face looking at him, there's nothing more that could be done.

C'mon, Shaun, I thought for sure you'd get it: it's a visual pun to call attention to how tiny the Tach is!

 

[ShaunBlake]

Sorry, folks, no pics of the paint job. I got confused because I'm accustomed to having numbers to show where the colors go.

Actually, the painting got done, but there was a hiccup and I pulled the mounting nuts off so didn't get the pictures taken.

I'm not sure how much more I'll do to this one -- I've had a couple of "Ah-ha!" moments that have led to design changes and I'm excited to work on the "improvements". However, there are some things I may try on the prototype to find a way to do bends without a metal brake.

 

[D2Cat]

Shaun, you mention prototype and production model. Are you going to make some for sale?

 

[ShaunBlake]

Shaun, you mention prototype and production model. Are you going to make some for sale?

That wasn't what I was trying to convey; more along the lines of, "cobbled together" versus "tweaked and refined to the point someone might want to copy".

If I make one that is presentable and not too difficult to replicate, I certainly would be willing to make one for my forum buddies.

 

[ShaunBlake]

To answer the complaints of the arteest-types who found the wide bezel offensive:

 

[sawmill]

Shaun, where's your horn button for the steering wheel?