Sheet Metal Fabrication for Agriculture
K-Display's sheet metal fabrication for agriculture OEMs makes the guards, shrouds, hoppers, control enclosures, and brackets on planters, feed systems, and grain and livestock equipment. Makers of tractors, planters, combines, and feeders release these parts model year by model year.
Guards, shrouds, hoppers, and enclosures for agricultural equipment
Planters, feed systems, grain handling, and livestock equipment carry sheet metal parts on the outside: the belt guard, the auger shield, the control box, the sensor bracket, and hoppers, chutes, and troughs for seed, feed, and grain. We cut and form them from carbon steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, or aluminum, install hinges and latches, and powder coat them or leave them bare, and agriculture OEMs order this sheet metal fabrication each season. Under 29 CFR 1928.57, power take-off shafts and the nip points of belts, chains, and sprockets must be guarded, and guards and their supports must withstand a 250-pound person leaning or falling against them.
Grain leaves the hopper throat and enters the auger inlet across one seam, the single place it can catch. The guard over the drive sits outside that path.
What we make for agriculture
- Power-transmission guards and shields
- Belt, chain, sprocket, and PTO guards formed from steel as fixed shields or hinged doors, bolted to the machine frame.
- Shrouds, covers, and access panels
- Engine and drive covers and hood panels for tractors, planters, and combines, sized to the machine frame and its service openings.
- Hoppers, chutes, and feeder pans
- Welded carbon and stainless steel hoppers and transitions, and formed galvanized pans, troughs, and livestock feeder bodies, with welds and edges dressed.
- Control and electrical enclosures
- Enclosures for monitors, controllers, and power distribution on field machines and barn systems, with cable entries and a mounting panel, behind hinged or removable covers.
- Sensor mounts, brackets, and support frames
- Sensor mounts, hose and harness brackets, and welded support frames that bolt to the machine's structure.
What agriculture jobs require
- Guard mounting points
- Tab positions, hinge points, and the clearance at the drive, dimensioned on your guard drawing.
- Exposure and finish
- The fertilizer, manure, washdown, or weather each part sees, and the galvanized, stainless, or powder-coated finish chosen for it.
- Wear surfaces
- Material and thickness for the wear plate on hoppers, chutes, and pans, where grain, feed, or seed scours the metal.
- Frame bolt patterns and weld access
- Hole sizes and spacing to the machine frame, and the room a torch needs at each joint.
- Release schedule and model-year revisions
- The season's release dates, the batch size of each release, and the parts that carry over unchanged from the last model year.
The drive cover lifts straight off its receiving flange for service and lowers back onto its tabs. Each lift puts a hand on its edges, so a burr or sharp corner shows up there first.
How agriculture work runs
Cut, form, and weld the bodies
We laser cut and form the blanks and weld the guards, hoppers, and enclosure bodies.
Hardware, masking, and powder coat
We install hinges, latches, and self-clinching hardware before coating and mask the mounting tabs and threads, so the coat does not build up where parts fit together.
Kits by machine
We kit parts by machine or pack them loose or as subassemblies, labeled with your part numbers, so a machine's set reaches the line together.