Shop Made Dozer Masts

We just recently purchased a machine control setup (laser guided) for our dozer (D6K2) and while we were pleased with the overall function of the equipment, we were less than impressed with the lower end masts that came with the package. I checked with the salesman and the next step up in mast is quite a leap in price and we would like to recoup some money from the purchase before we start shelling out several thousand more dollars. The mast that it came with is just a 4' high metal tubing bent on one end to attach to the clamps on the dozer blade. I would think that I could bend a longer piece of tubing and attach to the same clamps and that way I can get the receivers high enough to clear the cab and work multiple directions without moving the laser. Im worried that the higher you go the more the vibration may be a factor. Does anyone have any experience with this and offer any advice to a machine control newbie? Thanks in advance!

Do you have a pic of what you have?

I know before we cut down our masts for our Topcon dozers they were above the cab and there is a lot of stress put on the mounting system because there is so much side to side movement at the top. I don't know how you are securing your system to the blade but I would make sure it is strong if your going to make it taller!

Yeah tekemp, thats what I was kind of afraid of. The 4' mast is pretty solid, but I could see almost doubling the height could put some serious stress on the parts. I think that blade vibration would be amplified also without some sort of shock absorber. Anyone else have any ideas?

My phone memory was full the other day so I wasn't able to take any pics. I will post some soon though.

Ratchet straps from the corners of the bald to the top of the mast have worked for us in the past.

ere is some pics that I took today of the mounting clamps.HATTACH]133812[/ATTACH]

If you are going to go taller with your poles you might want to look into fabricating some stronger mounts, the clamps in your picture look like they might be some sort of plastic? Over time they might not hold up with the stress from the taller poles. If I get around one of our D6K's I will snap a picture to show how ours usually break.

those look a lot a like what our one blade used for sonar or whatever that is called to read elevation off of curbs. why couldn't you unbolt the gray pieces from you blade and make a higher mount and then bolt the gray piece back on? Don't know what brand your laser system is and yes would be more money but we had a extendable laser mast on our one dozer for a while the same one one our pull pans have! Jerry

Hello NCSLIM1,
On your blade where those 4 holes are on those flat pieces, make up a plate buttressed (not sure if that's the word I'll get a pic asap) to a pole and mount it like that. That's what I've seen.