ltBmine, I ordered the skid plate and receiver hitch extension from Amazon. Open box price was $117. Thanks for the advice. I have a piece of steel plate in my scrap pile and believe I can make a transmission guard. It looks like welding a leg onto the plate where the top plate attaches to the factory bolt will prevent me from having to make all the bends. Since I don't have any rear hydraulics I believe I can keep the guard in a rectangular shape. Looking at your transmission guard do you see any problems with this? Many thanks!