Seal guard for compactor

A method of operating a work machine comprising:

• providing a work machine having a final drive rotatably supported on an outboard end of an axle, and a wheel mounted to an outboard end of the final drive, the wheel having a cylindrical shell extending axially and concentrically about the axle:
• allowing a foreign material to enter an interior of a wheel drum;
• restricting the foreign material to pass through a first gap between the axle and a rotating element connected to the wheel drum;
• bounding the foreign material within a first space defined by the axle, the rotating element, and an internal guard fixed to the axle;
• restricting the foreign material to pass through a second gap between the rotating element and the internal guard, the second gap being accessible by the foreign material when a first volume of other foreign material has built up within the first space:
• restricting the foreign material to pass through a third gap between the internal guard and a rotating guard;
• bounding the foreign material within a second space defined by the internal guard and the rotating guard:
• restricting the foreign material to pass through a fourth gap between the internal guard and the rotating guard, the third gap being accessible by the foreign material when a second volume of other foreign material has built up within the second space:
• bounding the foreign material within a third space defined by the rotating guard, the internal guard, the axle, and the final drive:
• restricting the foreign material to pass through a passage formed between the rotating element and the rotating guard, the passage being accessible by the foreign material as an alternate routing to the third gap:
• restricting the foreign material to pass through a fifth gap between the rotating element and a rotating guard;
• and
• permitting the foreign material to access a seal area contacting an annular seal extending over the final drive, or an excess area separate from the seal area.

A guard for a seal of a wheeled industrial machine, the guard comprising an annular body having a first plate, a second plate having an upper portion and a lower portion, and a connecting portion extending between the first plate and the second plate, wherein:

• the first plate extends in a radially inward direction from the connecting portion and includes a plurality of holes:
• the upper portion is configured to extend into a corresponding slot of a rotating element of a wheel of the wheeled industrial machine;
• and
• the lower portion is configured to extend toward an axle of the wheeled industrial machine.