A cable guard (20) for enclosing and protecting at least one cable (34) extending alongside a tube (28) comprising, a base (22), a ring (24), and a u-bolt (124), the base (22) has hinge receivers (72 and 74) to receive hinge pins (106 and 108) for rotatably and removably connecting base (22) and ring (24), and the ring (24) includes u-bolt receivers (70 and 71) for rotatably and removably connecting u-bolt (124) and ring (22), the ring (22) includes ring rotational stops (200 and 202) to prevent over rotation and uncontrollable detachment of the base (22) and ring (24); the base (22) includes u-bolt slots (116 and 118) and the ring (24) includes u-bolt leg receivers (144 and 146) for cooperating with the u-bolt slots (116 and 118) and receiving the u-bolt legs (140 and 142) in the base (24), whereby the cable guard (20) is assembled, at least one cable (34) is enclosed, the cable guard (20) is mounted, and the u-bolt (124) is tensioned by tightening the nuts (148 and 150) and as tension increases along with respective reactive forces the cable guard (20) is frictionally engaged to tube (28).