Under Weight Gator

[Toolslinger]

I had a good laugh at the Michigan Weight Reduction elsewhere... PA is solidly in the rust belt, and not just from the dead steel industry there...

I have been looking for a John Deere Gator (or similar) with a cab for a little while. I've got a Gator already, but it's old enough that there aren't a lot of good choices for cabs that are affordable. I came to the conclusion that it would probably be cheaper to buy a complete machine that already had a cab.

After some time I eventually came across one 4 hours west of me. Facebook ad. The cab looked excellent. Though the add didn't show the Gator in detail, I could see enough to know it was going to have some issues. When I got there, I noted a snow plow lift on the front (no plow). Looking under the bed in the back told that story... Probably had a salter, or at least it carried a lot of bagged salt around... The bed's sheetmetal was in tough shape. You couldn't tell from the top as it had a poly liner in it, and a few hundred pounds of tire chains placed there to make sure nobody was going to tilt the bed...

Well... The machine wouldn't start, or even turn over, or click... The guy swore up and down it did... The electrical terminations looked pretty crap, and the whole system is pretty simple, so I was too woried about that. The cab looked good in person. Steel doors that still worked great. Glass and plexi in good shape. Tires are new in front, and like new in the back We came to an agreement on price, and pulled it up on my trailer.

Once I got it home, it fired right up and ran nicely. Clearly some sketchy electrical connections. No problem there.

The chains came off, and went right in the scrap bin. Took the bed off to work on the electrical system, and put it to the side... Cleaned up the sparky stuff.

Then I got to the bed...

The frame actually looks good. The Gator itself is ok. Just the sheet metal is shot on the bed.
So, I took some measurements, and ordered up some steel...

First thing was to tie the frame back to the front sheetmetal.

Nothing like working with rusty metal... Makes some real crap looking welds for sure, and I wouldn't want to make something important this way, but it'll hold. Gator only has a 500# cargo limit anyway.

Plasma cutter was the tool of choice getting rid of the rest of the sheet metal.

Dropped the new sheet in, and holy crap, it fit on the first attempt...

Wound up 1/2" too long, but really, that's fine, and easy to deal with...

Out came the big Hargrave 12 x 16 Superclamps... I don't get to use them often, and reeally, I don't even want to, but when you need them, you really need them...

Tacked up.

Angle to join the existing walls to the new floor well above the old rust damaged area.

[Toolslinger]

Some more clampping to keep the sheet metal straight before stitching it together...

And after getting chased inside every hour or so all day, that's where I got to... I really would like a building with a concrete floor for my welding projects... 150 year old barn floor just wouldn't play well with the sparks...
The wind really didn't help either since I only have solid wire MIG. I've gotten pretty good over time turning projects to keep my gas from blowing away, but it's still annoying.

Next chance I get, I have to trim the overhang on the back, and clean that up... Probably extend some of the welds I've already done, and perhaps some more bead on that outer, lower corner to keep that more hand friendly... The poly bed liner will go back in, so the inside doesn't eed to be pretty.

Will have to test fit next time, and drill to remount the fenders and such... If all goes well, slap some DTM paint on there for protection, and I'll pop for a rattle can of JD green for the sides where people could see it driving by...

So just shy of $200 in steel to bring it back. Now, I'll have a Gator for sunny days, and one for the adverse weather as well. This one came with a HD alternator too, so it'll get some extra lights, and probably fix/replace the cab heater it has. (at 300 watts, it isn't going to heat much, but it would probably keep the windshield defogged/defrosted)

[propane1]

Great fix. Handy machine.

Noel

[DavidBarkey]

@Toolslinger What engine is in that one with cab?

[Toolslinger]

@Toolslinger What engine is in that one with cab?

I honestly didn't really check... Engine and rear end oil was good, air filter was clean, and it started/ran good after cleaning up the electrical, so that moved down the priority list a bit. It's a 1998 vintage 4x2. I believe I only saw 1 spark plug wire, but again, I really didn't study it yet. After I wrap up the bed project, I'll have to spend some quality time with the power plant, and drive train. Amongst other things the throttle linkage is a little sticky, so it doesn't drop all the way back to idle nicely. Probably needs the cable lubed, and perhaps a return spring on the pedal.

Here she sits after getting it home...

[Eugen]

Great project and nice work @Toolslinger but I gotta tell you all I can think of now is those huge clamps!

[RoamingGnome]

That's going to be handy to have when it's all fixed up... makes me think about fabbing up a tilt box for the back of my Samurai

[Toolslinger]

That's going to be handy to have when it's all fixed up... makes me think about fabbing up a tilt box for the back of my Samurai

I argued with myself over if I should find an old Samarai, or possibly a vintage CJ... The Gator won out simply due to cost, and a slight size saving... Less to go wrong with the Gator as well I guess.

I may get lucky... The actuator from the snow plow lift looks like it might be the same size or very close to the one used for the dump bed. My summer gator has the powered dump, and that is awfully nice. This gator has the wiring (assuming I just move it to the rear, it is long enough) for the dump. Once you get power dump, it is hard to live without it, but I will if I can't retro fit what I alrerady have. The actuator, new, is around $500, and I've got other projects that could use that cash long before I need the dump bed...

[RoamingGnome]

BluZuki worked for me because I already had it... had to fix a bunch of things to get it working and then flat-towed it 5hrs to our property up north, The body (like all Samurais up here) has had extensive rust belt - "weight reduction" and will never go back on the road without extensive body work... It starts, stops, turns corners and the 4wd works so it's a good work mule in the forest... the floor behind the two front seats is badly rotted and making a mini flatbed for it is on the to-do list - it's also pretty small and won't use up much steel. I could make the hinge point at the back bumper and it wouldn't take much effort to tip it... It did get a lot of use last summer hauling cut up firewood and brush...

[Toolslinger]

If/when you get to the bed, I can't recommend enough planning it for an actuator. That's not to say you have to do it innitially, but thinking through the geometry first would save a lot of time later. Might even be able to find a rotted out Gator to scavenge a dump actuator out of...

I guy that used to work for me had a Samurai... Beat the hell out of it, and it kept going. I guess they built the drivetrain right... Are they frame veihicles, or unibody?