Under Weight Gator
Posted: Wed May 03, 2023 4:44 am
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.
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.