A Bad Day for the Hustler

[dirtdobber]

I took the Hustler 950 out for a ride yesterday afternoon. The water where I ride has finally come down enough to ride, so I thought I would go explore a bit yesterday. About 45 seconds after driving off the trailer, I discovered a stump.....the hard way.

It was standing about 6 inches tall in some weeds, and about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. It was quite a sturdy little fellow. I was easing along at a cautious speed, but still fast enough for the front of the tub to hit it and bounce up and, of course, for the center hump to catch it just right. It hit the hump near the left side corner of the tub - where the side and bottom come together. This is the location of a nasty split that I have repaired twice already. Suffice to say it now needs a third repair.

This creates the opportunity for some experimenting. I have a spare tub, but it is busted in a couple of places along the frame rails. I think I will strip it down to the tub only and experiment on removing the hump. If I do, I'll create a new thread....if I ever get around to it. Too many projects!

[allwheeldrive]

ouch! any pics?

[dirtdobber]

No pics yet. I'll get some eventually. BUT, this is the gash it had when I restored the machine. Not sure yet how much of this gash has been opened by the stump.
Tub crack 1.jpg

[ARGOJIM]

Be sure to measure the space between the sprocket and tub before "experimenting".

[SeanD]

That sucks. Yeah, I was going to say- the hump does serve about 8" of purpose on either side for the center sprockets. A thick skid plate would be very useful and perhaps easier? I had about 3/8" of rhino liner sprayed on the bottom of mine for just that reason.

[dirtdobber]

20180804_082452[1].jpg

Well, here's the damage. Same old wound opened up again. Actually, have a similar split on the other side of the hump that opened back up during this little adventure.

[dirtdobber]

I'm finally getting around to repairing the tub damage. In a previous post I indicated a desire to get rid of the hump. I scrapped that idea, for now at least.

I fabbed a brace out of sheet metal and used pop rivets to secure it to the inside of the tub. It will provide rigidity for the damaged corners. I rolled the edge for that part which will lie along the floor to avoid a sheer point.
20190302_164205.jpg

Here's the brace installed. Once I'm done, I'll add more rivets.
20190302_173243.jpg

I cut the old plastic repair out and will reweld it to make it waterproof. While I could probably get away with pumping it full of silicone, I had rather not. I did put a bead of silicon around the outer perimeter of the metal brace, though.
20190302_173311.jpg

[ARGOJIM]

That crack is in a bad spot, constant flex there while dragging. If you can get it sealed again making a full skid plate would be ideal, if not at least about a foot front and back and 6" up the sides should help with flex issues and hopefully curtail the cracking.

[ARGOJIM]

Just reread initial, sounds as if you have a skid plate if you haven't experimented.