My attex 8x8 military trainer

[1975 Argo 8x8 2-Stroker]

You've gone out of your way to let us know

I don't exactly see how I've "gone out of my way" to let people know, and as for the statement "I'm 14, I first drove an AATV when I was 3 years old." I was just replying to a thread.

As for the way you put it as being "transparent", I wouldn't say so much as transparent, than there are certain things I disagree with, and when I try to bring them up in a jokingly matter, people don’t like what I have to say, sure call my posts *“gibberish, and my comments “childish”* I could have expressed my feelings about Argo and Attex in a mature and appropriate manner, but I was just as I said before, trying to bring it up as a joke to see if someone would object, not to have an argument, but a conversation about the two machines and their differences, but because of the fact that I posted on an unrelated(in a way) thread , my opinions are “gibberish”.
*

Please don't post jibberish... "childish" "My Ford is better than your Chevy" comments.

*

I may only be 14, but my opinions are still valid, if you would like me to state them in a "mature and appropriate manner" then I will.

If WE plan on continuing this conversation, might want to start a new thread…

[marshgunner]

WOW!!!! Look what I did. All I thought I was doing is asking if anyone had upgraded the axles in their attex trainer and I received two pages of your Argo is better than my attex. This makes me wonder why I even post a question on the internet anymore.

[hydromike]

Hey Marshgunner,

I was just looking over the newer pictures of the Tank Trainer you posted, and it looks like there are quite a few vertical cracks in the lower tub on at least one side. If you get to upgrading to larger axles (if that's your plan) before Racerone3 does, it would be a great time to incorporate them with a freshly-drilled skid plate. I think that if you were able to wrap a skid plate up each side quite a way, (as well as the front and back) it would go a long way to stiffen them up. You'd basically be tying them all together with a piece of HDPE, and wouldn't have to rely on the weld fix/ ABS goo to hold it alone. I went a couple inches above the axles with my plate, but if you were able to take it a bit further, I think it would be be fantastic. It's a lot of work, but you'd basically be putting a new lower tub on it.

I'm excited to see how many pieces you have to work with once you take the body-band off.

[marshgunner]

It is almost like you read my mind as to the lower skidplate idea. I am going to try if I can get a big enough piece to go all the way up both sides as well as the front and back of the machine.I just hope that it comes out ad nice as yours and racerone3 skidplates.

I have been trying to get some work done when I get home from work but after working in 40 degree temp during the day ,the 100 degree temp in the evening just kills me. Come on cooler weather!!!!!

[marshgunner]

I removed the body band last night and it looks like the upper is in five main pieces and a few little pieces. The lower looks to be in one piece with a few little pieces broke off, but I will know more once I remove the frame and axles.

I will try to post some pictures of the puzzle tonight.

[marshgunner]

I have the hole machine torn down with the frame out and cleaned up waiting for some time to start welding the body back together. I took a trip to see Shane Kearney and pickup a few thing from him like a attexes upper that I can use to patch up me destroyed upper body.

All but two of my axles were bent along with the wheel mounts, so now I will need to think harder about axle upgrades. All of the sprockets are in great shape so I just might save them for something else if I do the axle upgrade. I think will be a long project but should be great when it is done.

[racerone3]

glad to see another post from you. I was mounting the last two tires for mine this morning and got to wondering how your project was coming along. I was gonna send you a PM to check in, but you beat me to it. The last guy that started one (before me) here on the board fell off the face of the earth... it's a shame too, his machine looked to have a lot of potential

[hydromike]

I took a trip to see Shane Kearney and pickup a few thing from him like a attexes upper that I can use to patch up me destroyed upper body.

Is the upper you picked up spray painted green? When Shane and I traded some parts earlier this year, I gave him a yellow Thunderchief upper that had green spray paint over most of it. If you did indeed get this upper, be cautious of what you try to graft on to your Tank Trainer upper; the 'Trainer body (ST/400) and the Thunderchief upper are quite a bit different. I don't know that you'll actually do much "grafting", or if you just need small pieces of plastic. Just a heads-up....

[marshgunner]

Yes that is one of the upper that I picked up. Thanks for the heads up on the fit!! I am hopeing to get some welding done over this weekend and I will try to get some pictures up also.

[marshgunner]

I had some time today to start some welding, and thought it was going well. I welded a few of the cracks on the outside and then flipped the tub over and everything I welded broke apart. Crap!!!! Back to the drawing board. I will try again tomorrow and hope it goes better.

I am using a airless welder but I have a chance to borrow a air welder. Will that work better on the abs plastic? If this does not work I will just have to cut up a upper I have and make some goo I guess.

[hydromike]

I had some time today to start some welding, and thought it was going well. I welded a few of the cracks on the outside and then flipped the tub over and everything I welded broke apart. Crap!!!!

Whenever I weld ABS, I find that I just about always have to weld both sides of a crack. It takes quite a bit of practice, and sometimes it's not pretty at all, but I lay the bead, and then use a heated up 1/2" wide prybar to sort of "mush" the entire bead and surrounding plastic together. I repeat the process on the opposite side of the crack, and it seems to hold up well. On my tank trainer, I have several cracks that have reappeared over the course of a couple of years of decent abuse, but they're mainly in the high-stress areas. Some of the cracks on your trainer likely aren't due to repeated stress, but rather impacts with something. You might get real good results in one area, and so-so results in others.

Since I don't do a whole lot of plastic welding, I picked up a cheapie hot air welder. It's not a very elegant piece of equipment, but it gets the job done.

EDIT:: Come to think of it, aside from the holes drilled in the dash on that upper, it was in pretty decent shape. You know, you could really break some new ground and just slice that yellow upper in half, and graft in the rails from your trainer, and add the requisite 4.5" from a third upper body.

[racerone3]

I will add my 2 cents here. Mike and I have had a TON of discussion on the topic of putting tanks back together, and I think we have used vastly different methods to get pretty similar results. He is using the hot air welder, I'm using the airless. He has never used ABS Goo... I use it like I use beer and peanut butter (AKA: too much)

I will agree with what he said. YOU MUST WELD BOTH SIDES OF A CRACK to get any strength. I drilled holes and used stainless wire to lace together all the cracks in my tank, then welded both sides. on top of that i did a few layers of a glass/ goo hybred. Fiberglass cloth with really thin ABS GOO instead of resin. I'm only 3-4 months out, but no cracks have opened back up... with the exception of where my brother in law rammed the LR corner with a Pimpfoot

For a nice ARMY/ Baby Sh^t green mix of ABS goo, use a lot of yellow, and a little Black. Black ABS pipe from a hardware store is a great source of raw plastic to melt down.

this is the welder I'm using : Urethane Supply 5600HT Model 6 Airless Plastic Welder | eBay

I get my welding rod from ABS Welding Rod | U.S. Plastic Corp.

[marshgunner]

Well I have not done any work on the trainer for a few months now, but I hope to soon,either that or let someone else have some fun with it.

[jpswift1]

Bring it back to life, Marshgunner! I was so excited when I saw this post to this old thread.

[hydromike]

...either that or let someone else have some fun with it.

Really? It'd certainly be a really big effort to get the 'ol girl back together, and I don't know how many people would want to try it. I mean, **I'd** try it. It's a big worse for wear than 5 was when I got her, but it's really just a matter of spending time to get it back into two big green pieces. Lots and lots and lots of ABS rod and goo.

We only know of about half-a-dozen or so that are out there, so I hope this one can be saved..... Worse comes to worse, I have a bay open in the ABS ICU.