I bought a Hustler

[Guy]

Drove 150 miles round trip to pick up a Hustler 900.
Pics are here: Hustler 900 - Amphibious ATV Pictures
It needs new bearings, and 1 axle straightened. It came with a Bombardier 340 twin in questionable condition. I may put a GX390 or clone in it.

[Mike]

Congratulations on your purchase. Other than being dirty in the tub it looks pretty good. There doesn't appear to be much rust and the trans looks good on the outside. That should be a nice project.

[LarryW]

Those hustlers are bad @$$ machines. I remember a member putting a honda clone 16hp in one and seemed happy with it. I would recommend that before a gx390 mainly because of the price. I have one and run the crap out of it in my attex and in my mini buggy and it takes a beating and always starts right up. Good luck with project. Looking forward to watch the progress.

[amphibious drew]

Nice machine Guy. The hustler is on my wish list. They are good machines and I hope you get her going soon.

[lewis]

Nice catch! I am sure you will enjoy it.

[Guy]

Thanks guys, ordered bearings from Buffalo Bearings today. The frame sure seems stout compared to my MaxIIs. Since I'm replacing all the axle bearings anyway, I was planning on pulling all the axles out, stacking the sprockets on them, tagging them and pulling the frame to inspect for cracks. But it all seems so unrusty and greasy, I Could just do one at a time, put a motor in it and go ride!
But I think if I take my time and do it right, it should last another 30 years, when I'm... well, OLD!
I can still ride the max's.

Someone was asking about the rear seat brace, and mine attaches only to the T-20, not the body. I guess if the T-20 starts moving around, you just have someone sit back there to hold it in place, lmao

[Guy]

Well, I got all my axles out and the frame out of the tub. I had to cut a few bearings/eccentric locks, but all axles and sprockets survived.
Looking at the frame, it seems to have a bit of a banana shape. 100_9527 - Amphibious ATV Pictures like the middle is pushed to the right. Also, the left rear bearing hole is pretty wallered. 100_9529 - Amphibious ATV Pictures Any advice?

[Mike]

For the frame, you can beat it back into shape. It just takes some time. Take a level surface, a square, a sledge hammer, and a block of wood and begin slowly beating it straight one piece at a time. I had a Max II frame that was bent in the rear and I used this method on a concrete floor to get it straightened out.

For the rear bearing hole you can weld a new piece of metal where the axle/bearing wore through the frame and then grind down the welds.

[Guy]

Just an update on my Hustler. We used some chain and a come-a-long tied off to a truck and a motorhome, plus a sledge hammer to take the bananna out of the frame.
It got all new bearings and chain, 2 custom tensioners for the primary chain from the tranny, reusing the original plastic rollers, but bored out. 1 axle we ground off the weld and rewelded hub on straight (that was odd).
Got the 16hp Carrol Stream Clone motor mounted to use same belt as my MaxII. Barely fits under the rear seat, stock muffler touches metal hinge.
Carb was flooding from the pulse pump I added to get away from the stock gravity fed tank. Wouldnt rev up without it using Hustler tank. Solution: Added a "T" after the pump and a return line to the tank filler neck.
Then, come to find out both diamond shifters are missing the pins, and have already been re-drilled 180. So I ordered 2 new ones from Recreatives and put them in and tested. Odd sound in reverse, and not working well. Pulled the diamonds, LH pin already chewed up from broken shift collar!
Ordered the re-seal kit, 2 collars, bearings LH diamond and 2 extra pins. Rebuilt the T20 from the how-to and noticed 2 needle bearing leftover. Oh well. Tested the Hustler, which by now has been thoroughly gone through onlt to find the trans worked in reverse, pulled it back out, swapped bands, found homes for the 2 little needle bearings in the planetary, resealed and put it back in the Hustler.

[Guy]

Oh, I also patched the hole in the tub from the disc brake by plastic welding, turned a half inch off the disc and reused the stock e-brake caliper.
Couldn't have done any of this without the help of this forum and it's fine members.

[Mike]

Guy, you have been busy since your last update. I guess on the plus side, you should now know how to rebuild that T20 with your eyes closed. It sucks you had to take it back out again but I'm glad to hear that everything is finally working fine. Now you should be able to go out and enjoy it without worrying about anything and of course you could take some more pictures of it *hint*.

[Guy]

Here's a pic of the 16HP clone motor. Yellow fuel line is supply, clear line is the return back to the tank. The T20 was set up to shift from the rear already, I added the go kart quality heim joint type rod ends.
Hustler - Amphibious ATV Pictures

In this pic, you can see the muffer exhaust exit: http://www.6x6world.com/gallery/hust...2-hustler.html

http://www.6x6world.com/gallery/hustler-6-wheelers/p10171-hustler.html

Also, in the link referenced above, you can see my belt setup. It's a little loose, and choke cable bracket is almost touching the tub in the rear.