My name is Mike. I have a problem.....

[JoeMeg]

Nice Bigfoot, Mike.

Joe

[hydromike]

do you free your sticks when trying to shift? I've found that when shifting if I move my sticks to mid travel, and then wiggle them slightly, it frees the bands/drums and helps everything to line up

Hey Brush'.... I typically make sure the T20 has stopped spinning, wiggle the sticks, wiggle the shifter and hope for the best. It does take a while for everything to line up, but like you say, split shifters make this process much simpler, and easier on the transmission.

Nice Bigfoot, Mike. Joe

Thanks Joe! I shouldn't have bought it, seeing the other projects I have on the burner(s), but didn't want to miss the chance. I went half-Scanlon on the thing last night and pulled the engine to check everything out and give it a good cleaning. I'm not pulling the frame or anything drastic; I just didn't have much access to a lot of the stuff that needed to be inspected.

Every time I come up to it, I still think it's up on blocks or something. They'd make a heck of an 8-wheeler.

~m

[hydromike]

I'm in the process of replacing all the outer bearings on the 980. This is a good time to degrease the 'ol girl, and do an assessment of what's gone wrong the last 25 years or so. I've heard lots of stories about the Hustler frames developing cracks here and there, but I was amazed at the number of short (< 1/2") stress cracks that had formed between the lateral frame supports and the side rails. It seems where ever a support was welded, a short stress crack developed.

The classic Hustler chain adjuster issue struck my machine as well. They're not TOO bad, and I think I'll just bend them back and support them better. I'll probably yank the frame some time this year, but I don't want to get too deep into it while the Max VIII is waiting for parts to come in. I found two decent T-20 halves to replace the wallowed (sp?) out halves that came with it, and I found a couple more 18 tooth T-20 shift spools in the parts area. "Loaves and fishes" over there sometimes, 'ya know?

A couple new pics in my gallery....





~m

[hydromike]

Long story short. I took the frame out. It's hammered. I'll hopefully get it welded, beat back into shape, reinforced, cleaned up, blasted, painted and put back in this weekend.

Pretty optimistic, eh?



~m

[racerone3]

I told you it needed to be gutted, don't you feel better now?

[George]

Long story short. I took the frame out. It's hammered. I'll hopefully get it welded, beat back into shape, reinforced, cleaned up, blasted, painted and put back in this weekend.

Pretty optimistic, eh?



~m

It's never easy, is it?

[hydromike]

I told you it needed to be gutted, don't you feel better now?

Way better. Thing's f'ugly. I don't know how it's held together.

It's never easy, is it?

Nope, but it's always fun.

~m

[hydromike]

So, Race' and I are in the midst of rebuilds, so while he's yanking his apart, I'm trying to button up the quick restification of mine.

I spent some time over the weekend and finished welding up the frame, reinforcing everything that needed it, painting the frame and getting 90% of it all back together. I feel MUCH bettter that I took the time to do it. It was a necessity.

I may have goofed up a little bit, though. I revamped the lateral mounts to make them a bit more solid, and to center them on the machine. What I failed to discover is that now that everything is together, I can't get the connecting rods to the T-20 in. Stupid Hustler. Stupid Michael. I picked up a Dayco HP2031 belt, and it does indeed fit like a glove. Anybody who's looking for a good replacement belt for a stock 980 driveline, this should work well for you.

Had her running a little bit in the garage last night and this morning. I still have to run chains and do some more fabricating while the top is off. Hopefully she'll hold together a bit better this time around.

~m

[jpswift1]

Hey Mike, did you need a ladder to work on it? Those BIGFOOTS are TALL! Good heads up on the belt part number too......I remember that super long thread about it a year or two ago.

You might want to consider some heim joints and new tubular rods going from the T-20 to the laterals......you could use ones just like I did on my racer, and it would compensate for the angle as well, unlike the square tube ones would.

[hydromike]

The angle isn't goofed up at all, I just can't physically fish the rods into the maze of "stuff" comprising the frame while the transmission is there. I'll just loosen it up and put them in. The ladder wasn't necessary. I was able to get everything assembled with the top of the machine off. Getting INTO the machine is another story....

[jpswift1]

Getting INTO the machine is another story....

It's like the deep end of a swimming pool.......you could get lost in that thing it's so big.

[George]

Hey Mike (Hydro)...empty your mailbox! You too Jersey!

[hydromike]

Since the bulk of the Bigfoot is about done for now, I can S L O W L Y work on customizing it bit by bit in a vain attempt to compete with the 980 PimpFoot that's going to make its mobile-debut from the woods of North Carolina here sometime soon.

I've learned that I need lots of tow-points from time to time, largely due to the fact that I instinctively follow people with more capable machines into places that I have no business being. Sometimes, those people are invisible, and my therapist says they're a fabrication of my subconcious. Eh, whatever. If they're invisible, that means they can't tow me out, so I'm gonna need a winch.

I began fabbing up a mount yesterday in between making chicken wings and enchiladas for the football game I never actually watched. I'm going to go with an under-bumper mount for now and see if I can destroy it, at which point I'll probably do it the right way and put it sky-high on top of the bumper. After watching several videos of these fat pigs swimming, the winch should be well above the water line when it's sitting in the water, and it's actually hard to hit it on anything since it's still pretty high-up. We'll see.

GeoJem took it for a quick tour of the snowbanks to see what sort of issues I may have with approach angle. It just kept climbing.



~m

[lewis]

Well, wasn't that nice of you to use your girl friend as a test pilot! But do tell us how does it run and will it be ready for Busco.

All kidding aside Mike you have done a get looking job on that machine.

[hydromike]

Thanks Lewis. It's basically ready for Busco now. I mean, it'll likely have other stuff added, and maybe a couple little upgrades to it as I find weak spots on trail rides, but all-in-all it's about as ready as it's going to get. Tires are a necessity, but they'll hopefully be here by then. Backorders are a nightmare with Interco right now.

Well, wasn't that nice of you to use your girl friend as a test pilot!

Her words after the test drive?

"Oh, I like that one...."

~m