Misc. Little Gator Upgrades

[Dane]

I did not want to hijack Mountaingoat's thread so here are some little odds n ends I've done to my Gator this rainy Sunday.

I made a simple hitch for our garden wagons. I made it slightly longer so I wouldn't bang my head as often when reaching underneath to hitch-up. I offset the tab to the top to help prevent digging into anything when backing up. It's made from a scrap piece 2x2" square tubing.

Does anyone know what this type of hitch is called? I don't know if you'd call it a pintle?



I also finally got around to mounting my favorite license plate. It's reflective so it counts as a safety item.

[Dane]

I've added some automobile LED daylight running lights (DRL) to the rear canopy as work lights. I thought of using one high powered LED flood light but was afraid I'd be blinded by the sun when facing it and working in hard shadows when turned away. The DRL's each are about 6in wide so the light source is spread over a larger area. There are still shadows when you have your back to the Gator but they get smaller the closer I get to the Gator.







I hunt mostly at night and wanted some low interior light to get my gear together without killing my night vision. I've added some red LED light strips to the rear ROPS bar.

[Dane]

Today I worked to address some minor rattling with the dump bed.

First I pulled the latch pins and put on one layer of electrical tape. It helped with the finer, higher pitched rattling but I could still hear the bed rattling up and down.



Next I put a rubber bumper next to each bed latch so there is always tension on the latch. This helped quite a bit but once that big rattle was taken care of I could hear the rear, pivot pins rattling.



Then I stuck bumpers in back near the pivots. In the picture I balanced the bumper on the frame where I wanted it to hit and then closed the bed to stick it in place. It worked beautifully for about 10 minutes and a few bed closings. Even though the frame where the bumper hits is about 1/8" wide and squared off it's enough to cut through my bumper. Back to the drawing board.

[Dane]

Here you can see where the rubber pad stuck to the bottom of the bed and how it's being cut by the bracket. I think there is a bit of sliding action as the bed closes that's doing the cutting.




This pad mounted further from the hinge is hitting the bottom edge of the U channel frame but is holding up well. It provides a little support and minimizes vibration which cut out 3/4 of the rattle in the rear pins.

[Dane]

I have never liked the plastic lettering for the gear levers. Seems like they should have silk screened or painted them to be more visible. So, I painted a little oil based enamal for plastic models onto the top of the lettering using a toothpick as a applicator. I almost stuck with just yellow & green to keep it JD but decided to differentiate neutral a bit.

[Dane]

I had some inch thick sound & heat insulating foil backed foam lying around in the hangar so I cut a strip about 1 1/2" wide and applied it to the plastic flange where the front edge of the dump bed closes. The foam seals off the slight gap which is a direct path for sound to the cab area.



This one strip of foam did more quieting than all the other sound material I applied to the underside. It's not a huge improvement but it is noticeable and so easy to do that it makes it worthwhile. I have not used it enough to tell if it will help limit dust in the cab area but it looks like it might help a bit.

[mountaingoat]

Hey Dane, I'm going to try your bed seal. I live three miles down a dirt road and eat my share of dust! I'm also ordering some black ABS plastic to cover the tank, and battery opening. Thanks for posting the info! mountaingoat.Bucket Seats-3.jpg

[DIXIEDOG]

Nice upgrades

[Dane]

The foam seal at the dump bed does help with dust and debris getting blown back up into the cab when at high speed. It seems to cut out about half of it. Unfortunately, I've not been able to see the path the remaining crud is taking to get to the cab. Has anyone noticed if dust gets sucked all the way up from the stern/rear of the dump bed, around the sides or the area under the dump bed in front of the tires?

[MBDiagMan]

It's looking good Dane! Insulation in the HANGAR? Are you a pilot? I am too. I have a Cessna 140, and I'm hoping to have enough cleared area for a grass strip after the pipeliners get finished.

Doc