This my new to me Hustler. Not sure the year or model. Has 26x12-12 tires and an 18hp Briggs IC opposed twin. Anyone familiar with these have any ideas? Overall seems to be in good shape. Starts runs and drives well. Going to be this winters restoration project.
Thanks
Sorry, still trying to figure out how you post pictures on this site.
Last edited by Nortonscustoms; 10-19-2022 at 02:00 AM.
That's a 980. Nice find. One of the best machines ever produced.
If you are restoring, I would upgrade to 1.25" axles. New bearings, chain, etc. Sprockets tend to wear pretty quickly on the original machines as metals back in the day aren't what they are today.
nice machine alright . big tires and a even bigger winch ! where you guys find these things ? never see any aatv's for sale in no. va . have fun , johnboy va
Spent the day going through it. Motor and clutch are both date stamped 1984 and appear to be original. So I think its safe to assume its an 1984 980. Strangely 5 tires are in great shape and one is badly dry rotted.
Noel Woods do you know if they ever used metric axles? Mine measured (the 2 front at least) around 1.22" which is 31mm on the dot.
John, yeah the winch is huge and it weights a ton. The gearbox on it is a solid block of rust, it got tossed in the scrap bin. As far as how I found it, that was completely dumb luck! Looked for years and never could find any aatv. Then the other day took a different route home from work and saw it sitting in a yard for sale. I about drove my truck in the ditch! Next day was explaining to the wife how we are now the proud owners of a 6x6.
awesome ... that's how when i got started in these someone's dad had one on his farm and they gave it to me . early argo , 2cycle i believe . after that i found 2 different one's in different fields and aquired them . they all needed work but were lot's of fun . decided to build my own . i had no t 20 trans so i used 2 engines . one drove one side ..the other the other side . 2 brakes and 2 throttles !! i geared it too high so it was way too fast . my wife told me to get our 5 yr. old daughter off that thing . finally saved enough money to buy a new max 2 . boy was it smooth and quiet and drove like a royles royce . those were great days . johnboy va.
That is the tall tub version of the 980. they are a little tippy in water but very capable. Those tires swim great but ride like manhole covers. axles should be 1 3/16" from the factory.
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Racerone3 is correct. 1 3/16th axles stock. Most folks don't have issues with them but if you are restoring I would switch to the current standard 1 1/4 axles which are common these days. I have a Hustler 950 with the smaller axles, and used to have a 980 too, I never had any issues with the smaller axles though but I know some folks did. Could have just been metal fatigue. The smaller axles are getting harder to find. Sprockets and bearings are more plentiful in the larger size too.
FYI there are plenty of T20 transmissions out there. Common item and they are pretty bullet proof. Look out for the ones in machines that were holding water though, usually basket cases.
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