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.
Great information guys thank you!
Racerone3, funny you say that. Was looking at it today and did a little metal figuring as to where the CG is at. First thought was "this thing is going to bob around like an egg"
Noel Woods, I really like the idea of upgrading the axles and driveline. Buy once cry once. I'm assuming Richards 6x6 is the only game in town for axles and sprockets?
Finished the seat backs and bottoms today and got them dropped off at the upholstery shop. The wiring was a mess, stripped all that out and ordered everything needed to put a nice harness together with modern fuse box and relays. Hopefully next week I'll get the upper half off and start digging into the mechanicals.
Last winter I restored a little Clark forklift. The wife referred to it as my mistress. She told me today this winter I'll be spending all my free time with my Hussy
Remembered one more thing! Was talking to my ag tire guy about the BKT TR315 trencher tire which looks nearly identical to the stock Goodyear's and he suggested I might think about Tracgard N686. I've never heard of them before but they have a sort of similar vee tread design and are low psi ATV tires. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with them?
Richard's is an option, forum member on this site Whipper has a machine shop in Arizona and has fabricated me some awesome axles for two custom machines over the years. Business name Apache Gear. Lucky for you the older machines didn't have much for wiring. In terms of tires, Muddox sells some great tires that swim in 26x12x12.
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