Hustler 980 tall tub build

[dirtdobber]

20200321_065145.jpgAj you mean not if its Chinese?

It's the real stuff.

[ARGOJIM]

That looks American just be sure no other links are stamped RSC. Sapphire is made in Taiwan, also seen Tsubaki from Taiwan.

You can see the wax in that picture so you know it is new, many sellers sell stuff in open box and state as new when it is used spares in the new box. Maybe they don't know, maybe they do but that wax concoction is a certainty.

The difference between U.S., Japan and others can be 4000lb tensile strength and possibly half the hour life.

[dirtdobber]

20200321_171744.jpg20200321_171849.jpgFabbed the fan shroud fresh air intake ducts. May as well use the engine fan for something

[dirtdobber]

20200402_200215.jpg20200402_200200.jpgReally close to taking a spin

[john swenson]

the fan shroud is awesome...... johnboy va.

[dirtdobber]

Thank you JB. I'm hoping it really pushes the heat out of the engine compartment.

[john swenson]

so is it blowing to the right side of the tub ( if your facing the back ) and is there a cover that goes over the engine compartment ? j.b.

[dirtdobber]

JB those three circles on the shroud are for duct connections. I'm going to have 3 ducts connected to a cool air source. For all the cool air pulled into the engine bay hot air must escape. I hope that is enough to keep the compartment cool.

[dirtdobber]

Maiden voyage today. Drove it around for 15 min or so. Need to adjust laterals. This thing will crawl. Slower top speed than my 950. I need to observe the clutches to see if they are traveling as they should. Of course the diesel isn't turning the rpm's as a gas engine I dont think.

Still need to make floor pans, exhaust vent trim and a real coolant overflow tank. And finish fitting the rear screen.
20200408_185717.jpg20200408_185728.jpg20200408_185740.jpg

[ARGOJIM]

Maiden voyage today. Drove it around for 15 min or so. Need to adjust laterals. This thing will crawl. Slower top speed than my 950. I need to observe the clutches to see if they are traveling as they should. Of course the diesel isn't turning the rpm's as a gas engine I dont think.

Still need to make floor pans, exhaust vent trim and a real coolant overflow tank. And finish fitting the rear screen.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18084[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]18085[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]18086[/ATTACH]

Congratulations
It looks good, leaving the radiator there for now?
The engine will probably turn 200-600 less than the gas engine, I'd check the gearing counts also as the IC's some had taller gears.

[Don]

Looking good! If the center drive sprockets are stock, they may be what's limiting your top end. I think mine had 40 tooth drives in it when I got it- looked like pizza pans.

[dirtdobber]

Thanks guys. AJ I'll probably leave the radiator as is until it fails. The main drive sprockets are 40 tooth. When replacing them I started to go smaller. I am hitting 15 mph maybe, which is fast enough for my type of riding.

[racerone3]

Thanks guys. AJ I'll probably leave the radiator as is until it fails. The main drive sprockets are 40 tooth. When replacing them I started to go smaller. I am hitting 15 mph maybe, which is fast enough for my type of riding.

I think mine did 18mph in stock form. I went smaller on the drive sprockets when I put splined axles in, but mainly just to get the chains a bit further from the tub

[dirtdobber]

Took the 980 out for a real test run yesterday. Some successes and some failures (some self inflicted!):

I left the cap off the fuel tank and sloshed fuel all the way to my nearby recreational area. Sloshed diesel everywhere and made a huge mess.

Float test - Its unstable in the water (Argo Jim warned me of this so it wasn't unexpected) and the GBC Gator tires are very poor swimmers. At just above idle i could get a little forward motion. More on the tires later.

Taking on water - I noticed water in the tub, maybe a quart or so. Wasn't sure if it was water, spilled diesel or both. Turned out to be both. Pulled the plug and drained it, and then couldn't get the slippery plug back in as tight as I wanted. Took off down a trail and lost the plug along the way (but didn't know it).

Came to a crossing that was deeper than I expected and was floating again. Got hung on a limb in the water. I leaned a little to the left, and she wanted to keep on going but I was able to counter balance. I could feel the water moving side to side and I knew what was happening so I got out of that hole quick. Still didn't know the plug was missing, I just knew I had taken on more water than I should have.

Got to a hillside and hopped out to pull the plug, but much to my surprise it was already draining - no plug. I've got to come up with a safer plug design, but it has to be accessible from outside the machine.

Back to the tires - The tires are very stiff. I let all the air out and they didn't even squat any. I knew the risk of popping a bead and I did. Since they were still very rough with 0 air pressure, I will run 3 or 4 psi to hold them on the rim.

On a technical note, I'm afraid the transmission input shaft is bent. I have some wobble in the driven clutch and at certain RPM's there are some noises I don't like.

The good news - engine bay stayed very cool. I measured the temp of the back seat, closest to the exhaust manifold and got 97 degrees. Three feet away and not near the engine compartment I got 91 degrees. This thing is a beast, and the extra clearance compared to the 8"wheels on my 950 is a huge difference. I went through some pudding mud that the 950 would not have handled. When I get the kinks worked out I'm going to be very pleased.

[Chiefdiesel]

Like others have said, the look of a 980 tall tub is awesome! Glad you are working the kinks out.