Gator project and more..

[Gator Phil]

Hi folks!
I am new on tractorbynet and i want to indroduce me and some of my projects (near everything i have is projects)..First I am from Canada my name is Philippe and i am the father of 2 wonderful kids (Samuel and Laury).

I am a die hard fan of John Deere and GM. I grew up driving a 2955, 1840, 2130, and later on a 6200, 6410, and 7210 (my family had a Peat moss factory). Ho! forgot to mention a 165hydro!!!:thumbsup:

Now I want to indroduce you in my projects....
Last summer i bought a 1996 Diesel Gator that i bought from a dealer in NH. In my mind i had a pretty good deal...i paid 2000 shipped to my place. The only thing it needed back then was a battery and water pump (pricy..) And now last week i found 2 other Gas Gator from in guy near me. Both of them had their engine removed and tear down for some reason.

 

[Gator Phil]

I will post some pictures of them (when i figured out how..)

 

[MikeA57]

Welcome to TBN Philippe. I'm sure the kids enjoy riding around in the Gator. Keep us updated on your projects but I have to tell you I get sick every time I see one.

That's because I relive the awful feeling I got a few years ago regarding one my sister GAVE me. It was a 6X Gator that they couldn't take with them when they moved. The only bad thing was it was 7 1/2 hours away. But I WANTED that machine. It wasn't in great shape, it needed new tires, the transmission had been serviced but wasn't long for this world, and the seats were ragged. There was also several cracked and missing body parts too. My BIL had gotten it thrown in with some kind of a deal he made and it had been a trade in from a Golf course there in Osage Beach, MO. Anyway, they were moving, couldn't take it with them and she offered it to me but I had to go there to pick it up.

My wife and I decided to drive up there and pick it up one weekend. I even took half a day off Friday so we could drive up and have a nice quiet evening there Friday night, then pick up the Gator Saturday morning. We drove up there, had a nice date night and slept in on Saturday. I showed up at the Lawn & Garden place that had agreed to store the Gator until I picked it up at around 10:30. They pulled it around for me and it was then that I realized it was TOO FREAKING WIDE TO FIT ON THE TRAILER!!!!

At the last minute I decided to take my 5 X 10 trailer instead of the 6 1/2 by 16 one so I wouldn't have to navigate those windy roads through the Ozarks with that big trailer at night. I fought and figured, calculated and schemed, and even called a couple of trailer places to see if I could trade my trailer in for a wider one but I couldn't find one. Since I slept in and didn't get there until later and they closed at noon I was in a real pickle. I was just sick. In the end I ended up selling it to one of the guys that worked there and sent the money to my sister. The worst part was my 10 year old son told me before I left that I was making a mistake and that I should take the big trailer, but NOOOOOOOOOOOO, Dad was right; this was gonna be fine on the small trailer. Tight, but fine. I had checked the online specs and decided it would fit. I had at least an inch and a half clearence to get it on the trailer. What could go wrong?? What a dumba$$!

I still get queasy when I think about that adventure. And my son likes to remind me of it regularly.

Anyway, good luck on your project Philippe, keep us updated but I'm not sure I'll be able to subscribe to to this thread. Just too many painful memories...

Mike

 

[Dutch445]

i'm guessing it was the tires that wouldn't fit?

i have actually loaded one on pallets on the trailer to
get it above the side rails when the same situation arose
here. guy showed up from out of town with a trailer too
narrow for the gator. we were lucky enough to have the
pallets and away he went.


i just picked up a 4x2 this summer, an older one, but in
decent condition. they are just soooo handy!

 

[MikeA57]

So Philippe, you're diesel gator is running good and it's the 2 gassers you're working on now, is that right? How hard is it to find motors for them? Are the transmissions gone also? Did you get these just to flip or will you be using them around your place?

 

[Gator Phil]

Hi Mike!
Very sorry it didnt work out for you! I had planned to pick them myself to but had concern with the size of them...So i figured out that it was a better idea to go with a towing.. And when i saw how big they were i knew ive made the right choice! I just hope everything is gonna work fine i dont want to end up buying a pile of parts and selling them on ebay for half there values...

 

[Gator Phil]

Yeah exactly the diesel is mine and the gasser are project.. I do have both transmission plus a third 0ne the guy gave me.(he actually cut one in half to make a trailer...!) As for the engine.. i am searching one so in a couple of days i will be able to tell you if they are easy to find or not.
The only thing my diesel could use is a good paint job..

 

[Gator Phil]

Well folks
Ive been searching alot over to find some parts for my Gators and i got to
say they are quite hard to find!!! I found an engine from an xuv down in Iowa. I found one locally but dealer ask 1000$ for it (no muffler no clutch). So i will probably buy the one in Iowa.
And one other thing does anybody knows why my diesel Gator keep draining is batterie down?? Also my shutoff solenoid burnt down last week while i was boosting it...Ordered one from ebay last week should be in soon will install and hope it works!! Any other idea?