Some People want Rhinos......

[MMW]

Find an old small 4x4 like a jeep or something, take off the body & then mount your body on top of it. Much easier.

[vpd66]

Ok, I'm not going to tell you to buy a Jeep or small 4x4 truck and modify it. I've been thinking of making a vehicle like you mentioned also. I don't have a Cushman to start with so I'll start from scratch. Without looking at the Cushman chassis I won't say you'd be better starting from scratch. I'm going to use a 20hp-25hp horizontal shaft engine (Briggs,Kohler, whatever comes along). I have a 3 speed Gm manual transmission and I'll link it to a 4x4 transfer case. This will give me a driveshaft to the front and one to the rear. Right now I plan on using narrowed S10 pickup rearends. Link the motor to the 3 speed trans with a snowmobile clutch setup. This will allow the motor to idle without the driveline engaged and you'll be able to change gears and not have a clutch pedal. When you give the engine throttle the drive clutch will engage and move the vehicle forward or reverse (depending on the gear the trans is in). The 4x4 transfer case gives you 4 wheel high or low range and the option to just run in 2 wheel drive (incase you want to go down a road). So thats a total of 6 forward gears and 2 gears in reverse. I also want to make mine articulate steering. I plan on using 4 garden tractor 12" rear rims with 26"x12"x12" tires. I plan to have the engine, trans, and transfer case in the front half and be sitting on top of the engine. I would like the back half to have a dump bed similar to the Cushman you pictured. I plan on using it to haul firewood, plow snow, and to general yard work. Right now this is all in the planning and part collecting state and none of this drivetrain has been proven to work.

[joey2589]

vpd66:

i like your project idea. maybe we can bounce ideas back and forth.

for the 2 carts i have pictured, the gray cushman is our yard cart and its staying as it looks in the picture. i used it for a reference picture for people who didn't know what a 1979 cushman haulster was.

the green cart which is a Taylor Dunn, i do not know the year is the one i plan to chop into. the Taylor are more popular anymore and i wouldn't feel as guilty chopping into it rather than my gray cushman

what type of snowmobile clutch do you plan to use and how are you going to attach it to the GM transmission?

im currently finishing up my Bar stool racer which has a 5hp Briggs Flathead engine on it and a comet torq-a-verter on it. which operates in the same way a variable belt drive on a snow mobiles.

whats neat about the cushman haulsters drive train is mine has a Kohler K301 12hp cast iron engine with a clutch Bel housing and small 3spd trans with reverse all bolted together just like a truck does. it makes for a nice package. so im trying to find a bel housing and trans and re power with more then 12hp. but in case i cannot find a setup of the like im looking for other ways or other machines with similar setups to use.

hopefully i make sense, its not easy for me to word my ideas very well and ten to make a mess trying to explain my ideas, from head to finger tip.

[MMW]

Do a search on the web for "japenese mini truck". This will bring you many cool little trucks like your talking about & you most likely will find parts that might work with your project. Also "kei ofroad trucks".

[vpd66]

Joey2589,
Sorry forgot you were going to modify the Taylor Dunn. I would strip the electric motor and controller out of it and resale it. You should be able to get some decent money for it.
I've seen those 3 speed Cushman trans setups like your talking about. They are perfect, but hard to find. If I could find one with a Kohler K301 I'd use it. All you would need would be a pickup transfer case. Early 80's to early 90's Ford f150 pickups had a nice compact and durable transfer case that takes common u-joints.
On the snowmobile clutch setup, if I went this route I'd use Polaris clutches. They are very good and very easy to tune. I would use a clutch disc that fit the 3 speed trans and strip it down to just the hub, then weld on a chain sprocket on to the clutch disc hub and chain drive the motor to the trans. If that makes sense? I too have a hard time explaining things on these forums.
If I didn't care and money was no object, I would just buy a Pug Badlands. Google it and check it out!

[vpd66]

MMW,
I've seen those Japenese mini trucks. They are cool, but cost quite a bit and where do you go for parts?

[Fishy Jim]

I'm not saying you should use the frame from an s-10, but that if you used the parts off one, you'd pretty much have a complete system to steal from. You'd also have something of known components in the event you needed to repair it.

From the sounds of what you want to do, the body is the only aspect you'd be leaving stock - that tells me you might be better off omitting the rest of the unit from the get go.

[Broccoli1]

MMW,
I've seen those Japenese mini trucks. They are cool, but cost quite a bit and where do you go for parts?

http://www.americasminitruckcenter.c...e-mini-trucks/

or
California Stock
http://www.minitruckdealer.com/stock...eq=DESC&page=0

Based in Los Angeles

[joey2589]

ive been on this **** computer for 10hrs researching ideas and ways to do this and as a 4x4 concept its not looking so great i dont know.


im trying to make a small ish cart that's 4x4, i dont have the truck nor the trailer to make a freaking huge buggy. those jap trucks are cool but im so sick of import trucks.

the fact that there is no small 4x4 components out there (ie: smaller than a normal s10, or ranger, jeep, etc) doesn't help.

[joey2589]

i may just lift the green POS and make it 4 wheeled and leave it 2WD. so much easier right now.