[ford141]

A crewcab, I love it.


View attachment 78582

View attachment 78583


View attachment 78584

View attachment 78585

View attachment 78586

View attachment 78587

View attachment 78588

View attachment 78589

The old truck has been eating all my free time and money.

That's why I haven't been here much lately.

Sorry for the thread drift. Just catching up.

That's a really nice '76 Highboy! My dad had a '76 that he bought new, I learned to drive in that truck. My crew cab is a 78 but that old Highboy is so etched in my memories I'm converting mine to look like a '76. Grill is done, still have to swap to the older mirrors. His highboy is long gone now, claimed by PA rust, but I still have the fender badge from it hanging in my shop. I've owned 15-20 dentsides through the years but this Crew Cab is my last. I also have a '79 2wd F100 with a mildly built 460 and a 3/5 drop kit.

To make this post relevant, I did finish my carrying basket for my front rack on my Prairie, but I failed to get a picture of it. I will have to get one tonight and post it.

 

[mastrblastr]

Built a receiver system on the rear rack for my gas can rack. When you don’t need it on, loosen 2 grub bolts and take the whole thing off.

 

[kickstart]

Built a receiver system on the rear rack for my gas can rack. When you don’t need it on, loosen 2 grub bolts and take the whole thing off.

View attachment 78602
View attachment 78600
View attachment 78601

I love your rear winch set-up. Do you sell them?😉🙂 I think I need one!

The gas can mount is cool too, but does it block your tail light?

I'm also trying to make sense of what's going on down there with that upside down ball hitch. Is it welded in front of the rear diff? I can't tell from the pic.

 

[mastrblastr]

Kickstart, it sits just above the taillight. If you’re on another quad behind me, you can still see the taillight just fine.
As for my rear winch setup, that was a one off design and requires a rear frame section that you have to modify. There is a company called IronBaltic that makes a bolt on rear winch mount system. Looks pretty good.

As for my hitch, it’s just upside down in that pic! When I’m not pulling my trailer, I turn it upside down so it doesn’t get hung up on stuff!

 

[kickstart]

Kickstart, it sits just above the taillight. If you’re on another quad behind me, you can still see the taillight just fine.
As for my rear winch setup, that was a one off design and requires a rear frame section that you have to modify. There is a company called IronBaltic that makes a bolt on rear winch mount system. Looks pretty good.
View attachment 78603
As for my hitch, it’s just upside down in that pic! When I’m not pulling my trailer, I turn it upside down so it doesn’t get hung up on stuff!

Awesome! Thank you for the link. I will check it out.

 

[kickstart]

Well mastrblastr and I must've been thinking the same thing yesterday......that we needed to make something to carry some extra gas!
While mine is not anywhere near as elaborate as his, I got the job done. And had to do it all with hand tools because my drill press decided to fritz.😢 Drilling all those holes in hardened steel was a #¢%π%. But the biggest frustration was that Rotopax could've saved me all that time and money if they'd just make their L bracket with a base long enough to actually work! I love their gas cans, but the L bracket needs help, and their mounting hardware sucks! Who is going to use 3" long capture bolts with Phillips heads?!🥴🤷
Oh well, I'm lucky I've got a hardware store less than 2 miles away.

I usually make full custom mounts for our ATVs, but they turn out way overbuilt and kinda heavy, so this time, I decided to cut the weight out and modify the Rotopax mount. I figure the Brute is tippy enough without all that extra leverage up high!

Haven't figured out what I'm gonna do with the shovel yet, but it works like this for now.

 

[kickstart]

I also had to add this little plate to the Brute. Utah has now required a plate for off road machines instead of the stickers we've had for 47 years. Only problem was the mounting holes are too far down for the type of clamps I bought, so it required me to cut 1/8" off the top of the plate to fit. So what should've literally been a 30 second job turned into an hour and a trip to the hardware store.😡

 

[mastrblastr]

This is the setup I have for my chainsaw and fuel carrier. Just like the gas can carrier, if you don’t need it on there, loosen the 2 grub bolts on the front and take the whole thing off.

 

[ford141]

I mentioned in a previous post that I built a basket for my front rack on my Prairie 650. Finally got a picture. I used an old universal rear rack that my father-in-law had for his Polaris that I turned around re-configured. I had to modify the floor and fabricate a back wall that still allows access to the radiator cap. I also found a pretty close color match to the racks with brown hammertone Rust-oleum from the hardware store. Cheap and readily available, easy to touch up. This allows me to load up to 5 jugs on the front, so along with the 15 gallon tank on the back I can haul up to 36 gallons of maple sap from my spot in the woods. Works great and I'll use it for hauling general miscellaneous stuff the other 11 months of the year that I'm not doing maple syrup.

 

[kickstart]

Added some lumens to the Brute. Next thing will be some Teryx LED headlights.

 

[NMKAWIERIDER]

Nice!

 

[Swanny52]

Added some lumens to the Brute. Next thing will be some Teryx LED headlights.
View attachment 78662
View attachment 78661
View attachment 78660

Yea the teryx lights are nice. I love mine. Dont even need a lightbar they are that good at night

 

[NMKAWIERIDER]

Yea the teryx lights are nice. I love mine. Dont even need a lightbar they are that good at night

Yeah a friend of mine, SWBF900, put them on his 2012. Amazing light. He has a 2019 now and I'm sure he'll do that again...if it needs it.

 

[kickstart]

Yea the teryx lights are nice. I love mine. Dont even need a lightbar they are that good at night

Not only for added light, but I also wanted to do something to the front end. I wanted to change up the looks a bit. Never been a big fan of the grille on the new Brutes. This helps distract my eye from it.😄

 

[Swanny52]

Not only for added light, but I also wanted to do something to the front end. I wanted to change up the looks a bit. Never been a big fan of the grille on the new Brutes. This helps distract my eye from it.😄

Gotta get a nice bumper

 

[kickstart]

I got it stuck! About three dozen times! I winched it out about a mile, 50 feet at a time! I've never winched and rigged so much rope in my life. I used over twenty trees as winch points (lost track of the actual count), and rigged up every possible combination of my four ropes and straps three or four dozen times. Sometimes I had to rig the ropes twice on a single tree just to get the right length. Thank God my Tusk winch was up to the task. It never skipped a beat in over 3.5 hours of winching. It's not as quiet as my Warn on the Prairie, but it seems to pull a bit faster.

Ripsaws are NOT good snow tires. Once they lose their momentum, they just go straight down without going forward at all. When they went under the top layer of grooming, only the winch would get me back up on top.

What a day! It was fun, but it was a ton of work. Next time, I'm taking the Prairie. It's lighter, has wider tires, and better tread for snow!

 

[mastrblastr]

Kickstart, you need some tracks! I have a friend that has a 2022 Grizzly and he got a smokin deal on a set of tracks. Put them on and he said the thing is pretty much unstoppable. Lots of snow where he lives and he said it goes absolutely everywhere. He's the only one in his circle of friends that has tracks so he has to be a little cautious of where he goes, but he said that where he would never dare to tread with tires, he cruises right through with no problems. Plus, it just looks bada$$ with those tracks on it! He paid $2200 CAD for his used tracks and they came off a Grizz, so he said it was a direct bolt on application with no issues whatsoever. I've been looking for a used set myself, but can't find anything at a reasonable price, and I'm not paying 5K for tracks.

 

[kickstart]

Kickstart, you need some tracks! I have a friend that has a 2022 Grizzly and he got a smokin deal on a set of tracks. Put them on and he said the thing is pretty much unstoppable. Lots of snow where he lives and he said it goes absolutely everywhere. He's the only one in his circle of friends that has tracks so he has to be a little cautious of where he goes, but he said that where he would never dare to tread with tires, he cruises right through with no problems. Plus, it just looks bada$$ with those tracks on it! He paid $2200 CAD for his used tracks and they came off a Grizz, so he said it was a direct bolt on application with no issues whatsoever. I've been looking for a used set myself, but can't find anything at a reasonable price, and I'm not paying 5K for tracks.

We have a friend here that absolutely lives for riding on his tracks. He makes lots of videos about it on his YT channel. I watch what he does and I can't help but think tracks on an ATV for fun is kind of pointless. He can't go as fast as a sled, he can't maneuver like a sled, and can't go where a sled can go. It also puts extra stress on all the suspension parts, and his engine is always being worked hard. Then because there's two tracks also in front of you, you get absolutely covered in powder. On windy days, turning into the breeze is a complete white-out!
And the one thing he's really hesitant to admit, is that he still gets stuck. And when he does, he has an awful time trying to get back on the bike after shoveling. He's had to call for help because he was literally standing next to his ATV, staring it directly at the foot wells, and couldn't get back up on it.
Then there's the price......yeah, ouch! You can buy a pretty nice, used sled for the cost of tracks, and have a lot more fun!

What I'm actually thinking of doing instead is buying a timbersled. I've been watching them when I've been out riding, and they look like the most fun you can have with clothes on.

 

[kickstart]

Kickstart, you need some tracks! I have a friend that has a 2022 Grizzly and he got a smokin deal on a set of tracks. Put them on and he said the thing is pretty much unstoppable. Lots of snow where he lives and he said it goes absolutely everywhere. He's the only one in his circle of friends that has tracks so he has to be a little cautious of where he goes, but he said that where he would never dare to tread with tires, he cruises right through with no problems. Plus, it just looks bada$$ with those tracks on it! He paid $2200 CAD for his used tracks and they came off a Grizz, so he said it was a direct bolt on application with no issues whatsoever. I've been looking for a used set myself, but can't find anything at a reasonable price, and I'm not paying 5K for tracks.

Here's that guy's channel if you're interested. He rides an area about an hour north of me.

https://youtube.com/@GunnyE9

 

[mastrblastr]

Kickstart, a Timbersled kit on a 450 or bigger bike would be the bomb IMHO. I have a friend that has 1, and he loves it to death. Like you said, the most fun you can have with your clothes on! He actually has 2 450s, but he leaves the sled kit on the one all the time and just jumps on the one with tires during the regular riding season. He said it's not worth the hassle switching back and forth. If I did get a track kit, I'd pretty much stay on the trails, or ride where the snow isn't too deep as a stuck issue would definitely be a huge problem. I'm gettin too old for a snowbike myself! My buddy says it's quite the workout riding them!