Gt6000 build

Transaxle armor/skid plate progress from yesterday. Ran out of material so will improvise. Going to weld a strip of metal down the center of it to tie them all together. I have some ideas about keeping the trans axle pulley as protected from tire splash and muck..  Will start on that after this is finished.

Transaxle armor finished being welded along with some ranger frame repair piece.

Considering a 4 or 5 lug equipped transaxle is probably the hardest and most expensive part to find new or used, if you are fortunate enough, it is always worth going overboard to protect, imho. Though I would draw the line at 1/2" plate on a LT :-D

JB_4x4 wrote:

Considering a 4 or 5 lug equipped transaxle is probably the hardest and most expensive part to find new or used, if you are fortunate enough, it is always worth going overboard to protect, imho.  Though I would draw the line at 1/2" plate on a LT :-D

Surely 3/4 wouldn't be too much, right?

Go as thick as you want, all the way down low is the best place to have a bunch of weight!

Though really, I think 3/16 is the sweet spot between not overkill and not getting smashed up too bad. 1/8” (11ga) has proven to be too flexible. The 1/4” front and rear skid plates on mutt are as straight as the day I put them on, but really just overkill (especially if you don’t get stupid like me)

I get my materials for nothing so some things tend to be heavier than necessary. Welds are not pretty but they dont need to be.

My tractors tend to be a little on the heavier side. Especially since i intend them to work as well as play. The LT that currently has the plow on it normally has a heavy push bar with winch on it. It can take quite a angle before i start to worry about it coming up. Tires tend to break traction first.

Test fit of transaxle armor. Has a shallow angle to make sliding, pushing through mudd  or bouncing over things easier. The pipes do touch the frame to help absorb the impacts instead of relying on the 2 brackets. Also does not compromise ground clearance much at all. Next will be a guard for the rear of the transaxle.

Front skid plates are nice to have too! Mine just stretches between the bottom of my bumper to the bottom of the front axle mount. Also adds some level of strength to both bumper and front axle mount.