Mini Swamp/Platform Buggie

I'm making a mini swamp buggie, the frame will be made of angle aluminum, have a mower v twin, a hydro axle with sprockets, chain to the straight axles, steering knuckles off a rear steer 90s craftsman, at least 26" tires all the way around, three seats atleast, and of course straight pipe for the twin

Oh yeah its gunna be like 4x10 I think, maybe 6x10, idk but the floor is gunna be made of 1/2" plywood

Aluminum? Plywood? Id suggest Steel or stainless..... 

I agree with red. Steel is king. Better. More durable and easier to work with.

I might do steel, I'm doin it out of whatever my dad gets

Do you have any way to weld aluminum ?

6'x10'? Rather large, no? You're going to waste a lot of power trying to motivate that sucker!

Doc, that things gonna be heavy, its supposed to be bigger than my lifted mower, its a 4-seater, and he wants a boat dashboard, lol, it seems very interesting, and I have to help him with it. Its gonna be rompin in deep deep muck, and he has to be able to keep up with the trucks and fourwheelers, so yeah. Also, its gonna have 27's all the way around it. As I would say, This thing's a monster!

That's going to be heavy to push. Hopefully your hydro is strong enough

Sounds pretty awesome I'm thinking of
Making one too but steel not aluminum

Make one k, and my dad said he can get steel but it has to be 4x8 I can still make that a 4 seater tho. Idk if the hydro could handle it, should I fix and lock my f-n-r axle and put a clutch on it?

i would try the fnr instead. it may be slower tho. since it is single speed

I was thinking that or my peerless 801 which are pretty rare and apparently really really hard to lock.... I also have a 5 speed Spicer might use that, I said I'd give it to someone tho..... might just give them the broken 6 speed Spicer I have....

well you could use the 801 and leave it unlocked.... it shouldnt be to bad

Well it'd be only 2wd, there's gunna be a sprocket on each axle, I'm makin a diagram later tonite and will post a picture

I don't want to pee out anybody's campfire here, but I'm wondering of you've set realistic goals here. You're trying to use mower componentry to push a platform as large as a small car through mud and swamp goo? That's a big footprint, 2wd, not exactly ground-pounding power.

Mud boggers and the like, generally do what they do by way of gobs of power, tons of wheelspin, and huge tires for the vehicle's footprint. Or have I missed something?

If you can pull it off, fantastic! But I am wondering how feasible it is...

Campfire *tssssssssssssss*

Yea. A 4 wheeler engine is probably more plausible for this.

I don't even know if one of those mini swamp buggies would be any good for any thing really. Because the short wheel base and the high center of gravity is not gonna be good off road. The big swamp buggies are on 30 ton rockwells and stuff there real wide and real long.

Most are actually on 2 1/2 ton or 5 ton rock wells I know because I have swamp Buggys and we build em

k2500life wrote:

Most are actually on 2 1/2 ton or 5 ton rock wells I know because I have swamp Buggys and we build em

Lol 30 ton idk what i was thinking. Do yall ever have them roll over though?

It's gunna be "MINI" like I said before, plus it's gunna be 4x8, have like 27s a 23hp kohler vtwin can definitely turn those tires fast enough for them to clean out, it's gunna have 1" straight axles that will be enough to handle the tires and why would that not work Doc???

Sounds like it'll work, and Mine's gonna be basically the same size(But we have different ways of having 4wd).

I wouldn't mind seeing someone try that with a 4 wheeler engine and the live axles.

craftsmancole wrote:

It's gunna be "MINI" like I said before, plus it's gunna be 4x8, have like 27s a 23hp kohler vtwin can definitely turn those tires fast enough for them to clean out, it's gunna have 1" straight axles that will be enough to handle the tires and why would that not work Doc???

Doc Sprocket wrote:

I don't want to pee out anybody's campfire here, but I'm wondering of you've set realistic goals here. You're trying to use mower componentry to push a platform as large as a small car through mud and swamp goo? That's a big footprint, 2wd, not exactly ground-pounding power.

Mud boggers and the like, generally do what they do by way of gobs of power, tons of wheelspin, and huge tires for the vehicle's footprint. Or have I missed something?

If you can pull it off, fantastic! But I am wondering how feasible it is...

I really don't see the need to re-type all that. To try to put a finer point on what I have already said- 27hp@3600RPM ain't exactly a tire-fryer, especially when you're geared up and trying to spin 27" tires. In addition, you have a very large footprint for what it is, which is not only additional weight, but a large belly to drag into the mud when the tires get down far enough.

Now- I said it before (see above) and I'm gonna say it again, just to be clear. I'm NOT saying you CAN'T do it, I'm saying I have my doubts. If you can pull it off, all the power to you! Who knows- maybe the vehicle in MY head doesn't match the vehicle in YOUR head. Maybe my idea of a mud bog is, well- muddier than yours. Won't know till it happens.