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We talked about getting one of those ATV things to see more of the property.
Even used, they are a ton of money.
Then at the end of winter 2004, Carol spied this CUV, Compact Utility Vehicle at Sam's Club. She just had to have one! |
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It's not like Carol to ask for things with engines in it, so I just had to buy one.
We took it up north, and tried it out in the snow. It only has a 150cc motor, rated at 10HP, but it runs great! It climbed the steep hills at Bloom just fine, and only got stuck in deep snow. |
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I think Carol has seen more of the property this summer, than we have in the past 5 years! |
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Everybody loves the Rover!
Ryan & Mike Matt & Jenny |
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October 5th 2005: Tragically, during a pre deer season scouting mission, the Rover broke an axle.
Denny and I where turning around, when it let go. |
| We winched it onto a trailer and headed back to the barn for a closer look. |  |
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Yep, it's broken. It appears an outer "ring" of metal has been broken for awhile, the inner diameter just let go today. |
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We yanked the whole axle assembly, and headed back home.
We'll see if we can get this covered under warranty, it only has 13.6 hours on it! |
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Bad news. YerfDog has filed for bankruptcy, so we're not covered by warranty!
All of the spare parts were purchased by Tractor Supply Corp. I contacted TSC for parts, it looks like it will be about $360 for a new axle. We found another Rover owner that had the same troubles! Don't buy Yerfdog Products! |
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We finally received our new axle, but It showed up bent.
The sprocket flange was all bent out of shape! |
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I took the rest of the axle apart, the bearings inside didn't have any grease on them! |
| I ordered new bearing and seals for both sides. I drilled the axle supports for grease fittings too! |  |
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March 25th, 2006: The axle is ready to re-assemble into the chassis. |
| It really only took about an hour to get it installed, but it sure was cold! |  |
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I used the tractor to haul the trailer outside. The battery was dead in the Rover, so I pushed it back inside for another day. |
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March 31st, 2007: That's it! I'm sick of dead batteries. I loaded the Rover on our tractor trailer, and I'm taking it home for some serious upgrades. I bought a rear suspension system and some bash guards for the under side. While I have it home I plan to install a those, along with a bigger battery and cutoff switch, a vinyl roll roof, a compass, fix the steering, and do some engine maintenance. |
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I found the steering was put together wrong on the drivers side. The pivot bolt was loose, so the movement was on the bolt, and not the nice bronze bushings. I added grease fittings for the bronze to make them last longer. The boots on the steering gear were cracked, I replaced them with aftermarket parts from Murray's, |
| Next I installed the suspension. It is nicely designed and fit very well. It's what should have come from the factory. |  |
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I finally found the air cleaner. It was packed solid with crap! It was some goofy triangle looking filter. I didn't even try to find one, I figured I'd replace it with an upgraded filter while it was home. |
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I found a very nice Fleetguard filter from a Kohler 20HP industrial engine. It has a 2 stage filter that is about 20 times the size of the original. It took a bit of cutting, but I got the angle of the outlet to align with the the leftover OEM inlet tube. After I cut it apart, I found the inlet should pivot, I didn't know this and had to buy a plastic welder to get it back together. I used the OEM crankcase breather that I hacked from the old intake housing. I needed the welder for that too. |
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The finished installation. It packages very nicely under the dump box. |
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I added a bigger battery and a cut-off switch to stop the battery drain when it's parked. I changed the oil and checked the transmission lube level. I decided to wait on the roof, and the compass doesn't work. It's going back to Harbor Freight tomorrow! |
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It was Carol's idea, really it was! Our Rover has been a ton of fun, but not the most robust design. The rear axle has snapped, and an assortment of other goodies are either broken, or on their way to being broken. I hope to keep it going for many years. |
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