Once again I could not resist a deal on something weird.. or cute.. or Yellow. no wait my favorite color is blue. Oh whatever it’s still cute.. it’s still got gears and chains and a motor. I love it.. Don’t need any more projects.. This one runs.. not great but it runs. Drove it into the back of my truck.. That beats winching or pushing it into the truck !
shorter yes… But it’s wider than 4 ft.. cause two wheels had to go over one wheel well.
So welcome my little yellow friend to the place where old things get made new again… When I have time ..
Fact: jigers where the first AATV’s made. Fact: made in Canada EH. It is believed that these were the reason Argo’s were made.. And Argo’s are the longest production AATV.
This little yellow guy is the last of it’s kind.. speaking of production that is. 1968.. last year for the jiger.. It’s just a tad longer than the first Jigers. (can’t imagine it shorter).. and it has a hydrostatic drive. I’m a fan of hydrostatic stuff.. However.. this one I may not like.. as much.. Being old hydro units.. they are not as “refined” as the newer stuff.. They seam a bit “jerky” Now this could be something else like the chains driping with oil .. yup .. Skippity Do Da.. Or maybe the sprockets are worn.. Skippity Do Da.. Or when you break a linkage to one of the hydro units.. and are trying to drive with power to one side only.. and that side want’s the other side to help too… Well maybe.. I guess I’ll know when I fix that. YES I drove it about 50 ft from the truck when I noticed that the right lever was not doing anything… Kinda drove in a big sweeping curve.. So Here’s what we have :
- Newer 12 hp 2 cycle single motor , runs good , pull start only 🙁
- Re Engineered ??? levers, with a twist throttle.
- Wheels adapted to 5 bolt 8″ trailer wheels… Yes Good
- Good fiberglass body.. No repairs needed. could use paint.
- Missing seat ? not hard to make one..
- Key switch not hooked up.. ? I’m good with electrical.
Plus there is a few details that I could look after.. It’s one of those things you fix and use or really get into.. yes… restoring… or maybe improving ! It will never be original again.. the T-handle control is gone. I like the new lever set up that is there.. with a few improvements it may be great little runner.. OR maybe this is the one that gets the “Toro Treatment” And by that I mean taking the drive system from this ……
And putting it in THIS…
You know the Toro Zero Turn is just a 6×6 that’s missing four wheels. BUT.. the Toro is a proven work horse.. with sturdy bits. The Toro goes fast.. and can change speeds and wheel direction in an instant. Not so my little yellow friend… it protested when asked to do that.. The Toro has no hoses or cooler..or extra pump.. and the V-twin 16 hp Vanguard motor is both electric and pull start.
Power enough to run the hydros and a triple blade deck.. This is all very tempting.. The deck on the Toro is almost wore out.. I do not use this mower it was my Nephew’s .. he has no more grass.. I have my Kubota.. He did use it for plowing snow ..but now has a blade for his Jeep.. so Toro sits … and Jiger sits.. And here’s another BUT.. I should give the Jiger a second chance.. Fix the linkage.. Clean and aline the chains. Speaking of those chains… and those sprockets.
This is a diagram right out of the service manual.. and this is one side of the drive chains.. I see 4 sets of chains.. each side.. I also see one of those sets is unnecessary. But only from my point of view. Extra chains means extra points of failure. I think this can be done with 3 chains and 2 less sprockets.. But it is what it is .. and unless I’m totally changing the drive system it will stay like it is.
Update: Feb 2016..
The jigger sat broken under a tarp for most of last year.. just too much going on.. when the chance to trade it for a broken Yamaha quad came.. I did just that.. It went back to the guy who owned it several years back.. He knows how to fix it.. In it’s place is an:
Argo 6×6