BUCK-50 Update! ATV Bumper! ATLTF.com 2026 Build-Off

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:03][music] [music] [music] >> What's up, guys? Welcome to TMH. We didn't get to do a full-length video this weekend for reasons. However, I did work on Buck 50 a bunch, and for those of you following the build, I thought I'd catch you up. Let's talk about the things you cannot see by just looking at the tractor.

[00:00:57]As some of you guys remember, we had a big debacle with the carburetor. Well, we finally got this 36 mm to work great, and it's a different carburetor than obviously a slide carb. So, the cable wasn't right, and the the throw it had a bunch of slack.

[00:01:14]So, I tightened that up, and then I also had to add a cable stop or a gas pedal stop down here on the side of the tractor. You can kind of see the mechanism right there.

[00:01:24]It's just a rod coupling and a 3/8 bolt with a set screw.

[00:01:28]So, I did take a short of that to put on atltf.com so I could show the guys over there, and I'm going to go ahead and put that up right now.

[00:01:42]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Another thing I addressed was the shifter quadrant.

[00:02:04]So, check this out right here.

[00:02:07]A few videos back, I was having trouble with this thing popping out of third and fourth, and I think it was because of the way this is shaped.

[00:02:16]Now, the later model ones are rectangular and they come out a lot further. For some reason, these are round.

[00:02:22]But, I took a Dremel tool, or actually a die grinder with a burr, and I just opened them up another, I don't know, maybe 3/16 to 1/4 in. And now, it can go all the way into gear. Where before, I think it was kind of half half going into gear.

[00:02:38]So, it would pop out when I hit the throttle.

[00:02:41]I just took it down the street in fourth gear and mashed it, and it didn't slip out. So, I think the problem's solved.

[00:02:52]Another small but necessary modification I had to do was brace the hood hinges.

[00:02:58]As you can see right here, it's just a simple piece of 1/8 in flat stock, 1/8 in thick by 1 in wide.

[00:03:06]Just been a little offset, and yes, I put a bolt I'm going to get some button head screws for that to clean it up, and these will be painted the body color, so it won't stick out so bad.

[00:03:15]It's just I wanted to keep this thing as lightweight as possible, and I didn't want to make something super hardcore right there. I even thought about bracing the grill back to here, and I was like, "You know what? It probably doesn't need it. It's just going to add weight." And when these things are stock, they have these side cowls. These are actually the ones that came off of it.

[00:03:34]And those side cowls, when they when they're on there, the hood hinge is supported by the side cowl.

[00:03:40]So, these are never going to go on the tractor cuz they will not fit, and I don't want them on there anyway.

[00:03:46]So, I did that, and also the front grill, the guy before me had a couple self tappers in it.

[00:03:53]And what I did, and it's kind of hard to see, it's not even a big deal, but I just drilled and tapped.

[00:04:00]You can see these quarter 20 screw heads. I put two on the top and two down there on the bottom.

[00:04:05]So, it's threaded in from the inside.

[00:04:06]It's nice and stout. It was also all banged up, so I just took a hammer and a some round bar and just tried to put the factory waves back in that mesh.

[00:04:17]It's not perfect, but it'll do.

[00:04:22]And the last thing I did, guys, the elephant in the room, is this ATV bumper.

[00:04:28]That was a lot more involved than I thought.

[00:04:31]And I got to say, I did have to cut it some, and I can't tell you how many times I just put it in the back and I was like, "It ain't going to work."

[00:04:40]Really? Because I just was out of gas yesterday, and I finished it today, actually this morning. I just didn't want to fabricate. But, I came in here with some of that 8-in flat bar down low here, and everything's bolted in. So, nothing's welded to the frame. I wanted it to be removable in case it got damaged. But, it's just 8-in flat bar.

[00:05:03]It's got 2 5/16 bolts on each side.

[00:05:06]It's bolted to this solid piece of 1/4-in frame down here.

[00:05:11]And then on the top, I just used some 5/8 rod. I put a bend in it, and I welded tabs to it. This thing's super stout, and it ain't going nowhere. I think it gives it a good look, and it was the only way that I was going to be able to incorporate an LED light. Now, I'm going to wire this thing, obviously, and I was going to do it this weekend. I was going to try to start wiring it, like permanent wiring it, but it's coming apart for paint, so I was going to put that on the back burner.

[00:05:40]However, I did put my LED light in here.

[00:05:43]I got a Cree LED from uh Rural King, and this is not mounted to the bumper, it's mounted to the frame.

[00:05:51]And it was the only way I need to protect it, and it would have looked out of place just sitting there on the front.

[00:05:56]I do have lights for the factory headlight, but these things are very lackluster.

[00:06:03]There's no way this is ever going to be bright enough, even with the most powerful uh LED lights in it. I have some on the 214, it just doesn't work. It just illuminates a little bit a few feet in front of the tractor, and that's it.

[00:06:16]This guy right here will light the way at night.

[00:06:19]That's basically it, guys.

[00:06:21]This tractor is basically in its final form.

[00:06:25]I can't think of anything else I'm really going to do to it major. So, I think it's in a pretty good spot to see what the current weight is. Now, there is one thing I might change, and that's back under the hood.

[00:06:38]So, currently, I've got a 350 cranking amp lawn tractor battery in it. I might go AGM.

[00:06:47]I might not. We'll see what Let's what Let's What we're going to do right now is we're going to weigh it. Let's see where we're at, and if I need to lose 5 or 10 lb to keep this thing 600 lb, so be it.

[00:06:58]We've got the bathroom scales under it, and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit bummed out about this.

[00:07:04]So, right now, we're tipping the scales at 640 lb.

[00:07:10]That's 40 lb over my maximum that I wanted to be at.

[00:07:15]However, there are some major things. Last time we weighed this, it was 550, but we didn't have the alternator in it, we didn't have the battery in it, we didn't have the gas tank in it. It Now, granted, it's a plastic gas tank, but right now, it's like 3/4 full, and it's like a three little over 3-gallon gas tank.

[00:07:36]So, it's probably got 20 lb of fuel in the gas tank.

[00:07:40]Like I said, now that I know that I'm that much overweight, I think it's definitely I'm going to get an AGM battery for this thing.

[00:07:48]You know, one that weighs like 8 to 10 lb as opposed to this thing, this 350 is probably tipping the scales at like 18 lb.

[00:07:56]So, I can I can shave a few pounds off this thing.

[00:07:59]But, yeah, she is 600 plus now, guys, and that's as light as I could get it.

[00:08:06]I don't know what else to do to make it lighter other than start drilling holes in the frame, but I don't think I want to do that.

[00:08:12]Moving forward into next weekend, I'm going to completely tear this thing down to the last nut and bolt. I've got some things to finish welding on the underside of the frame that I couldn't get to while it was put together.

[00:08:25]And once that happens, it's time for paint. Now, I'm not doing anything extravagant.

[00:08:31]I got the same thing I did the blackout.

[00:08:33]So, this is Rust-Oleum. It goes on with a brush and a roller.

[00:08:38]That's what I'm going to use for the frame and any associated frame pieces and parts.

[00:08:44]And then the body panels are going to be phantom gray.

[00:08:50]And I've also got a Cricut printer in the house that my wife uses a lot. So, we're going to make up some stripes and some custom decals for this thing for the hood to replace the John Deere 212 stripe.

[00:09:05]I think that'll look pretty good. Gray on black, black on gray, however you want to call it.

[00:09:11]But, that's next weekend. And then after it's all painted and dry and put back together, then we'll do the wiring.

[00:09:18]So, next weekend should be back to normal. I'll be able to make a full-length video and we'll showcase this thing coming apart and whatever else we figure out to finish up on this.

[00:09:29]And then, you know, maybe we'll show you some of my top-quality professional paint skills. You You how we do around here, guys, right? A little bit of flat black makes it all go away.

[00:09:40]But, that's going to do it for the video, guys. Thanks for sticking around.

[00:09:43]Once again, I'm Jason. Ethan's behind the camera. You're watching Tennessee Mountain Homestead, and we'll see you next weekend.

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