The cabin frame and roof gave new life to the Ranger TM over the summer of 2014, but as summer faded into fall I started to look for a windshield. The cheapie I selected is built from 3/16″ Lexan, ($256 from Extreme Metal Products). It’s rather nicely tailored to the body of the vehicle with a metal base frame and gasket. Foam weather stripping between the Lexan and the cabin frame eliminated rattles.
Then the exhaust fumes forced the dog to hang her head out into the slipstream, so the rear half of the enclosure was in order.
I had used spring clamps and red duct tape to hold a section of the stern cover off our old sedan cruiser in place on Tony’s Ranger 500 for the last two winters. This worked surprisingly well for ice fishing, so I ordered a pair of rear windows online (one for each Ranger) at the lowest price I could find, $40 USD. The rather flimsy plastic in the new rear cover led me to suspect that it will likely break from impact during the winter, but if it does I’ll sew in a heavier vinyl panel from a boat canopy shop. The canvas portions and velcro straps should work well to hold a more durable rear panel.
The Ranger’s definitely more liveable now on dog-walks in rainy or cold weather.
A new battery from Ward’s Marina in Kingston ($165) gives the starter a lot more torque than before and should help in cold weather. The guys at the counter were surprised when I asked for parts for a TM. They had thought their red 2004 TM was the only one in the area. Used on the lot as a tow vehicle since new, theirs has 1300 hours on it with just normal maintenance.
“They’re bulletproof,” the owner commented.
the Walnut Diary 