Doc has a great idea on the fenders. My Dad has a 4x2 Cub Cadet Big Country. They made 6x4 versions. Here is a google search for the 6x4.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cub+...iw=640&bih=232

I think this is an awesome build and you are.doing a awesome job from where I am sitting. :beerchug:

Fenders/mud flaps are mounted to the bed on my Kawasaki Mule, works fine. Regarding weight limit, its easy to overload something like this if you start hauling dirt, rocks, sand and gravel--same as applies to using a dump truck. Hauling hay bales, mulch, shrubbery clippings, tools--never a problem. I always know I'm pushing my luck when I have to get a second person to help dump the bed on the mule.
One consideration is a stop for the bed if you do manual lift. Kawasaki used the muffler.:bigeyes: I broke 2 of them before I redesigned the mounts to serve as adequate stops.

Jon, you are probably right about the load capacity. Will scale back my thinking as a result. As always, appreciate your input as you have more experience with these things than I have.

The entire tractor itself will work out to be probably only about 1200 lbs. So 1000 lbs would be way too much. And looking at it again, the bed won't be very big anyway. Maybe 3'x4'. Not sure, need to put a tape measure on it.

I think the fenders attached to the bottom of the dump bed is a neat idea and would work well. Would allow moving the pivot point forward quite a bit.

OK, update. It's alive! Video of first test drive. Throttle needs some more friction to stay open. Otherwise, seems to work OK. I drove it around more than in this video, of course. But here's a brief segment on the driveway.

Oh, and there is no muffler on the engine at this point.

https://youtu.be/rsRmbM-YnTc

Looks cool Frank!!!
1000 lbs is heavy, my f150 can carry it though.
Maybe consider a plastic dump bed as an alternative to the steel one.
I am sure you thought out accessing the battery with the dump box on it.

Congratulations Frank! It looks great and it seems to turn well. :beerchug::beerchug:

That's another good idea. A pre-fab bed might make sense. Though I'd like one with a flat bottom. As for battery access, I figured it would be accessible with the dump bed up. So I will need to make sure I can raise it if the battery is dead. Either by pulling a pin to release the cylinder (if I go hydraulic) or by providing a way to jump the battery via external connectors.

It would be much easier to put in a worm drive linear actuator, so that may be my solution. A hydraulic lift would require I swap out one of the hydros for a ported one or rig up a hydraulic pump.

I will probably start out with a 12v linear actuator then decide if In need or want to go hydraulic.

I do have a couple other alternatives for moving stuff around...the 128 with a rear PTO and a hydraulic dump trailer, the 72 and #1 cart and the orange thing..

Frank,
I have seen those containers that they put bulk liquids in for 75.00 cut it down and use that as a dump bed also.
You have some nice toys.

Hey, Doc,

No problem turning outside that I could tell, except inside the shop when I was pushing it around, I could hear the tires squeaking on the epoxy shop floor as the forward axle's tires slid sideways a bit in a hard turn.

After the test drive, I dropped the air pressure in the tires from 12 psi to about 8 psi. I could probably go to 5 or 6 psi. That will help keep more of the tires on the ground in uneven terrain.

I will need to do some more driving with it on hills and see what it's limitations are.

Looks great in the vid!! Turns way better than I thought it would. I’m glad it
works for you. I was worried.
Keep up the good work!:beerchug:

That turned out really nice and I like how you setup the fenders! :beerchug: