New member introduction

[dasgib]

Hi everyone, I'm a new member who has been lurking for a little while, and thought it might be time to say hello. My name is Darren, and I hail from stinking hot Melbourne down here in Oz. I say "stinking hot" as it's the middle of summer down here and we're currently enjoying our third straight 45 degree day (or 113 degrees for you left hand drivers I'm a newbie to skid steers and have been lurking around here for a couple of weeks now, reading some of the fascinating posts and admiring the depth of knowledge some of you blokes have. Just in the relatively short time I've been here I've learned so much it's been an invaluable help and I really want to say thank you very much indeed. I also wanted to ask if anyone can help identify the skid steer I bought a couple of weeks ago. A picture of it can be viewed here: http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/dasgib/Mungo.jpg As can be seen in the photo it's an "Omega super skid steer", but that's all I know about the thing. I was told by the original owner that it was made in New Zealand some time in the mid '80's but I haven't been able to find anything relating to it after quite a while of googling. I asume it was made in this part of the world somewhere as most of the steel used in it's construction is marked "B.H.P", but that's about as close as I can narrow it down. It's a fairly large machine about the same size as an 863 Bobcat, it's powered by an Isuzu C240 engine, it has a 4 in 1 bucket that's 61 inches wide and it has a hydraulic ripping bar attached to the rear which looks like it left it's factory with. two large ripping attachments bolt to this bar and can be lowered into the ground about 12 inches in depth. The previous owner used the thing on a farm and he said it was the best plough he ever saw It has hydrostatic drive controlled by two levers, and has 4 foot pedals (that's right, four). One pedal raises and lowers the boom, one tilts the bucket, a third operates the 4 in 1 and the fourth raises and lowers the ripping bar. Driving it would seem like a complicated challenge that'll take some time to master, but as I've never driven a skid steer of any kind before buying this thing I'd be in the same position regardless of what I ended up with. It had done around 8000 hours when the meter stopped working and every one of them was probably as hard as kryptonite if the condition of the machine is anything to go by. It's also had a rough life as far as maintenance is concerned, with a lot of the pins welded in and other rough and ready "field repairs" carried out over the years. I'm currently doing a minor restoration replacing all the pins and bushes and giving it a general going over and tidy up so I can use it on my small acreage property doing driveways and clearing for house construction, but I was just curious if anyone here had ever seen anything like this and could tell me anything about it. Once again thanks for all the great informative posts. This is a fantastic place and an excellent source of very useful information, Regards, Darren.

 

[Tazza]

 

[Tazza]

Welcome!
Yeah its been a LITTLE hot down there, thankfully its been reasonable up here in Brisbane. Adelaide has been stinking hot too! I have a friend in Melbourne, she has been sweating it out badly down there without air con..... I was nice enough to offer her AC, but she needed to jump on a plane first
I have never seen a skid steer like that before, but there are a few out there that are short production runs from *unknown* sources.
What pump and motors does it run? i'm sure they will be common, so if any parts are ever needed they can be sourced easily.

 

[Land-Tech]

Welcome!
Yeah its been a LITTLE hot down there, thankfully its been reasonable up here in Brisbane. Adelaide has been stinking hot too! I have a friend in Melbourne, she has been sweating it out badly down there without air con..... I was nice enough to offer her AC, but she needed to jump on a plane first
I have never seen a skid steer like that before, but there are a few out there that are short production runs from *unknown* sources.
What pump and motors does it run? i'm sure they will be common, so if any parts are ever needed they can be sourced easily.

Somebody was thinking "utility"when when they built that one. Have never seen wheels on a skidsteer like that.
I'm curious too about the pumps and motors and age. Great to odd models and brands.Scott

 

[bobcat_ron]

Somebody was thinking "utility"when when they built that one. Have never seen wheels on a skidsteer like that.
I'm curious too about the pumps and motors and age. Great to odd models and brands.Scott

Looks like and ASV styled machine, very forward design, it must feel tippy on the front end.

 

[triad]

Looks like and ASV styled machine, very forward design, it must feel tippy on the front end.

I would like to operate one. I bet if you went over it good you would find some familiar parts bolted on here an there. Sorry about your heat, its in the 20's to 30's (F) here I can add enough clothing when needed but when it's too hot I'm just miserable.

 

[dasgib]

Welcome!
Yeah its been a LITTLE hot down there, thankfully its been reasonable up here in Brisbane. Adelaide has been stinking hot too! I have a friend in Melbourne, she has been sweating it out badly down there without air con..... I was nice enough to offer her AC, but she needed to jump on a plane first
I have never seen a skid steer like that before, but there are a few out there that are short production runs from *unknown* sources.
What pump and motors does it run? i'm sure they will be common, so if any parts are ever needed they can be sourced easily.

Hi Tazza, Thanks for helping out with the photo mate. I had no idea how to include it with my post. Also, good on you for offering to help out your friend in her time of need. You sound like a fair dinkum Aussie legend to me I can't tell you much about the internals at the moment as the construction of the machine is such that the seat, floor and pedal arrangement needs to be unbolted from the machine to access them, and as yet I haven't got that far into it. In fact, I'd only just removed the bucket and rams to rebush them and make some new pins when a water pipe burst under the decking in my back yard and I've had to halt work on Mungo (that's it's name) to make repairs. When I get back into it I'll take some more pictures and let you know if you like. Regards, Darren.

 

[Fishfiles]

Aye Mate , welcome to circle jerk , I am jealous of you'll blokes down under I think I could live there except for the snakes , I like that machine , looks road warrior , whats that blooming thrid cylinder on the rear , looks like some sort of attachment hitch , box blade or stabalizer , looks like getting all four wheels off the ground would be a snap , how's about a couple of more pics , like cockpit , engine compartment and cab lifted (does it pivot ) ---fishfiles , Little Woods , New Orleans , Louisiana , USA

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Aye Mate , welcome to circle jerk , I am jealous of you'll blokes down under I think I could live there except for the snakes , I like that machine , looks road warrior , whats that blooming thrid cylinder on the rear , looks like some sort of attachment hitch , box blade or stabalizer , looks like getting all four wheels off the ground would be a snap , how's about a couple of more pics , like cockpit , engine compartment and cab lifted (does it pivot ) ---fishfiles , Little Woods , New Orleans , Louisiana , USA

G'day Mate (did I do that right??)
She's a beast, I'd think it was a limited production run as it looks pretty basic, boom is mainly straight sections of box iron fabbed up. Does the bucket QA or is it a pin on? As was mentioned I'm sure hydraulic parts will be off the shelf. common brands. Its just the big companys that can't help but build their own overpriced components. Be great to have some more pics just to see how they chose to do it all. Case used to put rippers on the rear of some of their machines here to, makes sense as that is where 80% of the weight is
Welcome to the site
Ken
NW Ontario, Canada

 

[Tazza]

G'day Mate (did I do that right??)
She's a beast, I'd think it was a limited production run as it looks pretty basic, boom is mainly straight sections of box iron fabbed up. Does the bucket QA or is it a pin on? As was mentioned I'm sure hydraulic parts will be off the shelf. common brands. Its just the big companys that can't help but build their own overpriced components. Be great to have some more pics just to see how they chose to do it all. Case used to put rippers on the rear of some of their machines here to, makes sense as that is where 80% of the weight is
Welcome to the site
Ken
NW Ontario, Canada

When you get into it, more pictures would be great.
I hear things have cooled down a little bit too, glad we haven't had that heat so far.... Hopefully we won't get it this year *crossesd fingers* talking 30's most of the week and a cyclone up north, so probably will get more miserable weather.

 

[Luthor]

When you get into it, more pictures would be great.
I hear things have cooled down a little bit too, glad we haven't had that heat so far.... Hopefully we won't get it this year *crossesd fingers* talking 30's most of the week and a cyclone up north, so probably will get more miserable weather.

Welcome Darren, its good to have another Melbournian on here. I wonder if there are any others?

 

[Tazza]

Welcome Darren, its good to have another Melbournian on here. I wonder if there are any others?

LOL Ken, i swear we don't sound like that!
The movies i still believe make our accents to be much heavier than they really are. I don't hear the line "g'day mate" very often either thankfully "throw another shrimp on the babrie" thankfully i have NEVER heard outsde of the movies.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

LOL Ken, i swear we don't sound like that!
The movies i still believe make our accents to be much heavier than they really are. I don't hear the line "g'day mate" very often either thankfully "throw another shrimp on the babrie" thankfully i have NEVER heard outsde of the movies.

Leave it to Hollywood to never get it right. Half the world thinks we are tuque wearing Hoseheads who guzzle Canadian for 3 meals a day. Not sure who coined that one originally but it made the McKenzie bros famous in this 1/2 of the world at least.
Apparently "hoser" has been around prior to Bob and Doug, according to Wikipedia
Like the very similar term hosehead, the term may have referred to farmers of the Canadian prairies, who would siphon gas from farming vehicles with a hose during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
He's often imagined wearing heavy winter clothing, usually a flannel lumberjack shirt, Kodiak boots and a tuque. He is generally a young adult to middle age, and may be somewhat aggressive given the beer and hockey, but may conversely be passive and amiable, given the beer. In musical culture, he is correlated with classic and mainstream rock music, particularly with Rush, April Wine, Trooper and the earlier, rowdier works of The Tragically Hip. If he goes out socially, it's usually to a doughnut shop.
A hoser's flannel shirt may also be referred to as a "Kenora dinner jacket".
I'm a bit embarassed to say Kenora is a mere 80 miles from here and the description sums up most of my crowd! (as I sit here in my flannel jacket and rabbit fur hat) Sorry for the Highjack Dasgib, Welcome to the forum
Ken

 

[Tazza]

Leave it to Hollywood to never get it right. Half the world thinks we are tuque wearing Hoseheads who guzzle Canadian for 3 meals a day. Not sure who coined that one originally but it made the McKenzie bros famous in this 1/2 of the world at least.
Apparently "hoser" has been around prior to Bob and Doug, according to Wikipedia
Like the very similar term hosehead, the term may have referred to farmers of the Canadian prairies, who would siphon gas from farming vehicles with a hose during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
He's often imagined wearing heavy winter clothing, usually a flannel lumberjack shirt, Kodiak boots and a tuque. He is generally a young adult to middle age, and may be somewhat aggressive given the beer and hockey, but may conversely be passive and amiable, given the beer. In musical culture, he is correlated with classic and mainstream rock music, particularly with Rush, April Wine, Trooper and the earlier, rowdier works of The Tragically Hip. If he goes out socially, it's usually to a doughnut shop.
A hoser's flannel shirt may also be referred to as a "Kenora dinner jacket".
I'm a bit embarassed to say Kenora is a mere 80 miles from here and the description sums up most of my crowd! (as I sit here in my flannel jacket and rabbit fur hat) Sorry for the Highjack Dasgib, Welcome to the forum
Ken

LOL i so have a mental image of you in flannel and a hat! and sad to say, its not pretty! I'm do doubt going to have nighmares over that.
I must admit, some of the movies get it sort of rite. We do like our BBQs, sitting around in shorts and a T-shirt to stay cool, well i do at least.... Not big on drinking (sorry Ron!!!!) but a lot of us really do love our beer.

 

[dasgib]

LOL i so have a mental image of you in flannel and a hat! and sad to say, its not pretty! I'm do doubt going to have nighmares over that.
I must admit, some of the movies get it sort of rite. We do like our BBQs, sitting around in shorts and a T-shirt to stay cool, well i do at least.... Not big on drinking (sorry Ron!!!!) but a lot of us really do love our beer.

Hi folks.
Firstly, appologies for my absence but I've been incredibly busy doing things for a few people and haven't had much time to myself for the last few weeks. However, I've recently returned to the task of getting Mungo back into something resembling a working skidsteer.
Unfortunately it's going to take some work though, as poor old Mungo is in a *lot* worse shape than I previously thought.
Some details. The machine is currently stripped down to an almost bare chassis, and while I've been able to learn a few things about it I'm still largely in the dark about where and when it was built. The original owner claimed it was made in New Zealand but there are nothing to support that, and my best guess is that it was made some time in the mid 1980's going by the July 1984 date stamped on the hydraulic pump. Aside from that I can tell you that it's fitted with an Isuzu C-240 diesel engine, an Eaton hydrostatic transmission, a Salami hydraulic pump and a pair of Danfoss OMT drive motors.
The drive layout is somewhat unique in that each motor has a dual row sprocket with a seperate chain running to each wheel. Fairly handy I guess, as if you snap a chain you still have drive to one wheel on that side.
The good news is that the engine is in great shape, and the transmission, pump and drive motors all seem to work well. The bad news is that the chassis is terribly sad and needs a lot of repair.
The machine appears to have been dropped *hard* on it's left hand side, and judging by the amount of repaired damage I'd say it fell a long way (like off the side of a truck) as both axle housings had been snapped off the left side of the chassis. Both axle flanges had also been broken off the ends of both left hand axles. The bucket jaw (it's a 4 in 1) had been snapped clean off through it's hinge (It's 1 inch thick at that point), The boom has been pushed hard over onto the body on the left (it actually rubs against the body when lowered down) and the centre support in the middle of the boom just above the lower bucket pins had been broken away on both sides. Oh, and right hand bucket pivot ram mounting point had been snapped off too.
Just when you think all that is enough there is the maintenance issue which is basically it never had any
Unfortunately, the previous owners treated the thing with absolutely zero respect, and the only attention it seemed to ever get was a tough of the welder when they broke it. For example, rather than replace the pins and bushes when they got so slack you could see half an inch of daylight between them, they welded large washers over the ends of the bush weldments to stop the pins falling out. The ROPS obviously had no side protection when the thing was originally built, so they welded a sheet of gridmesh to each side top and bottom which meant the ROPS could no longer be flipped back for maintenance (like, they cared about that). They broke various wheel studs over the years and rather than spend 5 bucks on a new stud they'd shove a bolt through the hole and weld the head onto the back of the axle flange, dripping weld slag down onto the axle seal and shaft damaging both in the process. The bucket bolts on with a couple of large bolts down low on each side, and rather than listed to it rattle as the bolts came loose they just decided to weld it to the front member.
And on and on it went. I could rant on for hours, but you get the picture. It's pretty sad, and it annoys me how people can abuse equipment to such a degree. Still, it's become a huge learning curve for me. In the short time I've owned it I've learned enough about skid steer machines to know that I should never have looked twice at this thing. However all is not lost, and Mungo will live to fight another day.
The machine is currently dismantled and I've got quite a bit of work to do (and far more than I ever imagined). I spent this afternoon cutting a new keyway in the left hand front axle and sprocket to repair the broken one, and I have a bearing repair to do on the left hand rear axle. The right side is fine. The engine and trans can go back in when I've fixed the leaks and worked out where I can remotely mount the engine's oil flter to (it's next to impossible to change with the engine in place), and the siz broken engine mounts are being replaced with those from a series 2 Land Rover.
Every pin needs to be replaced, as does every bush, and making all those will keep me busy for some time. A couple of rams need new seals, the thing can do with a coat of paint and new sides that can be unbolted from the frame, some lights and mirrors, and then I'll be about ready to do the small jobs I thought would be all I needed to do (like make an overhead console for the gauges and fit a reversing camera).
Even though this thing is an "odd-ball" machine, so far I haven't got to the point of finding anything difficult to obtain, apart from tyres. The tyres desperately need to be replaced, but they're an odd size that no one seems to stock anymore. The tyres on it are Bridgestone "Fast Grip" in 33x12.5-15, and it's the 15 inch diameter of the rims that's making things difficult. I can buy 16.5's almost anywhere pretty cheap, but as soon as you ask for 15 inch tyres people look at you as if you're off your nut. It has 8 stud wheels, and I thought of simply replacing the wheels and tyres from an 8 stud Bobcat or similar, but just to keep up the average and make like difficult this thing has a 7 inch bolt spacing and Bobcats use an 8 inch one I believe. (Actually, if anyone could confirm that I'd be grateful).
Well, I've ranted enough. I've created an album called "Mungo" and pasted a few pictures in there so you guys can see what a "home built" skid steer looks like and know what to run away from if you see one in the flesh
http://www.skidsteerforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=52&gallerypage=0&path=Mungo
Oh, one last curiosity. The thing was fitted with a handbrake, and when I drove it I tried it but it didn't work. "Ah well, don't need it anyway" I thought at the time, and the previous owner said it never worked in all the years he owned it either. Later when I was dismatling the machine I could see the cables run off towards the rear, and while pulling on the handle caused some movement nothing seemed to operate. Later when I lifted out the engine I found out why. Lying under the engine's sump were the threaded ends of the handbrake cables that had never been connected to anything since day one, and there was nothing in the machine for them to be connected to.
I dunno. I scratched my head over that one too
Happy Easter everyone,
Regards,
Darren.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

Hi folks.
Firstly, appologies for my absence but I've been incredibly busy doing things for a few people and haven't had much time to myself for the last few weeks. However, I've recently returned to the task of getting Mungo back into something resembling a working skidsteer.
Unfortunately it's going to take some work though, as poor old Mungo is in a *lot* worse shape than I previously thought.
Some details. The machine is currently stripped down to an almost bare chassis, and while I've been able to learn a few things about it I'm still largely in the dark about where and when it was built. The original owner claimed it was made in New Zealand but there are nothing to support that, and my best guess is that it was made some time in the mid 1980's going by the July 1984 date stamped on the hydraulic pump. Aside from that I can tell you that it's fitted with an Isuzu C-240 diesel engine, an Eaton hydrostatic transmission, a Salami hydraulic pump and a pair of Danfoss OMT drive motors.
The drive layout is somewhat unique in that each motor has a dual row sprocket with a seperate chain running to each wheel. Fairly handy I guess, as if you snap a chain you still have drive to one wheel on that side.
The good news is that the engine is in great shape, and the transmission, pump and drive motors all seem to work well. The bad news is that the chassis is terribly sad and needs a lot of repair.
The machine appears to have been dropped *hard* on it's left hand side, and judging by the amount of repaired damage I'd say it fell a long way (like off the side of a truck) as both axle housings had been snapped off the left side of the chassis. Both axle flanges had also been broken off the ends of both left hand axles. The bucket jaw (it's a 4 in 1) had been snapped clean off through it's hinge (It's 1 inch thick at that point), The boom has been pushed hard over onto the body on the left (it actually rubs against the body when lowered down) and the centre support in the middle of the boom just above the lower bucket pins had been broken away on both sides. Oh, and right hand bucket pivot ram mounting point had been snapped off too.
Just when you think all that is enough there is the maintenance issue which is basically it never had any
Unfortunately, the previous owners treated the thing with absolutely zero respect, and the only attention it seemed to ever get was a tough of the welder when they broke it. For example, rather than replace the pins and bushes when they got so slack you could see half an inch of daylight between them, they welded large washers over the ends of the bush weldments to stop the pins falling out. The ROPS obviously had no side protection when the thing was originally built, so they welded a sheet of gridmesh to each side top and bottom which meant the ROPS could no longer be flipped back for maintenance (like, they cared about that). They broke various wheel studs over the years and rather than spend 5 bucks on a new stud they'd shove a bolt through the hole and weld the head onto the back of the axle flange, dripping weld slag down onto the axle seal and shaft damaging both in the process. The bucket bolts on with a couple of large bolts down low on each side, and rather than listed to it rattle as the bolts came loose they just decided to weld it to the front member.
And on and on it went. I could rant on for hours, but you get the picture. It's pretty sad, and it annoys me how people can abuse equipment to such a degree. Still, it's become a huge learning curve for me. In the short time I've owned it I've learned enough about skid steer machines to know that I should never have looked twice at this thing. However all is not lost, and Mungo will live to fight another day.
The machine is currently dismantled and I've got quite a bit of work to do (and far more than I ever imagined). I spent this afternoon cutting a new keyway in the left hand front axle and sprocket to repair the broken one, and I have a bearing repair to do on the left hand rear axle. The right side is fine. The engine and trans can go back in when I've fixed the leaks and worked out where I can remotely mount the engine's oil flter to (it's next to impossible to change with the engine in place), and the siz broken engine mounts are being replaced with those from a series 2 Land Rover.
Every pin needs to be replaced, as does every bush, and making all those will keep me busy for some time. A couple of rams need new seals, the thing can do with a coat of paint and new sides that can be unbolted from the frame, some lights and mirrors, and then I'll be about ready to do the small jobs I thought would be all I needed to do (like make an overhead console for the gauges and fit a reversing camera).
Even though this thing is an "odd-ball" machine, so far I haven't got to the point of finding anything difficult to obtain, apart from tyres. The tyres desperately need to be replaced, but they're an odd size that no one seems to stock anymore. The tyres on it are Bridgestone "Fast Grip" in 33x12.5-15, and it's the 15 inch diameter of the rims that's making things difficult. I can buy 16.5's almost anywhere pretty cheap, but as soon as you ask for 15 inch tyres people look at you as if you're off your nut. It has 8 stud wheels, and I thought of simply replacing the wheels and tyres from an 8 stud Bobcat or similar, but just to keep up the average and make like difficult this thing has a 7 inch bolt spacing and Bobcats use an 8 inch one I believe. (Actually, if anyone could confirm that I'd be grateful).
Well, I've ranted enough. I've created an album called "Mungo" and pasted a few pictures in there so you guys can see what a "home built" skid steer looks like and know what to run away from if you see one in the flesh
http://www.skidsteerforum.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=52&gallerypage=0&path=Mungo
Oh, one last curiosity. The thing was fitted with a handbrake, and when I drove it I tried it but it didn't work. "Ah well, don't need it anyway" I thought at the time, and the previous owner said it never worked in all the years he owned it either. Later when I was dismatling the machine I could see the cables run off towards the rear, and while pulling on the handle caused some movement nothing seemed to operate. Later when I lifted out the engine I found out why. Lying under the engine's sump were the threaded ends of the handbrake cables that had never been connected to anything since day one, and there was nothing in the machine for them to be connected to.
I dunno. I scratched my head over that one too
Happy Easter everyone,
Regards,
Darren.

Darren
I put a link to the album in your post. you can also upload them to photobucket or such and post them in the forum. They will be much larger.
Those tires are farely common size "big mud tires" for pickup trucks over here. If the studs are 8 on a 8" circle a standard skidsteer wheel will fit, but you may want larger tires.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
Ken

 

[dasgib]

Darren
I put a link to the album in your post. you can also upload them to photobucket or such and post them in the forum. They will be much larger.
Those tires are farely common size "big mud tires" for pickup trucks over here. If the studs are 8 on a 8" circle a standard skidsteer wheel will fit, but you may want larger tires.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
Ken

Hi Ken,
Thanks for that mate. I appreciate it. I resized the pictures because they were quite large and found it took forever to try and upload them to the media section. I'll get a few on Photobucket later on tonight and post a link to them.
Sadly, this machine runs 8 stud wheels on a 7 inch bolt circle, so it looks like I'm stuck with either having custom wheels made to suit "normal" Bobcat tyres or trying to find replacements for the ones I have.
Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know what the overall height of a 10-16.5 skidsteer tyre normally is? The reason I ask is because with these jumbo tyres on this thing it looks like you can raise the rear bar high enough to drive around with the ripper blades attached and have adequate ground clearance, but dropping the height of the machine a couple inches might be a problem.
I don't know what size tyres the machine was originally fitted with, but it seems that it wasn't these as part of the rear bar bracketry has been cut off the machine for clearance.
Regards,
Darren.

 

[Gazza]

Hi Ken,
Thanks for that mate. I appreciate it. I resized the pictures because they were quite large and found it took forever to try and upload them to the media section. I'll get a few on Photobucket later on tonight and post a link to them.
Sadly, this machine runs 8 stud wheels on a 7 inch bolt circle, so it looks like I'm stuck with either having custom wheels made to suit "normal" Bobcat tyres or trying to find replacements for the ones I have.
Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know what the overall height of a 10-16.5 skidsteer tyre normally is? The reason I ask is because with these jumbo tyres on this thing it looks like you can raise the rear bar high enough to drive around with the ripper blades attached and have adequate ground clearance, but dropping the height of the machine a couple inches might be a problem.
I don't know what size tyres the machine was originally fitted with, but it seems that it wasn't these as part of the rear bar bracketry has been cut off the machine for clearance.
Regards,
Darren.

Hi Darren, just had a look at your pictures and I can suggest another option. It looks like there is plenty of meat around the 8 studs on your hub, is it possible to remove them and drill for another 8 studs in between the existing ones. This way you can search for a cheap set of wheels and tyres and adjust the hubs to suit. ps I'm sort of just down the road from you at Berwick. cheers Gary

 

[dasgib]

Hi Darren, just had a look at your pictures and I can suggest another option. It looks like there is plenty of meat around the 8 studs on your hub, is it possible to remove them and drill for another 8 studs in between the existing ones. This way you can search for a cheap set of wheels and tyres and adjust the hubs to suit. ps I'm sort of just down the road from you at Berwick. cheers Gary

G'day Gary,
Thanks for the tip mate, I appreciate it. I gave some thought to that option as I have the necessary equipment to re-drill the axles, but as yet I haven't found a source for used bobcat wheels. I can get new wheels made up for around $220 bucks each from Ajax in Moorabbin that'll take a standard 10x16.5 bobcat tyre but before I do either I need to find out what the overall height of the tyres will be.
If they're under 30 inches then I'm going to run into trouble with my ripper attachments.
Here's a link to some better quality pictures: http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/dasgib/
Regards,
Darren.