Homemade belly pan protector

[buckshot]

I took the all of the plastic protectors off the bottom and then started with a 4x8 sheet of 1/4" puck board ($60). I reused about 2/3s of the existing bolt holes and mounted the sheet of plastic. We went out in the muskeg lastnight and what a difference. It just slid through the mud with little resistance. All those holes on the existing one were holding me up and catching on the vegitation. I didn't find any heat issues yet but it was only +20C(68F). The stock metal pan, by itself was all bent up...too light of material.

I would suggest this to anyone running muskeg.

[dieselpowered]

Correct me if I am wrong, however, puckboard is similar to UHMW?

If that is the case, yes you will find that not only is it lighter, however, it does not hang up as much on rocks and slides much better!

So did you just cut the puckboard to match the pieces of the factory skids?

[T-REX]

what is puck board? I was looking on the web and found this polyethelyne panels

is that what you are using??

[DougS]

"Puck board" is also known as arena board and is the plastic sheeting that they line hockey arena wood boards with. It usually is white, though I have seen it in black (more rare) and other colors, blue and yellow, come to mind.

They also use this stuff to line horse stalls, indoor soccer rinks, and snow boarders use it on rails to protect thier boards. You can try local home improvement places. Talk to the manager of the local hockey rink. He will know where to get it and probably cheaper than I paid for it. I have never paid more than $80 for a white 4'x8' sheet and think I got once black between $100 and $120 a sheet as they didn't stock it. I typically buy 1/4" to 3/8" thick sheeting.


Here are a few companies that sells it in a few different colors including red, green yellow and blue. I have NEVER dealt with them but found it online for examples.

You may have to pick arena board.

SAN DIEGO PLASTICS - DENSETEC ARENA BOARD

| Arena Board

Orion Plastics, Our HDPE Extruded Plastic Product Line


Also if you look in the yellow pages under plastic in your area, some of the guys will that sell the plastic sheeting will now what puck board is.

I like it, as you can heat up the plastic (not to fast), bend it, leave it to cool in a vise, and it will hold the shape you bent it once it cooled. I use one of those blue bottle torches the plumbers use for soldering. Hope this helps.

[buckshot]

Thanks DougS for the research. I made 1 piece for the entire bottom so there are no seams or holes. When it comes time to drop the oils then I'll just remove it all at once.

I used the original plastics as a template for the holes and it worked pretty well.

[DougS]

I have used puck board under my Brute Force for 4 years. It has held up well with only some scratches.

I pretty much ride muskeg/swamps and bump rocks in the mountain trails. I found a few holes in it help for drainage of mud and water. I drop the single piece too for oil changes so I can inspect everything but holes could be put in factory drain plug locations.

I templated underneath with cardboard and copied it over to the puck board before I cut it out with a jig saw.