# The AMPhibian is running.



## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Got the Attex 6x6 conversion finished yesterday and it's running perfectly. Still have some work to do on it but I already love this thing 
Links:

http://www.evalbum.com/1609
http://amp-phibian.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMxv4KZjcE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJywMFHpKYo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va4nE8ENbqk


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## ClintK (Apr 27, 2008)

JRP3 said:


> Got the Attex 6x6 conversion finished yesterday and it's running perfectly. Still have some work to do on it but I already love this thing
> Links:
> 
> http://www.evalbum.com/1609
> ...


Looks great, Congrats!


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## orange_eskimo (Jun 25, 2008)

Sweet, do you plan on taking it in the water? Theres just something about an electric vehicle in the water that sounds like trouble to me lol.


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## RS3RS (Jun 14, 2008)

That thing's awesome!!

However...... Does the thought of high voltage power in water ever freak you out?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Yeah, I still need to do some waterproofing but I do plan to take it swimming soon


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## elevatorguy (Jul 26, 2007)

Way cool! congrats on getting done. Makes me wish I would have saved my max atv with the blown engine..


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## sjc (Oct 28, 2008)

Cool. Holy flashback, batman.

My grandfather had one of these, or something similar (we called it the "amphi-cat") in the early 70's. We drove it around his farm, and then he trailered it up to Lake Erie and we took it in the lake. My primary memories of him are up to his elbows in grease working on the engine.

Fun, fun, fun. I remember my uncle lying down and my grandfather driving over him to demonstrate the cushioning in the tires.

sc
--


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## brent.massey (Jul 23, 2008)

Glad you're ok after that rollover! Looks like that mighta hurt just a little. I think a roll bar or cage would make a nice safety addition...well worth the added weight.

Seems like you've got power to spare!


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

sjc said:


> Cool. Holy flashback, batman.
> 
> My grandfather had one of these, or something similar (we called it the "amphi-cat" in the early 70's.
> --


Yup, Amphicat was another brand of 6x6, seems like everyone made them back then. Check out the "Other" forum at 6x6 world if you want more flashbacks http://www.6x6world.com/forums/


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

brent.massey said:


> Seems like you've got power to spare!


Yes, the only time I could use a little more is with an overloaded trailer going up a steep hill if the battery pack is down a bit. It makes it but sometimes the motor is maxed out and lugging a bit, and probably drawing many amps. The motor is advanced for higher voltage and speed so I might need to retard it a bit for more torque.


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## Jimdear2 (Oct 12, 2008)

Oh mommy look, look, can I have one Please Please Please.

After seeing the how well this turned out I'll bet you won't find one of these cheap anywhere in the country. blown ICE or not.

I've always loved these things but hated the engines. This conversion turned out nicely

Jim


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

New mods, changed from chain and sprockets to Gates Polychain belt drive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRhOrW7kva8

I also hooked up an old APC 2200 computer UPS to my battery pack to get portable 120 volt AC power. Now I can run my electric chainsaw from my battery pack. More details on my blog.


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

hey, hey, it's the Monkeys, or PuffinStuff, or what WAS that saturday morning show?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Banana Splits 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2se2I70CJ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2mrugzhwg


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## tj4fa (May 25, 2008)

Whatthehellizthatthing??!!  

Looks like the Little Lady is having fun on it!!


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

The ABS plastic was hittin the "crack" pipe way too hard and needed an intervention so I put the old AMPhibian in for some major rehab. Stripped it, flipped it, and hit it with 24 grit to rough up the surface for epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth. Glued up the cracks with some SEM epoxy bumper repair goo and some two part methacrylate glue, both seemed to work fairly well as long as I "V'd" out the cracks really well, then applied the cloth and epoxy laminating resin. Feels pretty tough so far but I haven't beaten on it with a hammer or anything, I'll wait and see what happens naturally during use. I had planned to put a HDPE skid plate over that but it didn't exactly come out the way I had hoped. I had a space heater, heat lamp, heat gun, and a small propane torch with a flame spreader but could not apply enough heat over a large enough area to get smooth compound bends. I ended up with warping and lumps and probably a ruined 4x6 piece of HDPE 
So for now I'll just see how the fiberglass holds up alone. I'll put up some pics but the glass and resin don't really show up unless you look closely. 
I also retarded the motor timing back to neutral to give me more torque since I'm only running 48 volts. Definitely feel it, though I did loose about 4 mph off the top speed, not a big deal for my uses.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Since I've finally fixed all the leaks I decided to see if this thing really floats or not. It does, sort of 
I've had it in my stream before but it was never deep enough to do more than bounce off of the bottom, this was the first full float test. 240 lbs of batteries and 60 lbs of motor in the back don't do much for the trim.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Video action


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## tomofreno (Mar 3, 2009)

You must have a lot of faith that thing is waterproof! I guess the drive belt is inside the "hull"? How are the axles sealed?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I didn't stray too far from shore, as you might notice. Yes the drive system is inside. The axles pass through sealed bearings that are bolted and siliconed to the body.

http://amp-phibian.blogspot.com/2008_05_04_archive.html


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

JRP3 said:


> 240 lbs of batteries and 60 lbs of motor in the back don't do much for the trim.


Looks like the driver needs to put on some weight.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

It needs a big EV grin painting on the front to go with those headlight eyes!


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

I always thought those things were cool and would catch on as a kid. I haven't seen one for decades.

Are you planning on upgrading the lead to LiIon?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Probably at some point, but the lead works fine for my needs hauling stuff around my property and shows no sign of degradation after almost four years, so probably not for a long time. It's not exactly a daily driver so cycles and DOD have been minimal.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

More toys for the AMPhibian. Steel belly band with an angle iron clamping system instead of bolts through the seam. I didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the plastic so I came up with this system. Also allows it to be removed without leaving holes. Did it in four pieces, bent the front half as a single piece, did the rear half by welding three pieces.
This allowed me to attach a plow system tied into the rear trailer hitch.
Still need to add two 24 Volt linear actuators to raise and lower the blade. More details and pics in my blog. 
http://amp-phibian.blogspot.com/2014/01/time-for-more-upgrades-to-amphibian.html


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## toddshotrods (Feb 10, 2009)

JRP3 said:


> More toys for the AMPhibian. Steel belly band with an angle iron clamping system instead of bolts through the seam. I didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the plastic so I came up with this system. Also allows it to be removed without leaving holes. Did it in four pieces, bent the front half as a single piece, did the rear half by welding three pieces...
> 
> This allowed me to attach a plow system tied into the rear trailer hitch...


Nice idea. Better keep an eye on whoever was driving though - looks like they were doing donuts to me!


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Standard operating procedure with a skid steer in the snow, or mud, dirt, or pavement...


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## toddshotrods (Feb 10, 2009)

JRP3 said:


> Standard operating procedure with a skid steer in the snow, or mud, dirt, or pavement...


Kids and their toys...


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## elevatorguy (Jul 26, 2007)

JRP3 said:


> Standard operating procedure with a skid steer in the snow, or mud, dirt, or pavement...


I miss my Max 6 wheeler, thought of converting it when the engine blew up.
It was a lot of fun in the snow.


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## evmetro (Apr 9, 2012)

What a cool vehicle! That snow plow setup looks great too.


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## order99 (Sep 8, 2008)

Jimdear2 said:


> Oh mommy look, look, can I have one Please Please Please.
> 
> After seeing the how well this turned out I'll bet you won't find one of these cheap anywhere in the country. blown ICE or not.
> 
> ...



Just in case you can't find that inexpensive chassis:

http://www.vintageprojects.com/go-kart/six-wheeler-go-kart-atv.html

Might be a little TOO retro for some tastes I suppose...


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

A little video action of the AMPhibian plowing snow.


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## elevatorguy (Jul 26, 2007)

Looks like it does a good job shoving snow around! I was wondering how much run time you get pushing snow?


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I'd guess around half an hour or so. I was able to do my driveway and the driveway at work which is a few tenths of a mile long and two lanes wide, plus some of the parking lot. The snow was fairly heavy today too.


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## elevatorguy (Jul 26, 2007)

I get about the same in the winter with the electric quad and spirited driving, so that is not bad pushing snow. Are you running the blade up and down manually? I was going to mount a blade on my max 6x6 but never got it done.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

I just drop the blade manually and leave it down when plowing, then pick it up and tie it off in the up position for travel. I'll be getting a couple of 24V linear actuators and run each off half of my 48V pack.
Plowed again today and checked the odometer, just over 2 miles of plowing and the batteries were at 12V resting voltage when done, which is 35% SOC for the Odysseys.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Finally got around to upgrading to lithium. 16 CALB 100AH LiFePO4 cells, should be about double the usable capacity compared to the lead AGM Odyssey's I originally used, at less than half the weight. (The Odyssey's ended up in two other electric tractors and 3 out of the 4 batteries are still going strong after more than 10 years. I'll be upgrading the tractor with the bad battery with some Toshiba Scib LTO batteries I just picked up.)

I was able to find a plastic Plano storage chest which just squeezed into the space I had, with a little heat massaging of the Attex ABS body in a few places. I use a large heated battery wrap around the cells plus some insulation to allow better performance in sub zero temps.
Still need to do a bit of wiring cleanup and notch the box top so it will fit snug.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

JRP3 said:


> Finally got around to upgrading to lithium. 16 CALB 100AH LiFePO4 cells, should be about double the usable capacity compared to the lead AGM Odyssey's I originally used, at less than half the weight.


That should help the balance, without resorting to splitting the battery into front and rear packs.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Yes, it also helps with acceleration. Less mass, higher voltage and less voltage sag. The downside is less traction but I can always figure out ways to add and remove weight as needed.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

JRP3 said:


> Yes, it also helps with acceleration. Less mass, higher voltage and less voltage sag. The downside is less traction but I can always figure out ways to add and remove weight as needed.


Weight doesn't matter for traction unless you are plowing or towing, since traction requirements for the vehicle itself are proportional to the mass - double the mass and you get twice the traction, but you need exactly that for the same performance.

When plowing or towing removable ballast may indeed be the solution. My cheap lawn tractor can be used for plowing (poorly) and so it has removable weights available. It uses the common John Deere suitcase weights, which are easy to manage and can be used in whatever quantity is need. Brackets could be placed in the front and rear; the tractor uses a simple bent sheet/plate steel bracket.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

brian_ said:


> Weight doesn't matter for traction unless you are plowing or towing


I do quite a bit of both, including using it as a bulldozer and plowing dirt


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