Mounting bobcat in pickup bed?

admin

Well, at least temporarily, I need to mount my bobcat in my Dodge. How are people making the subframe for truck mounting? Things are going to be tight, as I have a full size RKI chest taking up the first ~23" of bed and full width/height. Should I make the frame shown in the Bobcat manual, with bolt-able feet to go through the bed sheet metal, with some plate as backing?Miller: 200dx, Bobcat 225, Passport, Powermax 45, Milwaukee: Dry Saw, MagDrill, grinders
Reply:John,I recently got back into it and I used 2" angle iron, building a square mount to keep my Pipeliner from sliding, and cut 4 holes in the angle iron.  I drilled through the bed and bought long enough bolts, and then drilled through my frame in 4 places and bolted it down, and then sat the welder into the frame.To make sure the welder doesn't jump up and out of my frame if I hit a big bump, I bought two metal straps (sort of like what they use to strap down metal orders, pipe, trailer houses, etc), and welded their tightening mounts to my frame on each end.  I then snugged the straps down, cut two pieces of foam scrub pads (to keep the metal straps from scratching the paint on my welder, I HATE RUST), put it under the straps, and tightened them down, and locked it with a couple of MasterLocks.Hope that helps!'Never think that I am peaceful because I have forgotten how to be violent; Never mistake my kindness for weakness.""God didn't make men equal; Sam Colt made men equal.""Peace Through Superior Firepower"
Reply:I was thinking more along the lines of copying the 'mount' in the Bobcat user manual, except extending it a few inches front/back out of 4" channel facing down, with the front and rear projections ending in 2x3x.25" angle, with the bolts going through the angle, bed (including spacers if need be), into plates underneath. The amount of room I have to work with, I'm planning on mounting it dead center over the rear axle, control panel facing rear, with 2 above-the-rail boxes. and maybe another chest infront of the control panel... money is pretty tight right now and most of my savings vaporized during a family emergency.Miller: 200dx, Bobcat 225, Passport, Powermax 45, Milwaukee: Dry Saw, MagDrill, grinders
Reply:It depends on what year Dodge you have because the newer ones (03 up I think) have a tubular frame and any drilling is reccommended on the side of the frame. The older ones have the C channel frame so you could go through it w/o using long bolts. You coudl also use a U bolt to go around the frame to make things easier. If you are not going to have it there very long maybe just get a heavy duty strap or 2 and call it a day....Millermatic250Miller Spoolmate 200Miller Spoolmatic 1Lincoln tombstone with century DC converter1945 K.O. Lee company stick welder (looks like R2D2)Miller 30E feederHobart AH27 FeederMiller Thunderbolt AC/DC
Reply:My new dodge is a '10. They have fully boxed frames front to rear. I just finished making a pair of u-bolt-style pinch brackets for the frame for my traction bars.. making another set to connect the bed to the frame wouldn't be a big deal. I would have thought mounting the bobcat to the frame through the bed would be a bad thing, since frames twist/move alot.Miller: 200dx, Bobcat 225, Passport, Powermax 45, Milwaukee: Dry Saw, MagDrill, grinders