# Nothing Fancy - Just A Savings of $1500



## JR Custom Calls (Oct 20, 2016)

So, the primary use of the Ranger is hunting... and the two things I spend the most time hunting are Turkey and Deer. Eary turkey season is generally pretty chilly, and deer hunting is usually down right cold. I needed a windshield and a roof bad. The windshields range from $350 for a half windshield up to $1600 for a glass windshield that tips out and has a wiper. Using some scrap plywood and plexiglass, I made my own. Total cost, aside from the scrap, about $5 in paint and $5 for the screws I used. The roof was a scrap piece of MDF. I don't expect it to last forever, but it's got a THICK coat of paint on it! I'll likely replace it with a sheet of diamond plate steel once it gives out. Both the windshield and the roof had curves that would have been difficult to cut by hand (though, not at all impossible). After taking some measurements, I programmed my CNC to cut them out and only had to do a small amount of sanding on the roof to make it fit right. 

The windshield has 4 (soon to be 6) wood blocks bolted on that spin, and grab the roll bar locking it on. Pretty easy to remove. I left a gap at the bottom for 2 reasons. First, the scrap sheet of plywood I had was 28" wide, which is what you see. Second, I wanted a small amount of air to move, as I've read a lot of people complain about dust settling in the cab when there's a full windshield. I haven't noticed any. I used 3/4" plywood, cutting a half inch recess for the 24x48 sheet of plexi to sit in. I then used a 1/4"x24x48 sheet of extira (that I machined down from a messed up 3/4" sheet I tried something on) over the plexi, and ran a bunch of machine screws through all 3 layers with a nut on the back. While it has a little bit of flex, it doesn't have a ton, which was a concern when trailering at 85mph down the interstate.

My next adventure will be building doors and a back window. The back window will be gravy, the doors, not so much. 

I started wiring my lights tonight, but I have a bad relay and am going to hold off on finishing until tomorrow. There are also 2 other light bars not visible. I should easily be able to see where I need to go, keep dry, and stay somewhat warm now.

Reactions: Way Cool 8


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## gman2431 (Oct 20, 2016)

Put some tracks on it and come up ice fishing!!


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## woodman6415 (Oct 20, 2016)

Come hunt Texas ... would maybe need sweater around January ...


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## Wildthings (Oct 20, 2016)

woodman6415 said:


> Come hunt Texas ... would maybe need sweater around January ...


or maybe February

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 20, 2016)

cool....
Are you making the doors in two sections? (Top/bottom)


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## JR Custom Calls (Oct 21, 2016)

ripjack13 said:


> cool....
> Are you making the doors in two sections? (Top/bottom)


No. I'm not going to copy this guy, but they'll be something similar to this (not my pic, found on google)


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## TimR (Oct 21, 2016)

Nice work and ingenuity! 
I suspect you're not alone with fabbing your own doors/roof/windshields...it's stupid how much they charge for that stuff. I hope to pick up a side-by-side someday, and I occassionally go in the "build" section of the mfr sites to see what it would cost to outfit it...funny.  Ain't no way I'd outfit a SxS from dealer. Lightbars for $700...lexan windshields for $400... 

Will have a Deere/Kubota dealer just a few miles from me, but know the Ranger has been the standard it seems that all tend to measure against. All brands have upped their game with better motors and trannies. Might make for interesting thread to ask folks about theirs and what they like and don't like. I'll do just that!


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## JR Custom Calls (Oct 22, 2016)

And here's my fun job for the day.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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