If you want to solo past lvl 40 I certainly wouldn't make a melee only class. I guess they can somewhat axe kite, but not sure how reliable or effective that is.
Hell I wouldn't think a lvl 60 raid geared 60s zerker could solo effectively(and by this i mean to any good use....) don't let soloing stop you from making a zerker.
As i am just now finding out myself zerkers are lots of fun. I was tanking kael drakkel at lvl 47 with nothing more than a tree weave to cover my but V of course. and was doing really well with only a shammy to heal. My main is a monk of course that's a speicalist class in the pulling which is fun too but there is something i like about the zerker. I'm still not sure what that is just yet but I like em. I'm not so sure he'd solo too well even if hewas uber but he's still loads of fun. I love the snare axe!