DIY Home built compact tractor

[shakin]

how heavey is that bb and does it have scarifiers?

 

[Brad_Blazer]

I went ahead and built a small tractor, just on a smaller scale. I have a lot of walk-through gates, so I had to keep mine under 32" wide. Using quick disconnect hydraulics to attach implements, and hydraulic motors to run things like post hole diggers and such.

Very cool little machine! Is that a self leveling bucket?

 

[Massey_lover]

You can just run the cv joint at the gearbox and tilt the diff up so the u joint runs straight/flat. That is what you need to/should do at both ends to not have vibration. Too bad you already welded the ends on the front because when you tilt the diff the castor will also change. It may not matter much at low speed but could be fun down the road. I wouldn't mess with putting a cv joint at the diff or worry about the front angle at the speeds you are planing (u joints are cheap and I have run them alot steeper than that). What size tires are planning on the front (front and rear need to be the same if you are using the same gear ratio in both)? Will they hit the frame at full lock? I think you are gon'na be pretty high geared for a tractor (should have crawl ratio in the 200s) but if you don't plan on alot of ground engagement it isn't a big deal. Otherwise it looks pretty kool. Who needs body parts?

Go to CALMINI Products Inc. - Suzuki, Nissan, Isuzu Suspension Systems and Lift Kits. They stock all kinds of off road parts for the samarai, and u can get a set of 5.83:1 Gears for the sammy axles... i think they have selectable lockers too, which would be very handy if you plan on using this for cutting grass, too.

 

[carpenter383]

While I think low gears are cool, you have to remember it won't be as strong. This is because with a lower gear (numerically higher) the pinion gear is smaller with less teeth.

 

[roadrunnertech]

nice tracotor road runner tech is their a thread on it

Thanks, I don't get on the net too much, so I don't have a thread. I received a few more inqueries, so I'll be replying to those on this board.

 

[roadrunnertech]

Glad I could help!
What kind of set up have you got on the front steering gear?
Tim

The front steering gear is a bit of a sore point, I'm not happy with it yet. It came about when my buddy and I were working late one night, and had a bit of a bet on how fast we could get it working. We made a 3:1 box out of off the shelf gears and some 1.5 x 4 bar stock, put a U-joint on that to a shaft and lever arm, then another lever giving it another 1.5:1 advantage. It does work, but not as easily as I'd like. Its pretty tiring after a few hours.

The next plan is picking up a car steering box (I'm going to try a vega box like the hot rodders use) and give it a shot. That has a 15:1 ratio, much better than the 4.5:1 effective ratio I have now.

Oh, and the bet results? He said one hour, I said two, took about four. We both lost.

 

[roadrunnertech]

how heavey is that bb and does it have scarifiers?

Its around 80 lbs with the scarifiers. I put three of those on there for now, spaced about 10" apart on a 34" bb width. I didn't really know how deep they should be, so I drilled a row of holes 1" apart so I can set the length with pins. I've been running them about 2-4" below the blade level depending on the traction, is that a good setting?

 

[roadrunnertech]

Very cool little machine! Is that a self leveling bucket?

Thanks! I would call it a self leveling bucket, I set the linkage to give a little bit of an arc, so it does tip upward a few degrees through the travel. I really took a guess about that, but at least it doesn't dump the load on your head when its up all the way!

 

[roadrunnertech]

I'd like to see more of your tractor.

I'll attach a few more pics, have some video but I haven't figured out how to attach that yet...

 

[carpenter383]

I'll attach a few more pics, have some video but I haven't figured out how to attach that yet...

I noticed your fel cylinders are close to vertical compared to the typical fel being near horizontal. To me it seems your design would have more leverage and have more lifting power being near vertical. My guess is the reason a "typical" fel uses horizontal cylinders is for more support and strength when pushing?