Making One Tire Into Two.

[Wis Bang]

I once passed a mercedes that had 8 tires, 2 at each wheel position. It was the craziest thing I ever saw. They would work but the cost migght be prohibitive.

Check out the trac systems for skid steers. Something woo worn for a rental machine could be just right for your needs...

 

[mkeith54]

Why not pick up a couple of road gators and trim them to size and wire them back together? Would not work with a fast mover, but for something slow it might work. If you need sides to keep them from walking off try using flt iron bent into a 90 and bolted on with plow bolts.

 

[Craig Clayton]

Dear Sir
I viewed the photo of the track and wheel profile. I believe there are going to be greater forces at work on the tires than you hope for and the rubber tire assembly will fail. I built a scale model of a Case 450 under carriage in metal. When you look at army tanks they use 2 wheels to run the track profile that you are using through. These are mini digger tracks and slow speed and heavy. I have some tires that came from an airport ground equipment that are the size of camper trailer tires but solid rubber 4 bolt pattern. Somthing similiar could be matched front and back = 8 tires. Or cut the middle sprocket out and make skid steer types on thick tires.
Craig Clayton

 

[o2batsea]

How do you plan on steering this contraption if you do succeed in getting the tracks on? You have to have independent control over each side so that one side can be either stationary or in reverse while the other is going forward. Otherwise it goes only where it happens to be pointed and that's it.
What did the tracks come from? A little walk behind skid steer? Maybe you should just look for one of those and skip the science project.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

How do you plan on steering this contraption if you do succeed in getting the tracks on? You have to have independent control over each side so that one side can be either stationary or in reverse while the other is going forward. Otherwise it goes only where it happens to be pointed and that's it.
What did the tracks come from? A little walk behind skid steer? Maybe you should just look for one of those and skip the science project.

Finding a little walk behind skid steer is much easier said than done. I've had my eyes out for a junk mini excavator or any kind of small tracked vehicle. There just aren't any that I've found unless I wanted to just buy a working one. For that money I'd just get my kids an electric power wheels car and spend our bonding time building plastic models in a cute little cookie cutter house in the suburbs. That's not my style, though.

I understand the concern about the tracks needing to move at different speeds. That's the point in using the lawn mower axles. These axles have a differential built in.

It's a halftrack, so there will be wheels in the front that steer the vehicle. The tracks will provide the power. With the differential, one side can even be stationary while the other side powers the vehicle through the turn.

I've attached some images from a Google Sketchup sketch that I did to get some ideas regarding size and scale. There's an image of the vehicle as planned, and there's a closeup of the tires as currently planned.

 

[/pine]

if you're still undecided...

Regular epoxy would fracture and break up...you might check into "poly" epoxy...

What first came to mind when I read the original post was silicone but that application would take several days to cure....

Another option may be a fibered casting resin (polymer)

 

[Iplayfarmer]

if you're still undecided...

Regular epoxy would fracture and break up...you might check into "poly" epoxy...

What first came to mind when I read the original post was silicone but that application would take several days to cure....

Another option may be a fibered casting resin (polymer)

A few days is not a problem. We're only working on this project one day a week, and we figure about a year to complete it. Is there a cheap source of silicone besides tubes of caulk?

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Dear Sir
I viewed the photo of the track and wheel profile. I believe there are going to be greater forces at work on the tires than you hope for and the rubber tire assembly will fail. I built a scale model of a Case 450 under carriage in metal. When you look at army tanks they use 2 wheels to run the track profile that you are using through. These are mini digger tracks and slow speed and heavy. I have some tires that came from an airport ground equipment that are the size of camper trailer tires but solid rubber 4 bolt pattern. Somthing similiar could be matched front and back = 8 tires. Or cut the middle sprocket out and make skid steer types on thick tires.
Craig Clayton

Thanks for the thoughts, Craig. I'd love to see some photos or get more details about the scale model of the Case 450.

 

[Willl]

That's the point in using the lawn mower axles.

Just so happens I'm looking for someone to unload an old rider on.....

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Just so happens I'm looking for someone to unload an old rider on.....

Too bad you're not closer. I'm in Southeast Idaho. I am building a collection of riders without the rear axles lined up along the fence. Those peerless axles out of the cheap MTD mowers are great for a lot of little projects like this. I actually picked up another one of these mowers Saturday night. I saw one in a guy's yard and stopped and knocked on the door. It so happens that the guy was a renter and the actual owner is a guy I know. The owner said I could just have the mower, but I gave him $10 just to make it official.

Now I have two axles. They both have 5 forward gears and one reverse. I'm trying to decide if I want to make both axles drive or not.