Mini Dozer - Project near complete

[mcd176]

Very Very cool project!

 

[Oldmax]

I was wondering the same thing about mounting the motors direcly on drive shafts.

 

[workinprogress]

I haven't gotten things welded up yet or the addtional plate added but I have put the correct spacers onto the 3rd pillow block. The alignment looks much better now (Look that the earlier photo).

 

[wldrbob]

hi nice looking unit .turn an angle iron over and box in your first two outside pillow blocks also you might need to put caps on your pillow blocks as on my skidhoe i pulled the tops of of 1.5 inch pillowblocks. the 3rd pillow block will take out a lot of movement but if you have any deflection in your track frame you will get stress cracks over time. seems like you have room to bridge your frame it will pay of later because your tourke will go up a lot once you start pushing stuff around and we all know how much fun that is .... wldrbob

 

[Renze]

Probably too late for the current build........... and maybe way out of budget, but how about a high tracked version like the modern Cats? You could drive the third (high) sprocket, and this would keep your drive chain / driven sprocket way out of harms way. The rear-most idler could be put back a bit farther and therefore the tractor wouldn't feel so rear-heavy. Just thinking out loud here.

My thought as well.. with a high sprocket drive, you could simply pick a smaller sprocket and do away with the extra chain drive.

 

[Danno1]

.

Yes, slack side depends on fwd/rev. So, put a tensioner on both sides! The tension side will move and the slack side will take up the slack.


.

 

[sizzami]

are you going to add any bogies? it looks like the tracks ar very wide inrelation to the sprockets how does it perform undr load?

 

[workinprogress]

A few comments:

I also agree that mounting the motor directly on a third track sprocket like the Cat would be good but mostlikely would involve creating more track. The 10ft roller chain may not be enough. Also I would need to find 100 pitch sprocket with a small number of teeth at a fair price. I think I will keep the current plan for now and see how it comes together. That being said I will keep my eye out for a good deal on 2 100 pitch sprockets with an 1 inch hub.

I am going to put boggie wheels on the unit but I need to find a small strong wheel. Been looking at some heavy duty caster type wheels but still a work in progress. If I ride the boggie wheel directly on the chain it will have to account for the ups and down of the links on the roller chain. So I go back and forth about placing the boggies on the roller chain or pairs of them on each side of the chain. I am leaning toward the pair because I think it would help support the track when a rock or something is only under one side of the track.

The track seems to move fine even with the single track sprocket. I have been able to put some good tension on the track so it doesn't seem to twist.

 

[hammerdwn20]

A few comments:

I also agree that mounting the motor directly on a third track sprocket like the Cat would be good but mostlikely would involve creating more track. The 10ft roller chain may not be enough. Also I would need to find 100 pitch sprocket with a small number of teeth at a fair price. I think I will keep the current plan for now and see how it comes together. That being said I will keep my eye out for a good deal on 2 100 pitch sprockets with an 1 inch hub.
I know you got your sprockets from surplus center and i was looking there the other day. They had a few types in the 8 1/2 inch diameter. some tapered hub, 3/4" bore and some in 2 1/2" bore. maybe you could put bearings into the ones with the 2 1/2" bore

I am going to put boggie wheels on the unit but I need to find a small strong wheel. Been looking at some heavy duty caster type wheels but still a work in progress. If I ride the boggie wheel directly on the chain it will have to account for the ups and down of the links on the roller chain. So I go back and forth about placing the boggies on the roller chain or pairs of them on each side of the chain. I am leaning toward the pair because I think it would help support the track when a rock or something is only under one side of the track.
I had thought of caster wheels when i was thinking about building a crawler also. I can see your point on the double rollers but also consider the rocks and dirt they will be riding on as that area get a lot of dirt in turns. it might be better to ride on the chain. Id also cut holes into the track pads where the teeth engage the chain. dirt needs to be pushed through there or you will throw a track

The track seems to move fine even with the single track sprocket. I have been able to put some good tension on the track so it doesn't seem to twist.

Keep it up it looks good

 

[wldrbob]

how about some uhmw plastic and just make sliders on each side of your center chain no wories about bogie wheels then just like a skidoo slider inside the track. 2.5 or 3 ft sliders would fit just nice and that stuff takes forever to wear out and it stays slipery