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Hello All

D

DrFfreeze

New member
Hello All,

I found this site while searching for some type of long snowmobile track. I just love the whole concept of tracked vehicles, and I would like to build a small tracked vehicle (very small, think gocart sized).

Anyway the tracks are what is giving me the most fits and I bumped into this site. This is SWEET! =) My wife and I just moved up into the foothills close to Boise, ID and we love all the snow. Now I just need something, anything to help me play in it.

I will lurk and try and soak up all the good info. Great Site! =)

DrFfreeze

www.drffreeze.net
 
I've always thought a mini-snowcat could be made by using standard snowmobile tracks. If you are a tinker, it seems like the best place to start would be with something the size of a golf cart sitting on top of snowmobile tracks.
 
Hello Skurka,

Snowmobile tracks have many advantages but they are not as long as I would wish, and they long tracks are a bit spendy (~$700/pair). The belts(?) and bars that the Snow Tracs use are very interesting.

I have ideas ranging from:
13hp, normal wheels, no suspension
13hp, ATV wheels, no suspension
13hp, Motocross wheels, no suspension (for snow)
13hp, (6) ATV wheels, rocker arm rear suspension
13hp, (6) ATV wheels 1/2 track, rocker arm rear suspension
dual 13hp engines, (6) ATV wheels 1/2 track, rocker arm rear suspension
dual 13hp engines, full track

Trying double wishbone suspension

Today, I just wanted to make s o m e t h i n g, and maybe start with a very small, very simple 13hp, 15" belt/rod track, go-cart design.

/sigh It all takes money and we are just expecting our 2nd child in April. It looks like I have mostly design work and lurking to do until things settle down. I hope you all don't mind me looking, reading, and asking plenty of questions here. =)

Oh, I live in Idaho, but I was born and raised in Indiana for the first 35 years of my life. My wife is from there too. =)

Oh hey, my friend also wants to tinker. He is a bit more ambitious than me. He would like to use at least a car engine, if not a rotery to get more hp. Then again he is better at working on cars as I am just learning, and his father made a tracked vehicle years ago and the last engine it had in it was a 454. =) Personally I think that would make a GREAT go-cart engine... :yum:

Later,
DrFfreeze

www.drffreeze.net
 
DrFfreeze said:
Snowmobile tracks have many advantages but they are not as long as I would wish
Click to expand...

I can't really think of any reason why two snowmobile tracks can't be linked together into a single, double length loop.
 
Take a look at a Cushman Trackster. It was one of the smallest, might give you some Ideas. The next smallest Production machine that might give you some ideas was the RaidTrac and one of our members has one.
 
Hey DrFfreeze

Welcome to the forum!

Is the extra "F" in your name due to chattering of the mouth when talking when it's super cold? :hide: :whistle: (just kidding)

First (and foremost), congrats on your April arrival from the stork. Can't call them a toy (I don't think :confused2: ) but they're better than any snow machine.

I've got to let the trac-folk (hmmm, maybe that's a new word for the hundreds of snow-trac members on the forum) answer the details about your design/aspirations. I do think there was a relatively recent post about building such a thing but I can't find it.

BTW - For B_Skurka, we just call him Bob.

Brian
 
I agree the Cushman Trackster are great little machines. I have 2 of them. Try to get one that has been repowered with a honda engine. Byron Miller
 
Last year I attended the Woodsmen’s Carnival in Boonville, New York. This is where all the logging equipment manufacturers show off their products. Items would be everything from Peterbuilt Tractors with grapple hooks to wood processors to chainsaws. One manufacturer from Barneveld, New York makes logging trailers, both large and small, like the one Pixie has posted. This company, Hudson Forest Equipment, also deals in snowmobiles and used snowmobile parts. They are familiar with snow cats as I have seen them for sale at their business. Hudson has started to build a hydraulic track machine using snowmobile tracks. This is a link to their site:

http://hud-son.com/index.html

I’ll find pictures of their machine and post it.
 
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Welcome Dr.Freeze :tiphat: ,
I did know of a Kristi KT2 that is in need of some heavy repair . It runs and that is about it . A guy may be able to pick it up for about $1500 if the owner still has it .
So how you liking Idaho ???? It's my favorite place .
Big Al
 
Hello All,

Wow, nice responses.

DaveNay,

I didn't think about cutting them and putting them back together. How would that be done? I need to see how you guys build your tracks. I saw some that looked like some ideas my friend and I thought about, but we didn't know if they would work or not. Some type of belt (we thought conveyer?) or cables (weight and no inate float), but what do you guys use? We also thought of some type of metal bar for paddles. With only a 6.5hp to 13hp engine weight is a major concern.


Brian,

Haha, the extra F may be due to chattering. =p www.drfreeze.com was already taken, so I added an extra F for my -40C mineral cooled PC experiment many moons ago.


Bob,

Thank you for the threads, they have some neat ideas.


Eric,

Well, other than your name is my name too, SWEET Trucker (if the icon is a pic of your beastie). I am amazed at ALL of the cool machines here. I never knew there was such an intereste in snow tracked vehicles. I have been looking for info on just plane tracked vehicles for a number of years. This is a goldmine. Oh, and I really enjoy documenting my work with pics, so when/if I get some cash I will have pics. =)


Big Al,

$1500 sounds like a good price, but right now too much for me. Plus I really want to learn to make my own design. That is 1/2 the fun (the other 1/2 is building it, and the last 1/2 is playing with it)..... :pat: Idaho is GREAT and we just moved up North, close to Idaho City and the snow and mountains (foothills, but as I am from Indiana, I still call them mountains) are wonderful. Just A M A Z I N G! In another post I saw you say that you were heading back to Idaho. Do you live here or just visit?


Overall Update,

Well, I have kinda solved some of my money issues. I will just build up a partial prototype out of wood. That way I can design some, build some, and still not spend much money. I need to learn how to use my DesignCAD program more anyway.

FYI,
Dr. Ffreeze

www.drffreeze.net
 
For connecting belting there are a few different methods. One is to simply overlap it and bolt it together. Another is to lace it. My Snow Trac uses the overlap method. Kristi snowcats use the lacing method, a couple modern lacings are shown below. The lacing method my look weak, but I have about a mile of belting in my warehouse and it never breaks at the lacing!
 

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