Homemade caterpillar for a snowmobile from a conveyor belt. How to make caterpillars for equipment from tires with your own hands Caterpillars on a snowmobile from a tractor tire

Many lovers of home-made equipment are engaged in the development and manufacture of all-terrain vehicles on crawler.

A variety of solutions are used to bring ideas to life, but the biggest problem for enthusiasts of this type of transport has been and remains caterpillars. Of course, no one forbids the use of factory-made propellers in their samples, but I want an all-terrain vehicle (or snowmobile), made by myself, to have homemade caterpillars. Let's look at some ways to make tracks that have shown fairly good performance.

The simplest option

A caterpillar mover for snowmobiles and light all-terrain vehicles can be made on the basis of an ordinary bush-roller chain and a conveyor belt. For the manufacture of such a caterpillar, there is no need to have special tools or equipment, everything is done “on the knee”.

Caterpillar from a conveyor belt

To prolong the life of the tape, it is advisable to sew its edges with a fishing line in increments of about a centimeter (just like seamstresses do overcasting the edges of the fabric), this will save the tape from fraying. The connection of the tape into a ring can be done in any available way, for example, using a hinge like a piano loop, or sewing the ends of the tape (a less reliable method).

The thickness of the tape should be selected based on the engine power. When using engines from domestic motorcycles, nice results shows a belt with a thickness of 8 - 10 millimeters, which is used on agricultural conveyors.

Despite the ease of manufacture, such a homemade caterpillar for a snowmobile has a decent resource and is also easy to repair if necessary.

Tire tracks

The manufacture of caterpillars from automobile tires is quite common among home-made people. For this purpose, tires are selected from trucks, preferably with a suitable tread pattern (there will be less work with the tire in the future).

Tire caterpillar

To make such a caterpillar, it is necessary to cut the bead from the tire, leaving only the treadmill. This work is quite laborious and requires a lot of patience, since only a well-sharpened shoe knife is used from the tools.

To simplify the work, you can moisten the blade in soapy water from time to time, then the rubber is easier to cut. As an option, you can consider the use of home-made cutting devices, or use an electric jigsaw on which a file with a fine tooth is fixed (it is also better to moisten the file with soapy water).

First, the beads are cut off from the tire, then, if necessary, the extra layers are removed from the wrong side of the resulting ring (if the track is too hard). After that, if the tread pattern does not meet the designer's requirements, a new lug structure is cut.

A home-made tire caterpillar has an undoubted advantage over the above-described sample, since it has an initially closed loop, which means that its reliability will be many times higher. The downside is the limited width of the finished track, but if necessary, you can use a double and triple width version.

Belt tracks

Attractive because of its relative simplicity is the option of making a caterpillar with your own hands.

Belts with a wedge-shaped profile are connected into a single unit with the help of lugs attached to the belts with rivets or screws.

Thus, a track is obtained with already existing holes for the drive sprocket (for this, you only need to leave gaps between the belts).

There are many ways to make caterpillars - the main thing is to have the desire and patience, and then everything will work out.

Caterpillars seem to be, and perhaps are, the most difficult component of homemade tracked vehicles to manufacture. It doesn’t matter what you want to make the caterpillars for - a small all-terrain vehicle for hunting, a motorized towing vehicle for fishing, or a caterpillar walk-behind tractor for housework. In all cases, you need a light and easy-to-make home-made caterpillar, which would then also serve for a long time and would not require close attention during operation.

Those who can afford to buy serial caterpillars in one of the online stores do it and do not think about it. But for most skilled craftsmen, the budget for building equipment for home use does not allow this. They come to the aid of ingenuity or the Internet!

There are several ways to make them, and one of the most common among garage craftsmen is making tracks from truck tires. With a shoe knife, periodically wetting it in an ordinary soapy solution for easier sliding on rubber, cut out the sides of the tire, leaving only the treadmill. It is only here in the article that this process can be described in one sentence. In fact, this is a very time-consuming and traumatic work that requires patience and care. The result of this painstaking process will be a high-quality and not disheveled cut.

For those who want faster results, there is another option - take a jigsaw with a fine file.
Remember! Regardless of the chosen cutting method, the result always depends on you. One can carry with a knife, injure himself and cut everything crookedly, while the other will do everything quickly and accurately with a jigsaw. It all depends on your skills, abilities and experience - choose a method based on them.

After you have cut out the sides of the tire, you need to check the resulting ring for elasticity and, if necessary, remove the extra inner layers of rubber. Next, you need to figure out if the existing tread pattern will suit you, and if not, then cut a new one, because the tracks, depending on the operating conditions, may need good lugs. Someone may need a regular long trip along the track and he does not need to make changes, but fishermen and hunters driving through swamps and deep off-road would not hurt to have good grip on the surface.

Homemade caterpillars from car tires can be used on various vehicles, they are quite reliable and inexpensive to manufacture. Of course, they have pros and cons, and indeed, no doubt, everyone has something to add to the described manufacturing process.

Video of a small tractor with homemade tire tracks:

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With the advent of winter, some people successfully replace two-wheeled vehicles with homemade snowmobiles. This technique is able to overcome large snowdrifts and it is convenient to move on snow-covered roads. It is expensive and not everyone can afford to buy it, so many people assemble snowmobiles on their own using scrap materials.

General arrangement of the snowmobile

A snowmobile is a sled that is powered by an engine. They are agile, agile and capable of speeds in excess of 85 mph. Middle-class equipment can overcome slopes of 20 °. Steep slopes up to 65° are able to pass snowmobiles with a higher class. General snowmobile device:

1. The equipment is controlled by means of steering handles. The handles are connected to the skis that are in front.
2. The steering wheel is equipped with drives: gas and brakes. These levers control the speed and braking of the snowmobile.
3. There are no rear wheels, and instead of them a solid rubber band (caterpillar) is installed, which moves the snowmobile. It is connected to the engine via a chain and belt.
4. Some models can be made on cameras from tractor wheels.

Thanks to their design, snowmobiles overcome difficult terrain that cars cannot pass. With their help, products are delivered to snow-covered areas in which there are no roads. But most people are used to using them for entertainment.

Production of structural elements

Before proceeding with the manufacture of structural elements, a drawing, the required materials and tools are prepared. You can take ready-made drawings based on snowmobiles Snegir or Vepr. Of the tools you will need:

• welding machine;
• pipe bender or finished frame;
• a hammer;
• screwdrivers.

Since the design of the minisnowmobile is low, the seat is made of durable waterproof material. The fuel tank is made of metal. Its volume should be from 10 to 15 liters. As a drive, you can use a chain from a motorcycle.

How to make a track for a snowmobile

A caterpillar for a snowmobile is created from tires or a conveyor belt. The work will be difficult and time-consuming if tires are used as the basis. Sides are cut out of them, so a sharp shoe knife or an electric jigsaw is required for work. To facilitate the process, tires are selected with a suitable tread pattern. Making a homemade caterpillar:

1. The sides of the tire are cut with a knife. If the knife blade is periodically moistened with soapy water, the cutting process will become easier. When using an electric jigsaw, a blade with small teeth is installed and moistened with water.
2. If, during cutting, the path turned out to be hard or extra layers formed on the wrong side, they are also cut off.
3. Cutting a new structure is done when there is a mismatch in the tread pattern. The design made must cling to the soil, so the structure of the picture must be correct.

Fishermen, hunters and winter sports enthusiasts use snowmobiles to get to the best places. Even inexpensive models of such equipment cost about a hundred thousand rubles, more often - more. Those who want to save money can assemble a homemade snowmobile on tracks in an ordinary garage workshop. The cost of parts for construction does not exceed 40 thousand rubles.

Snowmobile device

Homemade snowmobiles are arranged on caterpillar tracks. The tracks are driven by an internal combustion engine mounted on a rigid metal frame. They are supported in working position by wheels and special rollers. Main options:

• With a solid or fractured frame.
• With rigid or shock-absorbed suspension.
• With an engine from a walk-behind tractor or from a motorized carriage.

Short skis are used for steering. Light snowmobiles (weighing up to 100 kg), designed to move with maximum speed up to 15 km/h, do not require mandatory equipment braking system. They stop easily when the engine speed drops. Make a homemade snowmobile on tracks it is possible according to the algorithm:

1. Selection of the engine, calculation of the frame and chassis.
2. Frame assembly by spot welding.
3. Steering device.
4. Installing the engine in the design position on a temporary mount.
5. Checking the structure for resistance to overturning.
6. At successful verification- major frame welding, engine installation.
7. Installation of the drive system, bridges.
8. Assembly and installation of caterpillars.
9. Assembly of body parts.

After that, the final tests are carried out. If the snowmobile rides normally and does not tip over, then it is driven into the garage and disassembled. The frame is cleaned of rust, painted in 2 layers, the rest of the elements are finished, after which they assemble a home-made snowmobile on tracks with their own hands.

Engine selection

Apply gasoline engines for walk-behind tractors or wheelchairs. The engine speed is controlled by the throttle placed on the handlebar. To make a homemade caterpillar snowmobile with your own hands, the easiest way is use ready-made small-volume engines for walk-behind tractors with pre-installed:

• Fuel tank.
• Ignition system.
• A reduction gear with a ratio of 1:2.
• Centrifugal clutch, automatically activated when the speed increases.

The power of these motors does not exceed 10 Horse power, but they are easy to install: the master does not need to separately assemble the ignition system, supply fuel pipes, adjust the clutch, etc. There are different options on the market:

If it is not possible to purchase a ready-made engine from a walk-behind tractor, then you can use the engine from a motorized carriage. Such engines are more powerful by 10-15 horsepower, but require self-assembly. The system includes:

• Engine.
• Clutch.
• Reducer.
• Gas tank (volume 5-10 liters).
• Muffler.
• Generator.
• Switch and electronic ignition coil.

Some of the elements are suitable from old motorcycles (Minsk, Vostok, Java, Ural). The gas tank is located as close as possible to the carburetor in order to reduce the length of the pipes.

Frame and body

Before work, it is recommended to draw up a drawing of the frame. The structure is welded from a 25 x 25 mm square tube with a wall thickness of 2 mm. With a payload of more than 150 kg, the cross-sectional size is increased to 30 x 25 mm. The loading area and body elements are sheathed with plywood. Seats are selected with a hydrophobic coating.

In the center of the fracture frame, a hinge is located that allows rotation around a vertical axis. The maximum angle of rotation is limited by welding metal plates. The front half is used for steering, and the engine is placed on the rear frame.

The whole frame is welded in the form of a rectangle, inside which bridges and caterpillars are placed. The engine is placed in front on a special platform, rigidly welded to the rest of the frame. In both cases, the motor is placed in the transverse direction (the shaft goes to the end).

Drive system

A drive sprocket of small diameter is installed on the output shaft of the engine. From it, the torque is transmitted through the chain to the driven shaft, located under the engine seat. On the driven shaft are:

• Large diameter driven sprocket.
• Gear wheels that drive the tracks.
• Track guides.

The driven shaft is mounted on the frame with bearings. The gear wheels push the tracks, setting the tracks in motion. The chain and sprockets are removed from one device. Old motorcycles, snowmobiles ("Buran") are suitable for the role of a donor. Gear wheels for tracks are removed only from other tracked vehicles.

The guide rollers rotate with the shaft, are mounted next to the gear wheels and serve to tension the belt. They are made of wood or plastic, have a layer on the ends soft rubber. Rubber prevents track damage. It is easy to make such rollers yourself by fixing the edging with a furniture stapler.

Calculation and assembly of the caterpillar

The caterpillar is a tape, on the outer surface of which tracks are fixed. Trucks are rigid lugs installed along the entire length of the tracks. Track options:

• From a transport tape 3 mm thick.
• From a car tire.
• From V-belts.
• Ready-made caterpillars of factory production.

The conveyor belt must be looped. Its strength is only sufficient for light snowmobiles with engines no more powerful than 10 hp. With. Car tires are stronger than tape, they are suitable for powerful engines. One-piece tires do not need to be looped, so the likelihood of a break is minimal. It is more difficult to choose a tire of the desired length than a tape.

Ready caterpillars are removed from other similar equipment (snowmobiles "Buran", "Sherkhan"). Lugs are installed on them from the factory. Products are not suitable for use with low-power motors from walk-behind tractors. Homemade snowmobiles from "Buranovsky" caterpillars must have gear wheels from the same "donor".

The size of the caterpillar is selected according to the required driving characteristics: the greater the width, the lower the handling, but the higher the cross-country ability. The minimum area of ​​the contact patch from the snowmobile (skis and caterpillars) must be such that the pressure from the equipped vehicle does not exceed 0.4 kg/cm 2 of the surface. Light snowmobiles use a 300 mm wide conveyor belt, cut lengthwise into 2 strips of 150 mm.

Tape preparation

Trucks are mounted on self-made tracks with M6 bolts with a wide head. The bolts are fixed with a nut, a washer and a grover are used. Before fastening, leading holes with a diameter of 6 mm are drilled in the tape and tracks. When drilling, a jig and wood drills with special sharpening are used.

The conveyor belt is also looped with M6 bolts. To do this, the edges of the tape are superimposed on each other with an overlap of 3-5 cm, the connection contains 1-2 rows of bolts. For track width 150mm withstand the following distances:

• From the edge of the tape 15-20 mm.
• Between the bolts on the tracks 100-120 mm.
• Between bolts when banding 25−30 mm.

In total, 2 bolts go to one track, 5-10 bolts to one tape connection, depending on the number of rows. When using car tires, only the treadmill is left, and the sidewalls are removed with a shoe knife.

Tracks are made of a polyethylene pipe with a diameter of 40 mm with a wall thickness of 5 mm, sawn in half in the longitudinal direction. The whole section of the lug is adjacent to the tape. In light snowmobiles, one track connects the caterpillar pair. With a track width of 150 mm, the length of the track is 450-500 mm.

Grousers are cut with a circular saw on wood. They use a special machine with two guides (metal and wood), rigidly fixed on a fixed tabletop. The walls of the pipes are sawn in turn.

The distance between the tracks depends on the parameters of the gears on the drive shaft. Usually it is 5-7 cm. The specified distance is maintained with an error of no more than 3 mm. Otherwise, the operation of the drive is disrupted: the lugs “run into” the teeth of the drive wheels, the caterpillar begins to slip and fly off the rollers.

Chassis

Light snowmobiles designed for riding on loose snow are equipped with an articulated suspension made of an elongated M16 nut. This is a lightweight design with a simple device that does not provide comfortable driving performance homemade.

Tracked snowmobiles designed to ride on packed snow must have shock absorbers (from a motorcycle or moped). Shock absorbers are installed in the places where skis and bridges are attached to the frame. The suspension travel is selected so that the moving elements do not touch the snowmobile body during operation.

Helms and skis

The steering is output to two front skis according to a scheme structurally similar to the suspension. It is made from a threaded stud installed in an elongated M16 nut, rigidly welded to the frame. The steering wheel from a moped or motorcycle ("Minsk") is used.

In total, the design uses 3 plastic skis from a children's scooter (or home-made plywood 3 mm thick). A pair of front skis is used for taxiing. Skis up to 1 meter long are used, if necessary, reinforced with a steel pipe and plate.

The third ski is supporting, serves to maintain the tape in working condition. It is shorter than the rest, placed between the bridges (in the center). A T-beam is attached to the supporting ski, rigidly welded to the frame. On top of the beams are freely rotating rollers for tracks. Installation of this design is not needed if the caterpillar does not sag.

Bridge device

Bridges are placed under the loading area. One bridge takes 2 inflatable wheels from a garden cart and a metal rod. The wheels rotate freely and are not driven. In snowmobiles built on the basis of motors from walk-behind tractors, the wheels are half-inflated. Clamps are welded to the outer ends of the wheels, with the help of which the bridges are attached to the frame.

The front axle is fixed, its clamps are rigidly welded to the frame. rear axle must move freely along the frame, as it serves to tension the track. Its latches provide for friction tightening of M10 bolts, fixing the bridge in working position.

With the onset of the winter period, two-wheeled vehicles are losing their relevance. Using a car to overcome short distances with high snow cover is not very practical, and in most cases - an impossible process. A snowmobile is much better at this task.

Winter mechanical vehicle in most cases equipped with caterpillar rear wheel drive and front steering skis. High flotation, versatility and ease of use make the snowmobile the most popular means of transportation in the world today. winter time of the year.

Features of homemade snowmobiles

Nowadays, you can buy a snowmobile at any motorcycle dealership, both in a large metropolis and in a small city, however, the prices of this equipment force many winter riding enthusiasts to make a homemade snowmobile on tracks with their own hands.

There are four important advantages of a self-made vehicle over a factory one:

1. Price is the most important factor for most. The cost of some units of leading manufacturers of motorcycles can exceed the cost of assembled from improvised materials by 5-10 times.
2. Parameters - the ability to assemble a vehicle of the desired configuration. This applies to how appearance, and power reserve, type of chassis, etc.
3. Reliability is the point that products of even well-known manufacturers cannot always boast of. In self-manufacturing, a person uses the highest quality materials and pays Special attention the most important parts of the mechanism.
4. The benefit is the ability to use materials, parts and devices from other devices lying around in garages and utility rooms.

At the same time, home-made snowmobiles find their application both on the streets of settlements and on off-road sections of country expanses and ski resorts.

Homemade snowmobile on tracks with your own hands: where to start?

1 — back light; 2 - towing device; 3 — body (plywood, s16); 4 - side reflectors; 5 - rear shock absorber (from the Dnepr motorcycle, 2 pcs.); 6 - gas tank (from the launcher of the T-150 tractor); 7 - seat; 8 - main frame; 9 - electronic ignition switch (from the Voskhod motorcycle); 10 - ignition coil (from the Voskhod motorcycle); eleven - power point(from a motorized carriage, 14 hp); 12 — muffler (from motorized carriage); 13 — steering column; 14 - steering joint in a leather case filled with grease (hinge from "UAZ"); 15 - limiter for vertical movement of the steering ski (chain); 16 — steering ski turn limiter; 17 — steering ski; 18 - side ski (2 pcs.); 19 - generator; 20 - clutch lever (from a motorized stroller); 21 - drive chain shield; 22 - footrest; 23 - drive chain of the drive shaft; 24 — caterpillar drive shaft; 25 - lower track chain guide (polyethylene, s10, 2 pcs.); 26 — caterpillar chain (from the header of a forage harvester, 2 pcs.); 27, 31 - upper front and rear guide chains (polyethylene s10, 2 pcs.); 28 — shock absorber of the articulated frame of the mover (shortened rear shock absorbers of the Dnepr motorcycle, 2 sets); 29 — reference ski; 30 - rear spacer frame; 32 - rear axle.

The drawing of a homemade snowmobile is the most important stage in the preparatory stage of production. Help here engineering skills will come in handy, and in the absence of such, superficial sketches are made, creating a general image of the future mechanism.

Before creating a drawing, you must determine the list of required components. The basis of a standard configuration snowmobile is:

1. Frame - depending on the complexity of the design, it can be borrowed from an ATV, scooter, scooter, motorcycle, etc. In their absence, the part is usually cooked from thin-walled metal pipes with a diameter of about 40 mm.
2. Seat - Considering difficult conditions operation of equipment, the material of this element must have a high water-repellent ability.
3. Engine - is selected with the calculation of the required speed and total weight of the vehicle. The most commonly used motors are walk-behind tractors, scooters, motorcycles, etc.
4. Tank - a 10-15 liter metal / plastic container will completely provide carefree trips over relatively long distances and will not take up much space on the unit.
5. Skis - in case of absence ready-made options, for self-manufacturing it is recommended to use nine/ten-layer plywood sheets with a thickness of about 3 mm.
6. The steering wheel is chosen with the calculation of convenience and practicality. Like the frame, engine and seat, it is removed from the indicated two-wheeled units.
7. Drive - a part that transmits rotational motion from the engine to the track. This function is well performed by a motorcycle chain.
8. The caterpillar is the most complex and important element. Their types and methods of self-production will be discussed further.

How to make homemade caterpillars?

One of the most common materials for the manufacture of propulsion at home is car tire. A homemade caterpillar for a snowmobile from a car tire has one important advantage over other options - it is made in the form of a closed loop, which greatly reduces the likelihood of a break.



The beads are separated from the tire with a shoe knife, after which a flexible treadmill remains. Grousers are attached to the drive web - plastic pipes sawn along with a diameter of about 40 mm and a thickness of about 5 mm. Cut to the width of the tire, half-pipes are attached to the canvas with bolts (M6, etc.) with an interval of 5-7 cm.

Homemade caterpillars are made in the same way. from a conveyor belt. Their main advantage is the ability to choose the length of the mover. After cutting to the required length, special attention should be paid to the hitch. The ends of the tape overlap each other by 3-5 cm, and are fixed across the entire width with the same bolts as the lugs.

Handy materials such as V-belts often help to make homemade tracks. Bonded across the width with the help of lugs, they make up a full-fledged caterpillar track with gear cavities already on the inside.

Keep in mind that the wider the track, the better the snowmobile's flotation, but the worse its handling. Factory options have three samples of the width of the canvases in inches: 15 - standard; 20 - wide; 24 - extra wide.

Let's move on to practice

The frame, made of pipes or corners, is primarily equipped with a steering mechanism. Having chosen the height and angle of inclination, weld the element with spot welding. Install and fix the motor according to the drawing, taking care not to tilt too much. The snowmobile should not have a long fuel line, so try to position the tank close to the carburetor.

The next step is to install the caterpillar. Mount the driven axle with the canvas on the back of the frame (on a fork, suspension, shock absorber, etc., depending on the type of construction), the drive axle - in the middle part of the snowmobile (most often under the driver's seat), in the shortest possible coupling with the engine. The gears of both bridges are pre-engaged.

Homemade snowmobile from a walk-behind tractor



This transformation is especially popular today. The walk-behind tractor can be used both partially and completely. In the first case, a supporting frame with rear axle. The most difficult stage in this case is the transformation of the working shaft of the walk-behind tractor into a drive gear.

Homemade snowmobile from a walk-behind tractor with partial use of parts is more versatile. In this case, only the engine and steering fork are removed from the “donor”, ​​to the bottom of which skis are attached instead of wheels. The motor itself can also be located in the rear of the structure.

It should be noted that the engines of the main part of the walk-behind tractors are designed for the weight and pressure of the wheels, which is several times less than the caterpillar one. Therefore, in order to avoid increased wear of parts and fuel consumption, it is better to equip such a snowmobile with low-pressure wheels.