To increase the throughput capacity of a walk-behind tractor and use it as an all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile, you can equip it with tracks. They can be purchased ready-made, but they are expensive, and it is not always possible to choose the right option for your walk-behind tractor. There are several ways to make a caterpillar for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands.
If you wish, you can independently modify your walk-behind tractor, turning it into a tracked all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile. The main rule is that you should consider what work the tracks are intended for in order to choose the right material, because they must be not only durable, but also extremely light.
Having available materials and correctly calculating the length of the caterpillar, you can make it yourself using simple improvised means.
First of all, you need to equip your walk-behind tractor with an additional pair of wheels. A caterpillar track will be put on each side pair.
The length of each of the two goosenecks will be equal to the circumference of one wheel and the distance between the axles of each pair of wheels, multiplied by two.
Important: the wheels on the walk-behind tractor must be the same diameter.
Materials for homemade products can include:
So, let's look at a few options self-made goose, depending on the material used.
This method is the simplest because it does not require large quantity special tools and auxiliary materials.
It’s enough to simply make a durable, reliable gooseneck for a walk-behind tractor from a tire. Manufacturing process from car tire will not take too much time, since it does not need to be stitched and increased lugs - the tire itself is a closed structure with a tread for traction.
Tires from wheels for trucks or tractors with a pronounced tread pattern.
The manufacturing process is divided into several stages:
However, here there are several points that you should pay attention to:
In order to make a tracked all-terrain vehicle from a walk-behind tractor, you can use ordinary belts with a V-shaped profile. The belts are connected to each other by lugs attached to them with rivets or screws. Thus we get a belt track.
To make a track from chains (chain tracks), you need to take two pieces of the same chain of the required length.
Tracks for a homemade goose can also be made independently from any suitable material. The main thing to consider is what load you are going to give to your walk-behind tractor.
You can use segments as tracks for a snowmobile gooseneck plastic pipe. For this purpose, plastic water pipe Cut No. 40 into pieces equal to the width of the caterpillar. By using circular saw cut each section lengthwise into two equal halves, or use a wood circular saw for this.
The resulting tracks must be attached at regular intervals to the conveyor belt with No. 6 furniture bolts with large hemispherical heads.
Sometimes, if the load on the goose is not very large, you can use birch blocks as tracks. They are not particularly strong for heavy loads, but they are lightweight, affordable, and a track with such tracks can be repaired in any convenient location.
The most reliable are metal tracks made of high-quality iron. Metal pipes or profiles cut into pieces of the required length are suitable for this purpose. The profiled metal pipe is cut according to the same principle as the plastic one and bolted to the conveyor belt.
However, metal tracks, despite their noticeable strength, also have their drawbacks: they are heavy compared to plastic and wood, and can bend during use. To straighten the track, you will need to remove it from the gooseneck, and this is a labor-intensive operation.
When choosing the material from which the track tracks for your mini-all-terrain vehicle will be made, you should evaluate the degree of load and operating conditions. Light polyethylene or wooden tracks are perfect for overcoming snowy expanses, but to use a walk-behind tractor as a mini-tractor, it is still better to make a caterpillar with metal lugs.
A motorized towing vehicle, popularly called a “motor dog,” is ideally suited for use in northern latitudes with good snow cover. Using a walk-behind tractor, you can independently make an alternative to a dog sled, a high-speed tracked vehicle that can tow a sled with a person or a small load in the snow.
Making a caterpillar for a motorized dog with your own hands is not at all difficult.
You can use an old gooseneck from a Buran snowmobile. To increase the chassis, you should cut it in half and build it up using inserts. The tracks can be carriages from the old Buran. Three carriages with rollers are enough. They also need to be sawn and extended with inserts.
In the absence of old spare parts, a caterpillar for a motorized towing vehicle can be made from improvised materials using one of the methods described above. For example, from a conveyor belt.
For production you will need:
We bring to your attention a video showing the caterpillar manufacturing process.
Making tracks for a walk-behind tractor is a simple process, although it requires a sufficient amount of time. It is also necessary to make every effort and skill to ensure that all links of the goose are located at an equal distance from each other. This will help to avoid distortions and sliding of the caterpillar track from the load-bearing surfaces.
With the development of technology, more and more various designs mechanisms that are operated in winter. But with the arrival of spring, such cars remain unclaimed until next season, and their owners have to change their vehicle. It is unprofitable and impractical to have two vehicles that differ only in the chassis. And the excellent solution was to create a snowmobile motorcycle that would be universal and could be used equally successfully in winter and summer. To do this, you can make a homemade caterpillar.
I’ve been thinking about getting one for a long time, but I decided to refrain from buying an industrial Buran. And not only because this car is not cheap and, intended only for winter use, only takes up space in the garage in the summer. It happens, you'll get it together in early spring to go fishing, but the road to a nearby body of water is already clear of snow, and “Buran” will no longer pass. But, unfortunately, an old friend - a motorcycle - will not help here: beyond the side of the road the snow is still deep and loose.
A popular model is the snowmobile mechanism, the basis for which was an IZH motorcycle with a sidecar.
The design of the skis, which we will install in place of the front wheel and the stroller wheel, is quite simple. They can be made from a duralumin sheet riveted with longitudinal corners, due to which the skis will acquire longitudinal rigidity. Next, you need to attach two metal strips to the corners, and between the strips, use two bolts to secure the wheel. The sliding surface for skis can be made of stainless steel, brass or polyethylene. This will significantly reduce friction on the snow. And to improve controllability, you need to make a special undercut on the front ski - a steel vertical rib on the lower flat part.
The caterpillar mover, installed in place of the removed rear wheel of the motorcycle, is more difficult to manufacture.
The shafts of the front and rear support drums of the caterpillar are machined from steel rod 0 25 mm. At the ends of each, journals are machined for bearing No. 204, and in the middle part sprockets (Z=17) of the transmission chains and support drum flanges are welded. Since only the front shaft is driving, the rear sprocket is not used, but the shafts are completely interchangeable, which can be useful if the sprocket fails.
The bearing housings of these shafts are machined from steel blanks. In addition to the bearing housing, they have axial holes for fastening the frame plates and a radial hole (in place) for a long pin used as a caterpillar tensioning rod.
The housing covers have a groove for installing a sealing collar and are attached to the housing with IVI5 bolts.
The caterpillar support drums are machined from duralumin blanks and assembled from two halves with six MB bolts. During assembly, drive sprockets cut from a thick rubber sheet are clamped between them - on the front shaft and cylindrical rollers - on the rear. The teeth of the drive sprockets transmit force to the track, engaging the lugs through the gap between the track strips. And the drums themselves roll along the inside of the track. Semicircular grooves on them outer surface made so that the heads of the screws that secure the lugs to the tape do not interfere with work.
The caterpillar consists of four strips 56 mm wide, cut from a conveyor belt and connected together by common steel lugs U-shaped profiles, bent from strips 2 mm thick.
The front track shaft is driven by a chain drive from a drive sprocket (Z=42) installed in place of the wheel. The sprocket itself is borrowed from the IZH-10 motorcycle. It is attached with six Mb bolts to a pre-processed forest hub, as shown in the drawing. This part is mounted on the rear fork in the same way as the rear wheel with the addition of a simple spacer.
The intermediate supports of the caterpillar propulsion system are balancers - mounted on common axis four double-armed levers with roller axles fixed at the ends.
Not finding wheels suitable in size and strength for the balancer, I made them myself. Using a simple stamp, I squeezed out halves of wheel disks from round steel plates, turned out bronze hubs - plain bearings and a mold for roller tires. By connecting the half-discs with six bolts, I got a durable wheel that can be easily repaired in case of wear.
Dear visitors to the site “”, today we will figure out how to make tracks for a tracked all-terrain vehicle yourself and what is needed for this? Let's go... it is the most passable among its brothers, and all because the specific pressure on the ground is evenly distributed over the entire lower plane of the caterpillar, that is, it is a uniform support point. But on wheeled all-terrain vehicles, the pressure is distributed over 4 points, so they often get stuck and slip. A simple example for you, why are tracked tanks? Yes, all for the same reason, to evenly distribute the huge weight of the machine onto the plane of the caterpillar in contact with the ground, otherwise they will simply get stuck in the ground and not budge.
The first step is to get a conveyor belt, it looks like this. 
You will also need a professional pipe rectangular section.
And of course fasteners in the form of: bolts, nuts, washers, engravers. 
First, we make blanks for the tracks according to the width of the track being made, cut them with a grinder and put them in a pile) 
After which these blanks need to be given the desired shape and pressed on a special homemade machine. For clarity, let's see how a professional does it; 40 seconds to crimp one track is no joke guys)
It is advisable to lubricate the ends a little with used oil. 
After the truck is betrayed correct form, you still need to weld fangs-limiters onto it. 
In the upper part, additional reinforcement is welded in the form of the letter “ V» 
In general, such a track should turn out. 
First you need to check and adjust directly at the installation site of the caterpillar itself. 
Then you can start assembling the caterpillar, but first you need to make holes in the conveyor belt, mainly this one is used homemade instrument. The tube is sharpened at the end, and there is a hole on the side for removing chopped rubber. 
The tracks are also drilled with a drill, 2 holes on each edge. 
Next, we assemble the caterpillar into a single whole. 
This is how homemade tracks for all-terrain vehicles are made; as you can see, it is quite possible to do it yourself, which will significantly reduce the cost of the all-terrain vehicle you are assembling.
Thank you all for your attention!
When operating in off-road conditions, tracked vehicles have undeniable advantages in front of wheeled vehicles due to its all-terrain qualities, allowing it to overcome deep loose snow, soggy arable land or rocky ford.
The popularity of tracked vehicles among household users is so great that many home craftsmen independently “convert” their wheeled vehicles into homemade ones - tracks made from scrap materials.
One of the retrofitting options is to use old tires from MTZ tractors, allowing significantly increase cross-country ability personal auto and motorcycle equipment at minimal financial costs.
For a tracked vehicle of any purpose, be it a tank or a snowmobile, forward motion is provided by a tracked propulsion unit (CT).
It uses two motivating factors:
A caterpillar or caterpillar chain of a main engine is a link structure, which is a continuous continuous belt or chain.
For full traction with the ground surface, the caterpillar equipped with relief protrusions, serving as active lugs.
The caterpillar principle is illustrated by the kinematic diagram of the main engine operation located below. The following positions are indicated on the diagram:
Movement according to the caterpillar principle carried out as follows:
The rewindable track belt/chain is continuously laid in the direction of forward movement of the vehicle on the surface of the ground support under the road wheels, creating for the wheels of the vehicle path with lower resistance to movement than on soft ground.
During movement, the caterpillar belt rises from the supporting surface and transfers the pushing force to the vehicle frame.
The specific pressure on the support (soil) along the length of the track is uneven - increased in the area of the drive sprockets, decreased in the front part in the area of the guide wheel (item 6). The maximum pressure on the ground from the main engine is in the area of the road wheels (item 4).
Thanks to the continuous placement of the caterpillar belt under the machine's rollers, a big square contact of the belt with the ground, significantly reducing the average pressure of the machine on the soil.
The range of average pressure on the ground of equipment with deep pressure is from 11.8 to 118 kN/sq.m (from 0.12 to 1.2 kgf/sq.cm), which is significantly lower than the pressure of a human foot.
Such low pressure levels ensure that equipment is protected from sinking into the ground, swampy soil or snow. By varying the size of the surface area in the contact zone of the caterpillar with the support, we achieve optimal ratio cross-country ability of the vehicle with its traction force for towing cargo.
When equipping vehicles with caterpillar tracks, homemade DIYers use transport belts or tires from automobile and tractor wheels.
The photo below shows homemade all-terrain vehicle on tracks made of reinforced conveyor belt with a width of 250 mm. Grousers with a height of 25 mm are used.
All-terrain vehicle made from a conveyor belt:
For most craftsmen, the preferred source materials for the manufacture of diesel engines are old tires from MTZ tractors of various models.
Among the main advantages of MTZ tires are: source material, and the tracks themselves made from these tires, include the following factors:
From shortcomings When working with tractor tires, two circumstances are noted:
The picture shows simplest in design homemade cart with tracks made from tires.
The re-equipment of equipment for diesel engines is carried out exclusively for utilitarian reasons of pragmatic owners of wheeled vehicles or motor vehicles who wish improve all-terrain qualities their "helpers".
For all models of equipment intended for driving in field conditions, the market offers serial versions of industrially manufactured diesel engines.
However, all this costs a lot of money, and tires free or very cheap.
Many equipment users manage to independently, in a home workshop, make tracks from tractor tires, install them on their machines and successfully operate in off-road conditions.
Regardless of the type of vehicle or motor vehicle, technicians take into account the following factors:
When choosing the ratio of engine power and belt width of a homemade tracked installation you can be guided by price list data on all-terrain vehicles equipped with serial tracks.
Below we will consider the categories of machines that are most popular among craftsmen when converting them to crawler tracks.
The list of models of household vehicles and motorcycles operating on loose snow and marshy soils is unusually wide.
The names of the machines themselves, accepted in everyday life, indicate their field of application.
It is a vehicle designed to move on loose snow cover.
Unlike the anglicism “snowmobile”, which denotes any vehicle adapted for movement on snow (snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles on tracks and pneumatic wheels, etc.), in Russia a snowmobile is only called means of ski-caterpillar movement(rear main engine, in front - skis instead of the front wheel) with motorcycle-type controls.
For utilitarian snowmobiles, the engine power is 30-40 hp, the track width ranges from 38 cm to 50 cm and even 60 cm.
Accordingly, if a master sets his task to create a machine for moving on virgin snow with a load, then he should focus on these indicators.
Similar parameters must be maintained when creating so-called snow and swamp-going vehicles.
If the master needs make a faster snowmobile(like sports ones), then the width of the tire track can be reduced.
The weight loads of a high-speed vehicle are much lower than those of a cargo utility vehicle.
The picture shows a motorcycle-based snowmobile equipped with a homemade 23 cm wide track cut from an excavator tire.
Otherwise, a homemade snowmobile track is made with your own hands according to the basic principle.
They are commonly referred to as any vehicle capable of driving off-road and even overcome water obstacles.
Types of all-terrain vehicles industrial production plenty:
Their cost not everyone can afford it, therefore, in home workshops they prefer to create their own exclusive products, “re-shoeing” their cars with tracks from tires made by themselves for an all-terrain vehicle.
Depending on the engine power of the vehicle, wider blades can be allowed.
For homemade all-terrain vehicles with a 40-70 hp engine. and a small weight load, a tape width is sufficient 30-40 cm.
For vehicles based on UAZ vehicles with an engine of 110-150 hp. track width required 40 cm with support rollers (6 pcs.) and support rollers (3 pcs.).
Naturally, the profile height of a tractor tire will not be enough to overcome a water obstacle, it is necessary to install high lugs.
The figure shows an all-terrain vehicle based on the Oka vehicle with a caterpillar track made of tires.
Represented by numerous mobile devices based on a single-axle chassis. Converted for the State Duma homemade options walk-behind tractors are widely in demand among rural residents and owners country houses or summer cottages.
The motivation for independently re-equipping units, bypassing the purchase of serial tracks, is obvious.
The cost of the NEVA wheeled walk-behind tractor does not exceed 1000 dollars. USA, while the simplest cars adapted for driving on snow are estimated at 5-10 thousand dollars. and higher.
The drive power of the walk-behind tractor (5-8 hp) is quite enough to be successfully used as an all-season vehicle
Motorized towing vehicles, nicknamed motorized dogs in everyday speech, are a mechanical coupling of a sled with a towing vehicle on a main engine. The driver and cargo are placed in the sleigh.
Production models are produced in wide range drive power (from 6 to 30 hp) and are equipped with a motor made of rubber-metal tape up to 60 cm wide.
Home craftsmen usually make towing vehicles based on a 15 hp engine from improvised means, installing tracks from tires 500 mm wide.
Such homemade motorized dogs are capable of transporting sleds with a load of up to 700 kg, reaching speeds of up to 40-50 km/h.
Most often, a homemade caterpillar for a motorized dog is made from a tire to save money.
The photo shows a homemade motorized towing vehicle based on a walk-behind tractor.
The caterpillar track for any model from the above categories of equipment is made from tires of various sizes corresponding to the selected design. Let's look at how to make a caterpillar from a tire step by step.
The work on tape production is unified and follows a general algorithm.
Special knowledge is not required when making a caterpillar from a tractor or car tire, however you can’t do without certain plumbing skills.
The process of forming a caterpillar track from an MTZ tire consists of several stages:
The criterion for quality work is straight cut without frayed edges of the resulting tape.
So the track element is ready to use:
You can see a homemade snowmobile track made from a tire in action in this video:
Making homemade tracks for converting equipment to caterpillar tracks is a very popular way to expand functionality machines at minimal cost.
The use of dismantled old tractor tires for HD helps to solve the problems of recycling old tires without the use of traditional waste processing methods - burning, grinding, chemical treatment, etc.
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One of the problems of our homeland is very bad roads. And so some enthusiasts are trying to decide this problem on your own.
Just a huge amount highways The roads connecting various villages are so poor in their condition that it is sometimes problematic to drive through them in an ordinary car.
And when the autumn-winter period comes, moving around them is almost impossible. You can, of course, get out of this situation and order an all-terrain vehicle from abroad, but this is very expensive and therefore you have to make do with what is available.
This all-terrain vehicle has high cross-country ability; off-road conditions and any water obstacles are not an obstacle for it. The body is made in the form of a box-shaped structure. The propulsion system is caterpillars.
Towing capacity - pulls a trailer weighing about 900 kg.The hood is shaped to move through algae, driftwood and moss. Exhaust gases are vented upward. A homemade all-terrain vehicle with caterpillar tracks is equipped with a winch located at the front. The body bottom is sufficiently sealed, plus there are pneumatic rollers on the sides, which have a positive effect on the buoyancy of the all-terrain vehicle.
The control of the all-terrain vehicle is the same as on a tractor; it is carried out using levers. The differentials located on the sides were made from VAZ disc brakes.
In the cabin, in the middle of the floor, there is a pneumatic lever - a track tensioner. Ideal option It would have been better to use a mechanical tensioner, since it is more unpretentious to repair, but the author of this all-terrain vehicle decided otherwise and installed a pneumatic tensioner.
The designer created an excellent chassis. You should pay attention to the tracks: they are cast, made independently. The tracks have lugs on the outside made of metal pipes welded to metal sheet. This played a positive role in terms of maneuverability and traction.
This technology is not used in foreign all-terrain vehicles due to the complexity of implementation and increased financial costs. The rollers are made from wheels from a motorized stroller, and the rollers are protected by a rubber reflector. Also above the caterpillar propulsion system there is a “precipitator” made in the form of a rubberized half-pipe.
A VAZ engine with a gearbox was used as the power unit. Gearbox connection rear axle carried out through a coupling made of rubber. The gearbox is connected to the side differentials by shafts.
As mentioned above, the differentials are made from VAZ disc brakes with conventional calipers.
The life of the gearbox is not reduced at all due to the low speed of the all-terrain vehicle. The main advantage of this all-terrain vehicle model is its low weight. When the all-terrain vehicle moves through swampy areas or across a lake, the body dives 30-40 cm.
Video of a homemade tracked all-terrain vehicle in action.
When implementing this homemade all-terrain vehicle project, the following tools were used: welding machine, grinder, various keys. Clamps, a machine for giving one shape or another sheet metal, this is especially true when manufacturing the cabin and bottom of an all-terrain vehicle. Various bolted connections. Glass cutter for making windshield and side windows. Drill for drilling holes.
