2015 - Volume #39, Issue #4, Page #10
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Mini Dozer Has Snowmobile Tracks
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“Dozers and backhoes have always interested me. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I drew a picture and worked out the technical stuff as I went,” says Newman.
The “technical stuff” includes a 12-hp. Roper lawn mower expanded and beefed up to accommodate an 18-hp. Briggs and Stratton twin-cylinder engine; snowmobile tracks from old Scorpion snowmobiles; hydraulic valves from a multi-car hauler; small motors off a Deere combine to drive the tracks; and a 21 gpm hydraulic pump for running everything, including the snow blade.
“I thought about making my own tracks, but I like the rubber tracks,” Newman says. He notes the Scorpion tracks don’t have gaps, which is important to keep dirt out. To add traction, he bolted angle iron every 3 in. across the tracks.
His biggest challenge was lining up 1/2-in. dia. rods on the drums to fit between the track’s lugs. Newman also built the frame and seat, making room for the battery.
“The upper unit is hinged so I can get to the hydraulics, drive motor, and chains,” Newman says.
The 4-ft. snow blade, which came off a pickup, turns right and left and lifts about 16 in. off the ground.
“It works great in dirt and sand, but not as well in 2-in. gravel. It tends to lock up the tracks,” he notes.
It’s ideal for basic jobs in the yard, Newman says, and small enough to load in the back of a pickup.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lowell Newman, 2071 U.S. Hwy. 68, Urbana, Ohio 43078 (ph 937-653-4098).
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