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Mini Dozer Has Snowmobile Tracks
Lowell Newman’s mini bulldozer pushes, lifts and maneuvers like a full-size dozer - just at a smaller scale.
    “Dozers and backhoes have always interested me. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I drew a picture of it 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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2015 - Volume #39, Issue #4