Yep, Time To Get Out The Welder..

I have to know.. I can't unsee this and I want one.. It's on..

 

Very clever!

 

You need 1…or 2 if you want to race

 

Definitely don’t Google Mini-dozer.

 

Made that mistake. What a rabbit hole.
That thing looks super simple. Could get you into a whole of trouble. (I mean fun!).

Dave

 

our local mud bog would be a hoot with that thing..

 

Try googling Quadractor.

I had a couple of these at one time. Climbed like goats.

 

Very cool build indeed. I do see one flaw with the "tracks". Mud and snow will build up inside them causing the bogie wheels to get larger in diameter.

 

I wonder if a hole saw through he middle of the treads would solve that and still have the integrity to stay together?

 

That probably would solve that. All the tracks I have seen have a way for debris to escape.

 

Saw the Quadractor at a state fair many years ago and I still have a newsletter from them. I always thought it was a cool idea and some neat engineering.
Looking at the information and manuals, it looked like it had an awful lot of belts and pulleys. I always wondered if they stayed in adjustment.
They were pretty cool.

Dave

 

Yeah, funny combination of backyard and aviation tech, and a lawnmower engine.

The knuckle jointed drive/suspension/steering legs were from aircraft engineering. The drive, transmission, and steering were about a dozen long v-belts. Reverse was done by belts crossed on themselves, and so on. Easily adjusted by idler pulleys.

But it worked. They would climb a vertical wall if you weren't paying attention.

 

The engineering of so much of that old equipment fascinates me.
I liked the fact that the Quadractor had such high ground clearance and the weight was distributed into the center of the vehicle so it could lift and pull a lot of weight.

Dave

 

I imagine the liability for consumer safety was a huge downside to their survival as a concept.

 

Interesting. Since the society is so ready to sue, a lot of really well engineered projects never got going.
I once saw a motorized wheelchair that would go up steps locking one axle at a time and the other one going up the steps one at a time. I would think the liability is what killed that.
Dave

 

Chained up, it did pretty well in the snow.