My Senior design project - a "Swamp Thing" tracked vehicle clone

[Garauld]

What brake pads did you use?

I think I bought high friction pads. I think getting them bedded in will help but it still takes more effort to steer it than I would like. I am going to experiment with something really "out of the box" and see if it would be feasible. More details will be offered soon. :dance1:

 

[Garauld]

Howdy - I have actually been puttering a bit on Snowzer. I have or had until today, an issue with the tracks chugging or crunching when moving front or back. I thought this was attributable to a mismatch in the pitch distances between the track bars and the drive sprocket teeth. I had tried changing the tooth profile several times and yesterday I shaved 0.200 off the sprocket hub OD all to no avail. Today I was looking at what to try next and I noticed an unusual amount of fine metal shavings on the axle bearing hub that supports the sprocket. Looking closer I saw that tops of the angled tire guides were hitting and rubbing on the bolt heads that attach the bearing hub to the support plate. DOH, a design mistake I should have foreseen. After I performed a little machining on the hub and plug welded the mounting studs to the hub flange I tried it out and no more crunching. The next problem to fix will be trying to get the service and steering brakes working more forcefully. For those of you that drive tracked vehicles - is it easier to steer when moving faster or not? Thanks.

 

[ArlyA]

Of course its easier. While tooling along and in snow, steerage is a snap. :thumbsup:

- is it easier to steer when moving faster or not? Thanks.

 

[TMGT]

Howdy - I have actually been puttering a bit on Snowzer. I have or had until today, an issue with the tracks chugging or crunching when moving front or back. I thought this was attributable to a mismatch in the pitch distances between the track bars and the drive sprocket teeth. I had tried changing the tooth profile several times and yesterday I shaved 0.200 off the sprocket hub OD all to no avail. Today I was looking at what to try next and I noticed and unusual amount of fine metal shavings on the axle bearing hub that supports the sprocket. Looking closer I saw that tops of the angled tire guides were hitting and rubbing on the bolt heads that attach the bearing hub to the support plate. DOH, a design mistake I should have foreseen. After I performed a little machining on the hub and plug welded the mounting studs to the hub flange I tried it out and no more crunching. The next problem to fix will be trying to get the service and steering brakes working more forcefully. For those of you that drive tracked vehicles - is it easier to steer when moving faster or not? Thanks.

Good to hear you got that fixed, my limited experience with an older track loader and a small Oliver dozer are that what your turning on makes a huge difference, more speed does help also.

 

[Garauld]

I was able to get Snowzer to steer better by reworking the master cylinder actuator arm leverage ratio from 8.24:1 to 13.55:1, a 64% increase. I can actually tear up the grass now which really makes the wife happy. The short spin around the yard brought to light a couple more issues: 1) the sprocket teeth are too short - I experienced a couple instances where the track bars slipped over them when making a turn causing a **** of a racket, 2) the steel track bars appear to be bouncing on the hard plastic upper support guides causing a real noisy clatter as well. I don't think its from the steel track bars rapping on the steel sprocket and idler spools. Fixes are in the works for these issues. I hope to get the wife to take a video soon.

 

[KubotainNH]

I hope to get the wife to take a video soon.

Yes please.

 

[Xfaxman]

---------------------------
I hope to get the wife to take a video soon.

:thumbsup:

 

[Garauld]

I replaced the upper plastic track support pads today that I thought were making most of the racket. The pads are somewhat quieter than before as the belts are now rubbing on them instead of the metal track bars. Some noise is still coming from the track bars tapping against the steel drive and idler spools. I may, in the future, wrap them with a thin strip of plastic to see if that works. I also got the engine running better due to cleaning a dirty MAF sensor. It had a bad stumble coming off idle. I took it for a short test drive to check out the engine and it ran strong going up through the gears quickly. I think I hit 15 mph! It is only supposed to run to 18 mph at 6000 rpm. I may need a rev limiter. I am now going to concentrate on getting the service brake working better. I’ll get a video before I take the service brake master cylinder arrangement apart.

 

[jmc]

I’ll get a video before I take the service brake master cylinder arrangement apart.

Yes, a long video, please!

 

[Garauld]

Well, I got a chance to take Snowzer out for a spin while the wife taped it. I still have some cosmetic work to do on it. The several loud clank sounds are due to a loose track slipping over the teeth which I plan to make taller. I think the multiple thwap sounds are coming from the track bars hitting the plastic support pads that I supposedly fixed. I need to mill a bit more off them. Comments?