Scale Model Dozer Ride On For My Son

[SiGmA_X]

Amazing project. Can't believe I missed it!

 

[jdcompman]

Late Christmas present showed up yesterday.

Where did you get these and what are they originally made for? What are you doing for the hubs and tensioning?

 

[dozerbuilder01]

Where did you get these and what are they originally made for? What are you doing for the hubs and tensioning?

Got them off ebay and they are for a Ditchwitch SK500. I'm going to do a screw type tensioner with pillow block bearings. I don't have it modeled in CAD but I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to do it.

Finally getting back to the dozer. Nothing major tonight. Really wish I had a CNC plasma after cutting all of the body panels with a straight edge and a metabo with a cutoff wheel. Oh well. All I did tonight was make the lower side panels for the engine area.

Trying to wrap up cad files for the drive sprocket. The guy I know got his hi def cnc plasma cutter installed. Said he'd still cut them out for me. So I want to get on that soon.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

It always looks better when I put the tracks next to it. Even though it's a crappy cell phone picture.

 

[HOTFR8]

Now that is looking good.

 

[82_454_shorty]

That thing is awesome. I can't wait to see it out tearing up the ground.

 

[camarotoolman]

That will be a big hit at your local tractor show! I love the 1/4 scale farm tractors and steam engines.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I thought you'd be interested in this:

It's a paperweight that sat on my grandfather's desk, he was a county commissioner back in the 1920s and 1930s.

 

[CaseyJoes.]

Love this thread, keep up the good work! Now I know what I want to do when im a dad someday

 

[cnc-me]

Just awesome, love it....
Make sure to keep a good record of the build, so when your boy gets old enough
he can see all the work you did on the Dozer for him.

Missed this, should have been posted in the Fab section (glad I found it though).

 

[dirtmister16]

sir you have my respect, you are a excellent hard working man. when your son is grown he will realize what a gift you have given him. not only the coolest toy on the block, but your devotion to him and his happiness.

i want to see this finished good luck and keep up the good work.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

Thank you all for looking at my project. I'm glad you're enjoying it. The compliments keep me motivated.

To answer a few questions/comments:

I will be taking it to tractor shows in the Illinois area when I'm done. Hopefully by this time next year.

That paperweight is cool. Looks heavy.

I have been taking as many pictures as possible. Sometimes I get in a grove and don't take many but I'm up to 330 right now. And yes, it should be in the fab section. I missed that when I started posting. I'll have to request a change.

dirtmister16, thanks for the kind words. My parents didn't have a ton of money but my dad gave us (or usually built us) what he could. I want to do the same for my son.

I didn't take many pictures and I still have a few loose ends to finish up but I got most of the running boards done. And I can't help but put the tracks next to it when I take a picture.

My cnc guy is supposed to have the drive sprocket and tensioner wheels done in a few weeks. Whenever the next time he has a sheet of 3/4" on the table. So hopefully I can start working on the drivetrain soon.

 

[crazytrain]

That is totally BAD ***! Great job, I'm subscribing.

 

[green.bubbly]

How do I get to the end of the thread were we see it in operation?




Nice work!

 

[c39er]

Make sure to put rippers and a tilt blade on it too! Oh and for safety-ROPS.
Bob

 

[hpw]

ROPS.
Bob

what does it stand for
edit
google is still my friend Roll Over Protection Structure

 

[dozerbuilder01]

So I will have a good update soon. Slight design (and parts change) coming. Gearing up for Christmas time when I'm going to have a couple of days off from work to really knock some stuff out. Here is a little teaser pic until next week.

 

[stonewellmark]

Nice...some sprockets and idlers....cant wait to see this thing moving under its own power

 

[dlenkewich]

That is so awesome.

 

[catsteve]

Seeing the rubber tracks got me thinking.
Would there be any impediment to using the entire undercarriage from something like a mini excavator (or the SK500). maybe a wrecked/dismantled one.
that way everything would be ready to roll, you would not need to manufacture idlers/sprocket/rollers and you could even keep the back-blade in situ.
Just thinking out loud.
Love the project by the way. My boy is 2 1/2 yrs old he would go crazy for one of these.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

Seeing the rubber tracks got me thinking.
Would there be any impediment to using the entire undercarriage from something like a mini excavator (or the SK500). maybe a wrecked/dismantled one.
that way everything would be ready to roll, you would not need to manufacture idlers/sprocket/rollers and you could even keep the back-blade in situ.
Just thinking out loud.
Love the project by the way. My boy is 2 1/2 yrs old he would go crazy for one of these.

Well, thought about it in the beginning but a few problems came up. First, I need a larger diameter for the scale I'm going for. Mine are around 16". The ditchwitch is around 11". The next problem would be getting parts for cheap. New seem to cost a lot. And the nearest wrecking yard for heavy equipment that I could find is in Southern Il. Went to school there. Nice place. Not the wrecking yard. The university. And on top of it all, the ones that I had cut were free. It's good to know people. They weren't exactly free though. I did get him a pretty good gift card to a local pizza chain in Chicago that's really good so he can take his family out. And really, I just like making something unique.

So here's an update.

If you've followed this since the beginning, you know I bought a mower for cheap and took out the transmissions. Then after that, all I could do is worry about how long they were going to last and where I could get replacement parts or whole transmissions. It's what I get for being cheap. So after scanning ebay to find spares, one popped up. Ended up selling for a lot of $$. So I figured, screw it. I was up happy with the linkage configuration, the layout and of course the fact that if they fail, I'm screwed. So I listed them. Ended up making enough profit that I bought a brand new set from Surplus Center. And this will make the linkage, mounting and track frame all easier.

So everything I've done up to this point wasn't a waste. I got valuable machining and design experience. And it won't take much to reset the frame. I avoided doing too much work in that area until I figured out what I wanted to do. So I have to cut off a few brackets and replace a crossmember. And I've been mostly working on the new design for the track frame which in the end will be a lot easier to build. And of course the old transmissions paid for the new ones. So no complaints there. Should have tried selling them sooner.

So I feel much better now.

 

[O_M_Jeep]

Very inspiring, glad you found a better drive option, it isnt something you want to break every 50 ft.

 

[twohaggard]

this thing is great!!! where did you get the screen for your grill!? i may have made that at work!! : )

 

[dozerbuilder01]

this thing is great!!! where did you get the screen for your grill!? i may have made that at work!! : )

Got it from McMaster. Not sure who their supplier is. Cool though.

So I've spent the past couple weeks cleaning and rearranging the garage (to make it easier to work in and to make space for a new tool), cutting a few things off the frame that were for the old transmissions, and redesigning around the new pumps and motors. I think I got it. I've also been modeling it in the cad program I use at work. Gives me practice since I don't use it at work everyday. Yet. And it's more powerful than what I was using.

Didn't spend time modeling all of the body pieces since I already made them. The main focus has been the track frame.

And now I started doing a little work.

Should start moving again now. Hoping to make a lot of progress during the holidays.

 

[uniballer]

OMG, man the kids in the area must love to see what you build! Subscribed!

 

[dozerbuilder01]

Making some some more parts. These are the tensioner rails. Just had to mill out the slot for the pillow block bearings.

Welded the motor mount block to the main frame rail. The frame rail is 2x6x3/16" tubing and the motor mount block is going to be 1.5" thick.

The block started at 2" thick (it's what I had in the old scrap pile so I had to do a little milling. (Still working on it).

I never had a welding class in my life so I'm welcome to any comments or criticism. I'm thinking I should have preheated the 2" block before welding.

That is all.

 

[A_Pmech]

Looks like it's still moving along!

 

[machine_punk]

Great to see you back on this project! (I thought the porch swing might have been a bit too comfortable). I'm pleased to see that you found a renewable source for your transmission parts. It's cool to see you fabricating all those huge chunks of steel.

Kev

 

[Robert Haas]

subscribed

 

[KSwiss]

Awesome job so far! Waiting for the next update.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

Looks like it's still moving along!

Getting there. The redesign put me back a bit but it's all good.

Great to see you back on this project! (I thought the porch swing might have been a bit too comfortable). I'm pleased to see that you found a renewable source for your transmission parts. It's cool to see you fabricating all those huge chunks of steel.

Kev

Haha. It turned out to be pretty comfortable actually. But fall here lasted about a week so I didn't get to use it much. Glad to get back on the project.

Some days off from work let me get a few things done.

The motor has two pilot diameters so I decided to use both. I figured why not. It starts at 2.374" and drops down to 1.937" near the end. So I started boring with the biggest bit I had (1-1/8")

Then I switched over to the boring bar.

Lucky for me, I have an automatic feed on the quill, Once I started the larger diameter, I just set it up to stop at the depth I needed.

Finished product with the four 1/2"-13 mounting holes.

Fits up nice.

I've been anxious to try out the new addition to the garage. So I started cleaning up the front tensioner wheel.

I still need to add a slight chamfer the edge to guide the wheels into the track but I'll wait until I have all of them ready. I don't feel like retramming the head after one wheel.

The workhorse of the garage.

That is all for now.

 

[thightower]

That is a neat project. Only seen one other. He took a model 100 cub cadet and put tracks on it.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

That is a neat project. Only seen one other. He took a model 100 cub cadet and put tracks on it.

I think I've seen that. Looked real good. All metal tracks.

This is what I'm working towards for the frame. It looks really weak by the motor but it will be tied into the frame real well though to beef it back up.

Set up on the rotory table to cut the radius for the drive sprocket opening.

Getting there.

And I learned how to draw tracks. Not necessary but I wanted to learn something new in cad.

That is all.

 

[HOTFR8]

It is nice to see some progress.

 

[green.bubbly]

Can I just hang around your shop on weekends? I will bring the beer.

 

[KPSquared]

Any guess on final cost? Might be cheaper to buy an old dozer at an auction by the time you're done!

You are truly a rare craftsman!

 

[signcrafter]

Any guess on final cost? Might be cheaper to buy an old dozer at an auction by the time you're done!

You are truly a rare craftsman!

Isn't that how it is with any project! I know I've build a bunch of projects that I started in order to save money over buying one that ended up costing more than just buying a new one! I chalk those up as the cost of learning.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

It is nice to see some progress.

It's good to be back at it.

Can I just hang around your shop on weekends? I will bring the beer.

Sure. My boy is still too young to hand out in the garage with me. And way to young to bring the beer.

Any guess on final cost? Might be cheaper to buy an old dozer at an auction by the time you're done!

Well.....what fun would that be? There are multiple reasons for doing this.
-I don't like what's out there. I don't like the look of the struck dozers. And I don't care for the pulley drive system. The only one that I like was made by Lombardini. Saw one on ebay a month ago. Sold for $3,550. And needed a little work I think.
-I expect to have about $2,000. But that doesn't include bartering for parts, the free scrap steel I get, the free CNC plasma work (even though I give them generous gift cards) and all of the tools I bought to make things like this. And the labor. I do keep a folder of receipts but I don't record my time. This is for fun. It isn't about the money or the time.
-I'm gaining valuable cad experience. I'm not required to use it at work daily but that fact that I can use it makes my job a lot easier. And I look better because of it too.
-I'm getting better at machining and welding. I've never taken any classes. And just like the cad work, I don't want to machine or weld stuff for practice then throw it out. I like it to have a purpose. This project has given me a lot of practice.
-And the whole project, I think, makes me a better engineer at work. More well rounded. A lot of younger engineers where I work don't really have any hands on experience. And they also don't care to get it. Which is a shame.
-And above all, once my son is old enough to understand what it is, I don't think I'm going to be able to remove him from the seat. If he even has a sliver of my genes in him, he'll love it. And that will be great. When I was younger, I drove a power wheels jeep all over the neighbor hood til the battery went dead. And when we were a little older, a cheap little go cart my dad got for $50. And when we were too tall he busted out the buzz box and lengthened it. And it was great. It will be even more fun when he can help me build things.

You are truly a rare craftsman!

And thank you for the compliment. I'm still learning. Every day.

 

[nine4gmc]

I love this thread, my first post but I have been following a while. Can't wait for more!

 

[HOTFR8]

It will be even more fun when he can help me build things.

From that I think we can look forward to some more great projects coming out of your workshop in the future. may I just add you must have alot of patience making parts work for your Dozer.