To improve the transport capabilities of the equipment, tracks for the walk-behind tractor are used. Thanks to them, the unit can be operated even in winter, since there will be no problems with its maneuverability.
A ready-made triangular GP N1 tracked drive is not cheap, so you can assemble the structure yourself from scrap materials. Drawings are drawn up in advance or you can use ready-made sketches. If you organize the work correctly, the caterpillar will be reliable and stable.
Compared to a wheeled vehicle, a caterpillar vehicle uses a larger coverage area when moving.
Thanks to this feature, it is ensured:
- Uniform load distribution;
- Reducing the pressure of the unit's mass on the ground.
- Excellent maneuverability of the equipment;
- Long-term operation of the device without interruption;
- Increased movement speed;
- Performance regardless of the weather.
Tracked equipment will not get stuck in sand, snow or heavy mud.
Why is modification needed?
The advantage of such an addition as a tracked attachment to a walk-behind tractor is, of course, that it increases the cross-country ability of the latter. Such a drive has much stronger traction than conventional wheels. Most often, tracks are installed on a walk-behind tractor when the load needs to be transferred, for example, over severe off-road conditions. This accessory will be very useful in fields with very “heavy” soil, as well as in many other cases.
Conventional wheeled walk-behind tractors are used mainly only in summer. Tracked ones are convenient to operate even in winter. Their cross-country ability in snow is quite good. Walk-behind tractors with tracks are very often used in the winter, for example, by hunters and fishermen.
How to make your own snowmobile from a walk-behind tractor
This snowmobile can be made in a few weekends at the dacha in the garage. At first glance, its design looks very simple. If we compare its cross-country ability in wet or loose snow, it will not be inferior to many industrially produced snowmobiles.
The creation of a snowmobile was based on the principle: the lighter the weight and the larger the size of the caterpillar, the higher its cross-country ability in deep and loose snow. Therefore, the design will be as light as possible.
What models exist on the market
Manufacturers today produce mainly two types of tracked attachments for walk-behind tractors: universal and designed for specific models of equipment. When choosing this accessory, you should, among other things, pay attention to the model with what diameter and type of output shaft it can be installed on.
Many companies produce similar products today. But the most popular among farmers in Russia are “SAM” brand drives. This company supplies the market with SP MB set-top boxes of several series. Each of these lines is designed for a specific brand of walk-behind tractor.
In addition to conventional ones, there are also drives with a triangular outline on the market today. For example, many domestic farmers and summer residents buy tracked attachments for GP-N1 walk-behind tractors. The advantage of such models is considered primarily that they can increase the longitudinal stability of plowmen. That is, with high draft forces, walk-behind tractors with such attachments reduce the risk of lifting the front part.
So which console should you choose?
Thus, when purchasing such an accessory, you should pay attention to the following points:
What specific walk-behind tractors is the drive suitable for? This can be found out, for example, from the technical passport of the set-top box.
To the manufacturer's mark.
Of course, sometimes one of the determining factors when choosing a crawler attachment for a walk-behind tractor can be the price of this product. The cost of drives of this type on the modern market can fluctuate between 25-35 thousand rubles.
What else should you pay attention to?
Of course, when choosing a tracked attachment for a walk-behind tractor, it is worth looking at the conditions under which it can be used. Such information must, of course, be provided by the manufacturer and seller to the buyer. When choosing a caterpillar attachment, you should first of all pay attention to the following technical characteristics:
- Maximum snow depth. This indicator is actually very important. Of course, a walk-behind tractor will not be able to pass through snow that is too deep, even with the best attachment. But, of course, it is better if this figure is as high as possible. For example, many modern consoles make it possible to move through snow up to 50 cm deep.
- Maximum height of water and mud. This figure, of course, should also be quite large. For some modern models it is limited only by the engine installation height. But usually this figure for consoles is 45-50 cm.
- Load capacity. This characteristic is selected, of course, primarily depending on the purpose for which the walk-behind tractor is used on the farm. But in any case, two hundred kilograms is usually enough for a small farm.
- The operating speed of the walk-behind tractor on tracks. For modern good consoles this figure is usually 18-20 km/h. That is, you can move around on walk-behind tractors supplemented with them quite quickly.
Ease of assembly is also an important indicator of the quality of any such set-top box. The farmer, of course, should be able to install the tracks on the walk-behind tractor himself. And the less time spent on this procedure, the better, of course.
Design features of the device
Making homemade caterpillar components for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands allows you to save money on the purchase of factory devices and further operation of the equipment. If everything is done correctly, then self-made tracks for a walk-behind tractor increase the cross-country ability.
Compared to their wheeled counterparts, tracked walk-behind tractors are not as widespread. This is explained simply. Wheel units from Texas, Patriot, Cayman, Viking, Forza are best suited for plowing land. This design is best suited for soil-related work.
Remaking a wheeled walk-behind tractor is a job consisting of attaching one additional wheel on each side. It turns out to be a four-wheeled walk-behind tractor on which you can put tracks. They can, in turn, be purchased or homemade. Additional wheels can be made removable. This allows you to promptly transform the unit into a standard walk-behind tractor, ideal for working in the garden.
To do this, the wheels are attached to the axle, which are already provided in the design, by means of a rigid or flexible transmission. This solution is considered appropriate, since the need for installing additional fasteners disappears. As for the design of these walk-behind tractors, they fully comply with the parameters of wheeled modifications:
- Engine. It is powerful, four-stroke. It has an axis locking function. Due to this, the tracked walk-behind tractor can turn in place without describing a full circle.
- Transmission. The standard set includes a gearbox, clutch system and gearbox.
- Chassis. Caterpillars are used here. They replace the wheelbase. If a modification is made, then one roll is added to the existing pair of wheels on each side. They put a homemade caterpillar on them.
- Control bodies. Located on the control handle. Includes emergency stop mechanisms and various types of clutch levers.
Before starting your own production, you need to evaluate the offers in stores specializing in the sale of such equipment. Particular attention is paid to the price of certain types of tracks for well-known manufacturers of walk-behind tractors. Let’s say a caterpillar for a Neva walk-behind tractor costs about 28,000 rubles. This is a fully functional snowmobile attachment. You can buy a seat for drivers separately, thanks to which the walk-behind tractor takes on the features of a mini tracked tractor, albeit with less impressive performance characteristics. The technical parameters here are:
- develops a speed of about 18 km per hour;
- The total weight of the console is 37 kg;
- width - 60 cm;
- length - 100 cm;
- height - 34 cm.
Accommodates one driver and one passenger on board. In addition, on sale you can find an attachment to a walk-behind tractor on tracks, which is intended for the Salyut and Agat models. Its cost ranges from 25 to 27 thousand rubles. This design does not provide for attaching a driver's seat. Because of this, some restrictions are imposed on the functional features of this device. But for driving on off-road and snow, such a vehicle is quite suitable.
Online stores offer a large number of different models of snowmobile attachments mounted on tracks to a walk-behind tractor. This indicates the popularity of such models.
Their feature is the ability to control not only with two hands, walking behind a walk-behind tractor, but also while sitting in a folding sleigh. The latter will have to be purchased separately. Considering that the average cost of a set-top box is about 30 thousand rubles, not counting the price of folding sleds, we can say that making tracks yourself can save a lot of money.
SAM brand consoles: advantages and disadvantages
This domestic manufacturer supplies the market with tracked drives for almost all Russian and Belarusian walk-behind tractors available on the market today. The most popular prefixes in our country are “SAM”:
SP MB-1 for walk-behind tractors "Oka" and its analogues ("Luch", "Cascade", "Forza");
SP MB-2, 23 and 3 for Neva models of different series;
SP MB-S for walk-behind tractors "Salut", "Agat".
There are also drives from other SP MB lines designed for other brands of walk-behind tractors. There are also SP MB-SA set-top boxes on the market, which are a set of self-adaptation.
All SAM SP MB tracked drives supplied to specialized stores have received very good reviews from farmers and summer residents. Their undoubted advantages include a high degree of reliability, ease of use and long service life. The only drawback of these attachments, like any other on the modern market, is that farmers consider them to be quite expensive.
Model SP MB-S
This is also a very popular drive. For example, this tracked attachment is suitable for the Salyut walk-behind tractors, which are owned by many summer residents and farmers in Russia. All SP MB models, including the C series drive, have the same technical characteristics. That is, on a walk-behind tractor with such an attachment you can drive at a speed of about 18 km/h and transfer loads of up to 200 kg.
Farmers and summer residents include, among other things, the advantages of the SP MB-S drive, ease of control, the absence of the need for any modifications to the walk-behind tractor during installation, the presence of three pairs of rollers, etc.
Crawler attachment device
The caterpillar module for the walk-behind tractor is manufactured one at a time with two options. Each has its own design features.
Option one:
- Axle with four rollers at the bottom. They create tension on the track;
- There are two gears on the left and right edges. They are needed to tension the tracks and provoke the module to move in a horizontal position. For this purpose, a special frame is secured with bolts;
- A gear transmission is welded to the shaft;
- With the help of a chain and an articulated drive, the entire tracked installation is driven;
- A caterpillar track with V-shaped stakes. The tip is directed behind the movement of the unit.
Second option:
- The large gear is fixed to the axle, there are eight rollers on the frame that keep the belt taut and the uninterrupted movement of the walk-behind tractor;
- When raising and lowering the gear, the level of belt tension is controlled;
- You don’t need to assemble the tracked attachment yourself; it’s better to purchase one. This eliminates breakdowns that may be associated with incorrect assembly.
Universal crawler attachment to walk-behind tractor with triangular outline GP-N1
These drives differ primarily in that they are excellent for installation on walk-behind tractors of any brand. In any case, they can be mounted on the popular models “Neva”, “Oka” and “Salyut” without any restrictions. The technical characteristics of triangular drives GP-N1 differ in the following:
operating speed – up to 20 km/h;
height of snow cover and mud - 50 cm;
A long-lasting drive sprocket is also why the caterpillar attachment to walk-behind tractors has earned good reviews from summer residents. This structural element of the GP-N1 drive is made from durable textolite. Like the SP MB, the GP-N1 attachments require absolutely no modification for installation on a walk-behind tractor. With their help, you can modify any model of this farming equipment in just a few minutes. Such drives provide very large traction force. But, unfortunately, they are quite expensive - 32-35 thousand rubles.
Method for making tracks from belts and chains
Let's consider a method for making a product from belts and chains. Tracks can also be made from standard V-belts. They are connected using lugs, which are attached to the belts using screws and rivets.
When making tracks from chains, they must be the same size. The chains are unclenched, closed into a ring and welded. Grousers can be made from steel plates, which are used to fasten chains using bolts.
On sale you can find a unique GP track drive - N1, which is suitable for many motor cultivators. It is suitable for the Neva, Ugra, Cascade, Salyut, Favorit, Oka, Havert, Caiman, Nusqarna walk-behind tractors.
Their circumference diameter is 30 mm. These tracks are not suitable for heavy walk-behind tractors, such as MTZ or Agro.
The Neva walk-behind tractor with a tracked attachment has good maneuverability. It makes it impossible to get stuck in mud, snow and sand. It is very popular in Russia, as it is designed for processing small areas.
Ready-made tracks for walk-behind tractors are very easy to install. They serve as attachments.
Is it possible to make a caterpillar drive yourself?
Attachments of this type make walk-behind tractors much more convenient to use. However, such drives, as you might have noticed, are quite expensive. Therefore, many farmers and summer residents simply assemble track attachments for walk-behind tractors with their own hands. The design of this equipment is quite simple. And if necessary, you can make it using even just available materials. For example, quite often farmers make such attachments using car tires with a very high tread. In this case, the treadmill is simply cut off from the tire and stretched onto the wheels of the walk-behind tractor.
Crawler module for walk-behind tractor
A tracked module for a walk-behind tractor is an attachment that will allow you to convert your equipment into a snowmobile or motorized towing vehicle.
Moreover, this can be done in a matter of minutes. To make a caterpillar drive for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands, you may need a drawing.
Under the Krutets brand, caterpillar tracks are produced that, regardless of the power and weight of the cultivator, are suitable for walk-behind tractors of any manufacturer. They have a durable frame and can be used in any season. The attachment is installed on the walk-behind tractor using keys.
Well-known attachments for walk-behind tractors include the domestic “Lynx”, “Ant” and “Buran”. Imported ones include: Talon 380, Talon WT, etc.
As for the caterpillar made by yourself, you need to remember that its high height increases the center of gravity of the unit. This threatens instability and rollover on turns and problem areas. For stability, you need to raise the additional axis.
If the wheelbase is narrow, then it needs to be widened. A bushing must be installed on the drive shaft. It can be purchased at any auto parts store.
It simply cannot cope with a heavy load. Water-cooled walk-behind tractors are ideal. The motor does not overheat with this cooling.
Caterpillars for walk-behind tractors allow winter active recreation enthusiasts - fishermen and hunters - to get to the desired location without hindrance. Such a machine can also transport various cargoes, hay or firewood.
Reviews about homemade caterpillars are positive. When making tracks yourself, you can’t skimp on little things and parts, otherwise the walk-behind tractor will turn out to be unreliable. Or you need to purchase homemade attachments from craftsmen who have repeatedly made tracks for walk-behind tractors.
If you are not confident in your abilities, it is better to purchase a ready-made console. Its only downside is the high price.
Homemade tracks for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands
To increase the throughput capacity of a walk-behind tractor and use it as an all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile, you can equip it with tracks. They can be purchased ready-made, but they are expensive, and it is not always possible to choose the right option for your walk-behind tractor. There are several ways to make a caterpillar for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands.
Using our recommendations, you can easily turn your wheeled walk-behind tractor into a tracked all-terrain vehicle. In this case, you do not need expensive materials and too much time.
Proper caterpillar care
To extend the service life and maintain the required technical condition of the tracks, it is important to follow the operating rules:
- carry out a thorough inspection of the caterpillar unit;
- control the level of adjustment and chain tension;
- check and control track tension;
- check the quality of fastening of parts;
- lubricate all moving parts;
- carry out an inspection for damage and ruptures (both before and after use);
- avoid hitting hard obstacles (roots, stones, stumps, etc.)
If you follow these simple rules, you can be sure that the equipment will last a long time and will not fail at the most inopportune moment.
Thus, a walk-behind tractor with tracks is very useful on the farm, especially in winter. Of course, an industrially produced caterpillar drive is more functional than a home-made one. However, homemade tracks are often enough to get the job done. At the same time, homemade tracks will cost much less than a factory unit.
How to make a caterpillar on a walk-behind tractor with your own hands
If you wish, you can independently modify your walk-behind tractor, turning it into a tracked all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile. The main rule is that you should consider what kind of work the tracks are intended for in order to choose the right material, because they must be not only durable, but also extremely light.
Having available materials and correctly calculating the length of the caterpillar, you can make it yourself using simple improvised means.
First of all, you need to equip your walk-behind tractor with an additional pair of wheels. A caterpillar track will be put on each side pair.
The length of each of the two goosenecks will be equal to the circumference of one wheel and the distance between the axles of each pair of wheels, multiplied by two.
Important: the wheels on the walk-behind tractor must be the same diameter.
Materials for homemade products can include:
- conventional conveyor belt and bush-roller chain;
- car tires;
- belts and chains.
So, let's look at several options for making a goose yourself, depending on the material used.
From a conveyor belt
This method is the simplest because it does not require a large number of special tools and auxiliary materials.
- When choosing a tape for a caterpillar, give preference to a strip whose thickness will be at least 7 mm - after all, it bears a fairly large load. The coupling with moving parts will be provided by a bushing-roller chain.
- To give the tape strength and increase its service life, it is recommended to stitch it along the edges with fishing line using frequent stitches in increments of about 10 mm.
- It is also necessary to sew the tape along the ends in order to connect it into a ring of the required diameter, or use hinges reminiscent of a piano canopy for greater reliability.
- Make sure that the additional wheelset that you install on the walk-behind tractor frame is the same diameter as the main wheels on the walk-behind tractor.
From a tire
It’s enough to simply make a durable, reliable gooseneck for a walk-behind tractor from a tire. The manufacturing process from a car tire will not take too much time, since it does not need to be stitched and lugs built up - the tire itself is a closed structure with a tread for traction.
Tires from truck or tractor wheels that have a pronounced tread pattern are best suited for caterpillar tracks.
The manufacturing process is divided into several stages:
- Using a very sharp knife dipped in a soapy solution to enhance the cutting ability on rubber, cut the gooseneck tape to the required width.
- The sidewalls of the tire are cut off with a jigsaw using a fine-tooth file.
- The hard parts on the inside of the tire are also cut off using a knife or jigsaw.
From a truck tire
Making a gooseneck for a walk-behind tractor using a car tire as a platform is also quite simple and does not take much time. The work is made easier by the fact that the tire already has a closed contour and a tread for gripping the surface, so there is no need to stitch it and attach tracks.
The integrity of the tire reduces the likelihood that it will tear or be damaged during use. However, the standard tire width allows you to cover only a certain area of the surface, which is a disadvantage. The way out of this is to use 2 or even 3 tires in the manufacture of one caterpillar.
To improve cutting ability and reduce friction, the knife or jigsaw file must be periodically moistened with water or soapy water.
- Select a tire and cut a track with a tread out of it (use a shoe knife or a jigsaw).
- Remove all unnecessary elements from inside the tire.
- Install a belt of tires on the wheels of the vehicle as a caterpillar.
The length of a caterpillar made in this way is limited by the diameter of the tire. This should be taken into account before installing an additional wheelset.
Homemade tracks for caterpillars
Tracks for a homemade goose can also be made independently from any suitable material. The main thing to consider is what load you are going to give to your walk-behind tractor.
From plastic pipes
You can use pieces of plastic pipe as tracks for a snowmobile gooseneck. To do this, cut the plastic water pipe No. 40 into pieces equal to the width of the caterpillar. Using a circular saw, cut each section lengthwise into two equal halves, or use a wood circular saw to do this.
The resulting tracks must be attached at regular intervals to the conveyor belt with No. 6 furniture bolts with large hemispherical heads.
From wooden blocks
Sometimes, if the load on the goose is not very large, you can use birch blocks as tracks. They are not particularly durable for heavy loads, but they are lightweight, affordable, and a track with such tracks can be repaired in any convenient place.
Iron tracks
The most reliable are metal tracks made of high-quality iron. Metal pipes or profiles cut into pieces of the required length are suitable for this purpose. The profiled metal pipe is cut according to the same principle as the plastic one and bolted to the conveyor belt.
However, metal tracks, despite their noticeable strength, also have their drawbacks: they are heavy compared to plastic and wood, and can bend during use. To straighten the track, you will need to remove it from the gooseneck, and this is a labor-intensive operation.
When choosing the material from which the track tracks for your mini-all-terrain vehicle will be made, you should evaluate the degree of load and operating conditions. To overcome snowy expanses on a homemade snowmobile, lightweight polyethylene or wooden tracks are perfect, but to use a walk-behind tractor as a mini-tractor, it is still better to make a caterpillar with metal lugs.
Do-it-yourself caterpillar for a motorized towing vehicle
A motorized towing vehicle, popularly called a “motor dog,” is ideally suited for use in northern latitudes with good snow cover. Using a walk-behind tractor, you can independently make an alternative to a dog sled, a high-speed tracked vehicle that can tow a sled with a person or a small load in the snow.
Making a caterpillar for a motorized dog with your own hands is not at all difficult.
You can use an old gooseneck from a Buran snowmobile. To increase the chassis, you should cut it in half and build it up using inserts. The tracks can be carriages from the old Buran. Three carriages with rollers are enough. They also need to be sawn and extended with inserts.
In the absence of old spare parts, a caterpillar for a motorized towing vehicle can be made from improvised materials using one of the methods described above. For example, from a conveyor belt.
For production you will need:
- conveyor belt with a width of 22 cm;
- metal bars for reinforcement;
- hardwood timber blocks for track tracks.
We bring to your attention a video showing the caterpillar manufacturing process.
Making tracks for a walk-behind tractor is a simple process, although it requires a sufficient amount of time. It is also necessary to make every effort and skill to ensure that all links of the goose are located at an equal distance from each other. This will help to avoid distortions and sliding of the caterpillar track from the load-bearing surfaces.
The best homemade products - a snowmobile from a walk-behind tractor
When making a homemade snowmobile, they use tracks from other snowmobiles, or homemade ones assembled from scrap materials. After choosing a track, you need to decide what type of suspension to use. You need to choose from two main types: roller suspension and skid suspension.
Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages. After this, it is important to decide what kind of layout the snowmobile will have. Typically, a snowmobile is equipped with two steering skis at the front and a track block at the rear.
The engine can be installed either at the rear or at the front of the snowmobile.
Krutets universal kit with hubs for installation on a walk-behind tractor
Installment price:
All-terrain tracked movers are a unique opportunity to transform a standard walk-behind tractor with your own hands. Such tuning will not require absolutely no changes to the basic design of either the vehicle itself or its individual components or assemblies.
Under the Krutets brand, the production of universal all-terrain tracked propulsion systems has been developed and launched, which are suitable for all domestic and imported walk-behind tractors, regardless of their power and weight.
Based on the fact that the walk-behind tractor hubs have different “drilling” (the number of holes for the studs), hub adapters are made for each of them, along with the tracked movers. The advantage of Krutets tracks is that they are guaranteed to fit on all domestic and imported walk-behind tractors.
The price of the set includes two off-road crawler propulsion units. Hub adapters. A set of hub adapters (2 pcs. hub clamps) is required to install tracked movers on the output shafts of the walk-behind tractor. Each model of walk-behind tractor produces its own adapters, round or hexagonal. Propulsors are tracked blocks (2 pcs.), which are installed instead of wheels. Technical data:
- Set weight: 71 kg.
- Track width: 2*190
- Drive wheel: 28 teeth D-460
- Ground support area: 40 dm.2
- Drive wheel axle height: 290 mm.
- Overall dimensions of one track assembly: 1300*560*240 mm.
Application on walk-behind tractors and other types of equipment:
- Pull out the boat
- remove snow,
- go fishing in the snow,
- transport cargo up to 500 kg.
Installation
- Supplied fully assembled. Assembly takes 2 people 15 minutes.
Versatility
- The track kit is designed for all walk-behind tractors with output shafts with a diameter of 25 mm, 30 mm, hexagonal 24 and 32 mm. And also on the AGRO, MTZ models.
Installation tool
- The caterpillar movers are installed on the walk-behind tractor using a 17 to 19 wrench.
All-season
- Crawler movers are used in winter, spring, autumn and summer.
Design Features
- The drive sprocket is made of polyurethane and connected by stamped steel discs.
Additional Tips
Before you start making a homemade caterpillar , you need to identify the appropriate parameters for it . The fact is that if a very high caterpillar is produced, the center of gravity of the walk-behind tractor will have to be changed, which will inevitably lead to some problems during turns, since the unit will roll over on its side.
To prevent this, the second driven axis must be increased by a few centimeters. You can also slightly expand the wheelbase of the walk-behind tractor, which is already available. To do this, just buy a bushing in a special store. Subsequently, it is installed on the drive shaft. In addition to the requirements regarding engine power, they also look at the cooling system.
Air cooling is not very effective at high loads, which can lead to significant overheating of the motor. It turns out that it is better to give preference to water-cooled engines that show stable performance marks.
Attaching a caterpillar to a walk-behind tractor can significantly improve the cross-country ability of the device. Due to this, you can increase the range of potential jobs that a self-made device can handle. In other words, the resulting wheelbase in certain cases outperforms the usual wheelbase. But remaking a walk-behind tractor is not always suitable for the owners of these units.
We are talking about special requirements for the engine. It must have sufficient power. Speaking about the remodeling process, such work is quite possible to do at home. That's why it can be considered a strong alternative to the track attachments that are available in modern stores.
