How to make a snowmobile yourself
First you need to understand some basic principles of snowmobile design. The final result will most likely be very different from the schemes found on the Internet, since you will be using what you have on hand, trying to get by with a minimum of purchases. But the design is approximately the same for serial and home-made snowmobiles: these are the driven and driving parts. The driven part is primarily a rigid frame with a seat for the driver and passenger. The control levers are located on it, the frame is hinged and attached to the ski runners. Most often, home-made designs use a scheme similar to that of serial Burans: two skis in front and one track in the back; The driving part is the engine and gearbox, connected to the track using a drive.
Before assembling the snowmobile, be sure to draw, at least in general terms, a diagram of the location of the main parts. This will help save time: you will immediately see how you can arrange the spare parts you have, what you need to buy in addition, what you can make from scrap materials. It is better if the drawings of the driven and driving parts and the main components of the snowmobile are drawn separately. Where can you find and how to make the main components of a snowmobile
First, decide what useful parts you can find in your garage or borrow from friends. They will form the basis of the snowmobile's design, so most of the diagrams posted on the Internet can only be used as a guide. But here are some general tips on how to select or manufacture the main parts of the machine:
Frame
It is best to take motorcycle frame pipes, although water pipes of the required diameter are also suitable - calculate the strength with a margin. Also, part of the frame can be welded from metal corners. The lighter the snowmobile, the better it will move on loose snow, but safety should not be neglected. First, all parts must be secured with spot welding, then with a continuous weld. To do this, you will need a welding machine if pipes are used to make the frame - a pipe bender. Brackets for mounting the engine, seat, steering column are welded onto the finished frame.
Steering column
Most often it is borrowed from a motorcycle, moped or snowmobile, but you can make it yourself. The simplest design is a bicycle type; a pipe cross member is welded to the steering column for mounting the runners on the hinges. The steering column must be connected to the longitudinal and transverse rods, allowing you to control the skis.
Skis
Snowmobile skis can be made from plywood or large-diameter pipes, or borrowed from old equipment. A good and cheap donor for skis is an ordinary children's snowmobile. Steering bushings for skis can be made without bearings; this is a very simple system.
Shock absorbers
For front skis, it is better to take from a motorcycle or moped. In light models you can do without them. You can also eliminate the need for shock absorbers if the front and rear of the snowmobile are connected by a hinge rather than a rigid frame.
Engine
The optimal engine power for a snowmobile is between 6-30 hp; any engine from a light motorcycle, moped or walk-behind tractor will do. In the latter case, you can use the engine on a walk-behind tractor in the summer, and put it on a snowmobile in the winter.
Caterpillar
The snowmobile track can be homemade or taken from Buran. The design of a homemade caterpillar is very simple: it is driven by several wheels inside, for example, you can take 3-4 wheels from garden equipment. The caterpillar itself is made from sawn plastic pipes with a diameter of 40 mm; they will serve as lugs.
The finished lugs are bolted to the conveyor belt. The wider the track, the better the snowmobile will grip on loose snow, but the worse the handling becomes. The width of the track also depends on the final weight of the snowmobile: heavier vehicles require wider tracks.
Drive shaft and drive
It is better to entrust the manufacture of the drive shaft to a turner; in any case, you will need donor parts from a serial snowmobile - drive sprockets, bearings. It is easier to take the drive for a snowmobile from a motorcycle.
Fuel tank - a 2-3 liter canister with a sump from a moped or motorcycle; The seat can be taken from any equipment, suitable furniture, or you can make it yourself with a little padding and durable upholstery.
Brakes
With low engine power, you will not need brakes; it is enough to reduce the engine speed to stop the snowmobile: most home-made models do not reach speeds above 15 km/h.
The design of the snowmobile will greatly depend on what spare parts you find for the snowmobile. The design of most homemade snowmobiles is similar to that of the Buran - one track at the back, two skis at the front and an engine in front of the snowmobile, this allows the weight of the machine and its passengers to be distributed evenly. But among amateur models there are snowmobiles with both rear and central engine placement. In this case, great attention should be paid to the issue of snowmobile stability.
Popular models
Umka caterpillar dimensions
The caterpillar is intended for use on the Taiga RM Lynx snowmobile.
This is an original product; these are the components that are equipped with machines on the manufacturer’s assembly line.
Technical features:
- lantern gear;
- dimensions: 1728x257x64 mm;
- weight - up to 14 kg;
- lug height - 17.5 mm.
Approximate price - 4500 rubles.
Buran and technical characteristics - lengths, width
A kind of legendary track, designed for installation on a snowmobile of the same name .
Thanks to the increased rigidity of the lugs, it is characterized by high wear resistance and, as a result, great durability.
Thanks to rigid lugs, the machine on which these tracks are installed provides excellent control even on winding roads and passes any difficult areas more easily.
Buran
Specifications:
- catching through windows;
- herringbone pattern;
- dimensions: 2878x380x50.5 mm;
- weight - up to 19 kg;
- lug height - 17.5 mm.
The approximate price of the product is 5980 rubles .
Crawler track Buran MD
This is a variation of the previous track, intended for use with the Buran MD . It has all the advantages of the Buran caterpillar.
Buran MD
Model specifications:
- catching through windows;
- herringbone pattern;
- dimensions: 3686x380x50.5 mm;
- lug height - 17.5 mm.
The approximate price of the Buran MD caterpillar is 7,700 rubles .
Beaver WT snowmobile track
Tracks with aggressive lugs that provide the snowmobile with excellent handling and high maneuverability on any snow.
Beaver WT
Having equipped your car with them, you can safely set off to conquer both easy-to-travel groomed trails and travel through virgin snow where no one has ever set foot before. Beaver WT is suitable for installation on Taiga snowmobiles.
Specifications:
- lantern gear;
- dimensions - 3968×500 mm;
- lug height - 30 mm.
The price of Beaver WT is 14,000 rubles.
How to assemble a snowmobile
Having all the necessary spare parts and drawings on hand, you can begin assembling the snowmobile. In general, the work on making a car will take several weeks, so it’s worth starting it long before your first hunting trip. The first stage is planning and searching for suitable spare parts. It is better to order complex components from a professional turner if you do not have the necessary equipment or work experience; Welding the frame - even an amateur can do this, the main thing is to use durable material; Assemble the track block; The frame must be connected to the track unit and the engine; Next, the steering column is assembled and the controls are connected; The body, frame and skis, if they are made of wood, must be covered with enamel. The final result must be tested in a safe area with close to maximum loads. Having successfully completed this stage, you can go hunting.
It will make assembly very easy if you have a donor vehicle from which you can remove most of the components for the future snowmobile. An old snowmobile, a motorcycle (in this case, you don’t even have to redo the frame), a walk-behind tractor, a motorized towing vehicle, or even a chainsaw (although the snowmobile will be very low-powered) is most suitable for this role.
Is it necessary to obtain a license for a homemade snowmobile and register it?
The first question is classified as practically unsolvable. Theoretically, a homemade product can be certified by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology; to do this, it must meet a number of requirements and have all the necessary technical documentation. The snowmobile must pass testing and certification of all major components. In practice, those wishing to obtain a technical passport for a homemade snowmobile encounter a huge number of problems; the procedure will take more than one month, if it brings a positive result at all.
If there is the slightest discrepancy with technical standards, the snowmobile cannot be certified, and if you do not assemble your machine from ready-made parts of serial snowmobiles, but make most of the components yourself, you will have to spend a lot of time and money on certification of the snowmobile - it is cheaper to buy a production model.
You cannot ride such a snowmobile, and it must be transported to a hunting or recreation site on a trailer. But here another problem arises: if you are stopped by a traffic police officer, you will need to confirm ownership of the snowmobile. Any invoice or receipt will do for this. No one should require you to present documents certifying your right to drive a snowmobile until you are stopped while driving the vehicle. Therefore, when designing a snowmobile, keep in mind that you will need a trailer to transport it.
Most homemade models for hunting or recreation fall into the category of vehicles that do not require a license to drive. If the characteristics of the snowmobile require the driver to have a license, this is a category A1 or A license.
It is quite possible to assemble a snowmobile for hunting or recreation, and if you have a motorcycle or moped that can be used as a donor for the main components, then production will cost very little. But it should be borne in mind that it will be extremely difficult to legalize a finished car, so its use will have to be limited to areas that are difficult for traffic police officers to access.
Kinds
So, the entire product range of the company can be divided into three main types of tracks:
- tracks for imported snowmobiles;
- tracks for domestic snowmobiles;
Tracks for domestic snowmobiles
- caterpillars for other vehicles.
The latter include components intended for use on swamp vehicles, motorized towing vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and tracks on a walk-behind tractor. This vehicle is also widely used in different parts of our country, and the company is ready to provide the owners of such vehicles with tracks for all occasions.
The Texas walk-behind tractor is reliability and European quality. With its attachments, work will become much more efficient.
A large number of people are engaged in sowing potatoes on their plots. Here you will learn about planting potatoes with a walk-behind tractor.
Mini-class equipment has become very popular among land owners. By clicking on the link you will learn about the advantages of working on the Uralets 160 mini tractor.
When choosing, you need to take into account not only the specific model of the vehicle, but also other important factors. These include:
- terms of Use;
- the nature of the routes you will travel on most often;
- the purposes for which the snowmobile is used;
- driving style.
For greater convenience for customers, a special service operates on the website www.composit.net: the program will help you choose the appropriate models for any snowmobile.
The easiest way to select a product with the desired characteristics is to contact the company’s managers directly, from whom you can get all the necessary advice.
A simple snowmobile in one weekend
Since the engine was going to use 6-10 l / s, and the mass of the snowmobile should be small, I categorically categorically refused a genuine track for snowmobiles. I was going to make a caterpillar myself, about 4 meters long and 50 cm wide, but I was by no means able to purchase a suitable size conveyor belt, I had to make a shorter caterpillar about 2.7 m long. The width of the caterpillar was 47cm. To make the caterpillar, I made a jig, which I used to make holes in the conveyor belt with a feather drill.
In the store I purchased four wheels from a trolley with bearings, two soft stars from BURAN, and two 205 bearings for the drive shaft, a plastic pipe with a diameter of 40 mm. 8 meters long, I found everything else for building a snowmobile in the barn, a 25X25mm square pipe from an old office desk for the frame, trimming corners, water pipes and couplings.
I made drawings for the turner and a week later they made the necessary parts for me. The assembly process is clear from the photographs, everything is very simple, and the principle of operation of the future snowmobile is approximately the same: on a hard surface (rolled tracks) the snowmobile moves on wheels, the ski, which is located inside the track, does not touch the tracks, only its sides prevent the track from moving to the side, thereby There is no additional load and wear on the tracks without lubricating the tracks with snow, and in loose snow the emphasis is on the ski.
During the first day off, I made a caterpillar and a drive shaft, secured it to the frame, since the turner did not have time to make shafts for the wheels.
I made the rotation of the skis very simple; I welded water couplings to the transverse beam of the frame; they screwed into them the brackets with the mount for the skis and steering rod. Therefore, everything is very simple and reliable, no bushings or turning work, only the presence of solid oil and a long service life are ensured, and by turning and screwing in the squeegee, you can adjust the height of the ski stand.
The front wheels are fastened without adjustment, the rear wheels are fastened by moving the axle and the track is tensioned.
The steering rod is solid and not adjustable (this is a temporary option)
Adjusting the chain by moving the engine.
SEE THE PHOTOS (WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE PHOTO THEY ENLARGER)
About the manufacturer Composite
(official full name - CJSC NPO "Composite" ) specializes in the manufacture of tracks for snowmobiles. Its products have a good quality-price ratio, so it is not surprising that they are very popular among owners of this type of transport.
The company constantly conducts research on existing models to identify opportunities for their improvement. As part of such research, Composite conducts sea trials of tracks.
She also contacts the population of the northern regions, conducting surveys to find out their opinion on the performance of certain products on the market.
The name of the company itself accurately reflects the essence of its products - after all, the company uses the latest composite materials in the production of tracks. Together with the results of ongoing research, this allows us to achieve many important goals:
- the products are economical, their use can reduce fuel costs by 5-10%;
- manufactured caterpillars are lightweight;
- they have high elasticity, and this increases their performance characteristics;
- the tensile strength of the tracks increases;
- the effort required to move away becomes minimal.
Among its products you can find tracks for all popular models of the world's leading manufacturers :
- Yamaha
For more information about the Yamaha snowmobile, watch the video:
- Polaris;
- Lynx;
- Ski-Doo;
- BRP.
A wide range of tracks for domestic products is also available, producing tracks for snowmobiles from companies such as:
- Buran;
- Russian mechanics;
- Taiga;
- Varyag 550;
- Tiksi;
- Lynx;
- Ermak;
- Dingo;
- Stels.
