Amphibious Tractor

Thanks to Mr. Modified for the splendid electric fan idea.  Here is the tropical cooling package, tested it this weekend in 100° heat, works verrrry nicely.





No more swamp ass from the inline radiator fan hurrah

NICE!

Side muffler is pretty awesome too.

Pretty much I think this is one of or the best home made tracked vehicle I've seen online. Body and suspension are nicely done and the tracks don't fall off. Not only that but they look professional and they're not complete hack jobs. Nice deal!

Just a little bit of closure on this project.

For the year I am finished with the tracked machine to work on other projects.  It achieved the majority of things I wanted in my first amphib tracklayer.  Low ground pressure, high drawbar pull, floating capability, spacious vehicle deck, easy to build, rugged,  and built from economical common car components.  

Likewise, it starts every time, goes forward, backward, steers, kinda swims and has never left me stranded that wasn't operator induced.  So with that the "Drunk Frog" bids you adieu!

Keeps goin

What a beast.

Can you imagine this thing at Haspin trolling the trails? That would be something to see.

My mud pit is almost complete, I want this machine buried.

Best mud yet

I think you should put a grill on it so you can have a burger while you reenact the blitzkrieg. I'm sure @TheBeal will support this idea too

Haven't really done much due to summer travelling.  Did finish up website and plans though in between.
https://decentmfg.com/

Gonna pour some sprocket teeth to stock next week and see where she goes aye

Cool website. Drunk Frog, that's pretty cool too, LOL.

80hr teardown, overall the only issue I've had was the belting getting torn off the idler from log ingestion and the brake pads wearing fast.  Kinda disappointing but probably due to the 80% sand/silt I run this thing in.  I figured it is the pad or the rotor when it comes to wear so I held back on ceramic pads. 1/8" of wear on the poly teeth and wear on bleeder screw (as expected lol). Until next time...

Doesn't seem too bad for the hard use you put this thing through.  What wore the bleeder screw down?

Crazy_Carl wrote:

Doesn't seem too bad for the hard use you put this thing through.  What wore the bleeder screw down?

It really isn't too bad. The bleeder was worn down by the track guides whenever you are climbing tall obstacles. The track tends to twist on the sprocket when doing so bringing the guides into contact with the caliper components.

Plans&kits are finally done woohoo! https://decentmfg.com/product/at-15/

Here's an idea, thought of it while you had it on the jack stands. With the tires off the tandem axle and tracks off, you can put a trailer hitch on the front to tow it somewhere on long trips. Would save the trouble of putting it on a trailer, since it would be it's own trailer. When you are where you are going, put the tires and tracks back on for some fun.

Its a good idea, I wonder what the DMV would think when I want to register my tank errr.. trailer.

Dragged a whole fence line in the swamp. Be careful of submerged objects folks!

Winterizing and modernization begins

Nice! Do you need a heater?

Nice canvas cab!

If the radiator is in there is should do a fine job of heating the space.  You'll probably have to crack a window since it will get hot.

Are you gonna have a copilot and a turret at the top for him to look out and give you directions? Lol. Looks really good.

RichieRichOverdrive wrote:

Are you gonna have a copilot and a turret at the top for him to look out and give you directions? Lol. Looks really good.

I think that's called a crows nest, since this thing is half boat, LOL.

You need bigger grousers on the track if you want it to swim better than "sort of". Any track with short grousers doesn't swim very well. Taller grousers will also give you better mud performance, but will make any hard pack running pretty rough going on the occupants. Especially at any significant speed. Water speed and land speed are always a trade off with amphibs.

There's also some water travel speed to be gained with some fender work to "scrape" water off the tracks as they travel forward. Any water thrown forward works against moving the vehicle forward. Newton's 3rd law is getting right in your face with that one.....

I use an outboard for my Argo (whether it's on tires or tracks) if there's any long water crossings. You may want to consider adding one (long shaft, like those used on sailboats), or at least a spot for one to be hung. You certainly have room for it!

Yep next build I'm just gonna construct an impeller drive and call it good.

Looking good! Need to put the name on the 2 front seats head rests, LOL.

snow shoes for siberian frog (but no snow yet...)