@krisiluttinen The wheelchair was an Action Arrow by Invacare. The TracDrive plate is from the snowblower, yes I did modify it. I drilled out holes for bearings. The original bronze bushings where not good.
ive looked everywhere i can think of to find a track drive snowblower. seems like being in the midwest they are hard to run across. im wanting to use the track drive for an rc lawnmower build. any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
These larger wheelchair motors were 3/4" with a keyway. I just took the wheel chair wheel off and put the sprocket on and set the setscrew. Done. That was the easy part.
How did you connect the drive sprocket to the output shaft of the wheelchair motors.? I salvaged a complete track drive assembly and have similar wheelchair motors. Did you have to machine a keyed hub that the sprocket attached to? Were you able to find a keyed sprocket assembly that bolted on? I have my electronics all figured out, but no access to a machine shop.
Ok ...I found this now and think I see how you got the sprocket integrated with the wheelchair motors, but you have pretty much secured the track assembly to your chassis ...if I took the approach I was talking about that whole assembly would would be supported by the drive shaft ....not a good idea ....broken shaft at some point I am sure. So I have to rethink this now. That for all the good info.
When on the snow blower the assembly is as you describe, supported by the axle which goes all the way through both side plates which have bushings and through the drive sprocket, all on the same shaft, and it does articulate like make-shift suspension on the shaft. There are some guys on youtube that have put these on minibikes and a ski on the front for a hacked snow bike. Don't know how long it lasted, but made for fun video.
Right ...but if I just hung it on the wheelchair motor like you did without support ....the only support would be the axle. So either the axle or the assembly will need more support if I am thinking right. Speaking from experience ....on my very first build using wheels I created offsets for the tires and eventually broke an axle off because the wheel was hanging way to far off the axle without extra support. Live and learn ...you can see that build here ua-cam.com/video/CTPrryAxmHU/v-deo.html . Worked for a while ...but that thing weighed about 500 lbs., required an alternator to keep the batteries charged and presented consistent problems using four motors and the current draw the weight required ....so I am back at the drawing board
Ahh. Now I see what you've got in mind. Yes, you won't be able to extend wheelchair motor shafts to do that. would likely have to be done with a bulky jack shaft arrangement.
Well that design is out the window now. Currently I have a new setup that is like a 2wd mini skid steer with a receiver hitch on it for attaching mowers etc. However the 2wd does not do the job on this steep terrain around here ...which is why I am going to pursue putting the tracks on it. But nothing can be quick and easy! That older one could climb and steer around anything but it was way too problematic.
Hey. I am making a stair climber and have 4 motors which take 1amp current maximum and provide 20kg-cm torque is it good for a robot like stair climber? What design of stair climber is best? Will bike/cycle chain work? with chain I should you bike/chain gears or skateboard wheel or anyother wheel? Should I use rechargeable cells or I should use battery?
Whats the model of the powered wheelchair used to make this? Also the plate on the sides TracDrive, were those part of the kenmore snowblower? Did you modify those?
I cant figure out out to mount the wheel chair motors.... did you have the same issue ? also my motor shaft is not long enough to present the sprocket at the right location did you encounter the same issue?
+Jon Weiss The tracks are made that way by the manufacturer. The additional reduction from the sprockets is beneficial for my purposes and the ground clearance worked out nicely with the drive sprocket higher than the wheel axle.
I don't know why sabertooth doesn't fix this common problem. Overall their products are very good. I did the same thing but used a RC - BEC to power a spektrum receiver off of the same battery that powers the sabertooth motor controller.
you have inspired me to hack a trac drive and do ths same. great idea! thanks for the how-to quality video
@krisiluttinen The wheelchair was an Action Arrow by Invacare. The TracDrive plate is from the snowblower, yes I did modify it. I drilled out holes for bearings. The original bronze bushings where not good.
wow. cool bot. those are huge tracks.
Wow nice work! What are those actuator arms going to be used for?
ive looked everywhere i can think of to find a track drive snowblower. seems like being in the midwest they are hard to run across. im wanting to use the track drive for an rc lawnmower build. any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
the plastic is called "star board", used for boat consoles, etc.
These larger wheelchair motors were 3/4" with a keyway. I just took the wheel chair wheel off and put the sprocket on and set the setscrew. Done. That was the easy part.
How did you connect the drive sprocket to the output shaft of the wheelchair motors.? I salvaged a complete track drive assembly and have similar wheelchair motors. Did you have to machine a keyed hub that the sprocket attached to? Were you able to find a keyed sprocket assembly that bolted on? I have my electronics all figured out, but no access to a machine shop.
Ok ...I found this now and think I see how you got the sprocket integrated with the wheelchair motors, but you have pretty much secured the track assembly to your chassis ...if I took the approach I was talking about that whole assembly would would be supported by the drive shaft ....not a good idea ....broken shaft at some point I am sure. So I have to rethink this now. That for all the good info.
When on the snow blower the assembly is as you describe, supported by the axle which goes all the way through both side plates which have bushings and through the drive sprocket, all on the same shaft, and it does articulate like make-shift suspension on the shaft. There are some guys on youtube that have put these on minibikes and a ski on the front for a hacked snow bike. Don't know how long it lasted, but made for fun video.
Right ...but if I just hung it on the wheelchair motor like you did without support ....the only support would be the axle. So either the axle or the assembly will need more support if I am thinking right. Speaking from experience ....on my very first build using wheels I created offsets for the tires and eventually broke an axle off because the wheel was hanging way to far off the axle without extra support. Live and learn ...you can see that build here ua-cam.com/video/CTPrryAxmHU/v-deo.html . Worked for a while ...but that thing weighed about 500 lbs., required an alternator to keep the batteries charged and presented consistent problems using four motors and the current draw the weight required ....so I am back at the drawing board
Ahh. Now I see what you've got in mind. Yes, you won't be able to extend wheelchair motor shafts to do that. would likely have to be done with a bulky jack shaft arrangement.
Well that design is out the window now. Currently I have a new setup that is like a 2wd mini skid steer with a receiver hitch on it for attaching mowers etc. However the 2wd does not do the job on this steep terrain around here ...which is why I am going to pursue putting the tracks on it. But nothing can be quick and easy! That older one could climb and steer around anything but it was way too problematic.
Thats awesome I noticed you have a 18 tooth gear on motor, how many teeth on driven.
Been working on a robot to do something of the same, but adding extra attachments. Are you running 12 or 24 volt?
24 Volts.
Hey. I am making a stair climber and have 4 motors which take 1amp current maximum and provide 20kg-cm torque is it good for a robot like stair climber? What design of stair climber is best? Will bike/cycle chain work? with chain I should you bike/chain gears or skateboard wheel or anyother wheel? Should I use rechargeable cells or I should use battery?
Whats the model of the powered wheelchair used to make this? Also the plate on the sides TracDrive, were those part of the kenmore snowblower? Did you modify those?
@bzeug "not really a problem" as in smooth enough to mount instruments on?
Some interns at NASA are looking at this design.
I cant figure out out to mount the wheel chair motors.... did you have the same issue ? also my motor shaft is not long enough to present the sprocket at the right location did you encounter the same issue?
@DwayneLeroice I just posted some vibration tests on my channel (bzeug)
Where you got this track drive?
Why couldn't you just attach the motor to the wheel and skip the sprocket and chain? Any reason?
+Jon Weiss The tracks are made that way by the manufacturer. The additional reduction from the sprockets is beneficial for my purposes and the ground clearance worked out nicely with the drive sprocket higher than the wheel axle.
how are the vibrations?
hi where do you get the tracks from ??
thanks
I don't know why sabertooth doesn't fix this common problem. Overall their products are very good. I did the same thing but used a RC - BEC to power a spektrum receiver off of the same battery that powers the sabertooth motor controller.
could you tell me what is the center distance between the two wheels? thanks.
12 inches axel to axel. The wheels are 8 inches in diameter.
where can you buy a trac drive kit?
Craigslist is where I found mine. Its from a snowblower. Look for used snowblowers with tracks.
Vibration? not really a problem.
Thats awesome I noticed you have a 18 tooth gear on motor, how many teeth on driven.
I don't know. But the driven sprocket is probably 6 inches in diameter, the wheel is 8 inches in diameter.