Toy dozer has RC potential!

[Supermario]

I forgot about this thread till recently. The dozer has been running great for me except for slack in the blade linkage makes operating interesting and the high motor speed makes it tricky.

Couple weeks ago I fixed the blade slack but with recent use I see it's now time for a undercarriage upgrade.

Old VS new....



Dozer currently weighs around 5lbs. I'd like to add another pound or so but I don't want to put all that weight inside the body which the track frames would have to support so here was my idea this weekend.......

Stock track frame has all kinds of room to add some weight and places it at the lowest possible spot on machine.



Also, the dozer isn't balanced correctly and rocks from front to back when lifting a loaded blade. I think the rollers are too far back and 2 is not enough so....



Some 3/8 flat bar and BBs for ballast....





I started with 1" wooden dowel for rollers but then found these laying around. Drilled out the nail and instant Teflon rollers!









Also did some work on the push arms. They don't really serve a purpose and are mostly for show because blade support and strength is in the centre.



But I didn't like the cheezy anchor point so I upgraded with something we are all familiar with that I had laying around. They fit perfectly! I had to chuckle.









And yes of course we have sound and lights now. Nice little speakers from Reg work nicely and I installed a few lights.
And a few CAT logos naturally

[Supermario]

This video is without the new undercarriage upgrade and once the operator knows what he's doing, this machine pushes well.

Hope to test out the new setup this weekend.

http://youtu.be/ESmv-LxpHcc

[Supermario]

My apologies. This probably isn't the best place to be posting this build. If the admins could move to a more proper thread, thanks.

Undercarriage rebuild continued today. New, track frames are done and ready so time to bring in the dozer and remove the old.





Playing in the dirt does have its benefits. The superfine stuff worked its way into the track frame mounting dowels. Things were much tighter than when I put it together and took some effort to work them loose. Nice when a machine tightens up with use




I put it on the scale today. The stock original weighed 1lbs 5oz.
Fully equipped now it tips the scale at 6lbs 10oz. Which is just about as far as I want to go. plenty of motor power, it's the tracks I don't want to push too far.
The new roller set up should help....