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hydrostatic conversion

spencerhenry

New member
wondering if anyone has used skid steer components for a hydrostatic conversion. i have a skid steer that has tires, but also track units that bolt on in place of the tires. with tires it will go 14 mph, with tracks a little bit faster. it is far from a snowcat at 13,200 pounds and tracks about 16 inches wide and 6 feet long, but basically it is a very heavy track machine. a motor and pump from a skid steer and the drives is all you would need, isnt it? the 4.5 liter perkins in my skidsteer puts out 115 hp in stock form, but i bet it is pretty heavy, my hydraulics are capable of somewhere in the neighborhood of 55 gallons a minute.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
sounds like a good packace to adapt the skid steers we have are kubota powered bobcats and i think 8mph at tops it would be a slow trip
 

spencerhenry

New member
my skidsteer has a top speed of 14mph, that is with a reduction of about 2 to 1 in the chain case. not sure if the drives would handle being hooked up direct, but if so the top speed would not be an issue.
obviously it would take a larger machine to get parts from, i have seen ones like mine that had engine fires go for about $3500.
just wondering if anyone has done it, or looked into it. i am not thinking about doing it, hell i dont even own a cat.
 

MNoutdoors RIP

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
my skid steer has a top speed of 14mph, that is with a reduction of about 2 to 1 in the chain case. not sure if the drives would handle being hooked up direct, but if so the top speed would not be an issue.
obviously it would take a larger machine to get parts from, i have seen ones like mine that had engine fires go for about $3500.
just wondering if anyone has done it, or looked into it. i am not thinking about doing it, hell i dont even own a cat.

thought about it actually thought about a platform with tracks you drive onto with the skid steer then bind it down drive to your site,cabin etc and take it off if you wish speed would not be of real high importance with that type of unit.
 

northeastheavy

New member
Considering the weight and size restrictions of a skid steer body, what about taking the drivetrain out and putting it in a Bombi, J5 or spryte tub . Stretching it out lengthwise a bit and maybe longer axles to fit the tub?????? That would eliminate the weight problem and give the unit a wider base and tracks!!! Hmmmm!!! Still would be slow, but a reasonable costing conversion to hydrostatic drive???????? Must be something else I am not considering??????
 

scooterd

Member
I bought a Versatile 400 swather at auction for 200 dollars. I planned on using the hydro components to convert a Thiokol over. I figured if it would move the swather in the field at close to 10 mph, I would have no trouble with a 1200 series Thiokol geared to about 15 mph. In my opinion, thats fast enough. I think that I have pretty much everything I would need, except for the time! Has anyone else looked at using a swather for the components?
 

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Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Considering the weight and size restrictions of a skid steer body, what about taking the drivetrain out and putting it in a Bombi, J5 or spryte tub . Stretching it out lengthwise a bit and maybe longer axles to fit the tub?????? That would eliminate the weight problem and give the unit a wider base and tracks!!! Hmmmm!!! Still would be slow, but a reasonable costing conversion to hydrostatic drive???????? Must be something else I am not considering??????
that was the idea i got from the first post with a 100 horse motor should move a bombi or imp pretty good and even improve preformance in some respects
 

northeastheavy

New member
Looking at the tub on a bombi here, I would swear its no wider than most skid steers. Maybe all you need is the hydrostatic drive from a larger skid steer or swather or other implement with a hydro drive and adapt it too your snowcats engine??????? Still must be missing something as it sounds too simple??? Size of the drive would make a difference!! Adapting the skid steer drive axle to a sprocket?? Sounds like a good backyard project???
 

spencerhenry

New member
the 115hp perkins in my skidsteer is probably quite heavy, but can also be turned up to about 140hp. the drives themselves are not very big, but would probably not be hard to adapt to a sprocket. on my machine there is a chain sprocket on the drive, and then chains going forward and back to each wheel. it is about a 2 to 1 reduction in the chain case. with a large sprocket for a snow cat, it might be just about right for power and top speed. my skidsteer has 35" tires and has a top speed of 14mph. a snowcat sprocket is quite a bit smaller making the effective top speed in the ballpark.
it does sound pretty simple, that is why i asked if anyone had done it. finding a skidsteer with a burned motor, or being parted out is not too hard and they dont usually go for much money.
big downside to the late model "tier II" diesels is that they dont start for crap. the glowplugs in mine are computer controlled and only come on if the motor is below 32*, so when it is high 20's to 32, it starts pretty well, from 32 to 40 it starts like crap. i have some issue with my starter or cables and it doesnt crank as fast as it should. someday when i am near a perkins dealer i will have the computer set for the glow plugs to come on under 60*. the manufacturer told me that if it is not plugged in, it will NOT start below zero.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
i think direct drive would be best and something like a bombie with the engine in the rear to balance the weight would be the best i think a elecric motor driven bontrol would be the best as the bobcat joy sticks can get out of control as you get thrown around also some kind of joy stick control with a hand rest like a fighter plane other wise in my mind it's a great way to pick up an affordable conversion kit
 

northeastheavy

New member
Very unusual that no one has tried this already?? Seems like using a mechanical engine with a skid steer hydrostatic drive would work. I do think you would need maybe 25% more horse power to make up for the nicer but less efficient hydro drive??? Does not make sense to convert a snowcat with an automatic trans, but so many others this could be tried in??? Maybe add a turbo to the engine when converting it over????
Spencerhenry is probably on his way to the local salvage yards!!! You can find alot of skid steers with burnt engine compartments and good couplers and pumps,as the pumps are under the seat, they don't always burn.
Sure nobody tried this yet???????????????????????????????
 

spencerhenry

New member
stop thinking about old bobcats with their mechanical controls. my machine is a 2005 with pilot controls. one stick drives the machine and it is very easy to be delicate with it. the pilot controls are easily mounted, easy to handle, and work very well. the only drawback i have heard of is that the hoses bring heat into the cab, not a big deal in a machine designed for use in the winter. the perkins diesel in my machine has a turbo, and can easily be reprogrammed to get more power, it moves my 13,000 pound skidsteer at top speed easily. i very rarely ever use full throttle. the only time i use throttle over about 50% is when i am running the snowblower, then i set the throttle at about 75%. it is not a power need to be at higher throttle, but rather to get the fan speed up to throw the snow farther. a cat weighing half as much shouldnt be an issue. the motor however is probably very heavy, but maybe not much more than the other motor the machines were offered with, a cummins rated at 99hp.
the drives are only about 10 inches in diameter and about 8 inches deep. they mount on a flat surface. not a project i have time or need for, but sure seems like it would be a fairly easy conversion, and not all that much money. might be more useful in something like a 4t with the dual rear diffs and all the drivetrain components. one nice thing about hydraulic drive is that the motor can be placed just about anywhere.
 

redsqwrl

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I am researching the purchase of a snow cat. I got a good look at a Bombardier BR-180 that my snowmobile club grooms with. it had a perkins diesel and 8x10" ish servo or hydro static motors bolted directly to reduction hubs. I was kind of disappointed at the simplicity of the machine. I walked away thinking I could build that.......
I have a Gehl 4400 skid steer that has a 2.3 L Gas industrial ford (pinto) motor and 2-1 Chain reductions. I can't imagine relying on Hydraulic hoses to take me out and back. My skid steer gets inermittent duty. that BR-180 is wound up and dragging for hours on end so It must be reliable.
I just seem drawn to old Sprytes/imps for their simplicity in laying track to go across soft terrain. Motor, Gears, tracks.
the Drive train in the ATKIV really intrigues me and the ground speed is desireable, But I can't find a snow trac. I like the Hydro converted Skid Steer idea, but for me I think I am going to start with something simpler.
My day dreams are almost done building a 2.3 L, 5 Cyl Gas powered, four track-articulated, Two passenger, LIght duty snow transporter.....
Now my hollow spot in my head has to start considering the design of a aptly named Bob-cat. 1/2 bob cat 1/2 snow cat.
I need to go to more farm auctions if those old haybines are hydro, I thought they were variator driven.......

Fun fun
Mike
 
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