Struck mini dozer kit

[Dw89xj]

Has anyone tried one of these out? They seem pretty cool, I was thinking about getting one of their mini dozer kits or robbing their design and building my own version. The belts seem like the week point but since there are two or three per side for forward and one or two for reverse on each side I imagine they might handle a decent amount of abuse? Also seems it would be cheaper in the long run instead of rebuilding the Bigfoot all the time because of using it for a tool instead of a toy.

[john swenson]

dan...those struck dozers have been around a long time , so i'm pretty sure the design is time tested . it would'nt be to hard to copy the design somewhat , but i guess it's about cost for all the materials . may be better to use a small cars tranny and rear end for the drive train..10 h.p. motor for power . build your own drive sprockets and tracks . a separate brake on each rear wheel gives you the '' skid steer '' type turning . a simple electric actuator could work a blade up and down . just some ideas..i know you have the ability ! johnboy va.

[Dw89xj]

dan...those struck dozers have been around a long time , so i'm pretty sure the design is time tested . it would'nt be to hard to copy the design somewhat , but i guess it's about cost for all the materials . may be better to use a small cars tranny and rear end for the drive train..10 h.p. motor for power . build your own drive sprockets and tracks . a separate brake on each rear wheel gives you the '' skid steer '' type turning . a simple electric actuator could work a blade up and down . just some ideas..i know you have the ability ! johnboy va.

There's a pretty nice home built crawler tractor video series on YouTube the guy used an old cub cadet rear axle and trans mission and added disk brakes to skid steer. I considered this design too might be cheaper and easier since there are old cubs everywhere it seems. Also having an option to have low or high gear would be cool.
I'm cheap, my wife bought me a welder and I love building stuff. I'm falling in love with my hustler real fast and am having second thoughts of mounting up a snow blade or making any kind of attachments for it other than pontoons and roof/ duck/deer blind. I want to use it for enjoyment and relaxation instead of beating it to the dirt and having to rebuild it all the time.
And like you said Johnboy, with simple electric actuators the possibilities could be almost endless, another plus is I will have a spare 18 horse opposed Briggs if this deal goes through I'm working in for this Kohler 25 or 27 horse, the rating system changed so it could be either from what I've been reading ch740-3117 is what is, so decent size v twin anyway, I shouldn't run out of power that's for sure.