I’ll start with the fact that, in general, I didn’t need a minitractor itself - like most summer residents of the Soviet era, I only have 6 acres of land and it was quite possible to do without equipment. The craving for creativity simply played a role here, plus there were already some developments in creating a homemade tractor with a breaking frame. And by that time, a fair amount of “hardware” of various origins had accumulated in the garage.
For example, I got the engine from a friend; at one time I helped him with the repair of his ancient car, and in return I received a unit of an unknown model to me, but clearly of Soviet origin (this is clear from the quality mark on the cast block and the corresponding inscription). Most likely, the motor is of military origin, since I have never seen such motors on civilian equipment, but I’ll tell you about that later.
Tractor engine
The rest of the hardware also came to me in approximately the same ways. I looked for the missing parts at the secondary ferrous metal base, fortunately the base is nearby, and everyone knows the approach to the guards of such establishments, I think.
About a year of time was spent on manufacturing the mini-tractor, most of which was taken up by the above-mentioned searches. The main work was carried out in my free time, it should be noted that I have access to machines and welding - this allowed me to avoid any delays and the need to contact my “uncle” in order to turn or weld some part.
Idea
I didn’t think long about the design of the tractor; almost immediately I settled on the broken frame (I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time). With such a scheme, it seems to me, it is possible to improve all components and assemblies of the tractor. This scheme is also supported by the fact that in the usual version the front steered wheels require quite a lot of space, whereas with a breakable frame there is no need to turn them.
Homemade tractor diagram
As it turned out later, this scheme showed itself best in small areas.
Engine
As I mentioned above, I got an unfamiliar engine. It was a two-cylinder diesel, almost complete. I had to retrofit it only with a generator from Gaz-53 and a starter from the fifty-first lawn. I replaced the Bendix on the starter - the standard one did not fit the teeth of the diesel flywheel. According to my estimates, the engine power is around 20 hp. The torque turned out to be sufficient to carry out all work on the site without any problems. Yes, and I also picked up the muffler and fuel tank from an old motorcycle, and the radiator and fan from a Zhiguli.
Frame design
The frame of the minitractor was articulated with a fracture along the vertical plane. The rotating unit is made on the basis of a Mazov cardan. This required a few simple steps:
- Fix the horizontal axle shafts of the cross in the middle fork by welding.
- Weld a 12 mm thick metal plate to the rear fork flange.
- Connect the flanges of the front and middle forks with bolts, and then weld the front fork to the mating parts of the front frame.
Tractor frame diagram
Frame (in the top view the subframe and stand are not shown): 1 - bumper (channel 6.5); 2 - scarf (steel sheet s4, 8 pcs.); 3 - front spar (pipe 60×40, 2 pcs.); 4 - front suspension ears (steel sheet s4, 8 pcs.); 5 - support for the front inclined strut (steel sheet 4mm, 2 pcs.); 6 - front inclined pillar of the portal (pipe 60×40, 2 pcs.); 7 - cross beam of the portal (from a truck); 8 - shock absorber cup (part of a passenger car wheel disk, 2 pcs.); 9 - rear inclined pillar of the portal (pipe 60×40, 2 pcs.); 10 - vertical post of the front half-frame (angle 70×70, 2 pcs.); 11 - articulating joint (universal joint from a MAZ car); 12 - transverse wall (steel sheet s12); 13 - longitudinal wall (steel sheet s10, 2 pcs.); 14 - lower (inner) spar of the rear semi-frame (channel No. 6,5,2 pcs.); 15 — - stepladder Ml6 (steel bar with a diameter of 16, 4 pcs.); 16 upper (outer) spar of the rear semi-frame (pipe 60×40, 2 pcs.); 17 - lower outer spar of the subframe (pipe 60×40 2 pcs.); 18 - upper internal spar of the subframe (channel No. 6.5, 2 pcs.); 19 - longitudinal beam of the stand (channel No. 6.5 - 2 pcs.): 20 - stand of the stand (channel No. 6.5, 2 pcs.); 21 - rear transverse beam (channel No. 9); 22 — front transverse beam (angle 70×70); 23 - rear axle beam (from an electric car)
The rear part of the frame is made very simply: 2 pieces of channel are connected into a “U” shaped structure using steel strips 10 and 12 mm thick. Welded to the channels are elements for fastening the rear axle (from a Bulgarian-made electric car), which is fixed with stepladders through the over-frame part of the structure. There is a stand at the back, also made in the shape of the letter “P”, and used for attaching a hitch with a hydraulic cylinder. A variety of soil-cultivating tools can be mounted on the hitch – the design is durable.
As I already mentioned, the rear axle was used from an electric car, it did not require any modifications and, when assembled, fit perfectly into place. The only thing that was needed was to turn the front wheels from the MTZ over with the inside out and change them again. This was done so that the track size was equal to the row spacing (70 cm). The suspension of the rear of the tractor is rigid, so shock absorption is achieved by slightly reducing the pressure in the wheels.
My suspension diagram
Front wheel suspension (items 2,3,4,5,6,7.8,9,11,12,13,15 - from the ZAZ-968 car): 1 - frame portal; 2 — suspension arm (from the Zaporozhets car); 3 - rubber buffer; 4 - flange; 5 — shock absorber; 6 — lower spring cup; 7 - spring; 8 - upper shock absorber glass; 9 - screw with washer: 10 - rubber gasket; 11 - nut with washer; 12 - shock absorber silent block; 13 - pin bracket for the suspension arm; 14 — bolt with split nut (2 sets); 15 - silent block of the lever (2 pcs.)
The front part of the frame has a spatial design, so we had to tinker with it a little longer. It turned out this way because the front wheels (from a Bulgarian electric car, which have rubberized rims instead of normal tires) were planned to be made on independent suspension. Its main elements were taken from the rear suspension of an old Zaporozhets, now I think it was worth making the suspension arms myself (with a slightly different geometry). The levers are suspended on hinges attached to the bumper made of channel 6.
The shock absorbers are mounted with their upper ends in a frame structure that goes around the wheels (the idea was to make the tractor all-wheel drive, so it was possible to attach axle shafts with cardan shafts). From above, the entire structure is connected by a transverse beam with a platform fixed to it. The dashboard from the “lawn”, the steering column bracket and the fuel tank are installed on the platform. To install the engine on the semi-frame, spars with rubber cushions are provided. Overall dimensions of the assembled frame are 2080 by 730 mm.
Transmission
I didn’t invent anything in the transmission, but used a conventional scheme with a clutch, gearbox, and cardan drive. The donor was an ancient GAZ-51, the gear ratios of its gearbox matched the engine characteristics perfectly. After all, a decent traction force is more important to a tractor than speed, so from this side I never had any complaints about the box. Another advantage of the gas box was the presence of a window for connecting the power take-off shaft from an armored personnel carrier (“sixties”, it came together with the body, as if it were original).
The power take-off has a pair of levers, one of them is used to turn on the power take-off shaft, and the other lever turns on the drive of the oil pump for the hydraulic system (NSH-10 pump). The oil tank of this system has found its place under the driver’s seat, the tank capacity is 10 liters. Next to the tank is a battery box. By the way, all the electrics on the tractor are 12-volt, the battery is from a passenger car.
The clutch housing is connected to the motor through an adapter made of a steel plate with holes. The clutch is equipped with a hydraulic drive from the same donor as the entire transmission.
The cardan drive is short with two hinges, this makes it possible to freely transfer torque from the gearbox to the differential gearbox even at critical angles of rotation of the frame parts relative to each other. A drum-type hand brake is installed on the same shaft along with the mechanism. Considering that the speed of the tractor was low, I made it work - I was not mistaken, it works properly.
Drawing of my tractor's brake system
Brake system diagram: 1 - handle; 2 - stopper removal lever; 3 - gear sector; 4 - pawl-stopper; 5 — rod with an adjustable fork tip; 6 - drive lever; 7 - drum with brake mechanism; 8 — gearbox; 9 - cardan joint; 10 - lever travel limiter; 11 — bolt securing the gear sector to the gearbox housing; 12 - lever axis
Steering without kinematics, fully hydraulic - from a forklift. In my opinion, it is a very convenient system - when the engine is running, the frame folds completely when turning the steering wheel with one hand, I personally like it.
Steering
Steering diagram (a - left turn; b - right turn): 1 - steering wheel with a hydraulic cylinder; 2 - vertical post of the front half-frame; 3 - working cylinder rod bracket, 4 - working cylinder; 5 - rear semi-frame; 6 - articulating joint; 7 - hydraulic hoses
The frame is folded by a hydraulic cylinder, fixed at its ends to the front and rear half-frames. By the way, the same cylinder is used to raise and lower the mounted units.
The hydraulic system is controlled using a spool valve from a tractor of the MTZ family. The distributor is mounted under the seat on the right side of the battery box.
Operating the tractor did not involve driving on public roads or at night, so I didn’t bother with lighting devices. For my convenience, I just installed rear-view mirrors so that when plowing and other operations I don’t have to constantly look back.
The minimum ground clearance of the device was about 250 millimeters, which I think is quite enough for the conditions of my site.
There is no need to explain to anyone that a tractor for a rural farmstead is not only a necessary machine, but also a necessary one. Just as before a peasant farm could not do without a horse, now it cannot do without a tractor. But it’s not affordable for those who need it most, that is, a simple rural worker, to purchase such equipment.
But if the owner is a craftsman, like the author of the article below, Mikhail Simonov from the village of Podsosenki, Balakovo district, Saratov region, then he can make the tractor himself. Literally from scrap metal, Mikhail assembled a tractor that is in no way inferior to similar industrially manufactured machines, not only in its technical characteristics, but even in appearance.
Let's start the description of the tractor made by M. Simonov with the design of the frame. The frame is quite simple - symmetrical, almost rectangular and not even spatial. But all the units and components of the chassis: engine, transmission, wheel suspensions - were placed on it, albeit tightly, but rationally.
Welded frame. Its main power elements are pairs of side members (right and left) and a traverse (front and rear). The spars are made composite, three-stage. The two front stages of the side members are made of channel No. 10, and the last one is made of 80x80 mm square pipe. The front traverse is made of channel No. 12, and the rear one is made of channel No. 16. Another element of the frame is made from channel No. 12 - the cross member. A pair of sub-motor brackets is made from channel No. 8, but each of them is welded from two sections in such a way that the flanges of their parts are directed in different directions. For the cabin floor, which extends beyond the frame, frames are welded from a rectangular pipe of 60x40 mm. The frames are welded cantilever to the middle steps of the side members from their outer side in the place where they join the rear steps. This diversity in the assortment of metal is caused not so much by design necessity, but by the material available in stock.
The tractor chassis is assembled on the frame: the power unit, transmission, front and rear axles with wheels are installed.
The power unit is a 4-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine with a power of about 40 hp. It was taken from a decommissioned Bulgarian truck (loader).
The gearbox together with the power take-off shaft transfer case are used from a GAZ-53 dump truck, and the clutch mechanism is from a GAZ-52 car. To attach the clutch basket to the engine, we had to weld a new basket casing and slightly alter the engine flywheel. On a lathe, the rear plane of the flywheel was cut off and an additional center hole was machined. When installing the part in place, it is first rotated 180°.
The rear axle is used from a Bulgarian car without modifications. There is no bridge suspension, and it is attached rigidly to the frame using four stepladders. The driveshaft, although not long, had to be made composite. Its rear part with the cross is from a car, and the front part is from a GAZ-52. The shaft parts are connected by means of a splined bushing at the end of one part and a splined tip at the other.
The rear part is cushioned by 18-inch pneumatic wheel tires borrowed from the GAZ-66 off-road vehicle. To fit these wheels on Avtokarovsk hubs, I cut out the middle part with mounting holes from the disk, and in its place I welded the same part of the disk from the wheel of a ZIL-130 car - its mounting holes exactly correspond to Avtokarovsk ones.
I made the front axle myself. He's not the leader. Its design corresponds to those that have already been cited more than once in publications about homemade tractors in the “Modelist-Konstruktor” magazine. The front wheel hubs, as well as the wheels themselves, are used from the GAZ-69 car.
But the steering of my tractor is not quite ordinary - hydraulic. It starts working only when the engine is turned on, but is much easier than a mechanical one. And although the principle of its operation is similar to Avtokarov’s, the mechanism itself is mostly homemade, using components and parts from various equipment.
The operation of the steering mechanism is ensured by its own oil gear pump NSh-10, which is mounted on the engine and driven from it.
The steering wheel together with the dispenser is used from the KSK-100A combine.
Where vehicles typically have a steering mechanism (such as a pinion and rack) that controls tie rods, my tractor has a hydraulic steering cylinder. It is homemade, double-acting - it has one piston and two rods. The free ends of the rods are connected to the tie rod ends. The movement of the piston in the cylinder in one direction or another is ensured by the supply of oil under pressure from the dispenser, through one of two fittings (alternately), mounted into the walls of the cylinder on its opposite sides.
1- front traverse (channel No. 12); 2 - front spar stage (channel No. 10, 2 pcs.); 3 - cross member (channel No. 12); 4 - engine bracket (channel No. 8, 2 pcs.); 5 - middle stage of the spar (channel No. 10.2 pcs.); 6 - cantilever underground grille (pipe 60×40.2 pcs.); 7 - rear spar stage (pipe 80×80.2 pcs.); 8 - rear traverse (channel No. 16); 9 - fender liner (angle 20×20, 2 pcs.); 10 - thrust bracket for connecting the hinge (steel sheet s5, 2 pcs.); 11- front axle suspension bracket
1- front wheel (from GAZ-69, 2 pcs.); 2- radiator (from a Bulgarian car); 3-engine 4-cylinder, diesel, 40 hp. (from a Bulgarian car); 4- clutch mechanism (from GAZ-52); 5 - gearbox (from GAZ-53); 6 - hand brake; 7 - rear wheel (from GAZ-66, 2 pcs.); 8 - hitch for attaching tillage implements (from the MTZ-80 tractor); 9- power take-off shaft (from agricultural machinery); 10- rear axle (from a Bulgarian car); 11-cardan shaft; 12 - power take-off shaft transfer case (from GAZ-53); 13 - frame; 14 - front axle
1 - wheel hub (from GAZ-69, 2 pcs.); 2 - steering knuckle (from GAZ-69, 2 pcs.); 3 - steering knuckle bushing (pipe Ø77); 4 - bridge beam (pipes Ø77 and Ø70)
1-steering wheel (from the KSK-100A combine); 2 - dispenser (from the KSK-100A combine); 3 - high pressure hoses (from agricultural machinery); 4 - hydraulic cylinder; 5 - pump NSh-10; 6 - oil tank (receiver from the T-150 tractor trolley)
1- tie rod joint (2 pcs.); 2 - steering rod (2 pcs.); 3 - lock nut M18x1.5 (2 pcs.); 4 - rod (steel, circle 28, 2 pcs.); 5 - glass (steel, circle 70, 2 pcs.); 6 - threaded fitting (G 1/2″, 2 pcs.); 7 - cylinder body (pipe 60×5); 8 - piston (steel, circle 50); 9 - bracket (steel, sheet s5); 10 - cuffs with spring rings
The double-sided cylinder of the steering mechanism was made from a conventional hydraulic cylinder from agricultural machinery. The hydraulic cylinder was disassembled, the blank flange was cut off and a thread was machined here for the same glass as at the other end of the cylinder. Here, near the thread, another fitting for the hose was cut into the wall. The piston was left unchanged, only one of the cuffs was turned over. The rod was shortened a little, and another homemade one was attached to the piston on the other side through a threaded hole. At the free ends of the rods I attached tie rod ends from GAZ-69. The cylinder assembly was secured to the front axle with two M12 bolts.
The tractor also has a separate hydraulic system, to which the power cylinder of the rear linkage is connected to control the operation (raising and lowering) of agricultural implements. Its operation is ensured by the NSh-32 pump, which is also installed on the engine. The power cylinder of the hitch (as well as the hitch itself) is from the MTZ-80 tractor.
The 10 liter oil expansion tank is made from the receiver of the T-150 tractor dump truck.
The tractor cab is a one-piece two-seater (the top is not removable), with a large glass area, wide side windows with a top hinge that open outward. There is only one door - on the left side.
The cabin frame is welded from square (20×20 mm and 40×40 mm) and rectangular (40×20 mm) pipes. The door and other side wall are covered with 2 mm thick steel sheet. The roof of the cabin, like the wings (front and rear), is curved from a single 3-mm steel sheet. A flange is made on the rear wings for rigidity, and an arc from the longitudinal half of a half-inch pipe is welded along the top of the front wings. The hood frame is welded from a 35x35 mm angle and sheathed with a 2 mm thick profile steel sheet. Two headlights from Moskvich-2140 are mounted in the front panel of the hood. The rear signal lights are from the T-150 tractor, the front ones are from the GAZ-52. Inside, the front cabin is lined with sound-insulating material, and the roof at the top is lined with leatherette with thermal insulation lining.
The cabin equipment is standard. The seat is homemade, under it there is an ST-90 battery and a tool box. The instrument panel is equipped with an ammeter, oil pressure and coolant temperature sensors. The tractor's electrical wiring is homemade, its circuit is used from the T-40 tractor. Transmission controls: gear shift knob, clutch release mechanism, gas control drive - from a GAZ-52 car.
The cabin is equipped with a heating system with a stove from the DT-75 tractor, and a windshield wiper from the T-80 tractor. There is also a Ural-auto radio here.
The tractor's service brakes are hydraulic and drive only the rear wheels. The hand brake is mechanical, its disk is mounted on the cardan shaft and is made in the form of a flange for the universal joint fork of the main gear.
The transport speed of the tractor is up to 37 km/h, and the working speed is 2 km/h.
The tractor was registered with the technical supervision authorities without any problems and received a state license plate.
M. SIMONOV, p. Podsosenki, Saratov region
If you have a trailer for a walk-behind tractor, then you can save on freight transportation. Typically, the design of trailers for walk-behind tractors requires independent operation of the wheels of the trailer and the walk-behind tractor to which it is attached. This is useful when you are handling loads in rural areas over uneven terrain.
How to make brakes on a trailer for a walk-behind tractor
After the first trip, everyone who has made a homemade trailer asks themselves the question: how to make brakes on a trailer for a walk-behind tractor, because it is not possible to brake downhill, and you risk getting into an accident.
If you want to put brakes on your purchased trailer, or want to equip a homemade cart with them, keep in mind that the brake system is an organ of the unit that is almost always removed from a passenger car and slightly altered to suit new needs.
Brakes and brakes are different. If you listen to mechanics, you will hear about parking brakes that do not brake the trailer well when it is loaded, especially if you park it on a slope. Why do we need brakes that only stop the trailer when it is empty?
You can install band brakes on the trailer, but they are practically useless and do not perform their function.
I know of one successful case when a man attached brakes to his trailer for a walk-behind tractor. But only he made them on one wheel. It's good if you have an old motorcycle. Remove the brake pads and drum from it.
You will also need a motorcycle wheel. Throw away the spokes from the wheel, get rid of the rim. What you need is a metal drum. Remove the rod and cable from the disk. Make a groove (if you can’t, give the disc to a familiar turner).
When work with the disc is ready, proceed to assembling the brake for the walk-behind trailer. Place the drum on the hub. Secure it at the back, wrap thick wire around the space of the drum between its ribs.
We place the metal disk with a groove above it on the axle and secure it with a bushing. To prevent the disk from turning, take a welding machine and weld a piece of pipe to it. In order to control the brake system, we make a lever and pull the cable to it. Basically, that's all.
Do-it-yourself trailer brakes for a walk-behind tractor
So, we have already said that to equip a trailer for a walk-behind tractor, parking brakes on a trailer for a walk-behind tractor are most often used. With their help, you can leave a trailer with a walk-behind tractor standing for a long time, place it on a slope, or stop it while driving. In general, everything is almost the same as if we used this braking system in a car.
The only difference is that in a car it serves as a spare due to its primitive operation and design. These brakes are activated by hand or foot control on the driver's side using a pedal, or using a lever.
Parking brakes consist of a mechanical brake drive and a braking mechanism. The operator, when interacting with a lever or pedal, starts the mechanical drive and transmits the action to the brake mechanism.
The action from the lever to the brake mechanisms is transmitted through cables. There may be three of them. One, the front one, is connected to the lever, and the two rear ones are connected to the wheels of our trailer. The lever activates the front cable, which pulls the other two. This interaction is ensured thanks to the equalizer. The cables are attached to the lever and wheels.
It is very good that such a brake system has an adjusting nut, with which you can easily change the length of the mechanical drive. This can be useful when you have removed the brakes from an old GAZ and decided to move it onto a trailer for a walk-behind tractor, if it is shorter or longer. Besides, you can always get new cables if you want.
To release the trailer brake, you simply move the lever to the reverse position. To do this, a return spring was invented in the design of the parking brake, which can be attached to the front cable, to the brake mechanism, or located on the equalizer.
Drawing diagram of the brake system, which you can see below
1 — handle; 2 — brake control lever; 3 — bracket; 4 — mechanical drive lever; 5 — cable guide; 6 — return spring; 7 — adjusting eccentric; 8 — bracket; 9 — rear cable; 10 — equalizer; 11 — cable equalizer rod; 12 — brake lever rod; 13 - warning lamp switch (such a part is more likely to be needed in cars; if you are converting the brakes for a trailer, you probably won’t need it).
Homemade brakes for a trailer to a walk-behind tractor: drawings, diagrams
In fact, you don’t need drawings on how to convert ready-made brakes from a car for a trailer to a walk-behind tractor, or assemble entire brakes from several parts, as we described earlier. The point of the drawings is to give the master an idea of the proportions of the entire product.
In the description of how to make your own brakes for a trailer for a walk-behind tractor, you will most likely find a brake diagram useful. In addition to the above and the parking brake diagram, we provide you with an additional parking brake diagram for a trailer with a pedal control.
1 - axis; 2 — footrest; 3 — brake pedal; 4 — shock absorber in the form of a rubber ring; 5 - drawbar; 6 — return spring; 7 — pedal lever; 8 — bracket for connecting the main brake cylinder.
How to make trailer brakes for a walk-behind tractor: video
In order for you to understand more clearly what we discussed above, we suggest you watch a video with homemade brakes on a trailer attached to a walk-behind tractor.
They made the tractor with their own hands back in the days of the Soviet Union. Each folk craftsman figured out how to make a car on his own. At that time there was no Internet where you can find almost any information. Therefore, everyone who needed a homemade tractor independently looked for a way out of the situation.
Currently, there are several reasons for making a tractor with your own hands. Some people are not satisfied with the technical characteristics of commercially available models and want to create a car that best suits their individual needs. Others simply do not have enough money to purchase even a used tractor, but there is a need to use this agricultural equipment.
Unlike Soviet times, we have the opportunity to use the World Wide Web. There you can find drawings and detailed instructions for assembling a homemade tractor. We want to tell you about one such model in this article.
How to make a homemade tractor
You can take the drawings proposed by the Saratov inventor as a basis and make your own additions to them. As the description progresses, we will give you practical advice on how to improve the design.
Frame
The basis of any technique is the frame. It is on this that the weight of the attachments and other components of the tractor falls. If you are familiar with agricultural machinery, you should know that All tractors available in the market have an all-metal or tipping frame.
The solid frame provides the equipment with greater reliability, and the fracture frame provides maneuverability.. Which option to choose is up to you to decide. Simonov used a one-piece version to make his model.
To do this, you must use a metal channel or a pipe with a square cross-section. The side spars are made from channel No. 10 or 12. For the front and rear crossmembers, it is recommended to use No. 16.
A transverse beam is made from the twelfth channel, which will serve as a stiffener. It is recommended to reinforce the front part of the frame, where the engine will be located, with metal corners.
If you want your home-made equipment to have good maneuverability, then you need to make two half-frames from the material listed above. They must be connected to each other by a hinge. Connections from truck main gears can be used for these purposes.
Engine and transmission
Simonov used a 40-horsepower water-cooled diesel engine in his tractor. This four-cylinder unit was removed by the designer from a faulty loader. Most likely, you won’t have a written-off car on hand, so you’ll have to be smart.
You can install almost any engine that is suitable in terms of power on a tractor made by yourself.. Considering that you are making a full-fledged tractor with your own hands, and not a walk-behind tractor on four wheels, recommended diesel power should vary from 30 to 80 horsepower.
To find the unit you need, you can use the Internet or inspect nearby car depots. You'll probably be able to find a power plant for a nominal fee.
For the proposed design, you can use a gearbox from a GAZ-53 and a clutch from a GAZ-52. To connect the diesel engine to the clutch, you will need to trim the engine flywheel and drill an additional hole in the center.
The rear axle of this model is driven, so it is best to install a ready-made part. Making a rear drive axle with your own hands is quite difficult. Simonov removed the necessary assembly from the above-mentioned loader.
The front axle is steerable, so you can do it yourself. Drawings and assembly diagrams for the front axle can be found on the Internet. The hubs and front wheels can be borrowed from the GAZ-69. It is recommended to use disc brakes. They can be placed on the cardan shaft.
Hydraulics and steering
In order for a homemade tractor to have good controllability, it is recommended to install hydraulic steering. To do this, you will need a gear-type pump NSh-10.
This design can be removed from almost any decommissioned agricultural equipment. The pump is mounted to the engine and operates only when the diesel engine is turned on. The steering wheel can be removed from the KSK 100 A combine or similar. Instead of a steering rack, it is necessary to install a hydraulic cylinder.
To make a homemade tractor truly functional, you need a hydraulic system. Without it, the equipment will not be able to work with attachments. The finished hitch together with the cylinder can be removed from the MTZ-80 tractor.
In order for the hydraulics to function normally, an additional pump is attached to the power unit. NSh-32 is optimally suited for performance. For oil you will need a container with a volume of about 10 liters. All hydraulic units are connected to each other by flexible hoses.
Cabin
The workplace can be made from a metal profile. As cladding, M. Simonov used steel sheets 2 mm thick. The same material will be needed for the hood trim.
The inside of the cabin can be lined with leatherette, having previously placed a layer of insulation between the inner and outer skins. There will be no problems with glass; they can be removed from any old equipment and used ready-made.
The driver's seat can be taken from any truck, and a battery can be placed under it. The electrical wiring is homemade. As an example, you can use the electrical circuit of the T-40 tractor.
To avoid problems with traffic police officers, it is necessary to install headlights and side lights on the tractor. It is worth noting that Simonov had no problem registering the tractor he assembled with his own hands with the traffic police and received a license plate.
The tractor model assembled according to this scheme shows good performance and maneuverability. The equipment can move at a speed of 37 km/h. When performing work, speed indicators can be reduced to 2 km/h.
As already mentioned, you can take the proposed design as a basis and build your own tractor on its basis, which will meet your needs.
It is difficult to imagine agriculture without the use of special equipment. But most private farmers cannot afford to buy a mini-tractor. On small plots of land you can get by with hand tools, but on an area of more than 1 hectare this will not be enough. A homemade tractor is not inferior in efficiency to most factory models.
The main types of homemade tractors
Due to high fuel consumption, weight and dimensions, using large and powerful tractors on a small area is inconvenient and irrational. Their manufacture requires precise calculations, which are difficult to perform at home without engineering skills.
A mini-tractor is considered a multifunctional piece of equipment and is capable of cultivating up to 10 hectares of area. This is enough for private farming. It should be suitable not only for caring for the garden, but also for clearing snow, transporting goods and removing garbage. When designing your structure, you should take these features into account.
There are 2 approaches to creating your own tractor:
- Re-equipment of finished agricultural machinery. In the vast majority, the base is a walk-behind tractor, to which is attached a frame with an additional pair of wheels and a driver’s seat. This method allows you to quickly and with minimal effort build a simple and functional tractor.
- Full production. It is used in the absence of a base or for specific requirements for equipment. In this case, the chassis is designed and manufactured independently, and components are selected based on financial capabilities and design features.
Some enthusiasts build steam tractors. A separate boiler allows you to use almost any type of combustible fuel. This type of energy conversion was common in the 1900s. Due to low efficiency, bulky design and short power reserve, steam engines cannot compete with internal combustion engines. The use of outdated technologies in agriculture is a costly endeavor and is used for entertainment.
Tractor manufacturing features
Homemade equipment has the most simplified design, and its production uses components and assemblies from other equipment. The goal is to obtain a cheap and reliable design. Assembly requires basic tool handling and minimal technical knowledge.
When designing your own design, you should use parts with minimal modifications. Spare parts should be readily available and inexpensive. A large number of homemade elements in the design will increase the cost and duration of repairs.
Carrying out accurate calculations of strength and loads is practically impossible at home, so the frame and other load-bearing components of the structure are manufactured with a large margin of safety.
If you have the drawings and necessary equipment, you can make a tractor yourself in 3 months.
Preparation of drawings
Before purchasing and preparing components, it is necessary to draw up a project for the future tractor. You can take drawings of finished models as a basis. The spare parts you have may differ from those declared, and changing the finished design will not be difficult. There are ready-made solutions for any modifications.
If it is not possible to use a ready-made project, then you need to prepare rough sketches yourself. During the assembly process, the arrangement of elements may change, but you must understand how the individual components will be located.
