We present to your attention a selection of photographs of homemade forklifts from different continents
American experience in designing homemade forklifts
Building a forklift with your own hands is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Experience in the field of welding work is required, because weak joining of elements will lead to insufficient strength of the machine, and incorrect design calculations can lead to overturning. A meticulous technology lover from North America approached the issue of creating a machine thoroughly, first of all building a wooden model.
Photo source: mytractorforum.com
Do-it-yourself equipment has the most important advantage - it is low cost, provided that the necessary materials and tools are available. If they are absent, it is worth thinking about the feasibility of the idea. Most likely, it will be cheaper to buy used equipment. The “author” of the loader from Oklahoma claims that he spent about $600 on his “brainchild.”
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As practice shows, a rear-mounted loader is much easier and cheaper to manufacture than a front-mounted one. However, with such equipment another problem arises - working with your head constantly turned back is, to put it mildly, inconvenient.
Photo source: tractorbynet.com
The owner of the equipment, the photo of which is posted above, admits that he does not risk lifting a full bucket of earth, since the mount will not support such a large weight. However, it can easily handle moving compost and leaves.
Photo source: tractorbynet.com
And this mounted wooden equipment was created for the purpose of transporting firewood and other goods in small quantities.
Photo source: swampyacresfarm.com
What do Russian homemade forklifts look like?
In domestic farms, lifting equipment is most often made for MTZ tractors. This is what comes of it.
Photo source: moezerno.ru
Photo source: moezerno.ru
And this mini-loader, consisting mainly of spare parts from Zhiguli (two shortened axles, gearbox), was designed and assembled by a craftsman from Tyumen. The car is equipped with a 13-horsepower Chinese-made engine, and there is also a starter. The compact model starts from any gear. What is noteworthy is that there is no gas pedal; its function is performed by the clutch pedal.
Photo source: vsluh.ru
Photo source: vsluh.ruGood maneuverability is ensured by a frame that can “break”
If theater begins, as they say, with a hanger, then creating a homemade tractor is certainly true! - from the acquisition of a power unit and main transmission components. I was quite lucky in this regard. We managed to get a well-preserved engine from an MP-800B motor pump; clutch borrowed from the ZAZ-966 car; a gearbox from a well-worn GAZ-52 and a rear axle from a decommissioned electric car EP-103K. They formed the basis of the mini-tractor (MT), which, according to the unanimous opinion of fellow villagers, turned out to be a solid, indispensable mechanical assistant on the farm.
This guy can do everything: plow the land, plant and nurture any agricultural crop, collect and bring the harvest, cut firewood, and pump water - please! For this purpose, the MT design provides for the possibility of power take-off, the use of mounted and trailed agricultural implements, and hydraulics, finally.
Internal combustion engine(ICE), however, had to be somewhat modified. Moreover, the modification is nothing more than a water cooling system with forced circulation of coolant. So that the latter is introduced into each of the existing two cylinders separately, and the circulation improves. To do this, I recommend doing the following.
First of all, remove the standard aluminum pipe that connected the cooling jackets of the internal combustion engine cylinder heads. Then unscrew the studs from the holes in the heads - those with the help of which the dismantled pipe was fastened to the engine. Then cut a thread in the holes (on each head) with an M22 tap - for new pre-prepared fittings (see figure). The work on the cylinder heads is completed by connecting the new fittings installed in their places with durite hoses to the radiator pipe. Now it's time for the muffler. So as not to interfere, it is simply removed. Then, at a distance of 45 mm from the lower connector, a hole 0 15 mm is drilled in the jacket of each cylinder. Don't forget about the holes for the water pipe studs. Having cut the threads with an MB tap, these studs are secured in them. And having made pipes with flanges from StZ, install the latter in prepared places using sealing rubber gaskets and M8 nuts. These inlet pipes are connected to the discharge pipes (water pump), for which durite hoses are again used.
Click and enlarge
To improve circulation, the holes in the cylinder head gaskets are enlarged to a diameter of 10 mm. The circulation of the coolant itself is ensured by water pump(from a UAZ-452 car). Strictly speaking, the exact location of its installation is not of fundamental importance here. But the most convenient way, apparently, is to mount the water pump on the low tide of the second cylinder head instead of the removed vacuum apparatus of the motor pump. The pump is driven by a V-belt drive from the driven shaft of the internal combustion engine gearbox.
And a number of other features. In order to maximize the compaction of the layout and simplify the entire structure, the engine itself is placed... in front of the radiator, at the inlet of which a tee is installed. And the coolant temperature gauge sensor is screwed into the latter. On the frame, the internal combustion engine is mounted on two cross members. And the launch is carried out manually, from the right (in the direction of travel) side of the tractor, for which the handle located vertically here is used, driven by a sharp turn towards itself and down. Moreover, the starting sector and ratchet washer are factory ones, and the lever is made from a piece of half-inch pipe.
Motor reducer- perhaps the most complex power transmission unit that will have to be manufactured. Gear-type, single-stage, with gear ratio i 1.0. The need to introduce it into the MT kinematics (see figure) is caused by a number of reasons. And first of all, the fact that our mini-tractor has a double main gear. This means that a change in the direction of rotation of the shaft is necessary. There is also no doubt that the absence of a gearbox in this kinematics (direct connection) would make power take-off extremely difficult. In addition, the possibility of starting the internal combustion engine manually using the factory starting mechanism would be eliminated. The “direct” connection option requires the installation of a reverse rotation magneto. And most importantly, the motor shaft would be additionally loaded: from axial force.
occurring when the clutch is engaged.
Gear housing welded Made of 4 mm steel sheet (StZ) with two tightly welded bearing supports. It has a screw-in breather on top and a drain plug on the bottom. It is closed with a lid with a bearing support N2208 welded to it. The two spur gears located inside were taken ready-made (from the gearbox of the P-350 starting engine or from the SMD-62). But the hubs are homemade, made of Steel 45.
Flywheel and clutch- from a ZAZ-966 car. They fit quite well and fit into the design of the MT. True, the heel of the release bearing had to be bored to a diameter of 35 mm - for free passage of the gearbox input shaft. And to attach the flywheel to the flange of the driven shaft of the internal combustion engine gearbox, use three Ml 4 bolts (see figure).
Transmission taken from a GAZ-52 car, with subsequent modifications. And the essence of the latter is that the bearing cup is shortened by 20 mm. Performing this operation is not new for the creators of homemade equipment. As well as cutting oil threads of opposite rotation, which will need to be done with the utmost care.
Well, the modified gearbox is connected to the main gear by a universal joint. Moreover, it consists of two flanges of the driveshaft, taken from the same GAZ-52, connected to each other by a cross.
Rear axle(he is also the leader) - from an electric vehicle (electric forklift)
EP-103K. This technical solution makes it possible, without any special tricks, to achieve not only a sufficiently high ground clearance for the MT, but also significantly simplifies the kinematics of the entire machine, without at all reducing its performance qualities.
The whole point here is in the design features of the unit used. Indeed, in a single unit with the drive axle, the EP-103K has a traction electric motor, on the rotor shaft of which the gear of the first stage of the main drive (double) is installed. This means that all you need to do is make a small modification, and you can safely build this bridge into our mini-tractor!
MAIN TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MINI TRACTOR
Overall dimensions, mm 2270\1280 g. 2200
Base, mm 1420
Track, mm 1060
Minimum turning radius, mm 2000
Expensive clearance, mm 340
Weight without trailer, kg 800
Engine (two-stroke carburetor two-cylinder, water-cooled -
from a motor pump, modified! MP-800B
Engine power, p.s. 20
Maximum transport speed, km/h 36.2
Operating speed, km/h 4
Brake and linkage systems - hydraulic
As for the specific operations for altering a unit so important for reliable operation of the transmission, their essence lies in shortening the electric motor housing, previously removed from the EP-103K drive axle, to 70 mm on a lathe and installing (instead of the rotor) a specially made homemade shaft of a welded design .
The latter will be nothing more than the drive shaft of the cylindrical transmission of the rear axle. It consists (see figure) of two parts: splined (taken from the shank of the main gear of the GAZ-52 car; ensures reliable fastening of the “cardan drive” flange) and welded, pre-machined from Steel 45. After connecting both parts by welding, the resulting shaft is subjected to heat treatment (hardening and tempering).
In addition to the shortened housing, bearing shields (flange covers) are also used in the design of the MT drive axle from the previous standard electric motor of the EP-103K loader. Moreover, the rear one - after modification for a bearing support from the auger of a combine harvester (see figure).
The rear axle of the EP-103K loader (final drive with bevel gears and differential) is used in the design of the mini-tractor without changes. In principle, it is possible to do without shortening the body of a gutted electric motor, if there are no strict restrictions on the layout of the tractor, mainly associated with an undesirable increase in the length of the MT. In this case, it is enough to make the “shaft-shank” itself to match the dimensions of the body of this “electric motor”.
The brake system of the MT in question is hydraulic, on the rear wheels. Moreover, no changes in the factory design of the EP-103K drive axle itself are required for its successful operation. Moreover, if the main cylinder is from a GAZ-52 car (0 32 mm).
Looking at how quickly this unusual mini-loader works, it’s hard to believe that it’s homemade. A Tyumen resident assembled a unique iron assistant from auto parts Alexander Karaman. The Vslukh.ru correspondent met his brainchild on the shore of Lake Champions, also known as Lipovoe-2, where work is in full swing to expand the training base and hold winter swimming competitions. Walrus activists of the center " AquaiSport-Tyumen“They help as much as they can. Alexander also brought his mini-loader to speed up and facilitate landscaping work. At the sight of such a miracle of technology, few could remain indifferent.
“I live in a private house and was already tired of removing snow in the winter, so I decided to build a mini-loader,” Alexander Karaman explained to Vslukh.ru. – I can’t afford a Bobcat-type loader, like most private owners. On average, these cost 1.5 million rubles. A Chinese mini-tractor costs 650–700 thousand rubles, plus attachments. My loader cost me 150 thousand rubles. I think it can be made even cheaper, because this is my first experience."
As it turns out, in order to start designing and creating technically complex mechanisms, you don’t have to be an engineer—just desire is enough. Alexander is a welder by profession. He assembled the loader in three months. “Golden hands,” his friends and ice-hole comrades say about him. Based on the Tyumen forge walrus athletes Alexander had previously welded a horizontal bar complex, which is a complex structure on which both children and adults can train.
Alexander told us what spare parts he used to assemble the mini front loader. The car is all-wheel drive, it has two shortened axles, both were taken from the VAZ “Seven”. The master also borrowed the gearbox from the Zhiguli.
Interestingly, the frame “breaks”, allowing the mini loader to turn and rest on all four wheels, regardless of the terrain. This creates good cross-country ability and traction. Turns are performed like on a large loader using a hydraulic cylinder.
The engine is Chinese, air-cooled, with a power of 13 hp, and has a starter. Hydraulics are powered by a hydraulic pump, pressure is supplied to a distributor with a joystick. With one hand, you can raise and lower the bucket, as well as turn left and right, which is very convenient.
According to the craftsman, he invented many components for his mini-loader himself, some were copied from other inventors who share their experience on the Internet. Some things have been improved. So, there is no gas pedal on a mini loader, only a clutch and brake. The clutch pedal acts as a gas pedal. You can move away from any gear. The speed is no more than 10 km per hour. You can hardly count on anything more without springs and shock absorbers.
A homemade mini-loader is 110 cm long, so it can be transported in a trailer on a car. The Tyumen master is confident that the car can be made even more compact, shortening it by 30–40 cm, which will allow it to be more maneuverable.
The next prototype promises to be more technically advanced. However, will it be possible to establish at least small-scale production in Tyumen? mini loaders in spite of the crisis and exchange rates? Alexander is skeptical, because now it is easier for local enterprises to organize large-scale assembly of imported equipment than to introduce domestic developments.
DIY mini tractor
If you have a house in the village, or even live there permanently, you know what real housework is like. It is simply impossible to manage without transport when running a household. The best for these purposes is a mini-tractor; with its help, you can ensure the fulfillment of all needs, from digging up land for sowing, to transporting large and small-sized cargo. But such technology is far from cheap, what should you do? There is one option - to make a mini tractor with your own hands. Yes, the task is not easy, but if you can do it, you will save a lot of money, and satisfaction from the finished device will come every time you start working with the tractor.
Which version of a homemade mini tractor to choose?
Homemade mini tractor for household use with a broken frame
The best option for a homemade mini tractor is a machine with a broken frame. Such a unit consists of 2 parts, rear and front, the coupling of which is carried out by a special hinge mechanism. In the front part are all the control mechanisms, as well as the entire chassis. Control is carried out through a steering wheel and hydraulic cylinders; the entire structure bends on a hinge and changes the relative position of the two parts of the tractor. Thus, if you use this design, you can save on some parts designed to mount the controls, which would normally be located at the rear of the machine.
The rear part of such a mini tractor is much simpler in design than the front. It consists of a rear axle, which is fixed in cradle on the side members of the axle shaft; a seat for the driver and a device for attaching attachments from the Belorus tractor are installed on this structure. The differential and axle shafts can be taken from any loader. Suspension on the rear part can be done, but this is not very advisable; usually shock absorption is achieved due to low pressure in the wheels.
In addition to the simplest design, such a mini tractor has several advantages:
- Large production capacity, this device is capable of producing power close to a large tractor, especially if you assemble an all-wheel drive tractor with an articulated frame;
- The ability to turn around in minimal areas, the turning radius of this device is minimal due to the broken frame design. The tractor can be rotated 360 degrees almost in one place, this is a particularly useful property when plowing the land;
- Low fuel consumption, and this indicator also depends on the design features of the machine, but most often the consumption is minimal;
- Relatively low cost of assembly of the unit. If you buy a tractor like this, assembled at a factory, the price will make your eyes widen. And if you do it yourself, you can get a significant discount, since the assembly uses structural elements that can be obtained at the lowest prices.
Drawings - the first stage of assembly
Mini tractor drawing
Kinematic diagram of a mini tractor
Before you take up the tools, you need to carefully consider the entire design of the tractor itself and the coupling diagram of its two parts. Correct drawings are the basis of the basics. It is best to find reliable drawings from third-party sources, since it is very difficult to provide for all the design features, because a tractor is a very complex set of interconnected mechanisms. It is necessary to think through the arrangement of all elements of the system so that they can interact effectively with each other. First of all, the main components of the tractor and the driver’s seat are drawn on the drawing. If you are not particularly skilled in drawing up plans, you can ask an experienced mechanic to help you with this problem, and then take apart the plan and build the tractor yourself.
The second stage is reading the drawings and assembling the entire structure
When you have found the necessary drawings, you can proceed to searching for the necessary components and assembling them into a single system.
Remember, when searching for parts, pay the most attention to three groups of spare parts: engine, chassis and gearbox - they should be removed from the same type of equipment, so there will be no need to adjust them to each other.
Selection of engine and transmission
Engine UD-2
The choice of suitable engines for a homemade mini tractor is not very diverse; most often you have to choose from what is available and is most suitable. In terms of economic and production indicators, 2 types of engines UD-2 or UD-4 are best suited for installation on a tractor of this design, but in general, diesel engines with one or two cylinders can be used. If you can find it, you can use the M-67; its main characteristics are long service life with minimal maintenance costs.
Before installation, such an engine must be modernized, its gear ratio is increased, and it is also necessary to come up with a cooling system, since it does not have one. For cooling, you can install a fan, which is mounted on the crankshaft with a casing attached to direct the air flow.
Sometimes engines from Muscovites or Zhiguli are used as a power plant. At the same time, when the engines are removed from the cars, the gearbox and transmission are taken along with them, remember, in this way there is no need to make adjustments and look for additional parts.Wheels are selected based on the purposes for which the vehicle is manufactured. If you plan to use it only for transporting goods, pulling them and other similar work, then you can take wheels up to 16 inches. If you intend to use a mini tractor for field work, it is better to take more massive wheels with discs from 18 to 24 inches in order to improve the quality of wheel grip on the surface.
broken frame
The broken frame consists of two semi-frames, the coupling of which is carried out by a hinge joint. To make such a connection, you can use a driveshaft from a large truck, for example, a GAZ. If we talk specifically about GAZ cars, then it doesn’t matter which model it will be, because there are practically no design features in the driveshafts of any of them. The frame itself is best made from channel bars, so it will be strong enough to perform absolutely any work, and the tractor itself can withstand almost any load.
As for finishing the tractor, it can be made from a profile of any characteristics. Since strength, for example, for wings, is not the most important indicator.
Some installation features
The control system in tractors of this type must be equipped with hydraulic cylinders; this will significantly improve the controllability of the vehicle. You also need to pay attention to adjusting the gear ratio; it should be set at low speeds. This is done so that the tractor does not develop too high a speed when performing various work.
The suspension of all wheels of the tractor is independent and rigid, so to prevent the wheels of any part, rear or front, from freezing when passing difficult sections, it is possible to provide the frame with the ability to rotate, 15 degrees is enough. This is done by introducing a swivel from the UAZ into the breakable system; it is installed in the front part of the rear semi-frame. To prevent further overturning, a limiter is welded onto the hinge plate.
The result is a very practical machine that is capable of fulfilling all the needs that arise when running a household. You can easily attach all kinds of devices for plowing land, trailers for transporting goods, hay mowers and other devices to the tractor.Anyone can make a mini tractor with their own hands, the main thing is to stock up on the necessary tools, materials and patience. The result is a full-fledged multifunctional machine that allows you to fulfill all the economic needs of the owner. High maneuverability, ease of use, versatility - these are the advantages that you will receive after installing a homemade tractor.
