Versatile Rubber-Tracked Crawler Tractor

Versatile Rubber-Tracked Crawler Tractor TRACTORS Traction Devices 21-5-12 Dewey Hostetler, Harper, Kan., used a pair of old motor grader tires to make tracks for a 2-WD rubber-tracked crawler tractor. The 14-in. wide tracks mount over pairs of 18-in. wheels, with smaller wheels in the middle. "It's comfortable to ride and is so light-weight that it will float right over muddy ground and snow," says Hostetler, who founded the DewEze Corporation - which makes bale handling equipment - 30 years ago. He worked with a friend, Ray Forpahl, to design and build the new machine. "The simplicity of the machine and the lightweight wheels are designed to eliminate the need for heavy rails and brackets to keep the track in place. "I plan to make a 4-WD version of the crawler tractor that will be about twice as big as this one and to develop a sprayer, bale hauler, loader, and tillage tools for it." Hostetler built the prototype machine for a maple syrup business owned by a family in northern New York. It's designed to handle three different jobs during maple syrup harvest - move snow, haul firewood, and collect sap. The driver sits behind a stainless steel tank that holds sap or behind a wooden box used for hauling firewood. A 5-ft. wide snow-blower can be quick-tach mounted up front. Power is supplied by a 25 hp Kohler gas engine that belt-drives a hydraulic pump. A 12-volt pump is used to pump sap out of the tank. The wood box can also be used to distribute sap buckets to the trees and haul the equipment. All movements are controlled by two hydraulic levers. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dewey Hostetler, 149 E. U.S. Hwy. 160, Harper, Kan. 67058 (ph 316 896-7087 or 2040; fax 2741).

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