Mini Caterpillar Looks Real

Mini Caterpillar Looks Real AG WORLD 32-6-22 Jim Golly can't push dirt with his D8 mini Cat dozer, but it operates like the real thing. Popular at parades and with anyone who sees it, the D8 was built without a pattern. "I worked on it for about a year and rebuilt it several times to get it right," recalls Golly. "I got the original design by looking at an old D8 in a junk yard. I took pictures from all angles to get the proportions right when I started building." Golly used sq. tubing for the frame and 1/8-in. sheet iron for the body and blade. He has tried several motors and has settled on a 13 hp Honda to drive the hydraulic pump. The pump powers the drive motors on the tracks and raises and lowers the blade. The tracks are made from no. 55 chain from an old combine. Golly made a jig to bend 2-in. wide, 8-in strips of metal to look like track sections and welded them to the chain. Drive sprockets and idlers off the old combine keep the track tight and in place. Beveled spools on the motors drive the tracks. "I steer with the orbital motors," explains Golly. "I have a double spool control with two handles, one for each motor. I put a spring on them so it's always in forward, but when I pull one back, it goes into reverse." The battery sits under the seat, which is fashioned from wood with a foam cushion. A hydraulic cylinder under the floorboard raises and lowers the all-metal blade. The hood metal was custom bent. The grill is fashioned from an old hammer mill screen. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Golly, RR 1, Tees, Alberta, Canada T0C 2N0 (ph 403 783-2163; cell 403 704-9389).

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