Snowblower Converted To Mini Tracked Bulldozer

2017 - Volume #41, Issue #3, Page #22

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“My 4-year-old son Matthew loves to drive it. I’m really happy with how it turned out,” says Randy Brancheau, Lachine, Mich., who converted a tracked walk-behind snowblower into a kid-size, ride-on bulldozer.
    The mini tracked bulldozer is equipped with a 27-in. blade and the seat off a riding mower. It’s painted Deere green and yellow.
    Brancheau built it last winter and says his son has already had a lot of fun operating it. “I hear from Matthew every day how much he likes to plow snow with it, and I made a video of him at work. He raises or lowers the blade by pulling on a lever and steers by maneuvering a pair of levers. It has 4 forward gears and one reverse. I didn’t modify the snowblower’s original friction disc drive system at all.”
    Brancheau says he got the idea a long time ago but was only recently able to make it happen.
    “I work at a small engine shop and always thought it would be neat to convert a tracked walk-behind snowblower. However, it wasn’t until last fall that we got a trade-in – a 15-year-old Cub Cadet equipped with a Tecumseh 9 hp, pull-start engine. I built the blade and mounting arms, seat mounting brackets, and operator platform, mostly using scrap metal that I already had. I took photos of the building process from the first day I started building it until I took it out of the shop.”
    He stripped the snowblower down to the engine, tracks and drive system. He turned the engine around to face backward, which switched the direction of the gears. He replaced the steering controls with a pair of pipe levers that attach to the snowblower’s steering cables. A foot pedal is used to engage the machine’s drive pulley.
    The blade was fashioned from a piece of curved scrap steel. It’s welded to a pair of tubular steel arms that are welded to the snowblower’s weight transfer lever, originally used to raise or lower the snowblower’s impeller.
    Brancheau added one last touch to complete the conversion - a tractor muffler with a home-built rain cap and flapper.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Randy Brancheau, 11031 M 32 W, Lachine, Mich. 49753 (ph 989 657-9067; sawwrench43@gmail.com).

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Snowblower Converted To Mini Tracked Bulldozer MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Earth Movers “My 4-year-old son Matthew loves to drive it I’m really happy with how it turned out ” says Randy Brancheau Lachine Mich who converted a tracked walk-behind snowblower into a kid-size ride-on bulldozer The mini tracked bulldozer is equipped with a 27-in blade and the seat off a riding mower It’s painted Deere green and yellow Brancheau built it last winter and says his son has already had a lot of fun operating it “I hear from Matthew every day how much he likes to plow snow with it and I made a video of him at work He raises or lowers the blade by pulling on a lever and steers by maneuvering a pair of levers It has 4 forward gears and one reverse I didn’t modify the snowblower’s original friction disc drive system at all ” Brancheau says he got the idea a long time ago but was only recently able to make it happen “I work at a small engine shop and always thought it would be neat to convert a tracked walk-behind snowblower However it wasn’t until last fall that we got a trade-in – a 15-year-old Cub Cadet equipped with a Tecumseh 9 hp pull-start engine I built the blade and mounting arms seat mounting brackets and operator platform mostly using scrap metal that I already had I took photos of the building process from the first day I started building it until I took it out of the shop ” He stripped the snowblower down to the engine tracks and drive system He turned the engine around to face backward which switched the direction of the gears He replaced the steering controls with a pair of pipe levers that attach to the snowblower’s steering cables A foot pedal is used to engage the machine’s drive pulley The blade was fashioned from a piece of curved scrap steel It’s welded to a pair of tubular steel arms that are welded to the snowblower’s weight transfer lever originally used to raise or lower the snowblower’s impeller Brancheau added one last touch to complete the conversion - a tractor muffler with a home-built rain cap and flapper Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Randy Brancheau 11031 M 32 W Lachine Mich 49753 ph 989 657-9067; sawwrench43@gmail com

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