Caterpillar Tests Prototype Track Kit

Caterpillar Tests Prototype Track Kit TRACTORS Traction Devices 17-6-24 Eifling Farms, Hollendale, Miss., tested a prototype rubber track conversion kit, provided by Thompson Machinery, a Caterpillar dealer in Greenwood, Miss. Instead of equipping the new tracks with a differential drive system that would slow down and speed up tracks separately in order to turn, Caterpillar designed a less expensive and less complicated new steering system that holds the rear steering wheels off the ground except when the steering wheel is turned. The only time the wheels touch the ground is while turning. The innovative steering system includes a hydraulic cylinder mounted next to each rear wheel. When the driver tums the wheel, the cylinders automatically lower the wheels to turn. Accumulators keep constant tension on the tracks, which can be made in any width from 16 to 27 in. The only disadvantage Boyd Eifling says he's found so far is that the ride is a little rough for the operator. "It will find the bumps. But an air seat could solve a lot of the problem." For improved traction, the front drive wheel of the half track is larger than the idler wheel. That's different from the standard Caterpillar design, says Eifling. "The front wheel is the drive wheel. On the Caterpillar Challenger, there's just as much surface area on the drive wheel as on the idler wheel. If you get in a real slick situation, there's got to be a weight transfer some-where and that's the reason for the bigger drive wheel. Until we went to this type of drive wheel, we were seeing some slippage inside the belt." Reprinted with permission from Delta Farm Press

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