"Goliath" Mini Tank

porsche930dude · Jan 1, 2014

Im building a WWII Goliath mini tank using 11hp Briggs and riding mower transaxle. Homemade tracks from old tires and angle iron.
Four bogies per side from old 6" snowblower wheels. they will pivot in pairs but no spring suspention. for the top bogies ill use cut down lawnmower wheels 12 of them 6 per side. I think thatll work . Foot clutch with tiller brakes. for the brakes i may just wrap a belt around a pully on eack side of the transaxle. That seems the best option at the moment without spending any money. $0. sofar and i have like everything i need to build it.

The tracks are going to take a while since i have to cut down bed frame about a million cuts and drill 1000 or so holes But iv got it mostly thought out in my head so hopefully itll go pretty quick . I got a bunch done today already. Frame started and a little bit of work on each of the seperate progects to test my ideas. Iv got some military tail lights to put on it and a hand winch ill mount hidden under the transaxle.

Going to run a car battery in the side pod and maybe the gas tank if it doesnt fit behind the seat. Car brake rotors cut out for the drive sprockets. going to cut the tires into two strips for the tracks linked with the bed frame . about 10" of ground clearance. im going to drive the transaxle from the top of the motor and put a pulley out the bottom so i can pull start if the battery dies.

http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww211/jeep2003/Goliath/ghyujiklo035_zps7575a6ed.jpg

porsche930dude · Jan 1, 2014

I decided while mocking it up today that i will run the engine a bit cockeyed. itll give me an extra couple inches of leg room side to side. the body is 28" wide and the whole thing will be like 46" wide 5' ish long and about 2' high. no turrett but maybe some kind of gun on top :shrug: The tracks will need atlleast 8 tires to build.

porsche930dude · Jan 1, 2014

machinist@large · Jan 1, 2014

Why does all the really cool stuff show up just before I have to call it a night or after? I like the idea, and will have lots of questions because something like this is in my future.... Tonight; I'm over my bedtime.....

itsid · Jan 1, 2014

Cool, but making it larger than the original is odd for someone with a Jeep like your's

the largest Goliath (Goliath V 303b)
is 163 cm long, 91 cm wide and 62 cm high (roughly 5.3 x 3 x 2 ft)
Funny enough that's the one with a combustion engine 12.5HP @4500rpm, so close enough to the engine you have ...
(yes it was a 2cyl-2stroke... who cares *gg*)

Anyways,
since I've seen what you can do, I'm sure this is going to be amazing.

But keep in mind it was never intended to have a "passenger" so maybe think about making it remote controlled just like the original...
just for the fun of it

that's going to be be a tough job with the clutches;
yet again.. you can do amazing things.. and I'm sure you'll find a solution for that too :thumbsup:

I'll follow this thread.

'sid

porsche930dude · Jan 1, 2014

it is alot bigger than im usto for sure. my mini jeep ended up being like 150lbs this thing is gonna be very heavy when its done. to be comfortable and not have to sit crunched up its got to be this big. i want to sit in it not on it. im obviously not going for small with this one. but it will be capable of traversing deep snow. Im not going for goliath replica. more like drawing inspiration from it. the military theme will make it more tank like and less tractor like

OzFab · Jan 2, 2014

itsid said:
2cyl-2stroke... who cares *gg*)

Yes, that argument has been raging for a looong time :lolgoku:

Poboy kartman · Jan 2, 2014

Cool build. I have been picking up bed frames from the curb for years. You can't beat free angle iron. Something else that fell into my lap that you would die for- industrial conveyor belts. These would be ideal for making tracks. I'm just using them as mulch strips to keep grass from growing where I dont want it.

I'd be willing to cut you some strips and give them to you, but I think the shipping might be expensive.

itsid · Jan 2, 2014

Fabroman said:
Yes, that argument has been raging for a looong time

Just to clearify... there's nothing to argue here;
a two cylinder 2 stroke is different from a one cylinder 4 stroke

But having roughly the same HP at about the same rpm (with the removed governor) is close enough for a project like this

'sid

porsche930dude · Jan 2, 2014

Poboy kartman said:
Cool build. I have been picking up bed frames from the curb for years. You can't beat free angle iron. Something else that fell into my lap that you would die for- industrial conveyor belts. These would be ideal for making tracks. I'm just using them as mulch strips to keep grass from growing where I dont want it.

I'd be willing to cut you some strips and give them to you, but I think the shipping might be expensive.

love the bed frame. its hardened steel so yove got to have a sharp drill bit. but its great stuff. Conveyer belt would work great but I have plenty of old tires to get rid of anyway so I think they will work out nice. plus theyre steel belted so good and strong. Thanks for the offer but ill see how it works with the tires

Poboy kartman · Jan 2, 2014

porsche930dude said:
love the bed frame. its hardened steel so yove got to have a sharp drill bit. but its great stuff. Conveyer belt would work great but I have plenty of old tires to get rid of anyway so I think they will work out nice. plus theyre steel belted so good and strong. Thanks for the offer but ill see how it works with the tires

Yes you did mention the one downfall of using them. I have burned up quite a few drill bits- fortunately, I own a Drill Doctor. ....

porsche930dude · Jan 2, 2014

i do too but its kind of a pita to pull it out and set up. i just hand sharpen them on the bench grinder works good

machinist@large · Jan 2, 2014

If you like them, good for you...

Poboy kartman said:
Yes you did mention the one downfall of using them. I have burned up quite a few drill bits- fortunately, I own a Drill Doctor. ....

porsche930dude said:
i do too but its kind of a pita to pull it out and set up. i just hand sharpen them on the bench grinder works good

The "Drill Doctor" was Darex's first attempt at getting the price tag of a drill sharpening machine down to consumer levels. The company I worked for back in the '90's had just bought one of their industrial units (which flat out rock!!!). Since I was the one to set it up, I got to read thru all the paperwork that came with it. One piece was an introductory offer to be one of the field testers for the soon to be released "Drill Doctor", purchase price $50.00 including shipping.

I bit. After using the industrial machine, I had great hopes for the baby; to say I was seriously disappointed was an understatement. Lets just say that the first release models had been messed up by who ever had made the injection molds. I was one of the first ones to let them know they had problems; I wasn't the last. They basically recalled all the test units, and I decided to just get my money back.

I've since used the revised model at several companies; the current model does work. But, as porsche indicates, it's a PITA to set up for just one drill; if you buy several of a given size so you can keep going, it's a lot easier to sharpen a handful rather than just one.

For just sharpening 118* bits, I personally can do a better job, faster by hand with a drill gauge....

Pat :thumbsup:

OzFab · Jan 2, 2014

itsid said:
Just to clearify... there's nothing to argue here;
a two cylinder 2 stroke is different from a one cylinder 4 stroke

I read your last post wrong, my bad; I thought you were saying 2 cycle...

machinist@large said:
For just sharpening 118* bits, I personally can do a better job, faster by hand with a drill gauge...

Drill guage?

Relax, I know what a drill gauge is, I even made one back in the day but, I never use it (mainly because I have no idea where it is...); I'm just that good I sharpen drills by eye...

machinist@large · Jan 2, 2014

Fabroman said:
Drill guage?

Relax, I know what a drill gauge is, I even made one back in the day but, I never use it (mainly because I have no idea where it is...); I'm just that good I sharpen drills by eye...

So you're saying you can sharpen a drill bit without any reference aids that will repeatably give you a hole within .001 of the nominal size of the drill? I've only achieved that class of work when I was sharpening a couple of dozen drill bits a day, using a drill gauge and an illuminated magnifier (I also had my own dedicated pedestal grinder; the boss let it be known that it was off limits for everyone else).

On any given day, depending on the local lighting, I'm usually able to get into ~ the .003/ .005 range (nominal/ actual hole size) for a drill, using a reference gauge. For those that haven't run across this before, when sharpening a drill bit, you have to balance many factors.

And I really don't feel like trying to teach that over the internet, with no video capability on my end.... :surrender:

itsid · Jan 2, 2014

machinist@large said:
For those that haven't run across this before, when sharpening a drill bit, you have to balance many factors.

that explains a lot...
I tried it once and ended up with a drill bit that was more or less useless. :ack2:

(I bought a new one the very next day)

So if you don't mind.. maybe just a quick walkthrough??

'sid

OzFab · Jan 2, 2014

machinist@large said:
So you're saying you can sharpen a drill bit without any reference aids that will repeatably give you a hole within .001 of the nominal size of the drill?

I didn't say that but, they make a hole

itsid said:
that explains a lot...
I tried it once and ended up with a drill bit that was more or less useless.
(I bought a new one the very next day)

So if you don't mind.. maybe just a quick walkthrough??

'sid

That doesn't exist; as Pat inferred, it takes years of practice & training to get close...

Perhaps, if he feels up to it, Pat & I can create a new thread running through the basics...

machinist@large · Jan 2, 2014

Fabroman said:
I didn't say that but, they make a hole

That doesn't exist; as Pat inferred, it takes years of practice & training to get close...

Perhaps, if he feels up to it, Pat & I can create a new thread running through the basics...

That's probably doable, but not tonight; I've got reference books around some where to start with, but I've got to dig them out. I'm also in the market for a pedestal/ bench grinder; for years, here at home I haven't needed to get my own because my Dad's was out in the main farm workshop. Now, he wants that work bench (w/ grinder) for use in the pole barn he put up down the road at his house.

It's a good reason/ time to actually get my own, and set it up right. Tony, it's probably not going to happen this week; can you remind me once in a while, so I don't lose it with a lot of other things? (Should I have posted that????)

itsid · Jan 2, 2014

Fabroman said:
Perhaps, if he feels up to it, Pat & I can create a new thread running through the basics...

Yes the basics would be nice..

That reminds me I have had a drill sharpener thingamatic somewhere... it should be somewhere, will have to look for it sometime.

Where was I..
yes.. basics should do for now, just the top five do's and top ten don'ts

I doubt you can cover the practice and training for me anyways

thanks guys :thumbsup:

now BTT..

porsche930dude said:
Thanks for the offer but ill see how it works with the tires

please excuse my impatience, but I'm curious..
how are you going to make a track with old tires?

'sid

fowler · Jan 2, 2014

I'm with Fabroman

Dont know how accurate my drills are but they make holes in steel
Good enough

I was told to cable tie two 5/8 nuts together to use as a guide on angles

"Goliath" Mini Tank

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