Guys, today we all together will test new tracked atv for the first time!
This ATV is quite remarkable because of the two features: first – it is completely self-made
machine and the second – it’s cost is just a little bit more that one thousand dollars!
Well lets see what it can show us today, let’s go!
Hi, guys, as usually it’s me, just an off-screen voice and you are watching review machines!
Today we have got a very amusing machine for a review!
It’s designer is a confirmed fisherman and he needed a transport to get the most hidden
and distant lakes.
But as you may know nowadays all terrain vehicles are quite expensive, so our fisherman decided
to make his own self-made ATV.
Moreover he set a budget – it should be about one thousand dollars.
Well, it was very interesting for me to see how he managed to make a real tracked ATV
within this sum.
Well frankly speaking one thousand is not enough to make a decent atv.
But it is a self made machine, so many parts were simply taken from the nearest junkyard.
By the way it is very interesting that the design of this atv is very versatile.
If you want to make your own self-made machine you can take this construction as a base,
cause in this way you will be able to use various parts that you may have at your backyard.
For example wheels from old car, engine from a garden tractor, gears from a quad and so
on.
That is why the owner of this atv managed to confine himself just to one thousand!
Now lets have a look at the technical details of the machine.
The owner wanted his atv to be able to float and overcome water obstacles, so the base
here is a waterproof frame like a boat.
The frame is designed for carrying four people including a driver and some cargo.
The total carrying capacity is 400 kgs.
Engine was taken from a manual tractor.
It is Chinese engine Lifan 13 horse power.
The Gear box and a rear axle was taken from an old car.
Manual gear box has four ranges and a reverse.
It works together with a centrifugal clutch, so transmission is a very simple.
Tracks are completely self made.
They are made of a conveyer belt.
There are many metal parts mounted along the track.
They keep it in a right position when moving and provide a good traction with a ground.
There are two rear wheels driven by engine, all the other wheels are passive.
The steering is very simple, all the maneuvers are done by stopping one of the tracks, so
there are only two levers to drive the vehicle.
Also we have a winch of a quad, that may do a lot of good in a difficult situation.
As I’ve mentioned to turn the machine you should slow down one of the tracks by an appropriate
lever.
When both levers are released the vehicle moves straight.
To stop the machine just pull the both levers.
As all the skid steering vehicles this one has quite little turning radius.
Well I think it is a high time to test this vehicle on a real offroad in melting snow
and swamp.
And while it is preparing for serious tests I want to share my first impressions!
First of all it is absolutely not fast.
Maximum speed is about 20-30 km/h, so it is not suitable for distant trips.
And of course on public roads it should be carried on a trailer.
Then it doesn’t have suspension system so it is rather tough I should say.
Then I would equip some antiroll cage, cause sometimes it may be dangerous to ride it offroad.
But nevertheless it goes surprisingly well for a self made vehicle with a small budget.
To my mind such a construction of the vehicle may be useful for those people who want to
make themselves a tracked atv and who have a lot of useless spareparts in a backyard.
The frame and the body, wheels and tracks and so on – all this stuff can be done by
yourself in your garage.
As to an engine and transmission – they can be taken from an old tractor for example.
As a result we have probably the cheapest tracked ATV in the world…
I strained at the leash to try it myself, cause to tell the truth I didn’t believe
that something decent can be done with such a budget.
The steering is quite simple – to start moving just choose a proper gear and press
a throttle.
To my surprise the vehicle moves quite smoothly.
To make a turn a track can be slightly slow down and the vehicle turns without any jerks.
Low gear is too slow – it is used in the most difficult conditions.
The second gear – is a standard and the third one will be suitable for plain roads.
Metal hooks mounted on tracks provide a perfect traction, I liked this solution in particular.
So my first impressions about this atv were quite pleasant, I really liked the steering.
Well lets see what this atv can show us on a real offroad.
We began our test on a swampy bank of a small river covered with wet heavy snow.
In these conditions the atv moved quite well and the tracks didn’t fall through snow.
But it seemed to me that engine is not powerful enough.
Although at low gear there were not any problems, and it was cutting its way through the bushes
like a tank.
Then we tested the vehicle under full load.
As you can see it is able to move quite swiftly even climbing a slope.
But as I’ve already mentioned sometimes the engine was lack of power, or maybe it
was just mine impression.
The vehicle is able to overcome different obstacles quite efficiently.
Its tracks are equipped with numerous metal hooks, so they provide a perfect traction.
That is why it can easily get over any logs and other obstruction.
Frankly speaking we expected this atv to do quite well on offroad.
I tnink any tracked vehicle can show good results on mud and snow so it was no surprise
for us.
But we wanted to be surprised or at least wanted to have some fun, so we decided to
toughen our tests extremely…and we turned the vehicle straight to the thin melted ice
of the river.
Of course it immediately fell through the ice and got stuck.
The tracks were rotating in water but all the efforts resulted in nothing.
And only a winch could save us from this trap.
Then we tried to go on ice again, and of course the ice again was broken, so the atv immediately
got stuck.
At this moment we found a serious disadvantage.
Unfortunately there is no any differential lock, so the both tracks can’t work together.
I think if it had a dif lock it would be able to overcome such obstacles.
The previous tests seemed to us rather boring and we tried to find something more exciting.
Well theoretically this atv may be considered as a amphibious vehicle.
So lets find out if It is able to float!
There was a small river, but it had a very strong stream, so we were afraid that our
vessel could roll over in water.
Nevertheless we tried it!
… Well I can say that one thing was absolutely clear – it really was able to float.
But on the other hand it absolutely couldn’t resist a strong stream and couldn’t maneuver
there.
Undoubtedly it may be able to cross some water obstacles with calm water but not rivers.
So again it was a winch that saved us and pulled the vehicle out from water.
So what conclusions can we make out of our tests?
Undoubtedly it is a very interesting project.
On one hand it can go offroad quite well, we liked the tracks and how they work, it
can easily go through mud and snow, it can float after all.
And don’t forget about the price!
A thousand dollars!
But on the other hand of course there are some drawbacks – the weak engine, it is
lack of a differential lock, it moves rather slow and so on.
But there is every reason to say that this atv is worth of our attention.
Moreover If you are going to build a project something like this, I think you can adopt
some ideas from this thing, can’t you?
Well lets call it a day.
Thanks for watching guys, please consider subscribing the channel if you liked this
video it will be many more interesting materials here, good bye!