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Modified Cat Challenger Runs On Steel Drivers
Problems with slippage on wet ground with his Cat Challenger tractor prompted a frustrated Canadian farmer to remove the original rubber drivers on the tracks and replace them with home-built steel drivers.
"I have three Caterpillar Challenger tractors - a 45, 65, and 75C - and I'm pleased with them for the most
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Modified Cat Challenger Runs On Steel Drivers TRACTORS Tires/Wheels 21-2-17 Problems with slippage on wet ground with his Cat Challenger tractor prompted a frustrated Canadian farmer to remove the original rubber drivers on the tracks and replace them with home-built steel drivers.
"I have three Caterpillar Challenger tractors - a 45, 65, and 75C - and I'm pleased with them for the most part. However, when-ever our organic peat muck soils are wet they get very slippery and the tracks slip. The more they slip, the more the rubber drivers wear down. All the power goes to one side of the tractor so if the operator tries to turn on wet soil the track just spins and he loses control," says Boris Horodynsky of Churchill, Ontario.
"Caterpillar's rubber drivers have only 24 rubber bars while my steel drivers have 36 bars. The more bars, the more ĉedges' that can bite into the track," says Horodynsky. "The edges of the steel bars don't wear down as fast as rubber, and be-cause the bars stick 1/8 in. beyond the rim they provide a better grip. Another advantage is that my bars are narrower than the rubber bars so mud cleans out quicker. The rubber bar design squeezes mud out to the side whereas with my steel bar design mud is squeezed out through the center of the wheel."
To build the drivers Horodynsky cuts off the outside part of the original driver wheel rim. He then forms a 1 1/4-in. wide steel ring and welds it onto the inside part of the rim. Then he welds 36 1 1/4-in. wide steel bars onto the outside, positioning the bars so they extend 1/8 in. beyond the rim.
"I tested my first set of steel bar drivers on my Challenger 65 last spring. They worked so well I recently built one more set for my 75C. I also built two drivers for Caterpillar so they can test them.
"Before I built my steel drivers, Cater-pillar sent me a set of their own experimental steel drivers but they didn't work well on our organic soils."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Boris Horodynsky, Rt. 1, Churchill, Ontario, Canada L0L 1K0 (ph 705 456-2461; fax 0344).
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