Raidtrac 418

[phil munga]

Raidtrac 418 I rebuilt this for a bit ( LOTS ) of fun ,,

Anyone know when British Military had one of these for tests ?

I borrowed this pic , it would've been powered by lawn mower engine :cry: same as fitted into an Argo-cat ,,

 

 

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This is there website

 

http://www.raidtrac.com/

 

I bought mine maybe more than 15 years ago and was said to have been used in military test as a swamp master ? it had a frame on top so that a soldier could stand on either side to cut back undergrowth ,

 

Well I started to build mine up scrap-heap challenge style ( my Argo cat I fitted a Citroen 2CV engine ) It came with a nearly new Honda 500cc twin motorcycle engine and that was driving a Ford Granada diff with no means of steering it and seriously low geared ,,

 

so getting up 2 hours early before work for a couple of weeks had this built first thing to do was to find a gearbox so that it would have ( 6 ) reverse

I wanted a box that had output flanges so that i could run a sprocket to drive disc's for the slewing , so got a box from a VW polo ,

clutch plate was machined so I could mount a sprocket to drive polo box from bike engine ,,,

Had to work out the gears on the polo box and got gear selector stick and housing from a VW t25 camper two discovery clutch cables and throttle cable from a 40+ton Caterpillar loading shovel

this was made and worked the gears great ,

the bike engine gears worked from left hand handle bar ,, Series 3 land rover wing mirror stalks bent to make foot peddles for slewing ,

working cables to Peugeot 205GTI rear calipers ,

Only new parts were for support bearings for the shafts that held the disc's ,, OH I must remember the most important part the seat this was a temporary fitting that is still on today A piece of 3X2 timber :-D

I've been down the river Swale in this as well as pulling brothers Discovery out when stuck in snow ,, and used it with front ballast weight to pull a twin wheel trailer around one of the fields when planting trees ,

because of its light weight causes little damage ,

In first first its so slow it gets overtaken by slugs ,,,,

third gear in the polo box and third in the bike box at 25mph back off the throttle then accelerate and it will lift up and sit on the rear of the tracks ( wheelie ) until the field ends , this is done whilst sat on the said 3X2 ,,,,,,, It has the power to get into top gear and is dangerously fast as I found when one of the track wheel scrapers broke and jammed one track catapulting me off at great speed , I remember my pal coming to the rescue asking if I was OK ,, I removed my woolly hat and looked at it and said well my hats clean so cant have bumped my head :-D 24 gears forward 6 reverse Hope you like this for a bit of fun that can also do a days work ,,

 

I've got a 2CV engine that i might fit but have also bought a Kubota diesel engine That would make it a really good tool

Edited December 19, 2009 by Marmite!!
photolink repaired

[alan turner (RIP)]

Phil is this the early type of raidtrac?

[abn deuce]

Phil munga Thanks for the additional information I really Really like that second photo of the Raidtrac with the cab !

between the Raidtrac and the Aktiv Snowtrac or the Bombadier B-12...such transports would make winter a really pleasurable time to travel in the back woods and off road . If I only had those pesky little lottery numbers !

Edited December 20, 2009 by abn deuce

[phil munga]

Alan great pictures it looks like an early 70's raidtrac if you click the link for there website above then click on pictures you'll see a Diesel Raidtrac Prototype with the same type of track , now the one you have pictured looks more to be mid to rear engined as they probably found ( same as argo cat diesels ) that the weight of the diesel engine up front made them to unsteady and dive at the front when turning

Edited December 20, 2009 by phil munga

[Gordon_M]

 

Here's a shot of a similar machine at AF Ross's yard in Girvan some time back. great little machine, but I already have my Sno-Cat

[fesm_ndt]

had to have a look on ebay but none on.. or parts :cry:

 

I like the green one

[Harry Parker]

In November 2018 I rescued a 1974 Highland Garron, 513 SD,  imported by John Jones Scotland.

It had been striped down years ago by someone and everything put into containers, which over the years filled with water, chains etc came out in solid lumps fortunately the main body, tracks, gearbox, suspension {not wheels which were beyond repair} inside framework were all there but no engine.  

The inside steel body had rotted away and I replaced and fitted with an checker plate aluminium  one to match the main body tub, I replaced all the 16 wheels and cleaned and fitted  the suspension and tracks and put it back on its feet.

I bought a Briggs 16hp v twin horizontal shaft engine, a  drive clutch and belt to mate up with the gearbox. I also bought from Mark Fhyn New clutch plates, spacers, bearings and compression springs. The clutch plates had to be machined to fit and the springs were useless. After repeated messages to Mark Fhyn no response !!!

This is as far as I got, I cannot get the clutches to work correctly and any help or suggestions would be very helpful.

Fingers Crossed   Harry        I tried to add a photo of the clutch but no luck