New Engine

This is just a short post to update our progress. Not much exciting has happened the past two weeks. I've been waiting for the rubber pieces for the outsides of the tires that will straddle the chain in the middle of the track. We also got a new engine donor with a newer better engine. I think we'll use the newer engine. We spent last week testing out the new engine to make sure it works.

Tonight we measured the tires for the rubber pieces. I have a friend at a tire recycling business that told me he found the stuff. He just needs the dimensions.

Next week we should make some progress that is picture worthy.

Halftrack Axle Mounting Brackets.

I missed posting our progress last week, so I'm covering two weeks with one post here. Last week we cut out the angle iron to make the brackets that the axles will attach to. This was the first real useful job for the new Chop Saw. It's worth every penny I paid for it. The cuts are so much more precise that I was ever able to do without it. Bubba and I got to make the cuts, while Jo took pictures.


Last night we welded the brackets together. That's my 5-year-old Bubba welding with an AC stick welder in the picture while his 8-year-old sister looks on. He's just burning a rod over a 3/16" diamond plate in the picture. Jo is actually a pretty good little welder, but the picture of Bubba turned out better.

These brackets are going to take a lot of stress, so I decided to do the welding. Later if there's some non-structural welding I may invite the kids to do that.