Iron Buffalo Steering

[tothemark]

I am considering using an iron buffalo on the rubber farm, for trailering purposes between the trees and small scale ploughing on border land. The problem being that long handles on an iron buffalo cannot manoeuvre around closely packed trees

In order to make it work as a universal machine (and not have to buy two different machines) for my purposes i would need to change the steering from long handle to either steering wheel or small handlebar steering. My immediate thought would be to do this by converting the steering to chain drive via the use of one larger and one smaller sprocket to give it the correct ratio. To maintain balance of the tak tak i would have to fabricate a small ride on twin wheel step board welded to the tak taks frame that you could also attach a small trailer or other implement too.

We do have a relation that has done something similar which gave me the idea, although i havent seen it ! but his wife wont let him fabricate it for us, the joys of family strife, lol

I have seen the chain drive conversion on off road race cars many times in the past, it basically converts the rack to a quick rack and would be interested to know if anyone has seen any other fabrications in Los of the type im waffling about on iron buffalo tak taks to get round this steering issue ?

[WatersEdge]

I'd just work with an entirely different drive train,

leaving the iron buffalo body and transmission out of your plan.

Don't adapt something that is not in any way suited to the application.

There are a lot of home made pickup trucks powered by Kubota and Yanmar engines.

Building a tractor in a similar fashion is just an adaptation of size and tire type.

I'd suggest hydraulic drive, as it gives you very fine control of motion,

although it does sacrifice mechanical efficiency.

For maneuverability there is no way to beat hydrostatic drive.

Consider the skid steer loader principle...those things do the impossible

I should think that Thailand is entirely ready for a miniature skid steer

based on the Kubota RT-140DI fourteen horsepower engine.

Having run a Gehl 6635 some years ago, selling it to a friend who still runs it every day,

I can suggest that as the ultimate design, even though it's been in existence for around 15 years.

It has an 85 hp Deutz Oil Cooled 4 cylinder turbo diesel....a very nice engine.

[Gary A]

I'd have to say that you have your work cut out for you. I have spent quite a bit of time just sitting and looking at ours. I like to think I'm pretty clever with mechanical things and I could see no easy way or even viable way to convert one.

Edited April 25, 2012 by Gary A

[customcurb]

if you do, post pictures please. we have one that had a messed up transmission and no reverse. I thought there was a balance of leverage from the long handles as well as steering leverage when run sans a trailer. If you shortened the handles wouldn't it tip forward due to engine weight?

[fezzy]

Seen it done around our area in northern Sukhothai with a simple pivot setup with a large horizontal mounted steering wheel that turns on a cog gear setup at the pivot point , as i too want to buid some thing strong and different to access our trees and have been tossing up this option or creating something with a four wheel drive system .I'm not up there now but i will post pictures when i'm back in Thailand.

Heres some interesting uses i found on the web. Good for a laugh.

Edited April 25, 2012 by fezzy

[tothemark]

Haha Fezzy luv the first pic and your aptly named jpeg file.

Thanks for your answers guys.

Watersedge, you could be right, start from scratch with a 20,000 kubota engine, but thats a lot of work. Some jokers in Loei will make the drive train and frame minus the engine for 60,000, <deleted>, i could build it for a fifth of that.

I fancy the idea of a three wheeler www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C124741

[kwonitoy]

http://www.talaythong.co.th/superbull1100.html

Here's something that's on the market and looks great, made for hauling, hydralic dumping, nice simple single cylinder diesel engine

There's also a high clearance model made for going in rice paddies.

Don't have a clue about the price, but it's probably not cheap, but I know I do want one

Ken

[tothemark]

Ken, very nice, probably wont carry the weight i want to and will be more than i want to pay lol.

I had toyed with the idea of doing a conversion on a pick up, buying a well used Hi jet and replacing the engine with a kubota diesel 14hp - circa 20-30k for the engine and 40-60 for the hi jet, which funnily enough may even be documented for the road..

Only one problem, im not there to do the work... But I do fancy having a punt at it

[kwonitoy]

I've seen a very nice E-Tan built on a 4x4 truck frame and powered by a Kubota in Ban Muang. That might serve your purpose.

I wanted to stop and get the wife to talk to the guy and ask where it was made, but she pointed out the shop was full, where you going to park another toy truck?

[fezzy]

This is what im dreaming of building.

Could you imagine what the locals would say if I drove around the village in this.

[tothemark]

Fezzy, I just love that !!! - straight out of Mad Max and the Thunderdrome ...

Ken, this is what the Fil had in mind . Too dam_n boring for my liking and prone to easily losing an arm.

[fezzy]

Hey 2 T M heres some more you might like , My favorite is still the MAD Max 4 one in the previous post, which i'm told by the other half i'm not allowed to make , YEH RIGHT . Your FiL choice is getting close to something i had in mind but doesn't look that safe and you'd need a set of ear muffs for you and the locals . lol

Edited April 28, 2012 by fezzy

[kwonitoy]

Here's a photo of a contraption I used in Saudi for 8 months. Unimog with 8 speed transmisson forward and reverse

Never got stuck once!!

All I needed was granny sitting up top in a rocking chair to complete the Beverly Hillbillys look

Edited April 29, 2012 by kwonitoy

[tothemark]

Hey Fezzy, dont get giddy, the wife wont let you do any of those either, unless of course it has an Isuzu badge on the front. lol

What part of Los are you from, cos i want a go in it if you ever do ?

Ken, the only way we will see a Unimog in Los is if the UN does a peace keeping visit and leaves some behind,

Edited April 30, 2012 by tothemark

[fezzy]

What part of Los are you from, cos i want a go in it if you ever do ?

Dont worry I will build one and it'll have 2 seats so no worries there be room for 2

Northern Sukhothai area how about you 2TM ?

This would be my choice if the funds were unlimited .Enjoy

Edited May 2, 2012 by fezzy

[tothemark]

Hi Fezzy,

North of Nong Khai, almost on the banks of the Mekong, jet ski country, lol

Used to be in Lampang for a while, just north of you so know your area a bit, love the hills there, sure miss them in these flatlands.

GL

[customcurb]

I've got a fairly new Kubota 140+ motor we're considering mounting on an iron buffalo frame, one guy said that's quite big for a tractor. Don't know if that meant TOO big or just bigger than usual. Thoughts?

[Gary A]

Ours is an eleven HP. I think what he meant was that a fourteen HP would just be overkill. It's not much bigger or heavier than the most common eight HP units. The eleven HP never come close to bogging down.