A tracked vehicle (also called: track-type tractor, tractor crawler, or track-laying vehicle) is a vehicle that runs on tracks instead of wheels. Continuous tracks are large (modular tracks used on the so-called caterpillar Tanks construction equipment and certain other off-road vehicles A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load ( Mass) or performing labour in machines Typically used as part of an Engineering vehicle once additional attachments have been added. Engineering vehicles, known by the other terms construction Equipment, earth movers heavy equipment or just plain equipment are machines specifically designed to execute
The principal design advantages of tracked over wheeled vehicles are that they are in contact with a larger surface area than would generally be the case with a wheeled vehicle, and as a result exert a much lower force per unit area on the ground being traversed than a conventional wheeled vehicle of the same weight. This makes them suitable for use on soft, low friction and uneven ground such as mud, ice and snow. In computer gaming, a MUD ( Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of Ice is a Solid phase, usually crystalline, of a Non-metalic substance that is liquid or gas at Room temperature, such as Ammonia "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. The principal disadvantage is that tracks are a more complex mechanism than a wheel, and relatively prone to failure modes such as snapped or derailed tracks.
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History
A long line of patents disputes who the "originator" was of this concept.
Lombard
Alvin O. Lombard of Waterville, Maine was issued a patent in 1901 for what appears to be a regular railroad steam locomotive with sled steerage on front and crawlers in rear for hauling logs in the Northeastern United States and Canada. Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A locomotive is a railway Vehicle that provides the motive power for a Train. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The haulers allowed pulp to be taken to rivers in the winter. Prior to then, horses could be used only until snow depths made hauling impossible. Lombard began commercial production which lasted until around 1917 when focus switched entirely to gasoline powered machines. A gasoline powered hauler is on display at the Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine. Augusta is the Capital of the US state of Maine, County seat of Kennebec County, and Center of population
Hornsby/Holt/Phoenix
After Lombard began operations, Hornsby in England manufactured at least two full length "track steer" machines, and their patent was later purchased by Holt in 1913, allowing Holt to be popularly known as the "inventor" of crawler tractors. Richard Hornsby & Sons was an engine and machinery manufacturer in Lincolnshire, England from 1828 until 1918 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Since the "tank" was a British concept it is more likely the Hornsby, which had been built and unsuccessfully pitched to their military, was the inspiration.
In a patent dispute involving rival crawler builder Best, testimony was brought in from people including Lombard, that Holt had inspected a Lombard log hauler shipped out to a western state by people who would later build the Phoenix log hauler in Eau Claire, WI, under license from Lombard. The Phoenix Centipeed typically had a fancier wood cab, steering wheel tipped forward at a 45 degree angle and vertical instead of horizontal cylinders. A cylinder is the central working part of a Reciprocating engine, the space in which a Piston travels
Linn
In the meantime a gasoline powered motor home was built by Lombard for Holman Harry (Flannery) Linn of Old Town, Maine to pull the equipment wagon of his dog & pony show, resembling a trolley car only with wheels in front and Lombard crawlers in rear. In North American English the term recreational vehicle, and its acronym RV, are generally used to refer to an enclosed piece of equipment dually used as both Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a Train Linn had experimented with gasoline and steam powered vehicles and six wheel drive before this, and at some point entered Lombard's employment as a demonstrator, mechanic and sales agent. This resulted in a question of proprietorship of patent rights after a single rear tracked gasoline powered road engine of tricycle arrangement was built to replace the larger motor home in 1909 on account of problems with the old picturesque wooden bridges. This dispute resulted in Linn departing Maine and relocating to Morris, NY, to build an improved, contour following flexible lag tread or crawler with independent suspension of halftrack type, gasoline and later diesel powered. Independent suspension is a broad term for any Automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same Axle to move vertically (i A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels on the front for steering and Caterpillar tracks on the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum Although several were delivered for military use between 1917 and 1946, Linn never received any large military orders. Most of the production between 1917 and 1952, approximately 2500 units, was sold directly to highway departments and contractors. Steel tracks and payload capacity allowed these machines to work in terrain that would shred or cause to spin the poorer quality rubber tires that existed before the mid 1930's.
Linn was a pioneer in snow removal before the practice was embraced in rural areas, with a nine foot steel v-plow and sixteen foot adjustable leveling wings on either side. Once the highway system became paved, snowplowing could be done by four wheel drive trucks equipped by improving tire designs, and the Linn became an off highway vehicle, for logging, mining, dam construction, arctic exploration, etc. A snowplow (also spelled snow plow, snowplough or snow plough, see miscellaneous spelling differences) is a vehicle or a device intended Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4x4 ("four by four" is a four-wheeled Vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four Wheels to Logging is the process in which Trees are cut down for Forest management and Timber. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body Polar exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the Earth.
Sloan
Once steel cleats became unpopular on paved roads, in 1938 a limited experiment began to bridge the gap between truck and tractor, a "convertible vehicle" patented by Phillip Sloan, the C5 Catruk, suffered design flaws and limited production before it was finally abandoned.
Fate of pioneer companies
Lombard gasoline production was more limited as they never managed to diversify use away from log hauling; it is believed a diesel built in 1934 was their last unit.
Phoenix, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, appears to have built at least one gasoline powered machine before fading into history. Eau Claire is a city located in the west-central part of the U
Holt and Best ended up merging. Holt had registered the trademark Caterpillar. They merged company produced a version of the Best 60 tractor, which later became the Caterpillar 60. The Caterpillar Sixty Horsepower tractor crawler of 1919 became the world's first successful Bulldozer. The new corporation Caterpillar Inc. took that name about 1925, and remains in business today. Caterpillar Inc ( is a United States -based Corporation headquartered in Peoria Illinois.
Examples
- The crawler tractor was the basis of the first designs of tank. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical
- Crawlers equipped with a shovel like blade are called bulldozers, and used for construction and earthmoving projects. ----A bulldozer is a crawler ( Caterpillar tracked Tractor) equipped with a substantial metal plate (known as a blade) used to push large quantities
- Crawler design have been intermittently popular for farm use. A farm is an area of land including various structures devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food ( Produce, Grains, or Livestock
- The space shuttle is transported to its launch site by a large Crawler-Transporter. The Field-Marshalls were a range of British farm tractors manufactured by Marshall Sons & Co NASA 's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System ( STS) is the Spacecraft currently used by the United States The crawler-transporter is a tracked Vehicle used to transport the Saturn V Rocket, the Saturn IB rocket during Skylab
- The largest crawler in the world is the German bagger 288 excavator. The Bagger 288 (Excavator 288 built by the German company Krupp for the energy and mining firm Rheinbraun, is a Bucket-wheel excavator. An excavator is an Engineering vehicle consisting of an articulated arm (boom stick bucket and Cab mounted on a Pivot (a rotating platform like a
Types of tracks
See also
- Bulldozers
- Snowmobiles
- Tanks
- Snow Tracs
- Kristi snowcat
- Sno-Cat
- Snow coach
- Bv 202
- Bv 206
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