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Bell B30D tracked version

Countryboy

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Jun 8, 2006
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It would be really awesome if it backed over that van parked behind it. :D

Great pics. :thumbsup

Would there be a load capacity difference between the track style and the wheel style from comparable models?
 

CM1995

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I will say the same thing about this piece of er, equipment that I did another forum - perfect government machine: expensive and useless.
 

traxs

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Apr 2, 2007
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Location
Edmonton, Alberta
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Machinery Operator
Looks like it would go well in snow. But I think it would'nt be so good in mud.:beatsme

hummm...frozen tracks on that must suck. The contact area to the ground is much larger than tires, it should float better in mud no? I would think so
 

PSDF350

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Oct 18, 2004
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Richmond NH
hummm...frozen tracks on that must suck. The contact area to the ground is much larger than tires, it should float better in mud no? I would think so

But it doesn't look like it has a bigger footprint. I still say it looks as though it would do better in snow. But:beatsme
 

Steve Frazier

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The footprint may not be wider, but it is certainly longer! The surface area in contact with the ground is many times that of a tire which would give it much more flotation under any conditions.
 

jazak

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Jun 22, 2006
Messages
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Location
NJ
Is BELL with JD??? Same colors. Looks like lots of JD parts?? Looks like something JD would design???
 

PSDF350

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Steve I realise it's longer. But alot of flotation in mud comes from width not lenght. Not saying I cant be wrong jmo.
 

wrenchbender

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Jan 17, 2007
Messages
489
Location
Belton SC
Looks like a mechanical nightmare to me why would you do such a thing. I think some one saw Star Wars one time to many. Whats next a hoover dump?:beatsme
 

Steve Frazier

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Dave, flotation comes from the surface area in contact with the ground. The more the surface area, the wider an area the weight is spread out over, resulting in lower psi ground pressure. Surface area is length times width of the contact pad. A tire has the width times about 6" to a foot of length in contact with the ground, let's say the width is 1 foot. So we have 1 foot times 1/2 foot which amounts to 1/2 square foot per tire. Multiply this by 6 tires and we have a total surface area of 3 square feet. If the machine weighs 100,000 pounds loaded, the ground pressure is going to be 33,333 pounds per square foot.

With this tracked truck, let's say the tracks are 1 foot wide, the same as the tires we used. The length of the track appears to be about 5', give or take, let's call it 5. So the surface area of the track is length (5') times width (1') or 5 square feet. Multiply this by 4 tracks and we come up with 20 square feet total surface area. Now let's say this machine weighs the same 100,000 pounds. We divide that by the total surface area (20 square feet) and we get 5000 pounds per square foot, much less than the 6 wheeled truck.

If you increase either dimension of the ground contact pad, you increase the flotation. That's that algebra at work!:professor
 

CM1995

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Running what I brung and taking what I win
That contraption would only be profitable for a highly specialized contractor. Being one that runs a couple of 25T artics, if the artics can't make it through the mud then you usually have to much mud to be working anyway. I guess it would be good for pipeline construction and other remotely located jobs but there is no way I could afford to operate something like that in a grading operation. Rubber tracks are big $$$$ (example Bobcat T250 = $4k) and I can only imagine what those would cost.

It's neat to see something like this and I would love to drive it, just don't want to own it.:D
 
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