How to make your own steering wheel. The design of the steering of a homemade mini tractor

Usually, steering on a homemade mini tractor is required in order not only to improve equipment, but also to facilitate a number of agricultural work. The walk-behind tractor in the form in which it is sold does not always facilitate, for example, the plowing process. Therefore, the creation of a convenient mini-tractor is an urgent issue for most summer residents.

For owners of small plots of land, such homemade products can save a lot of effort and money. Not everyone can afford to buy a ready-made tractor. The investment will not pay off. But to build such a technique is within the power of any person who knows how to hold a wrench and read the drawings.

Working drawing, preparation of tools and parts

The first stage of work is often bewildering. There are masters who do not have special education. However, they are able to create a masterpiece from a pile of scrap metal. They keep the entire assembly process in their heads and do not know until the end what they will succeed.

A professional approach always involves a drawing. It allows you to work in stages and understand in advance which parts you need to purchase. Therefore, it is better to sketch a drawing and an assembly diagram.

Almost everyone has a tool that will be required in the process of work. Need to cook:

• drill;
• a machine with a cutting wheel, popularly called a "grinder";
• welding electric apparatus;
• wrenches of different sizes.

In principle, the assembly can be done in any way. If there is no welding machine and you can’t find it, you can bolt the entire structure. It is necessary to prepare drills, electrodes, bolts and nuts. In addition, grease or oil for lubrication is useful.

The creation of steering is based on the principle that is used in domestic VAZ or GAZ-53 cars. You can take a ready-made system and customize it in size. Usually the shaft needs to be shortened. The car can also be controlled with the help of steering rods. The gearbox must be fixed on the frame and deployed to the operator. The brake is applied drum hydraulic. Together with the hydraulic system, you need to buy a pump that will ensure the correct movement of oil through the system. Before starting work, it is necessary to determine what load will be on the minitractor and what is the power of the motor.

Assembly and adjustment of equipment

Steering allows you to move the tractor in a certain direction. In general, the entire system consists of a steering mechanism and a steering gear. There are two types of mechanism:

• worm;
• rack.

For a tractor, the worm type is most often used, since it makes it easy to overcome bumps in the road and has a significant number of advantages. However, there are also disadvantages. The largest of them is a large number of parts and assemblies. Over time, backlashes form, which are difficult to eliminate. The rack and pinion mechanism is simpler and more popular today.

Steering work begins with proper seat placement. The knees of the seated driver must not rest against the steering rods. Sometimes, when creating a homemade tractor, the handles of the walk-behind tractor remain as a steering. They are convenient, but in the event that the movement is carried out only forward. Reversing is difficult. That is why it is recommended to install a steering wheel. If the system is controlled by the steering wheel, it must be adjusted in height.

In order to control the minitractor was not so difficult, hydraulic cylinders are used. Do not make them yourself. It is better to buy a ready-made system. On sale there are devices designed specifically for agricultural machinery.

When creating the steering of a homemade mini tractor, use the steering column from a VAZ-2106 car or from any other car. The column is bolted to the steering rods at an angle of 45°. It is important to consider that the dimensions of the steering rods and columns do not always match. You can fix the problem by welding, welding additional paws. Relative to the wheel, the thrust should be at a right angle. After all the work, we adjust the wheel alignment.

In general, the design can be simple, without springs and other reinforcements. Since there is still no heavy load, like on a car. Sometimes the mechanism uses a steering wheel swivel assembly, a ball joint and steering knuckles.

Pedals required for full operation:

• clutch;
• brake.

Pedal placement, height and direction also need to be customized. As a rule, if these are old parts of a VAZ car, they are high when mounted on a mini tractor. It is not comfortable. But the cables for the pedals can be taken from an old scooter.

In the process of creating a small tractor, all elements must be adjusted to the adapter or made, as they say, for themselves. Parts, especially those that carry a load, need to be burned through welding at high amperes.

You can figure out how to attach the steering column yourself, based on the specific design of your walk-behind tractor.

It is better not to come up with too wise designs and keep everything simple.

The advantages of a walk-behind tractor, such as low cost and simplicity of design, have the other side of the coin. You have to follow him like a horse. With large volumes of work, this is tedious.

Therefore, many owners of this device purchase or make their own adapter for a walk-behind tractor with steering. This simple device turns a two-wheeled assistant into a real mini tractor.

At first glance, this is a complex engineering project that cannot be implemented at home. In fact, the technique is very simple both in operation and in manufacture.

The adapter for a walk-behind tractor is an addition to the unit that has its own wheel axle. When connected to a traction device, you get a full-fledged four-wheeled vehicle. The question often arises: I made a home-made adapter, how to register with the traffic police? It's impossible.

Important! Such self-propelled vehicles are prohibited from driving on public roads. If you need to overcome a long distance to the place of work - use a carriage trailer to transport a walk-behind tractor.

The whole problem is that the walk-behind tractor does not have elementary security systems. Therefore, it is not a vehicle, in fact. In addition, an open structure (all mechanisms, including rotating ones, are a source of danger) in principle will not pass certification as a means of transportation. The same applies to factory adapters.

Conceptually, there are two types of construction:

The design is much easier to manufacture, but more effort is required to rotate. Yes, and the geometry is somewhat worse. The angle and radius of the turn does not stand up to criticism.
Depending on the location relative to the power plant with driving wheels, there is an adapter front or rear.

Advice! From the point of view of the implementation of traction, the preferred option is that the driver sits as close as possible to the drive axle. Then its weight additionally presses the wheels to the ground, excluding wheel slip.

Design elements:

Frame.
Ladder or spinal. There are options for combining the frame of the walk-behind tractor and the adapter. In this case, the structure is calculated as a single element, with a newly made pedestal for the engine and transmission.

Suspension.
As a rule, without elastic elements. Large selection of structures - bridge, axial, portal, rotary.

Portal for attachments.
It is made with the rear location of the adapter. At the front location, the portal of the walk-behind tractor is used. Possibility of attaching a blade.

Hitch.
The most critical element of the design. It must provide a reliable connection with the walk-behind tractor and the stability of the vehicle. In the presence of steering - the hitch is rigid, if the rotation is carried out by changing the articulation angle - it is mounted on a horizontal hinge. Can be performed with two degrees of freedom: rotation and twisting.

Driver's workplace.
It is built taking into account traffic safety, it can be equipped with duplicate controls for the walk-behind tractor.

Steering (in the case of a rigid hitch).
You can take ready-made, for example, from the VAZ classics. You can make your own. Taking into account the peculiarities of movement, a homemade adapter with a steering wheel does not have to meet any safety requirements for driving.

How to make an adapter with your own hands without steering

Articulated design that acts as a steering. The driver is placed on the adapter, turns are carried out by changing the angle of the hitch.

For manufacturing you will need:

1. A professional pipe measuring 30-50mm or a little more, depending on the power of your walk-behind tractor;
2. Channel of the same size;
3. A pipe with thick walls, and preferably a steel circle with a diameter of 30-40 mm, in which holes for the hitch will be drilled on a lathe;
4. Steel rods of different sizes, for the hitch - from hardened steel;
5. A pair of wheels with bearing axles or hubs;
6. Bolts, nuts in assortment;
7. Ready-made seat, for example from a city bus. Or the material for its manufacture - leatherette, boards;
8. Welding machine (it is better to use electric welding);
9. Bulgarian, powerful drill or drilling machine;
10. Lathe, or the ability to order turning work;
11. Primer, paint.

The dimensions of the adapter for the walk-behind tractor are selected based on the needs of the device. There are no special conditions for maintaining symmetry; the length of a home-made device may exceed the dimensions of the walk-behind tractor.
Before starting work, a drawing of the adapter should be made.

The frame can be higher or lower than the axis of the walk-behind tractor, this is not a problem. The main thing is to ensure the horizontal structure. Advice. If possible, place the landing site as low as possible for stability.

The wheels do not have to be placed on the axle, the best option is a portal suspension, it will provide sufficient ground clearance. Elastic elements are not installed, so it is better to choose tires with a high profile for shock absorption. Check the alignment of the wheels and the parallelism of their installation.

How to weld an adapter without using factory equipment? If you do not have conductors to properly fix the frame elements relative to each other, use any flat surface. For example - a chipboard sheet.

Structural elements are laid out on it, and welding is carried out in one plane. The frame is then turned 180° and the second side is welded. Then you can finish the side seams.

Important! Grinding of welded joints is carried out after all seams are ready and checked.

The most critical part is the hitch. This is a hinge that works in two planes. The vertical axis is for turning, the horizontal axis is for preventing diagonal hanging on rough terrain.

A complex bearing design is not necessary, but it is more difficult to make than to make a front adapter with a rigid hitch. Bushings should be with minimal play, they must be regularly lubricated.

The seat is placed in such a way that at any angle of rotation of the steering wheel, your back does not come off the backrest. Remote controls are not required, only an adapter with a steering wheel for a walk-behind tractor is equipped with them, where the power plant is located behind the driver. Can be placed on the side of the seat, control levers for various tillage devices.

A bracket for attachments is located on the rear cross member of the frame. Since you are sitting with your back to them, control will be difficult. This problem is solved by upgrading your hiller or plow. You need to add a few rods, and make a device to change the height of the working tool.

Still want to make an adapter for a walk-behind tractor with your own hands? A detailed video with manufacturing examples will help you.

The walk-behind tractor, of course, simplifies all work in the gardens, but if you touch on large areas, then walking and managing it for a long time is very tiring. For this reason, many owners of this equipment convert it into such a mini-tractor. Many construct incredibly convenient and practical devices by attaching an adapter with steering to the walk-behind tractor. Now we will share with you how this can be done and what is needed for this.

How to make a homemade adapter for a walk-behind tractor?

At first glance, the design of such an apparatus may seem very complicated, but if you understand and approach the matter with all responsibility, then making such a mechanism will not be difficult.
To create an adapter for a walk-behind tractor, there are 2 types of mechanism design:

1. Steering.
2. With movable joint.

Front Steering Adapter

For its manufacture, you will need a steering mechanism from any transport. The best option to use would be a steering column from a tractor or a truck. The essence of such a mechanism is that the steering arm will act as a coupling device, thereby connecting the adapter to the walk-behind tractor.

One of the options for assembling the steering adapter is based on a ball base, which will make the hitch independent. But it’s better to make a separate hitch of the walk-behind tractor and adapter.

And the steering itself is already made on the basis of levers, or you can still use a steering arm.

In this design, the steerable pair of wheels can be located both in front and behind the vehicle itself. The control of such a device is simple and very convenient.

Articulated design

Such a mechanism is much easier to make. The only disadvantage of this whole design is that it will now take a little more effort to turn.

What does this mechanism consist of?

• Frame. Can be combined with an adapter. Then such a design becomes unified and for it it requires the manufacture of a new pedestal for the transmission and engine. You can also use a spine or ladder frame.
• Suspension. It can be different: axial, portal, rotary, bridge.
• Hitch. This is the main element of the whole mechanism. It is responsible for the stability of the device and ensures its reliable connection. For its implementation, 2 degrees of freedom are used: twisting and turning.
• Portal for attachments. It is made in case of location of the adapter at the back.
• Steering (with a rigid hitch). Of course, it will be more convenient to take ready-made, but you can do it yourself.
• Place for the driver. It must be done with safety in mind.

Features of a walk-behind tractor with steering

• no need to waste your energy on walking behind a walk-behind tractor;
• the traction potential of the equipment is fully realized;
• such a mini-tractor becomes even more functional;
• now, in order to process a site away from home, you do not need to transport a walk-behind tractor separately;
• convenient and lightweight management; now you do not need to hold in your hands the entire mass of the apparatus on weight.

Adapter steering has both advantages and disadvantages. Among the main advantages are:

• the ability to quickly disassemble and assemble the structure;
• controls do not change significantly when reworked;
• good axle weight balance.

But among the shortcomings, it is worth highlighting the worst stability, due to the movable hitch.

In any case, if you attach an adapter with steering to the walk-behind tractor, such an assembly will make your work easier. So try to design and cultivate the land with pleasure.