by This week, I finished roughing in the tracks for the Tile Plow and am ready to move forward with the next steps. I got the bogie wheels all in place and the tracks resting on them.
I made a frame inside the tracks with adjustable threaded rods so I can adjust each one to make it align and sit correctly. I also built the support for the bogie wheels that the track rests on and got those all in place.
Next up is attaching the mud shields which cover the top area of the track and bogie wheels. The mud shields act a barrier to prevent the mud from getting into the top tracks and wheels.
On the side of the mud shield is a little jagged area which is where the step up to the cab
I’ve also made a sprocket cover that looks like there is a gear box there. It also covers up the underlying bolt structure.
Building something with tracks from scratch is a big job but it’s extremely rewarding when it all starts coming together. The doubt always starts to creep in that first week when things aren’t really assembled yet and I start to think maybe this won’t work out after all. Now that the track is done though, I can visualize the end project much better and the rest should be more fun as the remaining pieces are much bigger.
The next step is continuing to work on the main center that will go between the tracks. It will be the engine hood and base for the cab floor. The cutout part will hold the 3-point hitch type linkages and brackets. This will all be filled in with metal for everything to pivot and work in there. Then also in the future are all the pieces inside the cab.
The model is probably around 450 pieces already at this point.
If you prefer to hear and see me explaining the week’s progress in video form, please watch this video below:
Slowing down on Instagram and Facebook Posts
It has been almost a month now since I got back on social media and Facebook, and while it’s overall been a positive experience, some of it started to get to be too much. I found myself waking up at 4am just to keep up with the comments from the photos I posted. While I love being back online, I decided it’s probably best if I slow down on my photo postings so I can keep up a bit better. It’s also hard to keep photos and posts organized outside of the blog. That all being said, I will now aim to post a summary of my work on Saturdays on this blog. That will help me keep my photos organized as well as increase my time spent in the workshop vs being online!
YouTube News
In YouTube news, I finally reached 100 subscribers. Thank you to everyone who subscribed! We found out before we can get a dedicated channel name we have to wait 30 days as well so hopefully, by Wednesday of next week, we’ll have a dedicated name.
Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsr_1z3YEhQh0JEQt08FdWQ to subscribe!
Thank you all once again for your continued support of my hobby!
Have a great Saturday!
