Machines

Can anyone see the use of a vehicle like this?  I have seen some that let you (supposedly) easily take the dump bucket off, leaving you with a flat bed...make it electric, remote controlled and strengthen the frame fore and aft so that it will accept a couple of 3 point hitches...could mount a lightweight backhoe, a boom crane, put a water tank on it, etc...any opinions?   (I know, this is kind of a repeat of a thread that I started 7 years ago...but I am curious to see if there is something out there now makes this more reasonable.)

The thing is, tracks wear out, and cost a lot. You really need to really need tracks, to justify them.

The farther you will be traveling, the more advantageous wheels are, if you can make wheels work. IE, wait for the right time of year, improve the drainage or terrain to allow wheeled access, etc...


I live in the PNW, and it will be a long time before the majority of my property is really accessible all year... But I can't imagine shelling out for something like that. It would move a really insignificant volume/weight of material for most uses, at what I expect to be a pretty high cost per kilometer of travel. The ability to move this payload over terrible terrain isn't worth that much of a cost and payload penalty IMO; more effective to create access as required.

A 6x6 gator or argo would be a more convenient get-around/light transport for terrible terrain, right up to fully amphibious... and a proper excavator + dumptruck would do vastly more work per hour or dollar...

Adapting it to have 3pt hitches sounds cool, but it's a significant engineering project... hydraulic hookups, PTO, and a bunch of steel to provide strength... And then you start finding out how ill-suited it is to utilize most 3pt implements...

I would rather put the money into bigger equipment, or on a small property, something like a medium sized TLB and an old 5-ton dumptruck would be pretty capable...

I would say this tracked vehicle would spend more time sitting idle on your farm. Personally speaking, the cost ain't worth the price. It would be fun to drive but I really can't think of a good reason to have one on the homestead. I have a tractor that can do more than this vehicle can do, such as plow, brush hog, disc, hauling and pulling. This vehicle is limited in scope.
These vehicless would be better suited to a large construction site where a normal sized dump truck wouldn't do. The ability to turn on a dime would be useful there.
Maybe a large ranch with some back country mining or logging operations where the terrain would justify the tracks.
I wonder how it does in snow? I remember a bunch of years ago ranchers couldn't get feed to their stock because of a huge snowstorm. This vehicle might have been perfect, but with its nose stuck out there so far there would be a limit on how deep the snow could be.
Backing with a trailer would be difficult, but achievable. That would be a long learning curve teaching yourself to back a trailer with levers vs steering wheel. You would definitely need to use the mirrors, so there's another skill one would have to master. Once you had that skill down pat it would be a breeze, but it would take some practice.
I couldn't tell from the picture, but I don't think this vehicle is road legal, limiting its use. It probably has a heated cab but not cooling. The cab doesn't look insulated.
Lastly, if your wife ( assuming there is a Mrs) is anything like my wife she'll wanna drive it. My wife would make it her personal homestead vehicle. I might even find her spinning in place, pinned to the side of the cab, laughing her ass off...she's kinda weird like that but then so am I 🤣

Thanks! yes, I would probably put wheels on it, remove the passenger compartment and have it remote controlled.  If only as a dumptruck, yes, it would not get much work, but having the ability to put a water tank on it (living in the desert), putting a small crane on it with a flat bed, putting a 3 point hitch (front and rear) would allow for the use of a tiller or snow plow, etc - probably with the addition of a 500 pound block of rock on the bed....dreamin'