There's a multi part build VLOG of all the below here


Before I could do anything, I needed to know if I could actually get tracks to move under electric power. So off to Aliexpress and I bought a 2kW brushless motor and controller, and some snowblower tracks.

I created a CAD model of what it was going to look like in Fusion360.

 The tracks require a splined drive shaft and this is a custom build I was going to have to make my own.  With the correct  drive shaft dimensions, I started to consider how I might make the shaft. Without this, the project was dead.

The only way I could cut splines like this was on the mill. I have a Vertex rotary table and this seemed the best route thoughI had no experience of using it. Having some embedded experience I created the 'Rotary Table Buddy' which allows me to drive the table electronically..I just tell it how many splines I need. This was a project in itself and is documented here.

With this , I managed to create a functional drive shaft on the first try. Next was the motor mount..

The drive shaft was to be mounted on 20mm pillow block bearings with a sprocket from a 50cc moped attached to the drive shaft and chain driven from the sprocket supplied with the motor. I had to create an adapter plate to connect the sprocket to the shaft.

And this was connected to the drive shaft using a keyway slot.

The motor mount frame was made from welded 20mm box section steel. I also created a motor mounting plate that allowed the motor to be adjusted in x and y allowing for sprocket alignment and chain tightening.

I knabbed the battery from my son's e-scooter for the first test with everthing in place.