Struck Mini Dozer

[SproutW]

While I was idle on the Titan project I started a project for my son. It's a Struck mini dozer from the 1960's or 70's I'm guessing. She ran on a 6hp Tecumseh engine, which had little compression.

I was originally going to repower the Struck. Since I'm on a budget, I bought a cheap Greyhound engine for now. Noticed one of the drive bushings was shot, so the restoration began...

 

[SproutW]

Almost all of the bushing and bearings were roached. They are all being replaced.

Time to replace those sprockets...

 

[SproutW]

Off to the car wash with a good soaking of degreaser...

Lots of welding and body work. Time to fill in all those holes.

 

[SproutW]

External fuel tank was removed.

Fitting fenders to make things a little safer for the little guy.

Track tensioners needed some extra support.

Engine mounting area found to have several stress cracks. New plate was welded in, but I don't have pictures.

 

[SproutW]

More of the parts.

Pounded out the nasty dent in the plow.

 

[SproutW]

The Struck was sent to the powder coater and returned with a nice shine. The internal parts I'm painting myself.

All new sprockets, shafts and bushings...

 

[SproutW]

Next thing to repair are the worn and bent axle shafts. I'm currently making new shafts.

The tracks returned from the powder coater and turned out great.

Last of the pulleys getting cleaned up and painted.

Assembly begins...

 

[JDcrawler]

Your son looks like he sure is enjoying the crawler.
You did an excellent job on rebuilding it.
It looks really nice.

 

[Ed Bezanson]

I love it when a 2 hour rebuild to get it running project turns into a full bore restoration.. For me there is nothing cooler than a kid on a dozer. My 2 boys grew up running all my crawlers and still do till this day. Its a good way to get the kids involved and off the streets. ED B

 

[Norm W]

Nice job on the fenders and body work. When you put the counter rotating jack shafts in, put the bearing mounts on the right side of the bulkheads. If they are on either the inside or outside it makes changing the belts a bear. If they are on the same sides the whole shaft can just go to one side. If I get a chance (it won't be soon, eye surgery tomorrow) I'll take some pictures of the track recoil springs I built. If a stone gets caught in the track it will break the bolt tensioning the track. If the bolt doesn't break, it will bend the front axle. A recoil spring keeps the track tight without over tightening yet allows the front axle to move back if something gets caught in the track.

 

[SproutW]

Nice job on the fenders and body work. When you put the counter rotating jack shafts in, put the bearing mounts on the right side of the bulkheads. If they are on either the inside or outside it makes changing the belts a bear. If they are on the same sides the whole shaft can just go to one side. If I get a chance (it won't be soon, eye surgery tomorrow) I'll take some pictures of the track recoil springs I built. If a stone gets caught in the track it will break the bolt tensioning the track. If the bolt doesn't break, it will bend the front axle. A recoil spring keeps the track tight without over tightening yet allows the front axle to move back if something gets caught in the track.

Excellent Idea on the shafts Norm, thanks Look forward to seeing the recoil spring tensioner.

 

[SproutW]

Some more progress this evening...

 

[Brasherman]

Lookin spiffy!

 

[SproutW]

Some more progress. Levers installed along with a newly made axle shaft. One good evening and I will have the tracks and fenders installed.

 

[Steve Webre]

Excellent job and thanks for posting the pics! Makes me want one to play with....

 

[SproutW]

Motor and the sprockets are installed. Some wiring, springs, tracks and some trim is all that is left. The end is very near

 

[SproutW]

She's pretty much done! Besides adding some rubber in the foot troughs and the plow, we are ready to dig some dirt.



I wired the girl and added the edge trimmings, which really made the Struck look nice in my mind.

Got the levers and pull rope installed...

 

[SproutW]

Laying out the lines for some rubberized cork (cushioning) for the hood.

Getting the tracks installed and adjusted....

 

[SproutW]

Getting the fenders installed. Initially I didn't like the looks of the fenders, but now I'm really starting to like them. Added the fenders as a safety element for my son.

Hope to have a better video next weekend.

 

[SproutW]

Thanks everyone. As Ed had mentioned earlier, a two hour repower turned into a full out restoration. All because of a bad bearing, which revealed they were all ready to be replaced My son will get to see the Struck for the first time today, and I'm excited to see his face. Now we have to name the Struck I'm not good with names. I have an idea on the track tensioners that Norm had mentioned earlier. I hope to order up some heavy springs and get the "tensioner" installed this next week.

I was told you could get these Struck's with a plow? Have no idea if that is fact or fiction. If I can fit a plow, that might be a nice option when my son is a little older. I'm also unsure which exact model Struck I have. I'm guessing an MD45 but it's only a guess at this point. Any ideas, I'm all ears, and again thanks.