Welding A Sheet Metal Hull - Tracked Amphibious Vehicle Build Ep. 16

MIG/MAG welding the bottom half of the tracked amphibious vehicle's hull sheet metal and hopefully making it watertight in the process. The drainage bolts are not welded in yet and the seals are also not in the rear wheel hubs yet. But other than that - this hull should already float like a boat. I will cut an additional hole in the rear for a specific purpose, and plug it up too, but all of that in the future episodes. This hull will have a 20 cm upper edge on it that will reach the end of the rectangular pipes that are hanging over the edge of the existing tub (just like on the picture in the beginning of the video). These will create mudguards for the wheels / tracks, and more buoyancy too. I will add actual mud flaps in the rear since the wheels are the most out reaching points of the vehicle. And that is on purpose - when I got the chance to drive the Canadian ARGO 8x8 extreme terrain vehicle I noticed I got stuck on the protruding nose all the time when trying to leave a small stream over a steep bank. The first to reach the ground was always the nose. So while designing my own tracked amphibious vehicle I decided to make the wheels/tracks the most protruding features on this handmade DIY offroad all terrain / extreme terrain amphibious vehicle so I would never get stuck again. But all of that will be put on test when my own tracked amphibious vehicle is finally ready to be tested. My vehicle, as the ARGO didn't, has no suspension. Why? It will run very slowly, it's a crawler. I can't say the ride will be very pleasant, but deflating the tires a bit in the middle (the idler wheels) will help to soften the ride a little. Also having less moving parts outside in the mud and water will lower the maintenance cost on this vehicle. Why this enormous ugly looking crash bar / roll bar? So I don't get trapped / squashed by the capsized vehicle. Oh, why is it so TALL? I'm a tall guy, a taller crash bar makes it easier to navigate the inside of the vehicle under the crash bar when on water, under the roof. And the removable roof will be supported by the crash bar too. Why the roof? For protection against the elements during Fall and Winter to make using the vehicle more pleasant. When snowplowing with ATV I've always missed weather protection. So this problem should be solved after this build is finished. Thank you for watching and stay tuned for future episodes!

#donndiy #homemade #trackedvehicle

This video is part of a series of videos, check out the series here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDiAHNykoY&list=PLkmF7FAZBzkWdzAxcrnz-WJbzSRyqrSBt
Check out my other videos on my channel page: https://www.youtube.com/c/DonnDIY

Soundtrack:
Pomade - Silent Partner (YouTube Audio Library)

Welding equipment borrowed from Spetselektroodi AS, Estonia:
Fronius TransSteel 2700 welder
Optrel Crystal 2.0 Welding Helmet
Hypertherm Powermax 45 XP plasma cutter