TRUCK FOR YOURSELF

Many people would like to have a small truck for personal use. First of all, of course, rural residents, as well as owners of dachas and garden plots. However, their desire in most cases remains unsatisfied: the domestic industry produces almost no “pickup trucks” and, apart from the “Ant” cargo scooter, can offer practically nothing to the consumer.

In such cases, as we know, the vacuum created by the sluggishness of our auto industry is filled with numerous home-made structures.

They also make trucks. They are created at your own peril and risk, both by individual home-makers and by enthusiasts in technical creativity circles. The range of such designs is very large: from the improvement of the “Ant” scooter (from a two-axle it became a three-axle), carried out by I. Nareiko from Vilnius (see “M-K” No. 9’88), to the tractor-cart by P. Vashchenya from the Rivne region . By hook or by crook, automakers tried to circumvent the existing prohibitions and local reinsurance of registration authorities: they called their cars scooters, tractors, and made carriage-type passenger cars with a removable canvas top, like V. Rubtsov from Gorky (see “M-K” No. 1 ’88), or as I. Yakovlev and V. Kapusto from Strelna (see “M-K” No. 10’88) – jeeps, which, as you know, are easily transformed into a “pickup”.

Interest in small and cheap microtrucks is still quite high, and in the future, due to the development of rental contracts in rural areas, it will increase and increase.

Today we present to your attention the Mikruz microtruck, created in the technical circle at the Novokulinskaya secondary school in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan under the leadership of Kurban Mammaevich Kubalaev – for work in the fields of the student production team.

The Mikruz microtruck is designed to transport various cargo weighing up to 600 kg; it has good cross-country ability and is capable of moving at speeds from 10 to 55 km/h.

The car uses an engine from an Izh-56 motorcycle with a modified fan cover and an extended end of the crankshaft for installing a starter. The cover is borrowed from the S3D motorized stroller engine, as is the chain sprocket. Torque is transmitted to the rear axle from the engine using a chain drive (chain pitch 20 mm] through an additional (1st) gearbox necessary to reduce the speed. This gearbox is homemade, assembled from the gears of a decommissioned lathe. It has two outputs: the first, with a gear ratio of 1:1, is for driving the mower; the second, with a gear ratio of 1:2, is for a chain drive (chain pitch 25 mm) to the 2nd gearbox, taken from the S3D motorized stroller.

The rear suspension and modified rear part of the frame are borrowed from the cargo scooter. The axle shafts and wheels are from a motorized stroller. The front suspension is welded from steel pipes Ø 25 mm, with suspension using shock absorbers from a heavy motorcycle and additional springs.

The frame of the microtruck is homemade, welded from pipes Ø 40 mm. The body is made of pressed plywood (the frame is metal) and can be tilted back, but only manually. The cabin is made of 0.5 mm thick sheet metal on a wooden frame; it tilts forward, making it possible to freely remove and install the engine or front suspension. The cabin doors are homemade. The engine is installed between the driver and passenger seats. There is a hatch above it that opens when minor engine repairs are necessary: ​​removing a spark plug, cylinder head, etc. If necessary, the hatch cover can be used as a seat for a second passenger. The steering is rack and pinion, from a motorized stroller, with modified rods. The gas tank is homemade, with a capacity of 15 liters, located above the engine, outside the cabin.

The electrical equipment of the car has a voltage of 12 V. The headlights are borrowed from the VAZ-2103, the rear lights are from a motorcycle.

The brakes are mechanical, only on the rear wheels. The parking brake was taken from Zaporozhets. The windshield is made from the side window of a Kuban bus, the rear window is made from plexiglass 5 mm thick. There is a ventilation hatch in the front part of the cabin. The bumper is from a VAZ-2101 car, shortened.

In addition to performing purely transport tasks, a microtruck can also be used as an agricultural machine. For this purpose, appropriate equipment is installed on it. Here we are talking about a rake and a hay mower.

The mower is driven by a specially mounted shaft on the 1st gearbox, through a cardan transmission and a crank. The cutting apparatus of the mower is homemade, made taking into account the traction and dynamic characteristics of the microtruck. The fixed part of the cutting apparatus is made from the blade of a tractor mower, as is its moving part. Raising and lowering the cutting apparatus is carried out using a cable controlled from the cab by a special lever. The mower body is attached to the truck frame using brackets.

After drying, the cut hay is raked into windrows. The rake is hung on brackets at the rear of the body. The rake frame is made of double steel angles 15X15 mm. The spring fingers of the rake are made of steel rod Ø 5 mm. The rake is raised and lowered by a rod controlled from the cab. The collected hay is transported on the same microtruck.

Thus, the Mikruz microtruck, when used as an agricultural machine, is capable of performing a full cycle of work related to hay harvesting and transportation. This small, reliable car has become our indispensable assistant.

K. KUBALAEV s. Novo-Kuli, Dagestan