RC Tank/Snow Plow

Remote controlled vehicles have been a passion of mine since I ever got my first taste when I was 10. The thing that drew my attention was the ability to tinker and fix the car while also being able to have some fun driving it. I wanted to take this passion to the next level and make an RC vehicle I could call my own. But instead of doing the basic car, I wanted to make a tank. I also wanted to allow anyone else who is a passionate as me about RCs to make their own which is why I will be showing how I made it and how you can make your own.

• 1/2 in Plywood
• (60+)Popsicle sticks 3/8 inch thick
• (2)GT2 timing belt
• (2) Closed GT2 timing belt
• 22 gauge metal wire
• 8mm rod
• (8)Skate board bearings
• (10) Wood screws
• (~20)Small finishing nails
• Assortment of M3 screws
• (2) Motors
• (2) Escs-50A
• (2) 3s battery
• Drill
• Band saw (optional)
• Circular saw (optional)
• Wire cutters
• Scissors
• Drill Bits- 1/2 in, 1/8 in, 1/4in, 1/16 in
• Hole saw- 7/8 in and 1 3/4 in
• Clamps
• Wood Glue
• Screw driver
• Soldering Iron and Solder
• Electrical Tape or Heat Shrink
• 3d printer
• Ruler
• Hot glue gun with glue sticks

I used an Anet A8 as my printer to print out the parts. You need to print 2 motor and bearing mounts, 8 spacers, 2 small pulleys, and 2 big pulleys. The link to the files is here

The base of the snow plow is going to be made out of plywood. I used a circular saw but any wood saw will work. You are going to want to mark out a 7.5in x11in rectangle on the plywood so you know where to cut. After that you can cut out the rectangle by following the lines. After you cut it, the edges will most likely be rough so use sandpaper to smooth the edges.

For the wheels, we are going to be using the same plywood as we did for the base. I made a template for the outer portion for each wheel so it will be easier to cut out. Make sure you print out the template at 100% scale or else it won't be the right size. You can attach the printed out template to the plywood with either adhesive spray or just a glue stick.

First, make a rough cut out of the plywood to separate the wheel from it. Then, you can use a band saw to trace the lines on the template or you can use a regular saw but it might take longer. I found that it is best to make the grooves about a 1/16th of an inch wider on each side than it is on the template. It makes it easier for the tracks to intertwine with the wheels. After tracing the outline, sand down the edges and use a 1/4 in drill bit to drill out the center. Remove the template my sanding it off. Repeat this whole process for the 7 other wheels.

We need to have a gap between each of the wheels and we can accomplish this by cutting out wooden circles to fit in between. I used a 1-3/4 in hole saw but if you don't have one you can use a band saw or regular saw to cut the circles. For each wheel we need 4 wooden circles, resulting in a total of 16.

Next is gluing the wheel together. Each wheel will consist of two grooves circles on the outside sandwiching 4 circles in between. I did this by using a drill bit to put through the drilled holes, which lines up the circles, and apply wood glue and clamp. Do this for each wheel until you have 4.

This step is the most tedious steps but it needs to be precise in order to work. For this step we need,

• (2) Timing Belts
• (60+) Popsicle sticks (have a little extra because you might mess up on one)
• Metal Wire
• Hot Glue Gun
• Drill with 1/16 in Drill bit

It is a little hard to explain the process but I'll try my best. So on the timing belt you can see grooves on one of the sides. This is what we will use to measure the distance between each popsicle stick. To start, you want to drill one groove in as seen in the first picture above. You want to drill right in the middle of the belt. Do this for the second belt also.

The rest of the holes drilled on the belt will be 20 grooves apart. Do this 14 times along the belt but for the 15th time only drill 19 grooves away from the previous one and cut the belt on the 20th.

Next you want to cut the popsicle sticks. Cut one of the ends to make it flat and line the flat end up with one of the wheel edges. Cut the popsicle stick so it is the same length as the width of the wheel. I recommend keeping one popsicle stick as reference for the rest of them.

With the excess of the popsicle stick, cut out small rectangles a little less than 1/2 inches in length. Do this twice.

Now it is time to drill some holes. Measure 5/8 of an inch in from each of the sides of the popsicle sticks and drill a hole directly in the middle of the popsicle stick. Do this for all of the posicle sticks but not for the last section.

We now have the materials to build one of the sections. Hot glue the small rectangles to the two ends of a cut posicle stick so their edges line up. Cut a small piece of wire, 3/8 inch in length, and put two of them in the timing belts, one for each belt. Put hot glue over the holes you cut on the popsicle stick and lay the timing belts over the holes with the wire going into the drilled holes. The wire will keep the belt from slipping on the popsicle stick. Take a second cut and drilled popsicle stick and glue it on top on the previous one, sandwiching the belt in between.

Now you repeat the process 13 more times. The 15 is going to be different because we are attaching the two end of the belt to each other. For this you need to drill 4 holes into your cut popsicle stick. Once again measureing 5/8 inch in from the edges, this time measuring a little over 1/16 inch in from each of the width edges resulting in two holes. Do the same process of attaching the belt to the popsicle stick. Pictures on the process are above.

You have now finished one of the tracks. Repeat the whole process to make a second track.

In order for the wheels to spin on the axle, we need to add bearing to the wheels. Using a 7/8 in hole saw, drill holes on each side of the wheel about the depth of the bearings. Use a 1/2 in drill bit and drill all the way through the wheel for the axle to go through. The next process is sort of an art. You have to put nails in around the bearing to keep it in place but make sure it stays centered. You can skip this step if you have a 22mm hole saw or the bearing fits snugly.

This step is pretty simple. With either a angle grinder or any other metal cutting device, cut out two metal rods about 15-1/4 inches in length. File down the edges if needed.

For this step you will need to conjure up your soldering skills. Nothing is too complex however. You are going to want to attach a battery connector to the esc that goes with your 3s battery. Make sure you have the negative and positive right. You also need to solder the motor wires. The order in which you solder them doesn't matter as long as you radio can reverse signal. Cover your soldering points with either tape or heat shrink. If you don't know how to solder, there is thousands of youtube videos that can help with that.

To drive the wheels, we need to attach the gear to it for the belt to sit on. Take your 3d printed big pulley and line it up with the axle. Mark the holes to drill out for the screw. Use a drill bit that is a little bit smaller than your screw and drill the points you marked. Screw on the pulley. Repeat for another wheel.

We can now assemble the wheels and tracks to the body.

The rod assembly will go as such starting from left to right, spacer, wheel, spacer, body, spacer, wheel, spacer. You will want to keep the gear wheels on the same axle and non-gear wheels on the same axle. After you get both assembled, put the tracks on and stretch the wheels apart so there is a good amount of tension. Using a small wood screw, put two screw on the inside of the axle but put them in angled. This will keep the axles from falling off. Put two screw in for each axle. Look at the picture above.

First we need to assemble the pulley and motor mount to the motor. The motors come with a prop attachment that allows propellers to be attached. We will instead use it to attach the pulley. The assembly goes spacer, bearing, pulley, nut. It is shown in the first two pictures.

Since we need to have the motor separate from the motor mount to draw the holes for the mount on the body, it is best to leave them separate for now. Make a test setup of where the motors need to go on the body. Remove the motor from the bracket and mark the spots where holes are needed. Use a 1/8 inch drill bit to drill the holes. You can optionally use a rotor to expand the holes to make it easier to tension.

You can now attach the motors to the bracket. First you will want to put in the 30mm long m3 screws through the bottom mounting holes. Then rest the motor on top of the assembly. Using 5mm long m3 screws, screw the motor in through the three holes on the back. Use 2 10mm m3 crews to screw in the bearing bracket. Now you can attach the motors to the body, using m3 bolts to secure them. Make sure there is a good amount of tension.

I used the Flysky fs-i6s. He is the link on amazon Radio + receiver. Make sure both of the sticks are self centering. For the battery, any 2 3s batteries will work. Make sure you have the same connection on the battery as the esc. I hooked up the left motor and receiver to channel 2 and the right to channel 3. If you need to reverse the direction of the motors, you can do so on the radio.

If you want to try using the tank as a snow plow, you can add a shovel to the front. I had an old shovel laying around so I cut out a portion to use as my shovel. I used an angle grinder but if you have patience you can just use a saw. You can attach it with wood screw to the front.

Go out and enjoy the creation that you made. It will most likely need some tinkering in order to truly work properly. If the tracks get stuck I recommend making the gaps in the wheels wider.