Tuesday, June 18, 2013

New demonstrator platform - Saboteur 8x8

With the temporary delay in the arrival of the ZZ3 'rolling chassis' we have obtained a Saboteur Mk IVa 8x8 to use as a demonstrator. Bought in a sorry state, work has already begun on restoring this unusual vehicle before the conversion to remote control can begin.


Originally built in 1981 (before the internet became popular) information on this vehicle is scarce. We think it was made originally by Saboteur Vehicle Company Ltd (of England) as amphibious, all-terrain military transportation (the manual mentions being a missile carrier with crew seats) but was never bought by the UK military. It has an aircooled VW Type 127 engine kicking out (according to the engine plate) 40.4kW @ 3600rpm (or around 54hp - making it several times more powerful than the similar-looking ArgoCat) driving a hydraulic pump which in turn drives two hydraulic motors, one for each side, linked via chain to 4 wheels & flotation tyres each. Interestingly it would appear that ours is reversed (essentially running backwards) and was built for agricultural crop spraying with a side mounted cab rather than inboard driving position. Made entirely from aluminium, it has survived in excellent condition (except the tyres) having only 600 hours on the meter and even the engine is turning over nicely now (although it had 3 different types of spark plug fitted and a variety of mismatched leads).


The manual and limited web information indicate that the original vehicle had a top speed of 56kph and a maximum gradient of 60° which would make it unbelievably mobile for a hydraulically driven vehicle. We're looking forward to testing this out! Ours doesn't appear to be immediately amphibious (too many holes) but could probably be converted back to this standard with relative ease.

This vehicle should prove to be an excellent demonstrator; controlling engines and ancillaries, skid-steering, and an introduction (for us) into the world of hydraulics (instead of direct or gearboxed electrical, or mechanical clutch-brake or differential drive). And it should be fun!