Any help identifying this small articulated vehicle?

[waayfast]

When I was in high school ('bout 700 years ago) the local veternarian (horse Doc) bought one.

I remember it had NDT tires like you find on a Jeep and likely the same size.It was kind of primitive. Think it was powered by a B&S and some kind of centrifigal clutch. It did articulate on the roll axis but steering was not good --seem like it took a 40 acre field to turn around in. I think it was supposed to be a swimmer but not with me in it!! No suspension and it rode very very rough, but I did not mind because the Vets daughter that was driving was VERY well endowed.

 

[axlr8]

i thought id share some info....theres a new line of them called coot2 as in coot squared....they are diesel and theres a guy down the road a few miles form me that has one and is actually a dealer...they are sweet! look at youtube...seems to have come along way!

 

[jamesfrom180]

GlobalNet Industries, Inc.

Just too cool. A more goatish version with 6 wheels would be fun.

 

[axlr8]

ive seen that thing crawl over 35 gallon drums, stumps about 2-3 feet off the ground....it has gut wrenching torque like no other.

 

[jamesfrom180]

reminded me of a Bobkat. Does not seems to have the same floating characteristics of its earlier cousin.

 

[BBQROD]

GlobalNet Industries, Inc.

Just too cool. A more goatish version with 6 wheels would be fun.

It has an output shaft in the rear for one more trailer with a drive axel

 

[John Mc]

It has an output shaft in the rear for one more trailer with a drive axel

Actually, that output shaft was for the optional propeller outdrive. without the prop, it would go about 2 knots in the water, just from spinning it's tires. With the prop, the water speed increased to about 5 knots

 

[John Mc]

Just realized I resurrected a 5 years dormant thread here. Sorry about that. I own 2 Coots. They were fun vehicles. Amphibious, articulated in the middle to keep all 4 wheels on the ground. 4 Wheel Drive, originally powered by a 12 HP single cylinder Tecumseh engine. These were geared more for torque than for speed - top speed was about 20 MPH. All drive components other than the wheels were inside the tubs, giving a smooth belly with about 12" of ground clearance. It was driven by a variable ratio Comet clutch (similar to what was used on older snowmobiles) connected to a transmission with 2 forward gears and one reverse (plus the variable clutch ratio). Chain drive from the transmission output to the driveshaft. Driveshaft turned a worm gear set up to drive the front axle and another in the rear.

There were no differentials, so all four wheels turned the same speed all the time. That plus the high ground clearance resulted in a vehicle that would go just about anywhere - it was tough to get it stuck. The weak point was the steering. Without differentials, it took a lot of room to turn one around. This was (partially) remedied by a 4 wheel steer (4WS) option available on later models (there was a mechanical linkage to rear steering). The 4WS was enugh of an improvement that many owners of 2WS versions have converted theirs to 4WS.

The Coot users web site has moved since the earlier posts in this thread were made. It's now here:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/cootworld/

My "work Coot" (looks rough, runs well, a few mods such as 16 HP Briggs Vanguard engine, added receiver hitch, geared down the steering, etc)


Showing the articulation. Right rear wheel up on a boulder:

 

[John Mc]

From what I've heard and read, these were never used by the military, though a few were purchased for testing. A fair number were purchased by power line companies for power line monitoring. Most were used for recreation.

 

[waayfast]

Looking at the coot articulated over the rock just reminded me about one thing I seem to remember about those machines. Seems like where the front half and back half came together was a potential pinch point for hands/fingers if you didn't keep clear.

 

[John Mc]

Looking at the coot articulated over the rock just reminded me about one thing I seem to remember about those machines. Seems like where the front half and back half came together was a potential pinch point for hands/fingers if you didn't keep clear.

It certainly is. They could get away with that back when these were made. I'm not sure how they got away with it when they Made the Coot2, a more recently made successor to the original Coot.

 

[R3Fab]

COOT, I used to have one, now wish I had kept it.
Mine was fully optioned out.
In addition to the articulated body I had the rear prop and rudder.
Also had the tire cleats.
Found two issues with it.
Low ground clearance meant it did not do well in deep snow as once it pushed a big pile up at the front even the cleats still could not move it.
Also has no suspension beyond the tires, so my compression fracture damaged back hated it.
For a younger guy it was a pretty nifty vehicle.
In amphib use they do not have a lot of free-board.
I sold it a few years ago to a guy who was going to use it in swapmy terrain where it would excel.
The most difficult thing about them is that they use a bronze bevel drive gear at each end, there is no differential.
Replacement gears are unicorn horn.

There was a guy making a new version using hydraulic drive.
Not sure if that is still around, everybody seems to want SPEED over function these days.

 

[John Mc]

The Coot with stock tires has a ground clearance of 11". R3Fabis right about the problems in deep snow: If you drive through stuff that's too deep, so it piles up under the belly, it will just lift your wheels rght off the ground.

On the other hand, the smooth belly meant that it would slide right over most obstacles without much issue. The lack of differentials made for a large turning radius, and you were scuffing up the ground when turning.

The upside to having 4WD with no diferentials is that all 4 wheels turned all the time. Between that and high aproach and departures angles, a Coot would drive just about anywhere. It was quite rare to ever get stuck.

 

[John Mc]

The new version of the Coot Was known a the Coot Two (or Coot2). It had an engine driven hydraulic pump and independent hydraulic motor driving each wheel.