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!
I was one of the team that built this vehicle
ReplyDeleteThis vehicle specifically designed to be a crop sprayer. The Amphibious vehicle had a jet drive built in to the floor, and the chassis was reversed so the engine was in the rear.
ReplyDeleteThe Sabotuers were built In Chichester at a company called Smith and Jewell Ltd. The body and chassis were made from BS5083 T6 (NS8) which is a Marine spec alloy.
ReplyDeleteSorry, missed these comments earlier - thanks for the info Stuart! In the process of putting a new engine in this at the moment (a 200TDi) which is running nicely on a custom frame and nearly ready to be dropped in the back. If you're interested and not too far away, perhaps you'd like to come over sometime? We'd certainly love to hear more about this vehicle and hopefully it's not too far away from being mobile again.
DeleteHave got it all working!! I just got one and engine is no good so looking fitting a golf 1.9D in it,
ReplyDeleteThese look great.........I have just bought one too!! Any idea how many exist??
ReplyDeleteI seriously considered a Golf 1.9Tdi, but the simplicity of the 200Tdi won out (particularly for remote operation).
ReplyDeleteIf you wanted the engine out of this one, let me know.
Hi Ed, yeah I would be very intereted.....and in seeing yours as I have no idea how many are around...I saved this one from scrap...it comes on monday :-) how to we contact on here??? Can I post my email?? Cheers
ReplyDeleteEd, you also state you have a manal.......I would love a copy of that too......cheers
ReplyDeleteIf you go to my company web site (Digital Concepts Engineering) there's a contact box. We can go from there. No problem photocopying or scanning the manual. Where are you based?
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ReplyDeleteThe vehicle has now gone to Steve for conversion into a Saboteur chassis (currently it is technically an Atlas). Good luck Steve!
ReplyDeleteHello all.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know of any Saboteurs for sale etc. phildtaustin@gmail.com
Thank you. Phil
Hello,
ReplyDeleteis this the same vehicle in this brochure:
https://www.muddox.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Saboteur-Trooper-Brochure.pdf