About the Coyote
The Coyote is a common sight across the deserts, farms, and factories of Nikros.
It provides a simple, robust design for a light duty tractor for hauling or towing.
The flywheel is big enough to hook external equipment to with large belts, and the hopper at the rear can haul equipment or raw materials.
A small winch is attached to the transmission, allowing the driver to pull astonishingly heavy loads.
The wide treads also provide excellent traction across a myriad of terrain.
The Coyote's triple-expansion steam engine is recommended to run on wood, but it's been known to be fueled with coal, charcoal, and a variety of other makeshift solid fuel.
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The Coyote tractor with its driver.
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The giant flywheel of the Coyote's triple-expansion steam engine stands out on the profile of this vehicle.
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The treads of the tractor are quite wide, ensuring excellent traction on most any surface.
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The top of the engine contains the steam reservoir. A coal shovel is an essential tool for every Coyote to carry.
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The back of the Coyote is where the true utility of the design is found: small bed for hauling materials, and a winch.
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A wrench is also helpful to keep around. The firebox sits directly behind the driver's seat.
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While this Coyote is hauling coal, it's being fueled with wood.
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The driver's seat featuring transmission controls and a throttle can be somewhat unweildy for new drivers.
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Need a tow?
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I had taken a crack at steampunk style stuff a few times before this point, but this kind of marks that point when I really started making more creations in that style.
This was posted to MOCpages in June of 2008.
What makes steampunk beautiful to me boils down to function over form, with some exagerated flair derived from that form.
You take a simple task, and you show how it's accomplished with a less refined technology, and the result is bulkier, and more visually complicated.
Therein lies the opportunity for visual expression -- that mix between the function being visually on display and how extravigantly you can achieve that end.
Sure, it's just a simple little utility tractor, but it's fun to play with!
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