the snowmobile thread

escavader · Jan 21, 2007

So how many of you tractor nuts like to ride? Alot of us in northern states like to play with our tractors and our sleds in the winter.I just got off a little 150 mile poke in the woods on saturday,boy am i sore.

Not as young as i use to be,but i still like to ride like im 20.

Western MAINE is starting to shape up,at least 10 inchs of powder on top of a solid ice base.Alittle rough in the woods ,but the groomers are out.My friends and I like to find a big mountain along the way to tackle,its a blast.I dont think it got much above 5 degrees yesterday,but you dont feel it with todays gear.When we got back my jeep and were loading ,i BET 100 MACHINES WENT BY US in 10 minutes

Its nice to go early and get the smoothest trails.Im riding a SKIDOO,ialso own a POLARIS,what do you ride?So who else rides and tell us about your areas.Any one ever run one of them big grooming tractors?
ALAN

Bob_Skurka · Jan 21, 2007

Not a sled but certainly a snowmobile. I was out at dawn today, running the roads and the surrounding corn & bean fields.

I have not seen any traditional sleds at all. But this has been such a bizarre winter with so little snow that I suspect many owners have given up

escavader said:
Any one ever run one of them big grooming tractors?
ALAN

Mine is not a 'big groomer' but it is a groomer. My Snow Trac is about the size of a car or small SUV. It is capable of pulling a small trail groomer. There is a wide track version that had auxilary hydraulics for running snow tillers, but mine doesn't have that feature.

JimR · Jan 21, 2007

Nice machine BOB. There's no snow here in Massachewshits for snowmobiles this year.

Bob_Skurka · Jan 21, 2007

Jim, we had snow before Thanksgiving and then the temperatures shot up and have been running 20 to 30 degrees above normal until last week. Last week we got temps hovering in the 20s and got a light snow overnight. Its started up again this afternoon so I hope to get back out to see how all the new lighting I added works out. The original headlamps were convertered to H4 Halogens with polished reflectors, plus I added the PIAA hi/low beam offroad lights up at the roofline. The remaining roofline lights are just for area lighting when I go through the woods to look at what is around me, they are simple low cost rubber armored tractor lights made by Hella.

This mornings drive took me out onto the public roadways for several miles so I had the lights and flashers on. I also drove through some corn and bean fields on my return trip. When I imported my Snow Trac a couple years ago all the paperwork with the US Customs office was filled out so that this is considered an agricultural tractor. I do have a SMV sign, but I didn't have it stuck on the back when I went out for the early morning drive. To legally drive on the road I need to use an SMV sign, but honestly I've never had any problems and Indiana is a pretty easy state with regards to regulations, so I suspect a police officer would simply ask me to drive off the roadway until I put the SMV sign on.

JimR · Jan 21, 2007

Bob,

I like your machine. That would be a blast if we had enough open room around here to use it. Check out this beast.

eBay Motors: 1956 TUCKER SNOW CAT GROOMER (item 290073292233 end time Jan-27-07 12:48:23 PST)

DieselPower · Jan 21, 2007

Hey Bob. Here's a machine right up your alley. I recently saw a large article on these in Diesel Progress magazine. Neat little machines.

SnoBear Ice Fishing and Winter Transport

escavader · Jan 21, 2007

Bob_Skurka said:
Not a sled but certainly a snowmobile. I was out at dawn today, running the roads and the surrounding corn & bean fields.

I have not seen any traditional sleds at all. But this has been such a bizarre winter with so little snow that I suspect many owners have given up

Mine is not a 'big groomer' but it is a groomer. My Snow Trac is about the size of a car or small SUV. It is capable of pulling a small trail groomer. There is a wide track version that had auxilary hydraulics for running snow tillers, but mine doesn't have that feature.

Nice machine BOB,.Do you go far with it? How many passengers will it haul?Ever get it stuck?I bet its got a great heater too.
Heres some pics from last year
#1 one of many hydraulic groomers in our region
#2 MY SKIDOO an oldie but in mint condition and well maintained.will go over 100 mph

but all i use the muscle for is climbing
#3 VIEWS when you sled.western maine border mts with CANADA
#4 JORDAN POND in the BIGELOW MT range CARRABASSET ME.
ALAN

Bob_Skurka · Jan 21, 2007

JimR . . . that is a classic Tucker but in need of some serious help. All 4 track pontoons are different so I expect that one has seen some serious use over the years.

DieselPower . . . I've seen those before. Did you know that they have holes in the bottom so you can use them as an ice fishing shack too

escavader . . . My Snow Trac seats 7 people inside and has enough capacity to tow another 1000#. Its slow, but it will climb slopes that are nearly impossible to walk up. I removed one of the seat cushions in my Snow Trac and have mine configured to seat 5 in reasonable comfort, plus have some interior cargo room too. Except for one time when it slipped off my 4 post car lift

it has never gotten stuck. I used a tractor to spin it around and pull it out. As for heat, it uses a VW industrial air cooled engine so it has only marginal heat . . . but I installed an auxillary electric heater to keep the inside toasty warm. I've also got a GPS, lots of lights and a 2 way radio.

JimR · Jan 21, 2007

I noticed that the track units wre different too. I bet that baby has some power. I didn't know about the hatch for ice fishing.That woud make a great Lake Winnipesaukee fishing rig.

You should install a gas heater in your Snow Cat from an old car. They actually run on the same gas as the car does and work pretty good.

Jstpssng · Jan 21, 2007

escavader said:
So how many of you tractor nuts like to ride? Alot of us in northern states like to play with our tractors and our sleds in the winter.I just got off a little 150 mile poke in the woods on saturday,boy am i sore. Not as young as i use to be,but i still like to ride like im 20. Western MAINE is starting to shape up,at least 10 inchs of powder on top of a solid ice base.Alittle rough in the woods ,but the groomers are out.My friends and I like to find a big mountain along the way to tackle,its a blast.I dont think it got much above 5 degrees yesterday,but you dont feel it with todays gear.When we got back my jeep and were loading ,i BET 100 MACHINES WENT BY US in 10 minutes Its nice to go early and get the smoothest trails.Im riding a SKIDOO,ialso own a POLARIS,what do you ride?So who else rides and tell us about your areas.Any one ever run one of them big grooming tractors?
ALAN

All I have right now is my father's old '73 Panther. (I wanted a classic sled.) It ran good 2 years ago but hasn't been started since. I fear a few issues on startup, at the very least the 34 YO track is toast. If I can get it running I'll be riding it to (NOT in) the OneLunger race in Turner next month.

So Alan, is your sled a Summit for climbing those mountains? Glad to hear you are getting some riding in. Considering this winter and last, a lot of businesses are really hurting.