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Snow Trac in Alaska

dbrokaw

New member
Hello,
My name is Dan and I am the proud owner of Snow Trac #163 built in 1960.
Have been enjoying the Forum and all the info you guys have been digging up.
This snow trac has had a rough life and I have enjoyed fixing it up as best as I can. It has two brand new stock fuel tanks mounted on the inside and we have also reconfigured the drivers seat and benches. The exhaust is mounted in an unusual way - but it works pretty good. It used to end right by the hood but we extended it up to the top of the cab. I am always amazed at how well this machine does in deep snow and its ability to go about anywhere.
Our 1st trip in it we broke a track due to some dry rot but were able to reconnect the trac in the field at -20F with some pre-punched 1' belt sections I had brought - always have those in the emergency kit now. Have since built a new trac for the one side. Look forward to sharing info and knowledge on these fun rides.
 

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DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
SUPER Site Supporter
Welcome Dan!

Is that a block of snow in the last picture on the roof, or a stack of rigid foam insulation?
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Hi Dan, I'm glad you finally posted. :thumb:

I'd love to see the interior of your Snow Trac. From the one photo that showed the dashboard, it appears you have not only custom upholstry on your seat, but you have a different interior layout too.

What is the primary use of your Snow Trac? Is it a recreational toy or do you use it for daily transportation in bad weather, etc?

Your driver's side window is different than any I have ever seen. Can we get a closer photo of that sometime? I've never seen the exhaust routed the way you have yours, most that I see run under the floor and then up the back wall to exhaust either at floor level at the rear or are extended up to the top of the rear of the cab. Mine is horrible, mine exhausts out the front, which is far far far less than ideal and is on the "to do" list of things to change over the summer months.


EDIT: Dan, just to let you know, I moved this entire thread after I made my post. All the SNOW TRAC discussion used to be in the TRACTOR section of ForumsForums.com but we have moved into our own SNOW TRAC area! So I moved this discussion into the Snow Trac area.
 

dbrokaw

New member
We use the snow trac for transportation to our cabin and for playing.
I will take some interior photo's and post them.
The window is a previous owners modification but it is nice to be able to open it - helps keep some of the fogging down on the inside. We have replaced all of the instruments with new ones - it used to have a non-functional speedometer which we replaced with a tach/hour gauge.
We cut off the bench at the right side so it matches the left side. Then built a short aluminum box and mounted two folding boat seats to it. Both seats pop in and out and the box provides the proper seat height and some nice storage area. Most of the time we just have only the drivers seat in it.
Our exhaust used to end in the front too and it was a pain. I like how it works now but someday I will extend it all the way to the back as it spews debris on our gear stored on the outside when starting.
We also had some starter issues for awhile and before I resolved them we located a stock hand crank and used that quite often to start it - works great and is nice to carry as a back up.
That is foam on the top - used it to haul building materials for our cabin.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Dan, I've just come back inside, I took a little spin around our Indiana corn fields in my Snow Trac. We had a bit over an inch of snow on top of a couple inches of rain and the fields are snow covered mud but the Snow Trac just plodded right through the mess without a complaint. Followed a river for about a mile or so and then came home with a big grin on my face.

My wife says all men are idiots. All I know is that for me to own a Snow Trac in Indiana must make me the king of idiots. But damn I love this thing!
 

johnday

The Crazy Scot, #3
SUPER Site Supporter
I'm beginning to like these machines. Might be just the thing for upnorth. A neighbor grooms the snowmobile trails with a "track", but nowhere near as nice as you guys have. Sure beats a noisy old snowmobile I'll bet!:a1::tiphat::beer:
 
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