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SW 54 ring and pinion

pstnbly

New member
Hi everyone, obviously I'm new here but not new to snow cats. I'm restoring a SW 54 as a snowblower carrier. I've gone through the 251, rewired, all new copper heater lines, restored the gas tank, new fuel lines, removed the Chrysler fan and installed an electric fan and sensor, and a 1 wire GM alternator.

The thing runs great and steers well (I haven't gotten into the diff yet as it is working well). Here's my question and dilemma. As a snowblower carrier the groundspeed is too high even in first.

As I've been reading through the threads I read that the ring and pinion are Dana 44 standard gearsets although other posts seem to indicate the gears are proprietary and are $3000.00 a set. I was hoping to change to 5.83s but not ate that price. Maybe someone can set me straight.

At $3000 I may have to resort to my backup plan of modifying a Toyota transfer case as an auxiliary transmission.

Hopefully I can contribute too as I have 35 years running and working on just about any heavy grooming machine you can think of from Tuckers, 1800's, 3700's, 4700's, BR 400+, BR275, BR350, Bison, Beast, T4's, all PB from 200's through 600's and 600W's
 

DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Yeup. :wink:

J/K- Actually not a huge number of SW48/SW54 here, but they are around. Sometimes it takes a few days for something to be found, so just be patient & bump it up occasionally. I 'believe' the J5 has a similar set-up? So they may have some input as well. You could also contact member MNoutdoors (Brad). He will have the answer.
 

MNoutdoors RIP

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Hi everyone, obviously I'm new here but not new to snow cats. I'm restoring a SW 54 as a snowblower carrier. I've gone through the 251, rewired, all new copper heater lines, restored the gas tank, new fuel lines, removed the Chrysler fan and installed an electric fan and sensor, and a 1 wire GM alternator.

The thing runs great and steers well (I haven't gotten into the diff yet as it is working well). Here's my question and dilemma. As a snowblower carrier the groundspeed is too high even in first.

As I've been reading through the threads I read that the ring and pinion are Dana 44 standard gearsets although other posts seem to indicate the gears are proprietary and are $3000.00 a set. I was hoping to change to 5.83s but not ate that price. Maybe someone can set me straight.

At $3000 I may have to resort to my backup plan of modifying a Toyota transfer

case as an auxiliary transmission.

Hopefully I can contribute too as I have 35 years running and working on just about any heavy grooming machine you can think of from Tuckers, 1800's, 3700's, 4700's, BR 400+, BR275, BR350, Bison, Beast, T4's, all PB from 200's through 600's and 600W's



The ring and pinions in the Sidewalk plows 48,54,64 and many other units are the pricey ones they can be bought for less than the factory price though.

The Dana 44 are used in only the small units Bombi,BR100,BR100 plus

There were about 12 units sold with snow blowers and they had been converted to hydro pumps/motors mounted in the drive between the engine and the differential to give them variable speed
 

pstnbly

New member
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm trying to do this on the relative cheap. I'm fabricating a pump drive off the crankshaft for a 30 gal/m pump and converting a 6' commercial shaft pto snowblower to hydraulic pto. All this work is not cheap so like I said, relative cheap.

The cat was a city of Malden MA. sidewalk plow that ended up in VT as a groomer. The snowmobile club that had it put some money in it.The tractor has the original rubber filled cleats with new continuous belts, all new bolts and new tires. The sprockets aren't new but they are still very serviceable with little wear but are showing a few cracks.

It ended up back in Malden at a private collector where I bought it. The guy took it apart and didn't have the funds to restore it. It did run and move when I got it but the exhaust manifold was shot, the cooling system was apart, the wiring was all hacked (of course) and the usual hacking of the cab and sheet metal.

Most of the restoration has been done to a high level, I'm working on restoring the sheet metal now. I'm also working on the push frame to convert from a plow frame to 3 point hitch as the blower is 3 point from an Abei.

I'll try to get some pics up soon.

MN(brad) I thought about converting to a hydrostatic drive but I don't think my pockets are that deep. Being around hydro cats for the past 30 yrs that was logical but too pricey. I found your site before I came here so I'm sure we will do business. I'm curious about the governor for the 251 Chrysler, my machine does not have one.

Also I think I read a Muskeg 4 speed NP 465 would fit and give me a granny. I believe I have a 465 in my parts pile but I would need a Bombardier trans cover and the shifters, also the bell housing. Would those parts be available? Depending on cost that may be an option. Although the Toyota aux would give me 6 gears, something to ponder.

Thanks again. After reading the posts I'm jonesing for a Tucker. Must resist temptation.
 

MNoutdoors RIP

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Also I think I read a Muskeg 4 speed NP 465 would fit and give me a granny. I believe I have a 465 in my parts pile but I would need a Bombardier trans cover and the shifters, also the bell housing. Would those parts be available? Depending on cost that may be an option. Although the Toyota aux would give me 6 gears, something to ponder.

Thanks again. After reading the posts I'm jonesing for a Tucker. Must resist temptation.[/QUOTE]


Most of them run the New Process 435 (has granny low ) some ran the New Process 542 in the Muskegs both used a larger clutch also but the flywheel is the same (two sets of holes )

We purchased 14, SW units from that area in NY about 10 years ago two semi loads! And then some
 
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