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2 snow trac and 1 canyon ride

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
we had a run in the mountains near my place Saturday.
I got ate up by the tracs. we kept climbing and the fresh wet stuff was about
waist deep when my canyon wouldn't do the hill. It spun the tracks and just dug in.
So what else if you want to go up farther. We abandon the canyon on the road and all 8 of us rode the snow tracs .
this is when the snow trac spun out on a grade with 4 in it. I think it was close to 15% grade and much deeper snow.
DSC01964.jpg

Not wanting to use snow shoes to walk around we headed to shallower snow after picking up the canyon.
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300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Great pics Jim...

And this illistrates why you should not do this solo. With 3 machines you got home without the snow shoes!

Intersting the Snow Tracs at you up... I would not have guessed that would be the case. I have not been in truely deep snow with mine.. Yet.

Regards, Kirk
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
the only cat failures was a exhaust pipe separated . It was rubbing on the track.
DSC01975.jpg

DSC01974.jpg
 

nikos

Active member
Great pics Jim...

I have not been in truely deep snow with mine.. Yet.

Regards, Kirk

JIM VT
Deep wet snow in Enumclaw mountainian area. What a nice view, with the 3 snow cats


My father says that we are living The most milder winter in the last fifty years in my region :sad::sad:. No snowflakes, no snow, no ice, no Ski, no fun, no rides, no photos, nothing at all.
As we say, The winter isn't gone. The winter never CAME to our region. The last chance will be the period between March and April.
I do not expect any serious climate system to change the balance between the seasons, but it will definitely affect the climate, in the next months - humidity - dry - soil fertility, etc.

I am looking the last year photos.:sad::sad: (my wife's SNOW CAR:yum::yum:)

Regards Nikos
 

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300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
It is the same here Nikos... Except that it has been about 3 winters now with little snow compared to normal. We are in what I expect to be year 3 of the drought in thw western mid west. Given that I guess we shouldn't be surprised at the lack of snow fall again this year. Some day it will be our turn again....

Regards, Kirk
 

nikos

Active member
The Winter hit again and again, specific areas of the planet.
The stream function wave, didn't pass from our neighborhood.

Kirk maybe next year.

Nikos.
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
in this photo you can see the flotation. The canyon tracks are 26" high and the rear of the snow trac is 24" .
The snow trac looks to be only halfway down. It was loaded good with extra fuel cans and skiing and gear
DSC01975.jpg
 

nikos

Active member
in this photo you can see the flotation. The canyon tracks are 26" high and the rear of the snow trac is 24" .
The snow trac looks to be only halfway down. It was loaded good with extra fuel cans and skiing and gear
[]

Again the SNOW TRAC did the hard work. If you didnt have to cut the tracks in the Canyon, the flotation it will probably be higher than 26" . Is that right?

Regards Nikos
 

mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
Wow you don't sink at all in your snow. I guess they call it sierra cement for a reason. Snow in these mtns would be very interesting for you guys. right now off packed trail it is3-4 ft packed base 4-5 feet of loose powder. if you step off sled or cat you will sink to the bottom. I am afraid a snot trac would have problems in my snow. Till the snow settles And the base gets better.
 

mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
I cannot get over you guys just standing on the snow. not here lol. Pulled a gent off the mtn Fri night that had a heart attack from trying to walk 100 yds in his own packed track.
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
don't know that but my manual has this .empty it is .65 with 32" tracks. I have a 600lb cabin on it.
My tracks are 32" now after the cut.
I like it narrow ,Maybe cut it in half and add a boggie?




'
 
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Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
that wet snow like that is the worst thing in the world to travel on ,yes it packs nice but once you get to your belly you are done the other thing is that it robs horse power. I would much rather deal with powder or sugar.
 

snow dog

New member
yeah, thanks.

I prefer to figure the gross weight and divide by the sq inchs of track on the ground. It is often better than you think.
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
yeah, thanks.

I prefer to figure the gross weight and divide by the sq inchs of track on the ground. It is often better than you think.


I use the same method.

I found a Pisten Bully spec sheet, and of course some key data was missing (really, how hard is it to publish more info). It showed an overall length (which is longer than the tracks) of 3,280 mm. From the drawing I estimated a track length of 3,075 mm and converted that to inches: 121.06. Multiply that by the track width of 32" and you get 3873.92 square inches x 2 tracks = 7,747.84 square inches.

It shows a TARE weight of 2,500 KG so that equals 5,500 lbs. Add 600 lbs for the cabin and you're at 6,100 lbs. Divide that by the track area (7747.84) and you're at .787 PSI.

But that's empty. Of course they don't list the fuel capacity so let's assume it's 30 gallons and we've got 1/2 a tank: 15 gallons. Diesel weighs 7.15 lbs per gallon so 107.25 lbs for fuel and I'll add 200 lbs for a driver. Total weight now is 6407.25 lbs. Track loading is .827 PSI.

For comparison purposes a Tucker 1300 series sedan weighs 6,160 lbs, add 1/2 a tank of gasoline and a 200 lb driver and your at 6,509 lbs. Track surface area is 7,784 square inches... so track loading is .836 PSI.



We've also had a lousy winter; for the third year in a row! Been snowmobiling only three times - always after a storm. Conditions have been decent at the time we went, but then the temperatures warm up, the snow settles and the fun, bottomless Utah powder is now just more "base". Frustrating!
 

MNoutdoors RIP

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Now if you reduce for all open area of the track psi will be even higher no manufacturer does it though it makes a huge difference :mellow:

It does depend on the snow powder snow has almost no cross link supportable
Basis but some snows do and swamp and mud even more.

But to get true psi you need to on use what is supporting, and not the air gaps
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
my visual on the floation is that it needs an extra boggie. have you ever added length like they do on truck frames? my measurements show it would add 38"on my 36 wide tracks. it could be costly.
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Now if you reduce for all open area of the track psi will be even higher no manufacturer does it though it makes a huge difference :mellow:

It does depend on the snow powder snow has almost no cross link supportable
Basis but some snows do and swamp and mud even more.

But to get true psi you need to on use what is supporting, and not the air gaps

That's an interesting idea...

On my era Tucker they use four belts per carrier with about half an inch between the belts on each side of the grouser. I'd always "assumed" Tucker had a good reason for that gap.

HMMMM....
 
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