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1968 Tucker 542, new project

Sno-Surfer

Active member
It was a heck of a day to buy a Snow Trac.
After 4 years of (a lot of) fun with this I have been pulled to the other side. The new owner just came to pick it up today. I think it is going to have a good life ahead.
As some know where I live there is a strong pull to the Orange side and well, it finally got me and I am now a proud owner of this 1968 542.
Honestly, I don't know anything about it but I'll learn (usually the hard way,lol!) but it really wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the help and encouragement of Pontoon Princess and Sno Drifter, those two work in mysterious ways. (And thanks Sno Drifter for granting the Princess a few days off).
It couldn't be in better hands right now. Although I barely have gotten my hands dirty, the Princess has been working her wood working magic and transforming the rear deck into a proper people hauler. I came out to lend a hand and give some feed back yesterday day and took these photos. I'll be back out to do what I can this week. We have a bunch of snow on the ground here and my sno-cat fever is shooting through the roof! I'll keep this thread going to share the trials, tribulations and general adventures ahead.

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JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
fist picture of jen working!! it looks good as always. she loves that wood.
jim
 

Sno-Surfer

Active member
fist picture of jen working!! it looks good as always. she loves that wood.
jim

I think the Princess and Sno drifter just need a photographer to follow them around. There are some great pictures that need to be taken and shared!:smile:
 

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
It was a heck of a day to buy a Snow Trac.
After 4 years of (a lot of) fun with this I have been pulled to the other side. The new owner just came to pick it up today. I think it is going to have a good life ahead.
As some know where I live there is a strong pull to the Orange side and well, it finally got me and I am now a proud owner of this 1968 542.
Honestly, I don't know anything about it but I'll learn (usually the hard way,lol!) but it really wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the help and encouragement of Pontoon Princess and Sno Drifter, those two work in mysterious ways. (And thanks Sno Drifter for granting the Princess a few days off).

No problem SNO- Surfer, I have a fence which needs white washing!
 

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sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Nikos, I need your help. Photo upside down, if it was a cat, I could set it right side up.
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
all fixed

i see a wall that needs white washing though! and from first hand knowledge, there is lots of walls to do
 

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Track Addict

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Some have lucky horse shoes on the walls others lucky turntables.

What is that one off? Looks like it has much more open areas on the casting compared to others.. Light weight racing torpedo prototype part?
 

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Some have lucky horse shoes on the walls others lucky turntables.

What is that one off? Looks like it has much more open areas on the casting compared to others.. Light weight racing torpedo prototype part?

Cast steel from 1950, first year of fifth wheels for 400 series Sno-Cats.

First year of four pontoon cats was 1949, no fifth wheels. Six 443's were built then and this is the first one sold.
 

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Kristi Kt-4

Member
Cast steel from 1950, first year of fifth wheels for 400 series Sno-Cats.

First year of four pontoon cats was 1949, no fifth wheels. Six 443's were built then and this is the first one sold.

What does it say on the side of the 49'. Something about proto or prototype maybe?
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
hey, we got another one, Mr Net will be out on june 22 2017 and will be staying the whole summer. that is now, 2 of 'em...

looking for more volunteers..... apply at: i want to work for free and all the tucker grease i can eat
 
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Woodchuck

New member
It was a heck of a day to buy a Snow Trac.
After 4 years of (a lot of) fun with this I have been pulled to the other side. The new owner just came to pick it up today. I think it is going to have a good life ahead.

You looked a little sad to see it go. We'll make sure it gets plenty of good adventures! We got it safely to its temporary home where it will get some fixing up done. Hoping to have it ready to take up in the mountains by February.

That Tucker looks great!
 

Sno-Surfer

Active member
You looked a little sad to see it go. We'll make sure it gets plenty of good adventures! We got it safely to its temporary home where it will get some fixing up done. Hoping to have it ready to take up in the mountains by February.

That Tucker looks great!

That's great to hear Woodchuck! I hope you'll maybe post a few photos of it having some fun every once in a while. :smile:

Now I'm hoping for another snow storm. The Tucker is ready for a shake down cruise and I might not have to go far to use it. We still have snow on the ground and looks like more on the way. :w00t2:
 

DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
hey, we got another one, Mr Net will be out on june 22 2017 and will be staying the whole summer. that is now, 2 of 'em...

looking for more volunteers..... apply at: i want to work for free and all the tucker grease i can eat

That would be an OK work detail. I'm guessing the comedy show would be payment enough! :biggrin:
 

Sno-Surfer

Active member
I wasted no time in getting the Tucker out. Fantastic day to be out! Everything went really well. My fiend took some Great pictures and I need to get them but in the meantime here are some phone pics.

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Sno-Surfer

Active member
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This last one is at my house. This happens to be the week or two we get snow here and I've been running the kids around the neighborhood.
 

Sno-Surfer

Active member
It sure does. I was amazed at how agile it was. The articulation was super cool. I didn't want to push it too much because I went out completely unprepared but I could tell it would probably go anywhere I pointed it. We went probably 6 miles round trip. I did test it out on some small hills and man it feels sure footed. I have to get used to the width but was able to go down some narrow roads and get turned around no problem. It all performed perfect.
Do you think it's a big deal that a couple of the center links are not on? I know some of these were made with out them at all. I'll have to make a run out to the parts supplier soon. :smile::w00t2:
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
so sorry sno-surfer,

i did forget to put in a couple of the center links, should have checked more closely, my fault, it will be okay to run it, just someone was so awesomely excited to go play in the sno, your parts are sitting on the self, see ya soon

GREAT PHOTOS...
 
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Sno-Surfer

Active member
So what's the feedback on the Tucker compared to the snotrac?

They are different animals for sure. The snow trac treated me well so I can't knock it too much. But this Tucker will out climb it easily. You have to climb up into the Tucker and I have my own door. The Snow Trac is super easy to load passengers because it is low to the ground but as the driver I would have to climb over passengers to get in and out. I like the easy access fender storage on the snow trac and the overall size of it is nice. I have an issue with space to turn around at my house and I'm currently stuck due to snow and the space. Today I'll have to figure out how I can use the Sno Cat to yard things around. The Tucker will have more options to how I set it up. The rear seating can be removed if needed and there will be board racks etc and under seat storage. I could pull a ski trailer easier with the Tucker with the more powerful engine. The way the Tucker steers is a big upgrade. It turns tighter than I expected and steers with precision. The snow Trac actually rides pretty good but the Tucker is smoother and quieter. Noisiest thing on the Tucker is the hydraulic pumps working but I can easily talk to the passenger. Going through a ditch or over a bank with the Tucker is effortless and again surprisingly smooth.
I'm still intimidated with all the moving parts but I'll learn and get used to it and hopefully with preventative maintenance it will run a long time.
The Tucker will surely open up a lot of new places for me. I am sure it will scare me too! But this is next level snow catting and I'm excited (too excited) and ready to put some miles on it. So far this seems to be an epic winter for sno catting.

Thanks again Princess, I had a lot of faith in your work leaving so unprepared yesterday and I wasn't disappointed! This Tucker runs and drives fantastic. :clap::wow::flowers::wink:
 

KT3survivor

Active member
this is pretty cool. nice machine! my whole life i have admired the tucker, especially the older ones. never felt like i had anything big enough for ownership, as in shop space, tow rig, etc. but maybe one day. . .

im curious how is the top speed compared to a smaller machine?
 

Sno-Surfer

Active member
this is pretty cool. nice machine! my whole life i have admired the tucker, especially the older ones. never felt like i had anything big enough for ownership, as in shop space, tow rig, etc. but maybe one day. . .

im curious how is the top speed compared to a smaller machine?

I understand. The snow trac was a great first cat for those reasons. I have a better truck now but still have some space issues I need to work out.
I'm taking it easy with the Tucker on speeds but so far I think the snow trac is a bit faster but then going up hill in the deep snow the Tucker is faster.
 
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