DMC 1450 by Nikson

Here we go... another cat fell into my hands...

Some of you might have seen this unit in the "for sale" threads, Dave from Bismarck, North Dakota was the guy who sold it to me.

So... I'll start from the fun part of picking it up, about the drive & all the adventures it included over the 72Hrs & 3000 miles...

Got an email from Dan mid-week, saying he'll accept my offer if I bump it another $500... to me it still sounded like a good deal, considering all of the expenses of having it brought to Oregon from ND state.

Prior to that timing, I had a bite on my Cushman Trackster from a guy in Baker City, who wasnt able to actually come out my way to the west side of the state, and promised to buy it if there was any way I would bring it to him.

What a perfect timing I thought - sell Trackster & buy a 1450 that I've wanted for sometime...

So it all came together like a big puzzle...

Road was treacherous at times, cold, dark, blizzardy and some what difficult due to the weather conditions we came through.

This is over the pass, almost at Idaho border...





I wished we had these conditions in Leavenworth, during the Jamboree

Same day, in Twin Falls, Idaho...



it was finally lunch time... and steak was on the menu...



later that day in Montana, while going through the west side of the Yellowstone Park...



at times it got so cold, that windows literally frosted up from inside of the truck, although heater was running "almost" at full... (actually just had it set to cozy 75F)

the PickUp

North Dakota greeted us with some cold temp & mostly dry roads...

One fact that I loved about living here back in 90s, dont even recall getting any winter tires, All-Season ones did just fine in the dry snowy conditions.

Anyways... considering that we drove through the night non-stop, we were able to get to Bismarck around noon, giving us enough time to pick up the cat & grab lunch at a local Applebee's, where it seemed like "everyone from town" was there...

This was my first actual siting of the cat...



it was love from the first site...



unit was full of all sorts of parts... left over from the previous owner, a locan ND power utility company...



I guess they just threw everything they didnt need, being they sold all of the cats they had, must of replaced them with new ones.

All in all together, there was one almost complete track, enough grousers to build me a second one, grousers from a BR-100 unit (aluminum ones), various brake bands, leaf springs & idler wheel springs...

Time will come - I'll have to post them for sale...

Overall, unit was in a reasonably good shape, considering its 2700 hours on the clock.



Loaded up - paid - and ready to leave home...





I guess one thing we are missing in PNW, is the cold enough temps to keep the ice frozen thick enough - to be able to run trucks/campers/RVs and other equipment for ice fishing...



Montana greeted us with a great sunset... and some cold temps...





Idaho passes were just as beautiful next day...

Now this is rolling into Sunday A.M. hours...

Almost at Tri-Cities, almost home free at Oregon border... one of the last fill ups on diesel...

BTW, due to really cold temp & bad fuel, it jellied up on us, cutting 2 of the injectors short on supply, getting the engine into a bad "missing" mode...
Drove it this way all the way home, in the end - truck just died, and wouldnt start. Had to order 2 new injectors, those picky 6.0L's...



and home free...

Last weekend

Last weekend whole PNW had fun, most of us probably went though it...

We ended up taking a long planned weekend vacation with some friends to Sunriver, OR... A nice little cottage town in central Oregon.

Storm brought some much pleasant precipitation & beautiful views...

Our back yard...



Cars were like never before...



beautiful scenery...

Re: Sochi 2014 Olympic Games

A good friend of mine is in Sochi, for the olympic games.

He is one of the coaches for the Russian Snowboard team... Sent me some images of the area...

Beautiful sites... figured I would share...

Re: Winter Storm 2014 / February

So the storm dropped 1-2ft of snow in the Valley, some of the higher elevations got even more...

Our parking lot this morning...





So... lets get some better pictures of the cat at home...































even an escape hatch on passenger's side...

Motor area...

Carb









got this one switch MAIN/AUX that has 2 wires going to it (from it)

anyone knowing whats this is all about, feel free to chime in on the info...







tracks are in great shape...



Seems like all of the idler wheels are in good shape...

Congraduations, this one looks like a keeper! I am sure your going to have fun lavishing luv all love it. Of course we want to see the pictures of what you do with it...

Regards, Kirk

DMC1450 vs SuperImp (ST vs WT)

So... whats the difference between a ST(standard track) vs WT (wide track)?

From what I've read up in the manual that came with this unit... it said that to make this 1450 wide track, all one will need to do is to FLIP the drive sprocket inside-out, offsetting the track out enough to compensate for the wider track...

So I started to dig around myself... and this is what I came up with...

Seems that overall ST/WT units share same frame kind/design.,

Flip the drive sprocket, and move the leafs out to the "outer" holes on the frame where they are mounted...



You will see a hole on the bottom of the sq.tubing of the frame... There is another hole in the middle of the 2 leaf springs as well, proving my theory right, about the similar frames between ST/WT units.

Only one concern/dilemna is the front idler, I havent figured out yet how it can be moved "out" to compensate for the wide track option.

I almost think that this cat might be much more "stable" off-camber if I was to just simply spread out tracks to the WT mounting points, leaving the track width at the original 26in size.



SO... anyone with a bit more experience/info, feel free to comment on this...

I would like to know... a SuperImp is only a WT version, or any/all of the 1450s are technically SuperImps?

So now, it lives in my garage at home... fits right into it (having to remove the top rack that stuck out just way too far).

DMC 1450 by Nikson books

Did get the original book that came with it...

It was definitely a nice surprise to know how complete it was...

video - DMC 1450 by Nikson

Had to put up a video...

It just works a lot more efficient

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM0tSu0bNWg"]DMC1450 snowcat Thiokol Super Imp snocat - YouTube[/ame]

300 H and H said:

Congraduations, this one looks like a keeper! I am sure your going to have fun lavishing luv all love it. Of course we want to see the pictures of what you do with it...

Regards, Kirk

Click to expand...

Thanks Kirk,

This one definitely seems like might be the keeper that I wanted for some time now...

If all goes well, this summer will show what I will be able to do with it,

Rear cab will get redone for sure, I need more space in it to carry people more comfortable as well as better creature comforts.

Overall, I'll just get it freshened up and make it "pretty"

You did good Nik! Now you won't be looking longingly at your old one!
You have a year till the next Snowcat jamboree. We will all be looking forward to seeing what you do to it.

That looks like a really nice rig, look forward to seeing what you do with it!
Your mystery switch looks like a poor mans antitheft device- it is connected to a solenoid on the fuel line and if you were to hotwire the vehicle with the switch turned off you would not get very far, if you could start it.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I've been quietly hoping you'd get a new machine - and I know you've been looking for a DMC 1450 at a reasonable price. I think I speak for many when I say we are looking forward to a build thread from you as we know it will be "First Class".

The mystery switch (fuel shut off 12v solenoid) is used on many of the Thiokols and LMC's to prevent fuel flow to the carb when the machine is not running. The fuel tank when full is located above the carb and if the needle and seat is not working properly fuel can/will flood the engine and can cause a hydrostatic lock or even a fire if you get a backfire when starting. Your's appears to be a non factory setup maybe a replacement for the original OEM fuel shutoff solenoid that were wired through the ignition system from the factory. Key off no fuel, key on allowed fuel to flow to the carb. If you own one of these snow cats that has the fuel tank higher than the carb, I highly recommend the use of the shutoff solenoid. Past experience is a great teacher!

I almost think that this cat might be much more "stable" off-camber if I was to just simply spread out tracks to the WT mounting points, leaving the track width at the original 26in size.

Click to expand...

It would most likely be more side hill stable but you would create a pocket area between the tracks and outside frame area that can build up and pack full of snow. If you notice the Super Imp does not have a lot of clearance at the belly pan area. They were built to let snow slide underneath and keep the snow cat on top of the snow and not to allow snow to attach to the snow cat under side via a smooth as possible under chassis. The pocket area you create by changing the tracks as you suggest may allow the snow to start attaching itself to your snow cat between the frame and tracks. That is one reason they use belly pans to prevent snow from catching underneath as much as possible and keep the cat on top of the snow.

Blackfoot Tucker said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I've been quietly hoping you'd get a new machine - and I know you've been

Click to expand...

jask said:

That looks like a really nice rig, look forward to seeing what you do with it!

Click to expand...

Well, I sure hope I wont do anything that will be dissapointing to any of us, including myself...

Just hope to build a good / creature comfy cab, warm & quiet...

mtntopper said:

It would most likely be more side hill stable but you would create a pocket area between the tracks and outside frame area that can build up and pack full of snow. If you notice the Super Imp does not have a lot of clearance at the belly pan area. They were built to let snow slide underneath and keep the snow cat on top of the snow and not to allow snow to attach to the snow cat under side via a smooth as possible under chassis. The pocket area you create by changing the tracks as you suggest may allow the snow to start attaching itself to your snow cat between the frame and tracks. That is one reason they use belly pans to prevent snow from catching underneath as much as possible and keep the cat on top of the snow.

Click to expand...

All of that makes total sense... I do agree with it...

Will have to see how this performs as it is, since I might just be thinking about something that is a total un-necessity in my case.

Thanks on the heads up for the safety switch.

one of your track pictures shows a connecting pin for your track. It doesn't look right.
thanks for showing us.
jim

JimVT said:

one of your track pictures shows a connecting pin for your track. It doesn't look right.
thanks for showing us.
jim

Click to expand...

Jim,

what is it that you are seeing and I'm not?

Mtntopper, that makes sense and is a good idea for any carbed off road vehicle, but the way they have it wired would only see power when the ignition is in the start or run position... that switch is an "extra" ...a hi tech anti theft device or handy way to empty the carb for summer storage.
Nik it probably is not a problem but the voltage on that solenoid probably drops to 7-9 volts ( coil power) when running and the extra current is probably being switched through the ignition switch... it might work better off another switched 12v circuit.

jask said:

Mtntopper, that makes sense and is a good idea for any carbed off road vehicle, but the way they have it wired would only see power when the ignition is in the start or run position... that switch is an "extra" ...a hi tech anti theft device or handy way to empty the carb for summer storage.
Nik it probably is not a problem but the voltage on that solenoid probably drops to 7-9 volts ( coil power) when running and the extra current is probably being switched through the ignition switch... it might work better off another switched 12v circuit.

Click to expand...

I'll have to review it, and see what I can redo...

Some of that wiring is definitely tired from its age, and in need of an upgrade...

great picture and grand adventure, thanks for sharing it all, enjoy the new machine

You did a nice job of cleaning it up.

The Monday after you left we headed south.

Guess I prefer 70 and 80 degree days and this view to the snow and the highs in the negative numbers.

Enjoy, I had my couple hours of fun and now it moved on to a good home.

Nice looking rig - you gotta love the wood paneling inside. Luckily the utility companies seem to take better mechanical care of their machines than they do cosmetically. The tracks look great, except for the pin which was pointed out earlier. It appears to be too long and missing washers on both sides and a nut on the inside. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this guy as it may give me some ideas for my own 1450. I have the factory WT version, so I can post some tracks pics if that would be helpful.

Nikson said:

Jim,

what is it that you are seei

ng and I'm not?

Click to expand...

the pin holding the track. I never owned this model but should it have a nut to hold it in? If this was an emergency fix . Make sure you use good bolts. I have hardened bolts with locking nuts doing the same job on my canyon.
jim

This i will be follow! Looks like very nice cat for your next project. Will you build a new cab front to back?

i see a nut on that bolt...no problem

Thanks to everyone for giving some feedback on things...

Good to know we have a "sharing" crown here on the FF.

JimVT, I totally see what you are talking about on the track, I will have to look at that a little more closely, once the summer comes & I'll start ripping things apart, track will get some attention as well...

Overall, I've been thinking to just upgrade to a wider track system, give myself a bit more stability and flotation, so I'll be looking into the WT for sale if anyone has anything to source out., I've heard that grousers from a Spryte or 1200 (if I remember correct) - that have drop center style grouser - will work with my current sprocket.

As far as everything else goes - the 1450 will have a complete make over - seems like last night's brainstorming led to this design at this point...



Once I start on it, I'm sure some things will change, but at this time -

still same ol' design like with the 1402 -

removable rear cab on jacks,
flat bed for hauling gear/supplies
lots of creature comfort in the front/rear cabs
RoofTopTent for the rear cab to accomodate 4 people comfortably on the go.

So... let get this thing out for a test drive... and see what else is missing...