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"ONLY WHEN IT STARTS SLIDING SIDEWAYS"

Lyndon

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
1969, Stowe Vermont. ARHS ( Amherst Regional High School), annual SKI trip. Jimmy M breaks his leg near the top of the mountain. They load him into a Tucker 443 that has obviously been Rolled. He's lying on his back in the stretcher looking up at the mangled roof that has been crudely beaten back out to loosely resemble it's former shape. They are going down a steep, icy inclined bowl, the machine is sliding wildly on the hard packed snow. Jimmy tries to yell over the noise of the machine to the driver, but the driver can't hear him. Finally he asks the Ski patrol who was attending him:" Do these things ever roll over?" Now the driver chimes in and shouts;" ONLY WHEN THEY SLIDE SIDEWAYS!"

Skiing along side the snow cat, with the crinkled up roof, watching it slide sideways only partially in control, the exact same thoughts were going thru my mind.

Jimmy teaches theatre in a famous place in Boston, he doesn't ski anymore, and has a real aversion to riding in Snow Cats.

I still ski, backwards and forwards, own a Tucker Sno Cat, and NEVER LET IT SLIDE SIDEWAYS!
 
Snowtrac Nome

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Lyndon I love your stories you should publish a book some times I bet it would be good reading.
 
sno-drifter

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Tucker's first tracks did slide sideways on ice but then they improved the design probably around 1956. The growser is tapered with the outer side higher than the inside. When they are in new condition they will not slide on 35 degree (not percent) side hills. If they get worn down from travel on hard surfaces, other than ice, they will slide sideways. When turning on icy side hills, it is a good idea to have the driver exit door on the up slope side with no passengers.
 

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Lyndon

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
My personal experience with Tuckers revealed that they Side Hill exceptionally well, and that they are not top heavy at all. Any machine will slide if you put it on an Ice Rink. With the weight distributed over such a large area, Ice Cleats or not they slide. When it comes to rough, irregular terrain the Tucker has a distinct advantage and will usually out perform all other 2 track machines. In Valdez Alaska, somewhat the 'Snow Capital' of North America (Record snow almost 50, Average snow 37,... that's FEET, not inches!) and at numerous other locations along the Trans Alaska Pipelines 800 mile Right-Of-Way, the Tuckers regularly demonstrated their superiority over: Bombardier Ski Dozer with the Tall cleats, Thiokol, Weasel, Snow Trac (but not Snow Master!), and Haglund. At several remote sites the Tuckers marched right in to locations that the other machine wouldn't get to. They had quite a decided advantage on spiral banked snow roads.
In really deep snow the Snow Master, and probably any modern day groomer that has really wide tracks, would out climb the old 443 steel track.
 
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