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1974 Tucker rubber track sedan

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
Seattle Wa craigslist

1974 tucker, looks to be in good operational condition, with, what, I believe are after market rubber tracks, the owner is asking $20K which seems to be in line with what other machines have sold for without engines, sorry snobud.

Maybe mr thundercat or mr addict, could offer their thoughts about this machine.

buy this month and head over to the Alpine Cat Tours Co. event in eastern oregon next month.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/for/d/bellevue-tucker-sno-cat/7032381871.html
 

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HankScorpio

Member
Those tracks are very odd. The pitch is wrong and the bogies are pneumatic. I see a normal ice breaker bogie in the rear but I don't think anything else is regular tucker on those tracks. They must have been built by someone. When did the steel pontoons end? Was this a conversion to eliminate the steel tracks?
 

Pontoon Princess

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GOLD Site Supporter
Those tracks are very odd. The pitch is wrong and the bogies are pneumatic. I see a normal ice breaker bogie in the rear but I don't think anything else is regular tucker on those tracks. They must have been built by someone. When did the steel pontoons end? Was this a conversion to eliminate the steel tracks?

great info. there was company making rubber track conversions for tuckers, think it has been talked about before here on the forums, think the diesel brothers build of a couple years ago had a set of these tracks.

I believe pontoons era ended in 1984, my guess it that this originally was a 500 series pontoon machine, could be wrong, the ID tag/build sheet will tell the story. Even if not, I would change it over to pontoons.

stuck in the past, and condemned to grease rollers forever.

still like the basic originally of this machine
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Those tracks are very odd. The pitch is wrong and the bogies are pneumatic. I see a normal ice breaker bogie in the rear but I don't think anything else is regular tucker on those tracks. They must have been built by someone. When did the steel pontoons end? Was this a conversion to eliminate the steel tracks?

I agree with all of the above. I'm not sure when Tucker started offering the rubber belt track system, but they continued to offer steel tracks until 1982-1983 (or so).

Tucker is very proud of their parts, price-wise, but they are generally available, and when it comes to idler wheels, damper wheels, de-icer wheels and drive sprockets there are lower cost options. But the grousers all look custom and I'd guess the carriers are as well. How about the drive sprockets- where would you find replacements? If you need parts I think you'll be on your own, though some may be fairly easy to source/replicate.

Some other miscellaneous thoughts:

- Axles look to be the earlier Dodge corporate axles rather than the Dana 60s Tucker used for years.

- Looking at the track guides and wheels/tires...it looks like the pneumatic tires are quite a bit wider than the Tucker de-icer wheel at the rear. How well will the track stay properly oriented?

- No information on powertrain. We can see that it has a manual transmission, which is likely a five-speed. But which engine and how many cylinders?

- Probably a 48" wide cab. I think I make a bigger deal out of this than others, but with a 48" wide cab two "full-sized" guys (I'm not talking hugely obese, just a little above "normal") could easily be rubbing shoulders occasionally. In the back, where people sit opposed, that four inches may have passengers knocking knees. The 52" cab is only 4" wider, but I find it nicer, and will pay more for a machine with the wider cab.

- Where's the gas tank? In this vintage machine it should be inside the cab, behind the front seats, but it's not shown in the photos. I don't see one on the outside either...

- Turntables look to be the cast aluminum type.

- Rear door looks like the curved style rather than the flat version. I also note there is no rear step to help one climb into the back.

- No rollover protection.

"Sedan" Tuckers tend to be the rarest body style, and can be hard to find. Nice ones command a premium price. That said, due to the non-factory track system, in my opinion it takes a major value hit.
 

Track Addict

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Looks like a Sierra ish track conversion kit. Those grousers look like they might also take a threaded traction stud.

Aftermarket cable anti-theft system unless you have a cordless cuttoff wheel or cable cutters. Hood locks also in the front.

The side rack has a fuel line and primer bulb so it runs of temp tanks. You can see the hole for the fuel fill and take that once was behind the seat.

Interesting curved back where my 73 is flat. Strange crank or some hole in the front grill.

Hood is not a tilt and the side panels look like they a have been off to service motor which might be required with a V8 stuffed in there.

Rear turn table is homemade steel plate and the extra long hangers look flimsy. It looks like the upper table is different also. On top of the plate looks like a new tucker pivot welded on.

No hitch or step but that wood platform on the track setter doubles as an adjustable step.

I would bet there is an electric push button diversion valve that uses the steering wheel to raise and lower the track setter based on the hydraulic hose configuration.

Had mirrors once and the outside grab handles are oddly mounted.

Custom boat rear and dash grab bar and odd replacement rivets.

Gauges are original.

If you look a the front turn table the spring eyelets actually sit on the table and the table is machined out to accept them. Mine was this way also which is odd. I thought it was wear but it was made that way.

I would bet the front table needs rebuilding and trunion work. The end caps on the dodge 8 3/4 look interesting and more modern prob part of the track conversion.

Could be a good cat at a different price with a skilled owner to repair it.
 

DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
(Edit: overlapping reply times)
That is a complete hybrid setup. The Sierra Engineering carriers had 8 wheels; 4 on the inside & 4 on the outside.

- As BFT mentioned, there sure seems like a lot of opportunities for problems with that rear de-icer wheel just slopping around in the back. (look at pic #7 & you can see the spare room on the right rear).

- The rear drag would double as the rear step (plywood plate). I'm guessing a step would be in the way when the drag is fully lifted.

- The tank was removed and now has a Snow-Trac outboard motor style fueling system. The ball prime is covered w/ the plastic baggie.

- I don't recall ever seeing any grouser that looks like that off of any other machine? Not sure what the rivets are 'riveting', but it must have taken quire a bit of time! If it did come off of some other machine, they must have grabbed the sprockets and modified the centers to work on the Tucker axle.

I'm betting it all works fine, but I don't think I would jump into the deep end until I had a season of local time to make sure! I like it, just not 20K worth of like! It would be pretty cool to have more info on the origins.
 
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DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Rear turn table is homemade steel plate and the extra long hangers look flimsy. It looks like the upper table is different also. On top of the plate looks like a new tucker pivot welded on.

Funny, didn't even catch that. Thought that it was a mount plate for the cylinder uppers to mount to, not that the entire table had been substituted!
 

olympicorange

Active member
…… dual exhaust stacks, not that you couldn't connect a ''y'' for a six-cyl.,... but ''y''..… the rear bogie, on the r/f track isn't an ice-breaker, …. rear fifth wheel looks like a custom plate of steel,... most likely to adapt the drag mounts to, or the alum. /original one broke , from drag, etc... by the looks of right side rack , looks to accommodate the original fuel tank, hard to tell, but looks like tank straps hanging down ,.... but now that it's been ''scrutinized'' ,.. is it a monster jeff deal.... hope the owner doesn't read the forum.... :smile:
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
think it is a 54 inch wide machine, the factory seats have been replaced and pretty the tank was removed to the outside of the machine like later sedans, that had the tank mounted on the outside of the body, like Tye One On machine, the axles are 1 ton International, per 500 series machines, and yes it has the Sierra track conversion, has a 318 V-8 with 5 speed

no monster Jeff
 
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mlang2005

Member
I thought the Sierra system had two rows of 4 tires (8 total) on each pontoon. Maybe this is another version/variation?
 

DAVENET

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
think it is a 54 inch wide machine, the factory seats have been replaced and pretty the tank was removed to the outside of the machine like later sedans, that had the tank mounted on the outside of the body, like Tye One On machine, the axles are 1 ton International, per 500 series machines, and yes it has the Sierra track conversion, has a 318 V-8 with 5 speed

no monster Jeff

Ahhh Master Jinn, confidence in it being a Sierra system. Something tells me you already have all of the answers. :idea: Signed Grasshopper

This must have been their first variation and then they went to the 4 belt system since there were several of those put out.? I originally thought the grousers had rivets (which would make no sense), but with the new link mlang provided they look to be welded on "tubes". They already have ice cleats, so adding ice picks in all of those positions would be complete overkill. Unless it was owned by a meat factory for tenderizing meat. Is it possible those were a type of receiver for a nylon or rubber track adapter for summer use?



Also, what is the carrier rotation stopper actually hitting? The spring?

All being said, it has been in use for at least 15 years and still going. So it must work good enough to get the job done.
 

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Track Addict

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GOLD Site Supporter
The other commonality to those holes located where he nuts or threaded something are below it. This track uses bolts on the inside that thread up and in.

Maybe it is there for penetrating lube for when they have to come of or just for you to see what you can't get to?
 

DAVENET

Bronze Member
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Makes a lot more sense since I was blind to the fact they were fully enclosed and or was imagining they had studs out the back & were held on with nuts. What a labor intensive nightmare those must have been to make . . .
 
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