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100 Mile Tucker Modifications

teamster

New member
Well I serviced up my 1344 today, so it's ready to go, when we get some snow. I also ran my 1642 in the shop to start my winter project. At this time I call my 1642 the "100 Mile Tucker" because I bought it m 100 Mile House in BC, thanx again to JimVT for posting it on the Forums site. I also call it the "100 Mile" Tucker so my wife knws which one I'm going to cut apart. This machine is in very good condition, track wise, engine(VT378 Cummins), Allison 545 automatic etc, But, the cab sucks, so it's gotta go. My plan is to end up with a 1643, more modern style, 8 passenger, and built for someone over 6ft tall. I've been collecting a lot of truck parts when it's done it will look MUCH different then it does now. Sorry for die hard original Tucker fans, but I think this will be a very usable machine when I'm done. I removed the blade and the exhaust today. I would really like to bring the exhaust up thru the hood, but my buddy says if I put a muffler under the hood it will cause to much heat, affecting the heads, Straight pipe might be to loud with a diesel that runs at 3200 RPM. Tomorrow I'll see as I'm going to take it for a rip with no muffler, then she goes under the "knife"
 

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Northcoast

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I totally get the need to modify the cab,a two man cab was useless to me. Sounds like you have a great cat to customize. Looking forward to the pictures! (the more and bigger the windows the better).
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
I totally get the need to modify the cab,a two man cab was useless to me. Sounds like you have a great cat to customize. Looking forward to the pictures! (the more and bigger the windows the better).
you should have a man and a half like my Thiokol some day I will get around to widening it up.
 

teamster

New member
Well my 1642 is no more, it fell to the grinder today. I'll remove more as I build new. I guess I'm committed to the project now.
 

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Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Wow! That's jumping in with both feet...

Seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing your progress and what you come up with for a design. I'm 6'4" and totally understand your desire for more headroom in a Tucker. (I'm guessing the guy who designed the cabs in the seventies and eighties was "vertically challenged".)

Looking at the photos (and having owned a 1979 1642) I see a lot of differences in your frame as opposed to the frames of all the Tucker's I've owned (all with Chrysler 318's). I think your taller frame may give you more options.

Good Luck and keep the photos coming...
 

teamster

New member
I've had a few days to work on my project. I know that at this time it looks like a grain elevator on tracks, but when I'm done, it will look more proportionate, I hope. Also please remember I'm building this to fit some one over 6' tall and I like things that are user friendly. The cab was 51" wide, it's now 86". I can't remember how high it was, but it is now 6' inside. The drivers seat runs at 23" high to fit me and the front passenger seat will be at 21". Both these seats a from a T800 Kenworth and the drivers will be air ride. The tilt steering column is out of a New Holland combine. I broke the dash up to what I think will be comfortable and user friendly. There will be 7' of room from the drivers seat back, which will allow me to install 3 bench seats, from Dodge Caravans, in a U shape. This gives 8 adult passenger capability or at least a dozen kids. The front windshields will measure 28" high by 36" long x 2, so it won't be like looking out a port hole in a ship. The drivers and passenger door windows are 48" long by 26" high. I have 4 windows from Duetz tractors that I'm going to install along the sides in the rear passenger compartment, and I'm unsure if I'm putting 1 window on the rear or 3. I'm now going to start working on the engine compartment, air cleaner and exhaust stack. I'm using all 100 wall tubing and the body will be skinned with .040 powder baked aluminum, so it won't be as heavy as it may look. If we don't get anymore than the 8" of snow we have, weight may not be a problem.
 

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Cidertom

Chionophile
GOLD Site Supporter
At the risk of offending some here, it won't be any more custom than some straight from Medford. Knowing the 'why' behind the changes is 90% of making successful modifications in my opinion.
 

teamster

New member
You are correct, a lot of the things I'm doing are straight from the more modern sno cats as well as some personnel preferences. Unfortunately I have a very limited budget for this project, so there's a lot of recycled materials going into this one.
 

sno-drifter

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Great looking project teamster! Have you thought about building ROPS into your modification? Should not be too much in the way and well worth it if it is ever needed.
 

mog5858

New member
looking good keep up the good work. as i am over 6 feet as well it is nice to have a little head room. what are your concerns about having a air system that might like to freezes up.
 

teamster

New member
The only things that will be using compressed air are the drivers seat and the air horns. My plan is to use a 12 volt air compressor, with a pressure sensor, connected to a small 2 gallon coolant tank from a Western Star for reserve. I've pressure tested the tank to 150 psi, and the tank has numerous pipe fittings already welded into it so I can inject alcohol if needed. The air line system will be fairly short, so with alcohol and the short system I don't foresee a problem.
 

teamster

New member
Well, I had to put my project on hold last spring, due to many directions to go at one time. I just pulled it out of the shed and back into the shop. I'd like to take to the get together in Vail, could be a bit of a goal, but I love a challenge. Since I'm going to "Skin" this Tucker with powdered baked aluminum, I need to install everything, (door handles, all mounting brackets, etc) and then remove them, paint all the steel, then put the aluminum on, and then reassemble everything. I'll post pictures as I'm going, but please don't think I'm crazy. I've had a bad habit, all my life, of never leaving anything as I find it, always got to make it my own.
 

aksnocat

Member
Looking forward to this evolving story. Looks like you have a great plan and execution from where I sit.
 

teamster

New member
I've had a bit of time to work on my project, so I thought I'd share and update. I've been called a fabricator and a recycler. When I bought this Tucker I immediately started collecting parts for this project. I was given 2 rolled cabs, both with integral sleepers. One of a 2006 Western Star and a 2007 T800 Kenworth. Then I bought some windows from a tractor wrecker and an old RV. I found a tilt steering column from a New Holland combine, and 2 side windows from an old street sweeper. I stripped both of the truck cabs, keeping anything I thought I might need, from stainless nuts and bolts to air cleaners, and sound proofing. The rest went to the scrap bin. I'm sure you'll spot some parts. I used the original muffler, from the Tucker, and modified it from straight thru inlet/outlet to side inlet. The mirrors are Motor Mirrors so the electrically move in and out as well as being heated. The little doors, behind the entrance doors are for access to the outside storage, the same as on the sleeper of a truck. I'm using one of the side windows from a Duetz tractor for my sky light, it fastens in with 4 thumb screws, and has a seal around the outside edge. It seems to take me a long time to get much done anymore, but I really enjoy finding cheap parts and building them into something, only problem is that I don't usually keep things to long and then onto something else. This is my 6th Snowcat and I'm building this one to fit me and my needs, so maybe I'll keep it, ( probably because no one else would want it.)
 

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teamster

New member
I've been working on my cat a little lately. I told my wife that unless I'm dead, or there isn't a get together in McCall in 2018, I'm going to be there, she told me I better get it finished before she cremates me, because what the heck would anybody ever do with a project like mine. I told her that if I kick the bucket, find this post and give the project to someone, and then she won't have to worry about it. Anyway, I know the rear steps are a little over kill, but I like things that are user friendly, and if I ever find a place with lots of snow, they come off by pulling 3 pins. They hydraulically raise to a vertical position. The 2 small steps, underneath, are in the receiver hitch, for when the large ones are off. As you can see, I've started to fit the aluminum for the kick panels, seat consoles and speaker areas. My next step is to mount the hydraulic controls, park brake and shifter between the front seats and then enclose the area with an aluminum console.
 

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Logger1965

Active member
GOLD Site Supporter
By God it looks great about time we see some more pictures. Looks like you're making progress not too much truckdiver influence one the back end.
 

jask

Member
That is looking great!! do you have any idea what the weight will be when you are done? Those back stairs seem like massive overkill, but I figured out a long time ago that there is no one right way... and lots of better ideas than the ones I come up with! ;)
I am really liking what you did with the dash and seat, that is going to be a really comfortable machine to operate. Looking forward to seeing how things develop!

I was thinking I might still have an old Western Star grill emblem around here somewhere:wink:
 

teamster

New member
I'm not sure what it will weigh, I know it was quite heavy when I hauled it home. The club I bought it from had put a lot of heavy iron on it, such as the battery boxes and the gooseneck ball system they pulled their groomer with. I must have cut off a couple thousand pounds off it and I haven't bought 2000 lbs yet. because I'm going to skin it with light aluminum, it needs a fairly strong skeleton to support it. Also I'm going to insulate it with 2" to keep it warm and I like music, not machinery noise. The rear steps do weigh a couple hundred lbs, but we haven't had enough snow around here to stop the cleats from tearing up the grass. If I think the stairs will be too heavy for the machine to pack them, I'll kick them off.
 

teamster

New member
I checked my old day timer and the day I hauled it home, as in the pictures, it weighed 11560 lbs. The blade adds alot. We will see what it weights when finished.
 

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teamster

New member
Well. the fabricating is done, the dismantle ling is done, the fab shop is converted to a paint shop, the sand blasting has started, and the painting has started. No the slimy green is not the color, it's Endura primer. McCall 2018 here I come. Sorry if I double posted.
 

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Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I've followed your progress and I'm very much looking forward to seeing this machine completed. Will pictures be posted prior to McCall?
 

teamster

New member
I better have snow flying off the tracks prior to McCall, so I can see if I have to throw it in the scrap yard and start over. But yes I will post pictures as I put the skin on it and reassemble it.
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I better have snow flying off the tracks prior to McCall, so I can see if I have to throw it in the scrap yard and start over. But yes I will post pictures as I put the skin on it and reassemble it.

Excellent!

I'm somewhat reluctant to mention this, but in the first photo you posted yesterday I saw you had several idler wheels removed from the carriers and the spindles still in place.

A few years ago I had a conversation with Jeff Godard at Tucker and he suggested if I had the idler wheels off, it would be a good idea to remove the spindles from the spindle tubes as they had a tendency to get rusted/corroded or basically frozen in place and were then very difficult to remove. Removing the spindles, cleaning them and coating them with grease or Never Seize was worthwhile if you ever needed to replace a spindle.

It sounds oh-so-simple: remove the bolt holding the spindle in position and just push the spindle out - easy-peasy... except it's not like that.

My "reluctance" to mention this comes because my snowcat buddy and I just went through the process on one of my Tuckers. It was NOT fun. With 1600 series carriers and the damper wheel conversion, there are a total of 36 spindles. We removed 34 without too much difficulty, but the other two, one especially, were majorly difficult. And we did this with the carriers removed from the machine and used a hydraulic press.

My snowcat buddy is a very physically strong guy. At one point we had the carrier well supported and he wailed on the recalcitrant spindle with a hefty sledge hammer. The spindle basically said "Is that all you've got?" It took multiple cycles of heating the spindle with an acetylene torch and lots of hydraulic pressure before it budged.

I don't think there is any way we could have replaced that spindle in the field, had such a repair been necessary...which validates Jeff Godard's suggestion.
 

teamster

New member
I left 3 wheels on each carrier so I could tow in and out of the shop. I finished blasting the cat today and rolled it back into the shop. I'm going to remove the rest of the wheels prior to painting. For the last 20 years I've used a grease from "Texas Refinery" on all my wheel bearings have never had a failure. Touch wood. This grease will absorb water so things don't rust. I'm going to repack all the wheel bearings with this grease, and I have trailers with 60,000 miles on them and the bearings are still going. Once I check all the bearings and repack them I'm willing to gamble that there won't be a failure in the field unless Tucker has a failure problem that I'm unaware of. Do they fail if they are serviced yearly? Or do they break off? I may be lazy but if the spindles won't come out with one good smack with a hammer I have some welding rods that would blast that spindle into many pieces. Don't be hesitant to make any suggestions, to me, I will accept all comments or criticism, then I'll way the pros and cons of the information and make a decision if that's the way I'll go, and if I make the wrong decision, I'll be the first one to admit I screwed up, again. Thanks for the responses.
:smile:
 

Blackfoot Tucker

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I can't speak to the reason the spindles failed. I suspect the idler wheels weren't serviced properly and water intrusion caused bearing failure, which then damaged the spindle(s). My intention in posting was to pass on a suggestion from someone with far more knowledge than myself as well as my experience in performing that task. I think I'd be a lousy forum member if I withheld such information.

I haven't bought the new seals to service all the idler and damper wheels we removed yet, but when I bought seals a few years ago I sourced them directly from Tucker. At the time they used a triple lip seal that they had made specially and they also used a material that was formulated for cold weather. The other nice thing is they were surprisingly reasonably priced...less than CR or National, for example.
 
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