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1963 Tucker 443 AMR Resto-Mod

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Thanks for showing "Katy" to us. Lots of nice touches were added to her . Great to see the finished product up close looks great, very nice Tucker. Sounds good if Broken Grouser could join in, bigger convoy. Now if I could get mine finished!! Time to rest tonight, short nights and long days in Glade Park. Thanks Again Tom. :biggrin:
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Tom, Just checked serial numbers on my 443s 163903 and 163904, yours was 6 were just missing 905.
 

tom

Active member
GOLD Site Supporter
That's very cool...I am going to ask Jodi to pull the build sheet. I am betting it was an AF Cat as well. Tucker will get a kick out of knowing these three Cats are within 20 miles of each other. Thanks for the info..
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
:smile:It has been awhile since I posted any progress , but have been busy building 4 new stainless steel shoes all new bottom and top rails and 8 each. Left and right nose rail pieces. Here is a few pics of new parts and a test fit on pontoon.
 

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Track Addict

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Impressive!

You set up for production? Bet a few on here would love to hear about the fabrication process.

Very very nice !
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Track Addict, Definitely not set up for production as a matter of fact only built enough for one of the two Tuckers I own. Reused all the half round ear tabs by grinding off welds also Reused rectangle tabs on nose pieces. Had the nose piece plates and back plates on upper rails water jet cut. The flat bar is 1044 plow steel ordered through steel supply company . The shoes are stainless steel built from 2 separate pieces, first piece is the bent one formed from approx. 14 GA. The bottom plate is 1/8" plate welded together. Lots of work and tons of timeI.Dont believe you could charge enough for me to go into manufacturing .!!:biggrin:
 

Track Addict

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
That was is my plan reuse tabs and adjuster tabs. Thought all stainless but upon closer inspection is see.

How did the plow steel pice go? 12$ per foot best I could do.

Any jigs or tips for the adjuster bends ?
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Can't find the bill for plow steel but was quite a fiasco took about five weeks to arrive and am thinking it was around 6to 7 dollars a foot and came in random lengths not 20 footers. Used old adjusters to set up jig on welding table then cold rolled/ bent around backing plate welding it to plate then cutting bar to exact length and notching ends.
 

tom

Active member
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Wow some serious fabrication skills you have. We should hook up and go Cattin around next week end..let me know if you are up for it.
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Tom, I am planning on working on the Tucker next weekend if all goes as planned. Have been a little bit under the weather lately.
Some how messed up a disc or two in my back, have pain in right arm and shoulder and numbness in my fingers .Definitely feels like pinched nerves. Trying to heal up a bit and hopefully make gathering in Mc Call. On the parts it sure helps to have a friend in the metal business . I don't own a metal shear or brake to bend that fancy.:biggrin:0 Here Is a picture of Tucker up on mountain.
 

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wakeupcall

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Have been busy working on new backing plates for pontoon bearings, rebuilding tracks greasing rollers and freeing up all bushings and track hinge points also replacing all Cotter keys on links. Here are a couple pics. The pontoons have two different bearing hole patterns 6 and 5 hole. Maybe two different years? Do not see this to be an issue . Any thoughts ? Also converted from old 30 amp generator to 100 amp alternator.
 

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sno-drifter

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Sure looks like you are doing a first class job Kyle. It was good to meet you in McCall last month.
 

wakeupcall

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Thank you Scott , I have a ways to go but one step at a time . Starting to think about painting now. It was good to put names and faces together in Mc Call.
 

wakeupcall

Member
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I have a question about my sprockets? Is there a better design than the one I currently have? I did see some thicker sprockets maybe half inch thick . Thinking about building some new ones and am definitely open to some experienced thoughts.
 

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Track Addict

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Are you using half links in the track? This the issue is when and if you do you need to add the teeth in the missing spots.

I believe tucker sold those teeth to weld in long ago. Sno Drifter had s pic on here somewhere. Also useful to reverse the sprockets they didn't run to far in reverse so that side tends to have less wear.

If you can adding the teeth and connecting them at the top helps to keep the tips from
breaking and think those teeth are also hardened.

Your going to have a nice steel track when your done ! Beautiful work.
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
I have a question about my sprockets? Is there a better design than the one I currently have? I did see some thicker sprockets maybe half inch thick . Thinking about building some new ones and am definitely open to some experienced thoughts.

the 5 bolt flange is an earlier design and would be generally used with 3/4 inch rollers, the grousers for a 3/4 inch is also narrower, ( now it being tucker sno-cat, there are exceptions) and the 6 bolt flange is the later design and the pontoon they came off of would also take the larger spool, they used the 1 inch roller and a grouser that was a 1/2 inch wider that a 3/4 inch grouser,

there is a difference between the 5 bolt and 6 bolt flange spools, the 5 bolt is smaller in diameter and will fit in the well of a later ( 6 bolt flange ) pontoon but a 6 bolt flange pontoon spool will not fit into 5 bolt flange pontoon.

back to you spools, they look to be as the factory built them, and were not set up for half links, if you were to put half links in, you would need to add the cups and also remove/cut out the metal on the spool so the cup would sit down correctly, so they matched up with the existing cups in depth, yes turning them around in a good idea

as for a better design, what you have is the only style that was made for that set up, and or years that design was used, now the 500 pontoon spool did have a wider and heavier gear drive on the spool, also, on the very early tucker sno-cats, the gear drive was cast steel and set up to take half links, i have seen, what i believe to be replacement gear drives that were plate steel that is wider and much heavier with half link set up.

nice to meet you and your wife at Mccallin'...glad you folks came, fun to put a face and sno-cat together...
 
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Track Addict

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Would the pontoon widths change based on 3/4 or 1"?

Another favor to ask resident historian possibly in another thread would be to get some measurements on 3/4 vs 1" grousers, spools, and pontoons to help those of us picking over the bones left in the sno field. I also have track links of different widths that must factor into the equation.
 

Pontoon Princess

Cattitute
GOLD Site Supporter
Would the pontoon widths change based on 3/4 or 1"?

Another favor to ask resident historian possibly in another thread would be to get some measurements on 3/4 vs 1" grousers, spools, and pontoons to help those of us picking over the bones left in the sno field. I also have track links of different widths that must factor into the equation.

pontoons seemed to be the same width, and yes the links did vary accordingly to the roller/grouser size, spool widths are the same for both... being tucker sno-cat there are exceptions
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Are you using half links in the track? This the issue is when and if you do you need to add the teeth in the missing spots.

I believe tucker sold those teeth to weld in long ago. Sno Drifter had s pic on here somewhere. Also useful to reverse the sprockets they didn't run to far in reverse so that side tends to have less wear.

If you can adding the teeth and connecting them at the top helps to keep the tips from
breaking and think those teeth are also hardened.

Your going to have a nice steel track when your done ! Beautiful work.

Track Addict, Thanks for the advice and insight. My current tracks have 31 grousers each no half links. Thought about building heavier gears for the spools and to also accommodate the half link for future adjustment capabilities. Reversing spools is great idea also. Thanks again I am learning as we go and sure do appreciate all info from this great group on forums.
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
the 5 bolt flange is an earlier design and would be generally used with 3/4 inch rollers, the grousers for a 3/4 inch is also narrower, ( now it being tucker sno-cat, there are exceptions) and the 6 bolt flange is the later design and the pontoon they came off of would also take the larger spool, they used the 1 inch roller and a grouser that was a 1/2 inch wider that a 3/4 inch grouser,

there is a difference between the 5 bolt and 6 bolt flange spools, the 5 bolt is smaller in diameter and will fit in the well of a later ( 6 bolt flange ) pontoon but a 6 bolt flange pontoon spool will not fit into 5 bolt flange pontoon.

back to you spools, they look to be as the factory built them, and were not set up for half links, if you were to put half links in, you would need to add the cups and also remove/cut out the metal on the spool so the cup would sit down correctly, so they matched up with the existing cups in depth, yes turning them around in a good idea

as for a better design, what you have is the only style that was made for that set up, and or years that design was used, now the 500 pontoon spool did have a wider and heavier gear drive on the spool, also, on the very early tucker sno-cats, the gear drive was cast steel and set up to take half links, i have seen, what i believe to be replacement gear drives that were plate steel that is wider and much heavier with half link set up.

nice to meet you and your wife at Mccallin'...glad you folks came, fun to put a face and sno-cat together...
Pontoon Princess Thank You for all your knowledge it helps me to understand what I'm dealing with much better! Thank you for explaining the above different variations it helps a lot in fact I do have a set of smaller spools that probably came from a 3/4 inch roller track. See pic below. Those cups to add to my spools are most likely not in production at this stage of Tucker. I may try to build a new set of drive spools with heavier gears and see how that comes out.Thanks again and It was great to meet you in McCall. Kyle
 

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wakeupcall

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Just a little pontoon work. Trying to square up edges on the ends of pontoons. Then hopefully get to do some painting.
 

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wakeupcall

Member
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great work and you are moving along quite nicely, good for you, can you post a picture of the nose rails?

Pontoon Princess, Here are a few pics of nose rails all of which are brand new !! Along with top and bottom rails and also new shoes made of stainless steel.
 

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MNoutdoors RIP

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Pontoon Princess Thank You for all your knowledge it helps me to understand what I'm dealing with much better! Thank you for explaining the above different variations it helps a lot in fact I do have a set of smaller spools that probably came from a 3/4 inch roller track. See pic below. Those cups to add to my spools are most likely not in production at this stage of Tucker. I may try to build a new set of drive spools with heavier gears and see how that comes out.Thanks again and It was great to meet you in McCall. Kyle



Unless your want it to be original I would consider the drive sprockets made from UHMW attached to steel drums
And or the the bushings in the track from the same
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
were the stainless parts always stainless

I have heard from a really reliable source that yes at one time the pontoon shoes were made from stainless. Which to me makes good sense as there will be no rust and painting them so you can drag them on the ground or preferably snow . Should last my life and possibly the next owner. A bit spendy but i think it is worth the cost. Thanks
 

wakeupcall

Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Unless your want it to be original I would consider the drive sprockets made from UHMW attached to steel drums
And or the the bushings in the track from the same

MNoutdoors, Great idea on sprockets. I am thinking at this point in rebuild that the condition of my sprockets which seem pretty good we will just move forward. The UHMW sprockets and bushings would be a lot quieter for sure. Thanks for the ideas.
 
stainless is soft----out of the ? plus cats ive had ---never did a steel tracked tucker---not sure what rides on the stainless-if anything does----but stainless is soft ---wear factor----ouch----just sayin----btw did they ever make the tracks out of stainless----think
 

loggah

Active member
SUPER Site Supporter
The bottoms of my 1949 tuckers pontoons were made out of stainless steel,the only thing that contacted with them was snow,or an occasional rock,or stub !!I assume it was to slide better on the snow,versus paint or mild steel.Don
 
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