75 Tucker - opinions please?

Hi,
New to the forum but a long time admirer of snowcats. Finally thinking about taking the plunge. I've done some research and I'm leaning towards Tucker. I have not found many with blades so I'm curious about the price on this one:

1975 Tucker 1542, 8 man cab, front straight blade,
579 hours, very good tracks and undercarriage,
8 ft. wide machine, runs well. http://www.snotrans.com/_images/1975-Tucker-1542-004.jpg
they're asking $22K which seems high, at least for one without a blade.
Appreciate any input!
Thanks!

If your willing to wait until summer time you'll get a better deal, but you need to do a lot of looking. There were 2 sold last summer thru Ritchie Bros in Prince George BC, with blades & 4 man cabs. One sold for $7500 and one for $9500. They were 1979 machines, and one was back on the market for about $17,000.00 within a month. I bought my 1984, 1344 Tucker with 2100 hrs on it from Sno Trans when Bill was still alive one year ago. I paid $19,500 and it was exactly what Bill said it was. You are dealing with a company that makes their living selling snow cats, not an individual that's just selling a toy. Also it's not at an auction, like the Ritchie ones. So I would not hesitate to buy another machine from So Trans again, Bill was very honest about the machine, so to me that's worth a little extra cash. Just my opinion.

I have never been down to meet the Gutherys I have herd you are getting what you pay for there the price may seem high but you are getting a turn key operation. I wouldn't hesitate to buy their product if they had what I needed. Yes as a mechanic I try to buy cheap and make it up on sweat equity but some body wanting a turn key operation I would recommend Brad or the Gutherys as they accurately represent what they sell and are great folks to work with.

My 1st tucker was a 1975 1544 tucker,would still have it if it had come with a blade. I think I paid around 20,000.oo for it. Unfortunatly I put a load of sweat equity and cash into it before I realized my mistake. Auctions are a crap shoot,maybe someone did some maintence,or not. Maybe there will be a cat with a blade and room for passengers,or not. You can burn up a lot of travel time trying to score at an auction (what is your time worth?) I bought my 3rd cat from Guthrie,all was as he said it was. Sold this cat to a good friend,and am on my 4th (also a tucker). By the way,great factory support. Good luck, and welcome to the club!

There is a comparable machine here in Kamloops without the blade but includes a trailer fuel tank and some extras for the same money, I can give you contact info if you are interested.

Before I got lucky and stumbled upon the cat I just purchased I was planning a trip up to Idaho to look at this cat. Looks like a great machine and Mary is a class act to work with!
Let me know if you want some more pics of the cat, Mary sent me quite a few, including the engine compartment - I've still got them saved in a file. I beliveve the cat was from the Fed Gov't - seems to have low hours for it's age.

if it's an old federal government rig I wonder if its one of the old coast guard riggs that used to reside up here at the port Clarence loran station. they brought them to town once they had 2 one got stuck when a track fell through ice and they couldn't get it back up on the ice. used air bags to lift it up than put woood pallets under the track to drive it out

Not sure Don - In one of the pictures Mary sent me the Fed license plate holder is still on the back

I never took the numbers down there were 2 at port clarance one with a plow one with out they looked just like that and were likely owned by gsa but the coast guard was using them. if there is any coast guard related material in them well it would be a good chance they resided about 80 miles from here at port clarance.

Some general comments / thoughts to hopefully help the OP...

Blades are probably not "rare" but I wouldn't characterize them as "common" either. The factory blade setup is very unusual. The blade is detachable but the main framework attaches to the front axle. Then there is what I'll call a "support frame" behind the front axle. That has a plastic block which rides in a channel with it's own framework welded to the machine's main frame. The idea is that the force acting on the blade is (eventually) transferred to the main snowcat frame. When you turn the steering wheel on a regular truck with a snowplow, the plow stays oriented with the truck. But on this Tucker design the plow turns with the front axle.

The whole system is quite involved. If I were shopping for a used Tucker and wanted a blade I would not recommend the idea of buying one without and adding a blade later (even if you could find one for sale). In addition to the blade you have a six-way valve in the cab. The hydraulic system has some differences as the hydraulic reservoir is slightly larger and there's a fluid cooler installed in front of the radiator. I'm quite sure the hydraulic pump's output is greater as well.

The blade itself is a six-way blade: power up and down, power angle left and right and tilt seven degrees from level side-to-side. The width is eight feet and there are two nine inch bolt-on extensions giving a total width of 9 1/2'. Several years ago in a conversation with a factory Tucker salesman I was told the option price (in the 1980's) was probably $10K. And it added about $3K to the price of a used machine of that vintage.

As far as this machine (for reference I owned a 1980 1543 with front blade (bought from Sno Trans)):

I'm not certain when Tucker started offering the rubber belt and steel grouser track system. I think it was in the mid-seventies. If you look carefully at the right front track idler wheels you'll see the rear wheel (a de-icer wheel) looks slightly different. It's "tire" is thicker. The wheel casting is slightly smaller in diameter. (Look at these idler wheels and some of the others on other Tuckers on Sno Trans web site). I think these thinner wheels were sourced by Tucker and used in early production models. Later on they went to the style like the de-icer wheel. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I'm just pointing out the difference.

In the mid 1980's or so Tucker modified the carriers in that they changed the way the tracks are supported on either side of the drive sprockets. This machine would have left the factory with a steel framework and plastic "hyfax" on top that the tracks ran along. Later on they removed that framework and went to smaller diameter "damper wheels" to support the track. Those tend to be quieter in operation. The hyfax system works fine, it's just a bit noisier.

If you haven't seen the factory "sedan" style cab I recommend you think about how you intend to use the machine. Basically there are two forward facing seats in front. Then there is a structural bulkhead behind the front seats. The bulkhead is big enough that it basically precludes an adult from crawling from front to back. In the rear there are bench seats that face each other and at the very back of the cab there's a third door. If you really need to carry more than four people, then this is the Tucker cab style for you. Otherwise, I'd suggest you consider a four door.

As far as price, there's a saying that I think is very applicable to used snowcats: "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the satisfaction of low price".

You will be able to find cheaper Tuckers. However sedans are fairly rare (roughly 3%-5% of Tuckers of this vintage were sedans...and they build 50-100 cats a year). Further, how many of those had front blades? Hint: not many. So the reality is this is a pretty rare machine in what looks to be nice shape. This is just my impression but if this machine represents your needs, you'll be looking for a while to find a similar one.

For some additional reference, here's a link to a really nice four door machine with blade. Check out the photos and you can see the blades framework. I believe this ended up on ebay and sold for somewhere around $20K:
http://www.resortboneyard.com/i/1984-tucker-snocat-1544/1937

Here's a link to a youtube video of another 1544 with a blade: This also ended up on ebay and IIRC went for the mid-teens or so:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE3BOuYHh9I"]Tucker on the ice - YouTube[/ame]

Welcome and I am new here myself but here is my opinion.
Mary likes her money and she always tries to get top dollar for there cat's
the gas engine noise will drive you nuts! they are slow but tuff what engine is in it! and you stated without blade $2200.00 whats with the k, the picture shows a blade on it so blade or no blade,? compare this, I have a 1985 1742 series wide track, 39" long track 6 boggies mid engine mount heavy duty v6 cummins diesel with a turbo, allison 554 auto with 4 speed overdrive a 11' 8 way blade, the tracks and boggies where in pretty bad shape but still runnable I did a ton of work before driving it the first time, took me a year to refurbish and had put about $10,000.00 into the track belting and sprockets etc.. I paid $6500.00 for it and drove it up on the trailer! so keep shopping! you have found one of the most exspensive places that sell's tuckers, I know Ive been to there facitlity in Weiser Idaho, just the other day she wanted $50.00 for a thiokol repair manual and spyrte improvement sent me one free with out even asking? but that's my opinion

drscotch said:

Hi,
New to the forum but a long time admirer of snowcats. Finally thinking about taking the plunge. I've done some research and I'm leaning towards Tucker. I have not found many with blades so I'm curious about the price on this one:

1975 Tucker 1542, 8 man cab, front straight blade,
579 hours, very good tracks and undercarriage,
8 ft. wide machine, runs well. http://www.snotrans.com/_images/1975-Tucker-1542-004.jpg
they're asking $22K which seems high, at least for one without a blade.
Appreciate any input!
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Mr. "humpmaster", would you please stop insulting SnoTrans.
Look at the date. Tomorrow is June 28, Bill is one year gone from us and I find your comments rather upsetting right now. If you care about others you might understand.
-Pat

I would have to agree with Pat, Bill was a very good person as is Mary yes they are in business to make a little bit that what business is. They have provided a service to people for years. Through thick and thin they have kept going. I see Mr. Hempmaster has been banned. I think he almost set a record for the number of posts in one evening. It's to bad most were offensive or rude everybody has a right to there opinion. But be civil about it Mainer and I have for years made jokes about one another all in good fun. It was all in fun right Mainer?

Pat,

Apparently the "dude" humpmaster got himself banned already, and all within two days. Badda bing, badda boom.

Dud (oops, "dude") seemed to be a bit off. Consider this:

humpmaster said:

just the other day she wanted $50.00 for a thiokol repair manual and spyrte improvement sent me one free with out even asking?

Click to expand...

What, spryte improvement just tossed a free manual into the mail with his address on it, just in case he needed one?? Now, that's service.

FWIW, I never met Bill, but I've only heard people around here mention him in a good way. If he'd been my friend, I might have been a bit more harsh about the dude's comments.

Edit: I should stop now, but I can't help myself...
Credit goes to Knocker of Rocks for the name Dude Humpmaster, but Boggie gets the medal for Hempmaster! Well done, sir!

I knew Bill... he sold me my first Tucker many years ago... a 1954 443A. Made me a deal because he wanted to help me get going with a Sno-Cat. What a saint of a guy! Honest, genuine, and truly dedicated to supporting guys like us that just can't get enough good times in a snowcat. I still miss being able to give him a call and talk things over. He always made time. My hat is off to Mary for keeping SnoTrans going!

My $0.02. Based solely on my >ONE< experience and reading of others here. With the exception of the proverbial, "used snowcat driven only by a little old lady to church on sundays" you are going to spend about the same amount for a turn-key vs project. This issue seems to be a one time expense vs initial cost to purchase plus time and money to repair. I had just enough to buy my trac. I have put almost 50% of that amount into it getting it reliable. Even those that have scored great condition cats will tell you they are not cheap to maintain.

well put Tom, on my Thiokol I spent $3500.00, for it I have 6 grand in shipping, and another 6 grand in parts to rebuild the tracks and front road wheels. we haven't even added in the 4 weeks of intense labor of disassembly of the rusty tracks and freeing up the track adjusters. my labor billed to other customers is $130.00 per hour you do the math. to this point I haven't started pimping the thing out, and I still have gauges to hook up.