having trouble with our clubs tucker 2000 w/ 18ft mogul master, cant get it to process snow and lay a perfect ribbon, not sure if its the snow we have now that is so hard that when it breaks up its chunks or if its something we are doing. we groom 5-8mph depending on trail conditions, knives in the drag are good, recently adjusted the runners on the pan, we normally run with the blade rolling a small amount of snow in front of us to fill/cut and have the drag processing behind us. we dont have a problem in fresh snow but have noticed lately that we cant get a perfect trail. also wondering if it could be the metal tracks, other clubs in the area run machines with the rubber tracks and are able to lay a perfect trail. any help would be great
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any groomers on here?
- Thread starter mtbxdrew
- Start date
Sounds like you guys are doing everything right in order to get that perfect ribbon. Sometimes the snow just won't pack like we want it too.
I groom.
we found that the Steel grousers really chop and pack the snow in the outsides of the trails. widen out and try to weave to get rid of the super compacted (Ruts) so to say.
Speed up, the drags work best when the snow is tumbling through the cutters. if it is spraying out over the sides slow down. 6-9 is advertised speed we find a tic faster to be better with our Arrowhead 9'6" drag. 89 cummins allison 1900-2100 RPM seemed to be the sweet spot.
A perfect looking ribbon isnt always a good grooming job.
NY state published a Video about grooming and it is very informational. we use it to train our operators.
FWIW we are currently using a Tractor with rubber tires and the Ultra compacted snow is still a concern.
snowgroominglinks.com is a good resource.
Mike
we found that the Steel grousers really chop and pack the snow in the outsides of the trails. widen out and try to weave to get rid of the super compacted (Ruts) so to say.
Speed up, the drags work best when the snow is tumbling through the cutters. if it is spraying out over the sides slow down. 6-9 is advertised speed we find a tic faster to be better with our Arrowhead 9'6" drag. 89 cummins allison 1900-2100 RPM seemed to be the sweet spot.
A perfect looking ribbon isnt always a good grooming job.
NY state published a Video about grooming and it is very informational. we use it to train our operators.
FWIW we are currently using a Tractor with rubber tires and the Ultra compacted snow is still a concern.
snowgroominglinks.com is a good resource.
Mike
Till the guy with the 800+ cc sled comes to a stop to wait for the others, then hammers the throttle leaving a foot and a half deep ditch...
Repeat this several times and the washboard starts....
Aint' if fun being a groomer..
Be glad you've got snow to groom..
Regards, Kirk
Till the guy with the 800+ cc sled comes to a stop to wait for the others, then hammers the throttle leaving a foot and a half deep ditch...
Repeat this several times and the washboard starts....
Aint' if fun being a groomer..
Be glad you've got snow to groom..
Regards, Kirk
I've actually had a group of sleds follow me more than once doing just that, very frustrating, we don't groom until after 11pm now.
We have the most snow we've seen in years up here, took a while just to get the snow packed to be able to groom it
SO were is "up here"??
I just returned from Michigans UP last week. Not alot of snow on the way up there.
Regards, Kirk
You folks got the snow the midwest hasn't gotten and then some. I hope you are enjoying it, even though it maybe burdensom...
We'd love to have some here. Ten days ago we had a foot, but it was only around for a week. We still have some snow, but not nearly enough. Minnissota and Wisconsin don't really have much either. Up around Lake Superior there was good snow though.
Regards, Kirk
We'd love to have some here. Ten days ago we had a foot, but it was only around for a week. We still have some snow, but not nearly enough. Minnissota and Wisconsin don't really have much either. Up around Lake Superior there was good snow though.
Regards, Kirk
If you're grooming in Maine.. I think our issues are right now that the snow hasn't 'settled' at all. We haven't had much for warm temps at all after these snows.
Snow is really dry, and doesn't compact well right now. From the sound of your post.. I'm curious how much snow you're keeping in the pan. I like to see the drag full all the time. Snow should be being cut, rolled around and warmed up and flowing out of the pan continuously.
Give it a couple hours after you go buy without the 'yahoos' on it... and it will freeze up nice.
JP
Snow is really dry, and doesn't compact well right now. From the sound of your post.. I'm curious how much snow you're keeping in the pan. I like to see the drag full all the time. Snow should be being cut, rolled around and warmed up and flowing out of the pan continuously.
Give it a couple hours after you go buy without the 'yahoos' on it... and it will freeze up nice.
JP
The snow on some of our trails is still full of air and I know that's part of our problem with the side trails, was out on Friday grooming our rail bed which is so hard it's like concrete. Actually sucks to ride on it in the machine, makes for a very rough ride. Here is a pic of the end result of my efforts with this snow
Attachments
Alaska Snow Cat
Member
It use to bother me too if the ribbon wasn't perfect coming out of the drag but like others have said, I learned that is not always the sign of the best job. There are so many variables with the type of snow, temps, dew point, old snow, deep snow, and on and on. I only get one pass on most of my trails per week and the test of a good grooming for me is how it holds up between groomings. I think having steel or aluminum cleats that chop up the surface more than rubber tracks will not leave as pretty of a ribbon but are more effective and help the drag cut down through the surface to produce better grooming results.
trailbuilder
Member
mtbxdrew, You say that the cutting edges look fine but are they adjusted correctly. If the rear blades are not at the correct height, the front blades will have to cut to much of the mogul off making larger chunks. The drag is designed to have each set of blades a little lower than the set in front of it so each set takes a little more off the mogul . This makes smaller chunks that the drag can process and not be carried in the pan. I think the large chunks are causing the streaks that you are seeing. I hope this makes sense.
Makes sense I didn't think of checking the height on them, will give it a look when we have it in the shop to grease it this week