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A Day In A Tucker

mtntopper

Back On Track
SUPER Site Supporter
Yesterday, I had the good fortune to spend a day in a WY state snow cat grooming snowmobile trails riding shotgun and taking pics. Below are a few pics of laying the perfect ribbon down, pioneering new trail and some great scenery as we motored along. It has been several years since I ran a PB groomer and I was itching to get out there and remember all of the fun times....
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mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
Great pics Bill!!!!!!!!!!! It sure was a good half of a day wasn't it.
 

Spiffy1

Huh?
SUPER Site Supporter
Looks like a bigger machine than I imagined!

Unless things differ by state that looks like a SMV sign; can't help but think it that cat even needs it!
 

mtntopper

Back On Track
SUPER Site Supporter
Just before the Tucker arrived to pick me up at the location where I could leave my truck. I met a fellow from Thermoplis WY with a real nice late 60's model standard track Thiokol Imp. I took a few pics of his snow cat. He said he bought the cat several years back from a utility company with less than 400 actual hours and now has just over 400 hours on it. He uses it for cabin access in the winter on national forest. He has recently completed some repairs including new idlers and steering/brake bands. It is very nice older Imp and appears to run well.

I will post more pics of the day in a Tucker later today or tomorrow with added info on the day, but for now the Imp pics.
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MNoutdoors RIP

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Hey, Bill I was just looking at your avitar and I"m not sure if you are Braging or what but I have heard some stories about out west where men are men and sheep are scared. and your avitar kinda seems like it follows that theme.
:moon:
Now my other question is when a Tucker gets stuck in the snow do you make your passenger shovel and you take the pictures or do you take turns shoveling?:yum: :yum:

Have a nice day. Ol Chap
 

mtntopper

Back On Track
SUPER Site Supporter
Now my other question is when a Tucker gets stuck in the snow do you make your passenger shovel and you take the pictures or do you take turns shoveling?:yum: :yum:

Have a nice day. Ol Chap

You will have to wait for the rest of the Tucker story as I have snow to conquer today, pics to take and no time to finish the story right now. :moon: :poke:
 

mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
Well I think the question here is See if you can ID this Butt... And yes the passenger did most of the digging.... Now just figure out who the driver and the passenger were....
 

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mtntopper

Back On Track
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Re: A Day In A Tucker part 2

Now I am forced to tell the rest of the story.

When I first met the Tucker operator at the agreed upon location, he was making some final adjustments to the tracks and checking the cat over. I asked if there was anything I could do and he handed me a fence post sized club and said to knock the ice out of the rear tracks. I started beating the ice out of the tracks and noticed shiny objects in the new rubber style Terra tracks looking back at me. As I stood there slightly confused the operator said don't pay any attention to those sheet metal bolts. They run through the tracks and are just holding the track belts together. Still confused and starting to wonder why, I asked and he explained to me the belt layers in the track are coming apart and the snow cat mechanic for the state used sheet metal bolts to hold the belts that are de-laminating back together. I then asked if that might not be problem out in the middle of nowhere and he said no problem as long as you do not spin the tracks and tear out the sheet metal bolts. Now I am starting to become a little bit apprehensive as most snow cats I have ever been around seem to always find a spot where the tracks will spin in the snow especially when pulling a 20 foot drag behind you. But off we went on our way.

Big Mike handled the cat with the ease of a pro as we progressed up the canyon laying a perfect ribbon behind us. It was a great day to be out with little wind and no snowmobile traffic. Most of the trail grooming is done at night but since we were opening a new trail the state allowed the daytime grooming to take place. At the top of the canyon we were to drop the drag and proceed to trail H which has not been opened for several years due to lack of snow and since the state took the contract upon themselves and eliminated the contractors that use to do the job. We do have some great snow this year for the first year in many. About halfway up the canyon we met the state trail crew who were headed the other direction and needed to use the satellite phone in the cat. Of course for some reason the phone did not work which Big Mike said was par for the course. This was just another great sign of things to come. The state boys hopped back on their snowmobiles and said see you in the lodge at the bar in a few hours. :beer: We dropped the drag at the beginning of trail H and picked up speed across the mostly untracked snow running only the blade as needed and following the trail stakes laid out by the state trails crew the day before.
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Things went great for about 6 to 7 miles and we even doubled back over some of the steeper hill, softer areas and used our tracks to pack more so the drag could be pulled through later that night. We were going to go clear through the trail and return to the drag, hook back up to it and pull it back through either that night or the next night on our hard packed tracks.

At about 2:30 we came over a small hill that was slightly windblown with some hard pack on it. We started to look at the big hole in front of us with a sharp cornice on the other side. I took this pic today to show you what we saw as we topped the small hill. Most of the snowmobile tracks were not there on Thursday. They have followed the snow cat tracks into the area that we made.
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Big Mike asked my thoughts as he started to slow down. The state boys went straight down into the hole and staked the trail right up through the snow cornice in front of us. Both of us were looking to figure out how and why they expected us to go down into a bottomless looking hole, go up hill and jump up about a 5 foot hard snow cornice with a snow cat. :4_11_9: As we looked at the problem area in front of us at the bottom of the hill that we were on, the snow on top gave way on the passenger side of the cat. We went down about 5 feet and just leaned over into a big hole where the cat stopped all forward momentum.
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It did not look to bad to me but I have never been in a crab steer cat that is stuck. I figured a few minutes with a shovel and we would be out and on our way. WRONG!!! As we would dig out for the rear tracks to come around and straighten up, the wonderful Tucker just kept sliding sideways and deeper into the snow hole. Crab steer sucks in a situation like this as you must dig a semi circle on the stuck side of the cat each time to work it out. In our case we had no weight on the left side of the cat and thus the tracks wanted to spin on that side. Locking differentials should be on all Tuckers but this one does not have them. It is an orphan cat and the oldest one the state owns so Big Mike tells me now. Great, another government spec and bid gone wrong. Another major problem to remember is we just have sheet metal bolts holding the track belts together. Spinning the tracks really is not a good option as we did not want to tear up the tracks anymore than they were. We were forced to just keep digging and digging until we completely dug around the cat, shoveled a ramp up for it to crawl out on. I was sure I would soon meet a China man digging back my way.

The Tucker was finally able to walk out of the hole we were in after about 3+ hours of shoveling and ramp building. Of course the state boys were worried but never came out looking for us when we did not show up as they said their beer would of gotten warm. We hiked down into the hole in front of us that was marked for us to cross in front of where we were stuck. We decided it was too late and too many boulders in the bottom to attempt a crossing at this time and in a crippled cat. I think we both said to our selves no way in hell were we going to be able to jump up a 4 to 5 foot cornice and not end up back in the bottom of the hole without a way out that was not up hill to get out. The pics of the cat were all taken as we initially got stuck. The situation got a lot worse long before it got better. We were too tired and did not give a sh!t about pics after the big dig started to free the cat. It was dark by the time we finally got the cat out and reversed our course back to the drag. I bailed out as we passed by my truck at the lake and wished Big Mike good luck!!!!!

Here is a pic we took of the hole as it existed today when we rode our snow machines through to check it out. I am standing at the bottom where the RH track finally finished its downward slide. As you can see by the size of the hole, we were not in the mood to even think pics after digging it out on Thursday.
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Tucker snow cats with Terra tracks have definitely dropped a rung or two on my preferred snow cat list. I do believe a 2 track cat would of walked right through or been able to pull itself back to civilization without all of the shoveling. Just my opinion. The Tucker Terra is a sweet ride but if you stick it be ready for a lot of shovel time.
 

Snowcat Operations

Active member
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WOW! I am so disappointed! My dreams have been crushed. Guess I wont be bying a Tucker XL2000 now. BUT a nice set of Lockers would have done wonders. I cant believe how those tracks delaminated.
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
We used to find the same problems with the '94 tucker we had. It's ok in strictly deep stuff breaking trail or on strictly hardpacked. Get one track off the hardpacked into the deep stuff and.........well........the previous pictures show the results. That's one thing I found different when we bought our first Lamtrac was that you barely feel when you drop one track off the hardpacked trail into the deep stuff. I found I was always fighting the steering on the tucker to keep it on the trail so it wouldn't get sucked in like in the above pics.
 

srexecmark

New member
The steel growsers would have helped here too. The crab steer does have its short comings, but the 4 tracks get stuck far less often and tend to resist slipping sideways if you have decent growsers. I don't think those all rubber tracks would work well in my conditions either.
 

mtntopper

Back On Track
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We used to find the same problems with the '94 tucker we had. It's ok in strictly deep stuff breaking trail or on strictly hardpacked. Get one track off the hardpacked into the deep stuff and.........well........the previous pictures show the results. That's one thing I found different when we bought our first Lamtrac was that you barely feel when you drop one track off the hardpacked trail into the deep stuff. I found I was always fighting the steering on the tucker to keep it on the trail so it wouldn't get sucked in like in the above pics.

Groomerguy, I am done calling your Lamtrac a Lametrac, maybe. :poke: I found a really lame snow cat in the Tucker Terra version. The track design on the Lamtrac looks like it would work better. How many horses are pulling the Lamtrac around? The Tucker felt a little short in ponies when pulling the drag up steep hills at 10,000 foot elevations. It made the climb each time but it did struggle some if the drag was loaded with snow.

It appears to me it may be better to turn into the same direction when being sucked into the deep with crab steer and then you may be able to back out. Sounds dumb but if you turn away to try to avoid being sucked down your rear tracks will just go in further and require more shoveling to free them. If you just turn the front into the deep you may possibly be able to back up at least and stay in your old track. Some one else needs to test this theory and report back on their shovel and heart beat rate to see if this theory has any merit. :yum: Any volunteers?
 

mtntopper

Back On Track
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The steel growsers would have helped here too. The crab steer does have its short comings, but the 4 tracks get stuck far less often and tend to resist slipping sideways if you have decent growsers. I don't think those all rubber tracks would work well in my conditions either.

Steel grousers and Detroit lockers should help a bunch on getting out if you do stick it. Tucker is promoting the Terra track units over the old style tracks. The Terra tracks make it a better ATV for use without snow or on roadway surfaces. With the de-lamination problems Tucker is blaming that on operator error such as track spin. Gee, duh, this is a snow cat and it is made to go on slick surfaces and track spin/slippage is inherent to design criteria right? The Terra tracks really seem to limit the capabilities of the machine in snow. Just my .02 worth after shovel time and missing my dinner on Thursday.:pat:
 

srexecmark

New member
I would love to see the same system on a Tucker as the Cat Telehandlers have for their 4 wheel steering. You can select the articulated crab steer, front only steer or all wheels in the same direction which lets you drive almost sideways. I realize these weigh almost 26,000lbs, but the technology is reliable and should be easy to adapt to a 4 tracked sno-cat. I have a limited slip unit in the rear of my Tucker, but I have not had a sliding or traction problem even with our record snowfall this year.
 

mbsieg

awful member
GOLD Site Supporter
Off into the swirling clouds of white fluff you go. I wish you the best in all your travels. I will remember the fond times we had together, the blood, sweat, tears, and frustrations we went through. It was once a dream I had, though it was turned into a reality. Some warned me, some said it couldn't or shouldn't be done. But in a very long week you made me realize this job is a thankless one, long hours, low or no pay. I enjoyed the long hours, the late nights, and the time we spent together. As I realized this job is not for me.
I understand the lack of maintenance was not your fault, you tried to show your best side at all times, But being the oldest lady in your fleet it is hard to show your best at all times. Do not worry though at the end of the season you will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and someone will then love and care for you again like you so rightfully deserve. Until then keep your chin held high, all four tracks on the HARDsnow and your oil level full... Here is my tribute to you miss Tucker..



















P.S. Next time remind me to bring two shovels, more sheet metal screws, Winch, come-a-long, chains(1,000ft or more), and about 6 more people to dig.

























































P.S.S. Also rememberDO NOT SPIN THE TRACKS
 

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mtncrawler

Bronze Member
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Lockers? Lockers? We don't need no stinking lockers!
 

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ALLEN PARSONS

New member
I love that . Now thats catten.:thumb: Looks like you have had a very good snow year.
Where are the photos taken mtncrawler.
I had the 323 looking like that once, but it was because I drove into a big hole about 11:00 at night in a snow storm.
I dug out the high side pontoon then just backed it out.
 

cmonsta

New member
My first time writing. I own the late 60s imp. Thought that I would fill the story in a little more. Saw that same Tucker on trail H with a broken steering pin. Felt sorry for the guy driving who had to walk out.

Anyway, in the middle of march we managed to break a track at about 9:30 at night. Thankfully who came to the rescue but this tucker. He spent 2 hours pulling me to a spot where I could work on it closer to the cabin. I went the next morning and used Nylon webbing to patch the track and limp down to the trailer. Here are some photos of the new tracks which are now finished.
 

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fogtender

Now a Published Author
Site Supporter
I was looking at your grill, does that have the adjustible louvers on the front. I have an Imp also, but it is in desperate need of a paint job, all else works great though.

You have a pretty clean looking critter there. Have you had any issues with the exhaust guard catching branches and such. I was thinking about building one something like that, but figured that where I go, it would get hammered on pretty hard by the trees and such.

Welcome to the club!:clap:
 

ve3otk

New member
Re: A Day In A Tucker part 2

When our club got their used Tucker, it had a locker installed in the rear axle. We were told by another club to remove it ASAP. After a few twisted rear axles, our groomer mechanic finally removed the locker. I don't think we lost another axle since removing the locker. Lost our share of other parts, of course. Am not 100%, but I think our used tucker used to be the one used by groomerguyNWO. For every hour we use the Tucker for grooming, we must spend the same time fixing it!
 

cmonsta

New member
The guard on the exhaust hasn't caused any problems so far, and the grill is a thick piece of aluminium with holes drilled in it. I covered it with spray on truck bed liner.
 
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