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Ebay ~ Studebaker Weasel Snowcat?

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
There is something that looks like a Studebaker Weasel for sale on eBay being billed as a snowcat. If it is a Weasel, it would make a "decent" snowcat but an awesome ATV. The Weasel won't handle deep powder, with will manage itself in moderate and heavy snow, it will also run on the road at 50mph.

Obviously this has a home-made cabin that detracts from the unit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Snow...737QQitemZ150107093853QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Vehicle Description [/FONT]
Year 1945, no license, will give bill of sale. As is, where is.
 

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cooper

New member
If its a 1945 it would be a M29C model They came with a studibaker 6 cylinder flat head moter and a T90 or 89 three speed tranny and a 2 speed Clark rear diff. I have been running this diff in my Imp for 3 years now. It makes for a sweet swap in as the width is almost idenical and it is a very tuff diff and parts are still ready to come by.
 

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
There are more complete articles on the M29 in lots of Army Truck and Military rags(magazines). About 20,000 were produced! There is sort of a 'New Style' and a 'Old Style'. The problem was in the tracks. The wheels were too small(3.5 or 4 inches in diameter) and they detracked as soon as look at them. But they had a very good drive train. A Studibaker 6 powered it, and there were pontoons that attached to the sides that would allow them to float. The difference between the Old and the New was where the drive sprockets were located. Old had front drive, later they had rear drive.

I heard the following story from a Veteran of the Korean war: He and his buddy got this M37(Dodge Power Wagon) stuck on a ridge. He claimed they left on foot under fire. They went and located a Weisel, it detracked on the way to where the M37 was stuck. They managed to get the M37 unstuck and drove out. Neither would ride in one ever again!

In Alaska: A fellow electrician went with a guy in his Weasel, only made it about 2 miles before it developed a track problem. They spent the entire day trying to fix it. The electrician Also said he would never ride in one again.

Also in Alaska: My apprentice, a young alaska native was asked by his uncle if he wanted to go hunting with him in his 'track rig'? His reply:" No thanks, I'd rather Hunt than spend my time fixing the Track rig." Seems he too had had a bad experience.

There was a man in Anchorage that converted Weasels to a different track system. He took the tracks, wheels and drive sprockets off some other military track rig(Scat Tracks?) that he bought surplus from one of the many Alaska military bases.(during the cold war Alaska had more military presence than the population of the state). The Conversion had full size wheels a bit bigger than the rear wheels of a Snow Trac, except that they were solid aluminum, and tracks much like what are on a J5 Muskeg tractor. This man must have converted quite a few as I saw and spoke with the owners of at least half a dozen. They worked well and didn't detrack.

In Glenallen alaska there's a motel & restraunt called the Caribou Inn. Alyeska put me up there for the duration of one project. During the hunting season it's 'TRACK RIG CENTRAL'. I saw dozens of hunters every day, with track rigs, 4 wheelers, jeeps, you name it. Several of the converted Weasels showed up. Then one day a NOT converted one showed up. At least a half dozen hunters were standing around it saying stuff like:"Not in that rig" and "No Way". Sure enough the next day it was detracked, stuck in a mud hole, blocking one of the access roads to the Trans Alaska Pipeline. It stay'd there for several days.

The original tracks were a series of sheet metal plates held together by pins. This was their big weakness. Some folks claimed that the machines were made for a 'one time' use and intended to be discarded. I found nothing in the military literature that supported this theory.

Hunting is very tough on a track rig, especially one that was designed for snow as there is often no snow cover in the fall during hunting season. About the only track vehicle that really holds up well for hunting is a Nodwell or a Bombardier Muskeg tractor. If a Snow Cat of almost any make has been used for even one hunt it is probably not a good candidate for restoration. Most hunters spend the entire summer repairing the damage from one single hunt during the previous season..

Pardon the interuption, got a little side tracked there: Weasels had GREAT power to weight ratio. Imagine what your ST4, Kristi, or Bombi which normally sports a 40 or 50 Hp motor would be like with 110 Hp motor.

Without the conversion their more of a collectors item than anything else. You can find lots of info on them from the MVPA. That's Millitary Vehicle Preservation Association, which has chapters in almost every state and Lots of members as well as publishing a magazine. Articles on the Weasel come up regularly. The long time president of the MVPA, a very coloful individual in Utah had the carcus of a Weasel in his yard. He considered it "unworthy of restoration OR a proper burial".

As we say in the electrical trade:"IF YOU DON'T KNOW, LOOK IT UP"
 
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