Tucker 1644 on ksl.com

Leave it to good old "Monster Jeff" to screw up the listing... He calls it an "1844". Well, more correctly "SUPER CLEAN MONSTER TUCKER 1844 CREW CAB SNOWCAT...".

Here's a link: https://www.ksl.com/classifieds/listing/50996943

Blackfoot Tucker said:

Leave it to good old "Monster Jeff" to screw up the listing... He calls it an "1844". Well, more correctly "SUPER CLEAN MONSTER TUCKER 1844 CREW CAB SNOWCAT...".

Here's a link: https://www.ksl.com/classifieds/listing/50996943

Click to expand...

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

And the big block 360 LMAO

And at 8000 lbs towed by a 'normal' truck... i guess you would just pull it with a chain 'cause no trailer needed to add extra weight?

"Monster Jeff" has definitely earned his reputation here on FF and the wrong information in this add definitely doesn't help. But I have to admit this appears to be a nice cat at a decent price and I would take it home if I could afford it.

GlacierSean said:

"Monster Jeff" has definitely earned his reputation here on FF and the wrong information in this add definitely doesn't help. But I have to admit this appears to be a nice cat at a decent price and I would take it home if I could afford it.

Click to expand...

Sean,

Truthfully it DOES look pretty nice.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but "Monster Jeff" has a tendency to embellish his listings. For example "Really nice paint". When I look at the photos (and there are none of the entire left side of the machine!) I see whoever painted it couldn't even have bothered to remove the emblems on the hood. They're held on with 1/8" aluminum POP rivets. Maybe ten minutes per side and they're off. Probably even less time to re-rivet them back on. I literally can't imagine having so little pride in your work that you would paint over them. So if removing the emblems was too much work, what other corners were cut? What kind of surface preparation was done before paint was applied? And what about the paint itself? There's a huge difference in paint quality (and price). I strongly believe a cheap-as-possible paint job is worse than no paint job at all, because it it's lousy paint, it won't last and if it's not properly applied, it will come off. So the new owner would have to remove all the poorly applied paint - and that is a lot of work.

The interior looks nice. I did note though that the left rear interior door handle is missing. (I have tried hard to source those and came up empty.)

Why no photos of the engine? The right rear track belts, grouser bars and idler wheels look to be in excellent condition. One of the wheels looks like an R&K wheel, which were used on the early rubber belted Tuckers. I can't tell with certainty, but it looks like the right rear wheel is not a de-icer wheel, but rather a regular rubber wheel. I can't see the front wheel of the right front track, but it looks like it has at least three R&K wheels. It does look like the rear wheel is a de-icer wheel. The sprockets on the right front are the pointed variety and the rear sprockets are the blunt style.

I'm not sure what's going on at the back of the machine. Someone has welded some steel members that extend the center of the frame. It looks like it has Dana 60 axles and the earlier cast aluminum fifth wheel plates.

Price-wise, I'm not sure. Snowcat prices have come up substantially and I'm not in tune with the higher prices. Personally, the 1644 is my favorite body style of this era, but something to keep in mind is the cab width. This machine is probably 48" wide. Later ones are 52". Four inches doesn't sound like much, but the difference is noticeable, especially for full sized guys.

Makes you wonder how low old jeffy would go? Sean ! he takes trade in . It will not hurt to call and try to see how much cash he would have to have plus your bombi . Dont get me wrong I don't like the guy but he can be persuaded. Oh and did I happen to mention that old jeffy enjoys his trips to Colorado from Utah alot .He has a taste for the green gold of Colorado that brings many others to our lovely state.

Blackfoot Tucker- I thought something was aa bit off with the paint, it seemed too bright and like they painted more stuff orange than was originally orange. But after reading your comments I can see the terrible job they did. Your right it was probably better before they painted it. Hour meter is likely also suspect. Possibly lipstick on a pig situation.

Aaron- after seeing him buy a cat off of FF and listing it on KLS for way more it doesn't surprise me he has a lot of negotiating room. I don't think I could sell or trade my cat but maybe I can add something like this to the fleet sometime. Might at least call him and see what the deal is but I will be extremely suspect of his cats.

Thanks to both of you, great information.

GlacierSean said:

Blackfoot Tucker- I thought something was aa bit off with the paint, it seemed too bright and like they painted more stuff orange than was originally orange. But after reading your comments I can see the terrible job they did. Your right it was probably better before they painted it. Hour meter is likely also suspect. Possibly lipstick on a pig situation.

Aaron- after seeing him buy a cat off of FF and listing it on KLS for way more it doesn't surprise me he has a lot of negotiating room. I don't think I could sell or trade my cat but maybe I can add something like this to the fleet sometime. Might at least call him and see what the deal is but I will be extremely suspect of his cats.

Thanks to both of you, great information.

Click to expand...

Sean,

The first Tucker I bought needed to be painted, and it cost me $1,500. It looked much better, but I was disappointed in the quality of the workmanship. For example, the driveshafts weren't removed and the painter was unable to paint the top surface of the driveshafts. When the machine moved you'd see what looked like striped driveshafts as they rotated.

When it came time to paint the second machine I went elsewhere. That fellow agreed to paint it for $1,500 labor, plus paint. He used a catalyzed industrial enamel and the machine looked pretty darn nice when it was done. He told me afterward that he way underbid the job, and if I wanted another painted the labor would be $3K.

I haven't got the final bill for Thundercat's paint job, but I'm quite sure the cost of subcontracted media blasting and paint materials will be over $5K. And that doesn't include any subsequent surface preparation, "body work", priming, or finish painting. And the real cost of a nice paint job is labor. Here's an example of that. The guy painting Thundercat told me it would normally take him two hours to wet-sand the four doors. But the door skins are fastened to the door frames with rivets and each rivet, and the area around it, must be sanded. It took him eight hours. If it was too much effort to remove the hood emblems, what do you think the chances are Jeff's painter sanded around each rivet? (And on that vintage Tucker there are a lot more rivets.)

When it comes to paint, I really don't think there are any shortcuts (in labor or materials) if you want a quality job...

"When it comes to paint, I really don't think there are any shortcuts (in labor or materials) if you want a quality job.."

after spending 45 years as a painting contractor, I can agree fully with your statement

Hi Boys, found this old thread, I’m the proud owner of the 1644. Bought it in Feb 2019 when it was on consignment with “monster Jeff” from an owner in Colorado. Brought it home to Apex ski resort in Southern B.C. where I live year round. Started work in the late 70’s running groomers, and figured now for my mid life crisis I’d buy myself some orange fun.

It’s a solid machine, runs strong and performs very well in this steep terrain thanks to the long tracks.
Had to rebuild the transfer case, the idler gear bearings had collapsed, sounded like a air raid siren inside the cat....

Thanks to the forum, found calliper and pads from a 66 Tbird, to replace the seized original.
Peeled off the window tinting that monster Jeff had put installed. Windows work far better when you can see out...
Removed the cheese grater running boards, as after a good run there was a foot of snow holding the doors shut. Doors work far better when you can open them...
Did some sound insulation prior to redoing the carpet, can carry on a conversation and don’t have to wear ear protection!
1st question, I want to remove the box and crane mount on the back of the cat, that was modified by a utility company that owned the cat for most of it’s life, and return it to the stock box that was on a 1975 1644. Where could I go to find dimensions, pics etc of what a stock box for a crew cab? Once I do that it will be time for a proper paint job.
2nd question, track tension.... on steep desents, I get some track skipping. In my old days running thiokol’s, tracks should skip every once in a while, indicating proper tension. Any thoughts?

Thanks for any info or advice! So stoked to have a Tucker in my life!

Welcome to the forum!

It's a good thing you have the mechanical skills involved, and I'm disappointed (but not surprised) Monster Jeff sold a machine that needed transfer case bearings as well as a new brake caliper and pads.

The tracks should not skip, so they need to be tightened up a bit.

I don't think there is such a thing as a "stock" Tucker bed as I've seen all kinds of configurations and sizes. I've owned two XX44s and both had beds that were roughly 6' wide and 4' long. They overhang the rear of the Tucker truss frame by 12", IIRC. The decking has been made of expanded metal, One came with stake bed side rails and the other had kind of a goofy utility company setup with a top rack. Both came with the gas tank mounted transversely in the front of the bed. The tanks hold 49 gallons, and are about 48" long and 12" wide.

Unfortunately Tucker welded the beds to the frame, so removing them is unfortunately not a simple task. We were planning on replacing the bed on the first machine, so we "sacrificed" the bed to cut it off and preserved the Tucker frame. The second machine had frame damage issues so we "sacrificed" the frame to try and preserve the bed.

Here's the bed on a 1980 Tucker before I bought it.



1986 Tucker 1544 with the utility company bed.



And after removing the bed, repairing it and reinstalling it in a bolt-on configuration.