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Common problems with snow cats?

GKP

New member
Hello. As I work on my KT3 to get it ready for winter I would like to know some of the more common problems or difficulties associated with snowcats and their use in general. Maybe I can avoid some cussing and hiking if I plan\prepare for the issues.
Are batteries a problem? I have seen a lot of posts concerning duel batteries. I was thinking of a small solar trickle charger to keep the battery topped off when not in use.
Thanks for any input or help, Gavin
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Gavin, I think the dual battery set up is a "Belt & Suspender" type of safety net during a breakdown. If a problem occurs (alternator dies, etc) when you are out in the wilderness, you have a back up, just switch to the other battery.

An extra fan belt would be good to keep on hand.

Something else to keep in the back of your mind is to carry a spare bogie tire/wheel, to keep a 24" splice of track in case you tear yours you can just splice in your spare.
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
GKP said:
Hello. As I work on my KT3 to get it ready for winter I would like to know some of the more common problems or difficulties associated with snowcats and their use in general. Maybe I can avoid some cussing and hiking if I plan\prepare for the issues.

Thanks for any input or help, Gavin

NO,NO,No!!! Cussing and kicking is half the fun . I use it as a mental therapy session .
Something needs to break in order for you to experience that sudden rush of impending doom and hysterical reaction that is the result .It is good for the body and soul ! The next step is to actual go ahead and try to pull the snowcat all the way out of the shop on your next trip .
Seriously , walking off a track and needing to remount it would be a biggee as would breaking a track . Carry a small complete tool kit ,belt lacing kit and of course a survival kit just in case .
Good Morning Gentlemen:tiphat:
 

Snowcat Operations

Active member
SUPER Site Supporter
Every time you come back from a trip before you store the vehicle away for the night or weekend or anytime you should top off the fuel tank. I would fill it until the nozel shuts off the second time. DO NOT Completely fill it to the brim unless its about 70 degrees or more. What I have found out is that as gas gets warmer it actually expands. I have on several occassions have filled my tank completely full (usually late at night going home from a run). Then in the morning I have gas dripping from my gas cap. So now I just fill it untill it shuts off automatically. NOW THE REASON. If you only have a small amount of gas in your tank and you vehivcle goes through the extreme tempurature changes it will develop condensation inside your tank. You now have water in you fuel. If this happen every night and day you start to get alot of water. So thats not good. Now most of us have steel tanks. VERY BAD! You have an aluminum tank so its not as bad for you. Also towards the end of the year I would start toadd a fuel stabilizer. This will help alot in the long un used stored months. BUT as "LYNDON" has explained in another post he reccomends to completely run your vehicle dry before you store it. If you do a combo nation of fuel stabilzer and then run it dry then I dont see any bad effects of long term storage.

TRACKS:

I would loosen the adjustment of the tracks for sure. This will help keep them from stretching over the summer. ALSO you vehicle AND tracks must be out of the sun light. This is a must! That will destroy tracks faster than anything else.

LUBE:

Buy the best grease gun you can afford and ALWAYS use the best. I use AmsOil Racing grease. So far it has been the best I have ever used. After every trip in the snow zirk every fitting. After its been sitting for a while zirk every fitting. You will hear when the grease is pushing out the back. It will make a distinct noise. I always go a couple more squirts after that noise. Also go and buy a roll of paper towels and keep the plastic bag the the bagger put it in. Carry this with you as you grease. You can either clean up the old grease as it comes out then or do them all at when you finish greasing. Put the dirty paper towls in that plastic bag and tie the top when you are done. Also before you grease make sure and really clean the zirk fiiting first. I do this before I grease it and right when I finish. To make life a little easier attach to your grease gun a piece of wire. Every now and then that little ball in the zirk fitting will give you a hassel and not push back and close the zirk fitting. This usually happnes on older rigs and just need a season of greasing and they usually stop that. If it does stick on you take that wire and push it into the little hole. Most of the time a couple of pushes and it stops.

Engine oil:

I change this once a month (Unless you have a top of the line synthetic motor oil) If you have a Top quality synthetic then twice a season is good. Once in the begging of the season and once at the end of the season. I can hear some of you now ("Thats a waste. Your not getting any use of that good oil in the summer why are you changing it?")

During the season the oil protects your engine just fine. During that season you do get bits of crude in the oil and other crap that turns to acid over a period of time. Change it when the season is done and all that crud is gone. NOW its just sitting with fresh oil. 6 months is a long time for anything to sit. At the begging of the season I start up my cats and let them run up tp operating temp then shut the or it down. I change the oil. Thats for me 2 quarts of the best oil in the world at (if I paid retail) $7.50 x 2 is $15.00 dollars. Sop $30.00 dollars for 2 oil changes is not going to kill me and I KNOW my engine is getting the best oils and treat ment it can get.

Now for just top quality petrolium oil (DONT BUY CHEAP OIL) I would change it once a month during the season. I have heard and read every 20 hours, 50 hours ect ect. Yes if you go more than 50 hours in a month then change it more but even if you run it 10 hours a mnth change it. (IT CHEAP!) Well its cheap for us VW guys. Then change it at the very end of the season and right before it starts.

Tires:

Check all your tires before during and after every run and before and after storage. Make sure they have the porper inflation and that the tires are always nice and shiney with what ever tire care product you use. This will help protect them from UV and help keep snow from sticking to them (KInda) this I believe will also help keep the tires from getting traction on the tire guides and walking out of them. That last is just a theory on my part. If you can safely lift your vehicle off the ground and and put it on stands this will keep the weight off the suspension. Less wear.

STORAGE AREA:

If you can keep it out of the sun and rain and nice and dry then you have just over come the biggest killer of Snowcats. I jus bought a covered garage at Costco for $169.00 Bucks. That will be my storage until I can remodel my other garage inside and build my new larger work shop. But in the mean time this will be perfect. That should be the absolute minimum a snowcat should be in. NEVER OUT ALL THE TIME IN THE ELEMENTS!

Hope this helped.
 
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