Because we took both machines out, and this post makes reference to them individually, I decided to start a new thread. Both other threads and the Testing on Super Bowl Sunday thread will have links to this one.
Another awesome day of testing / operational verification in Utah’s Uinta Mountains! The first weekend in March we got some decent snowfall and although we’ve had some warm days since, there is a solid base. Conditions yesterday were really excellent, and we could go most anywhere we tried. In the Testing on Super Bowl Sunday thread I had discussed the locations we have previously tested at, and said I wanted to avoid Cedar Hollow due to potential paint scratches on CHUGSzilla.
When we took the 1544 to Cedar Hollow a couple weeks ago the experience was epic, and decided we’d go back there. Yes, CHUGSzilla has its new green paint (Note, I didn’t say "pretty" or “beautiful”) and I decided The Infamous WBJ1 isn’t a "pretty boy” anyway, so if his ugly green snowcat had some character scratches… so much the better. To Cedar Hollow we went!
Where Tuckers love to hang out… a gas station.
We have been putting in some pretty long hours trying to get the radiator upgrade completed and the transmission valve body adjustments made. We also needed to change out the spark plug wires on the 1544, and we finished those tasks late on Saturday afternoon. I really wanted to bring both machines for a few reasons:
- We preach there is no substitute for testing in real world conditions, and though all we did to the 1544 was install new spark plug wires, knowing that the machine worked well in the backcountry means we can say it passed its performance verification, as opposed to saying “we think the problem is solved".
- One never knows if something will go awry, and having a second machine means the chances we’ll have to walk out are a lot slimmer.
- Two machines are more fun!
After unloading at the trailhead there was a fellow who flagged Scott down. He said he got his truck stuck up the trail a bit, and spent hours trying to dig it out. He told Scott he’d hang around and do some X-country skiing while we were testing, and Scott agreed to pull the truck out on our way back.
Here’s the struck GMC truck. What was he thinkin? (When we were headed out he was nowhere to be found, though the hapless GMC was still there.)
Our usual photo op spot for the obligatory pic.
So… how did they do?
The 1544 ran well all day long. No, it doesn’t have "LS power", but it performed solidly. Normally, Scott and I will swap machines back and forth during the day. I started in the 1544 and was content to drive it all day long. It really ran well. I can’t compare the Edelbrock ProFlo 4 system to any other aftermarket fuel injection system, but I can say it's a major improvement. Huge, in fact. Some projects are expensive, and there’s a pretty marginal benefit. At the end of the day it’s a “meh” experience. In our opinion the Edelbrock ProFlo 4 system provides significant bang-for-the buck. The engine starts easily, and it runs well. Yes, Scott in CHUGSzilla with its L94 LS engine could pull away from me, but its not like the 1544 ever had to hang its head in shame.
That said, there’s one hill that’s a “tester”. We have never taken a machine to that hill, and conquered the hill. Never! In fairness to all the other days, and the other machines, snow conditions make a huge difference. You really can’t compare results accurately unless they are side-by-side, on the same day. But even so, CHUGSzilla is the undisputed Champion!
The first machine we took to this hill was the Tucker known as the Vail Cat. It did pretty well, making it maybe half way. That Tucker had long tracks in front and mid-length (1500 series) tracks in back). Powertrain was a Chrysler 318 Industrial (carbureted) and New Process 5-speed manual transmission. Here are some pics.
Of the various snowcats that have passed through our hands, we have more experience operating the 1544 than any other. We’ve tried the hill with the 1544 on multiple occasions (yesterday included) and it's never made it to the top, or even come close. The machine that previously held the record was… wait for it… TUG. But there was significantly less snow that day, and TUG made it a lot further up the hill… backwards, than it did forwards!
(For those that don’t know, TUG was a DMC 1450. A factory, wide track DMC 1450 has tracks that are 84"’ wide. TUG’s tracks were 96” wide. Hence the name - TUG is an acronym: "The Ultra Gimp”. The Infamous WBJ1 gets credit for the name.)
Here's a video of TUG trying to climb the hill... backward. This were shot on March 6, 2021, and you can see how little snow there was. I didn’t “publish” this as public. That means you need the link below to view it.
But today CHUGSzilla made it to the top, and did so without question. Though it's equipped with Eaton E-Lockers in both front and rear axles, the E-Lockers weren’t even needed. I don’t know why but the video of the first attempt did not turn out well. CHUGSzilla made it 98% of the way up... and then spun out. The (successful) video that follows was a different line up the hill. In the second video, going down hill, at the 5 second mark you can see where Scott spun out on the first attempt up the hill.
Going up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aj_jpGaijY
Going down:
To take the driver variable out of the equation, Scott made three tries with the 1544. This is the best of the three.
While that was clearly a triumph for CHUGSzilla, the snowcat Gods aren’t done punishing us for defiling it by painting it that hideous shade of green. The previous cooling system issues have pretty much been solved, but there’s a new problem. The alternator ain’t cutting it. We had a problem last fall when we we were doing some work on the machine and one day the battery didn’t have enough juice to start the engine. It should have, and we monkeyed with the alternator a bit and it started charging again. But yesterday It showed its hand when the voltmeter was reading only 11 volts. More monkeying and it started working intermittently. But the low voltage means the radiator fans run slower, and the engine gets hotter... and the fuel pump would run slower, too. CHUGSzilla has a second battery for the winch, so we pressed on knowing we could change out batteries if necessary, and make it back to the trailhead. A new alternator has been ordered from Rock Auto. Due to The Infamous WBJ1’s plethora of LED lights on CHUGSzilla I decided to get the optional higher output alternator. (Knowing him, he’ll take that as inspiration for yet more lights!)
Though there were a disappointing amount of snowmobile tracks, we did find some unmolested fields of untracked snow, and that's just a magical experience when you have great snow, great weather and capable machines! Scott and I have a truly horrific work : fun ratio in terms of hours worked on snowcats compared with hours operating them, but yesterday was really spectacular. We ventured farther than we have, and truth be told, we had an absolute blast!
I tend to be the guy who takes the pics and the videos. This video starts out with some tracks visible. What happened was Scott started down the hill and then backed up and suggested I film him, so I went ahead a bit and stopped. Then I videoed Scott and CHUGSzilla playing in the untracked snow. (At times in all the CHUGSzilla videos you can hear the 1544's engine purring.) When he went behind the trees I stopped, and then started again once CHUGSzilla was in view.
CHUGSzilla also has an issue with OBD code P0102, which is a mass air flow sensor problem. I called the company that re-flashed the computer, and it was suggested we replace the MAF sensor. We did that, and the code is still there. The engine runs pretty well, though and we’re hoping the problem is a minor electrical wiring issue….
But, Sun Valley 2024 is around the corner and poor Thundercat doesn’t even have any tracks installed. The 1544 runs great and CHUGSzilla, PITA that it is, no longer gets to be the prima donna getting the bulk of our attention.
Another awesome day of testing / operational verification in Utah’s Uinta Mountains! The first weekend in March we got some decent snowfall and although we’ve had some warm days since, there is a solid base. Conditions yesterday were really excellent, and we could go most anywhere we tried. In the Testing on Super Bowl Sunday thread I had discussed the locations we have previously tested at, and said I wanted to avoid Cedar Hollow due to potential paint scratches on CHUGSzilla.
When we took the 1544 to Cedar Hollow a couple weeks ago the experience was epic, and decided we’d go back there. Yes, CHUGSzilla has its new green paint (Note, I didn’t say "pretty" or “beautiful”) and I decided The Infamous WBJ1 isn’t a "pretty boy” anyway, so if his ugly green snowcat had some character scratches… so much the better. To Cedar Hollow we went!
Where Tuckers love to hang out… a gas station.
We have been putting in some pretty long hours trying to get the radiator upgrade completed and the transmission valve body adjustments made. We also needed to change out the spark plug wires on the 1544, and we finished those tasks late on Saturday afternoon. I really wanted to bring both machines for a few reasons:
- We preach there is no substitute for testing in real world conditions, and though all we did to the 1544 was install new spark plug wires, knowing that the machine worked well in the backcountry means we can say it passed its performance verification, as opposed to saying “we think the problem is solved".
- One never knows if something will go awry, and having a second machine means the chances we’ll have to walk out are a lot slimmer.
- Two machines are more fun!
After unloading at the trailhead there was a fellow who flagged Scott down. He said he got his truck stuck up the trail a bit, and spent hours trying to dig it out. He told Scott he’d hang around and do some X-country skiing while we were testing, and Scott agreed to pull the truck out on our way back.
Here’s the struck GMC truck. What was he thinkin? (When we were headed out he was nowhere to be found, though the hapless GMC was still there.)
Our usual photo op spot for the obligatory pic.
So… how did they do?
The 1544 ran well all day long. No, it doesn’t have "LS power", but it performed solidly. Normally, Scott and I will swap machines back and forth during the day. I started in the 1544 and was content to drive it all day long. It really ran well. I can’t compare the Edelbrock ProFlo 4 system to any other aftermarket fuel injection system, but I can say it's a major improvement. Huge, in fact. Some projects are expensive, and there’s a pretty marginal benefit. At the end of the day it’s a “meh” experience. In our opinion the Edelbrock ProFlo 4 system provides significant bang-for-the buck. The engine starts easily, and it runs well. Yes, Scott in CHUGSzilla with its L94 LS engine could pull away from me, but its not like the 1544 ever had to hang its head in shame.
That said, there’s one hill that’s a “tester”. We have never taken a machine to that hill, and conquered the hill. Never! In fairness to all the other days, and the other machines, snow conditions make a huge difference. You really can’t compare results accurately unless they are side-by-side, on the same day. But even so, CHUGSzilla is the undisputed Champion!
The first machine we took to this hill was the Tucker known as the Vail Cat. It did pretty well, making it maybe half way. That Tucker had long tracks in front and mid-length (1500 series) tracks in back). Powertrain was a Chrysler 318 Industrial (carbureted) and New Process 5-speed manual transmission. Here are some pics.
Of the various snowcats that have passed through our hands, we have more experience operating the 1544 than any other. We’ve tried the hill with the 1544 on multiple occasions (yesterday included) and it's never made it to the top, or even come close. The machine that previously held the record was… wait for it… TUG. But there was significantly less snow that day, and TUG made it a lot further up the hill… backwards, than it did forwards!
(For those that don’t know, TUG was a DMC 1450. A factory, wide track DMC 1450 has tracks that are 84"’ wide. TUG’s tracks were 96” wide. Hence the name - TUG is an acronym: "The Ultra Gimp”. The Infamous WBJ1 gets credit for the name.)
Here's a video of TUG trying to climb the hill... backward. This were shot on March 6, 2021, and you can see how little snow there was. I didn’t “publish” this as public. That means you need the link below to view it.
But today CHUGSzilla made it to the top, and did so without question. Though it's equipped with Eaton E-Lockers in both front and rear axles, the E-Lockers weren’t even needed. I don’t know why but the video of the first attempt did not turn out well. CHUGSzilla made it 98% of the way up... and then spun out. The (successful) video that follows was a different line up the hill. In the second video, going down hill, at the 5 second mark you can see where Scott spun out on the first attempt up the hill.
Going up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aj_jpGaijY
Going down:
To take the driver variable out of the equation, Scott made three tries with the 1544. This is the best of the three.
While that was clearly a triumph for CHUGSzilla, the snowcat Gods aren’t done punishing us for defiling it by painting it that hideous shade of green. The previous cooling system issues have pretty much been solved, but there’s a new problem. The alternator ain’t cutting it. We had a problem last fall when we we were doing some work on the machine and one day the battery didn’t have enough juice to start the engine. It should have, and we monkeyed with the alternator a bit and it started charging again. But yesterday It showed its hand when the voltmeter was reading only 11 volts. More monkeying and it started working intermittently. But the low voltage means the radiator fans run slower, and the engine gets hotter... and the fuel pump would run slower, too. CHUGSzilla has a second battery for the winch, so we pressed on knowing we could change out batteries if necessary, and make it back to the trailhead. A new alternator has been ordered from Rock Auto. Due to The Infamous WBJ1’s plethora of LED lights on CHUGSzilla I decided to get the optional higher output alternator. (Knowing him, he’ll take that as inspiration for yet more lights!)
Though there were a disappointing amount of snowmobile tracks, we did find some unmolested fields of untracked snow, and that's just a magical experience when you have great snow, great weather and capable machines! Scott and I have a truly horrific work : fun ratio in terms of hours worked on snowcats compared with hours operating them, but yesterday was really spectacular. We ventured farther than we have, and truth be told, we had an absolute blast!
I tend to be the guy who takes the pics and the videos. This video starts out with some tracks visible. What happened was Scott started down the hill and then backed up and suggested I film him, so I went ahead a bit and stopped. Then I videoed Scott and CHUGSzilla playing in the untracked snow. (At times in all the CHUGSzilla videos you can hear the 1544's engine purring.) When he went behind the trees I stopped, and then started again once CHUGSzilla was in view.
CHUGSzilla also has an issue with OBD code P0102, which is a mass air flow sensor problem. I called the company that re-flashed the computer, and it was suggested we replace the MAF sensor. We did that, and the code is still there. The engine runs pretty well, though and we’re hoping the problem is a minor electrical wiring issue….
But, Sun Valley 2024 is around the corner and poor Thundercat doesn’t even have any tracks installed. The 1544 runs great and CHUGSzilla, PITA that it is, no longer gets to be the prima donna getting the bulk of our attention.
