1542 conversion to a 1543 supersized project

[olympicorange]

…… thanks S/R,.. much appreciated. all good points to ponder. as you know, when you weld cracks, add pieces, etc. the metal around the welds become more brittle,... so like you said, you keep chasing them. drilling a hole at the end of a crack , before rewelding sometimes help. these tucker frames , 2''X2'' square tubing, is thin walled . so sometimes drilling holes, leads to a cracking. it's a catch 22 scenario. damned if you , damned if you don't. like your trailer, trial & error. unfortunately in error is more common,.... thx for the input,....

 

[olympicorange]

…. adding some temporary bus seats ( seat belt style) , grab handles, guardrails, steps ,etc. for a couple upcoming events. then will be removed to continue the project,....

 

[loggah]

Bruce, You going to be burning the midnight oil to have it ready for sat!!! I spent 1/2 day yesterday to get the lombard running,queen bee,batterys ,battery charger, of coarse i hadn't started it in a year.The bus seats will be a hit !! Don

 

[DAVENET]

Heck, a piece of plywood on the deck & he's ready to go! And plenty of boot room as well!

 

[loggah]

Well he might also need a hood or doors ! Unless he wants the "COOLEST" tucker on the lot !!!

 

[olympicorange]

….. HA HA,.. you guyz nailed it.... I'm burning the candle on both ends, just to show up with something, that resembles, ….well, something. it's ugly,.. and along way from the finished product,... maybe one more year. but just want to participate. going to be close,...''crunch time'' is on for sure. and the weather is going south for the next two days... yes , doors, hood, wiring/lights, .. etc., etc... it's those little finishing ...''operational'' touches,... nose to the grind stone... made the best out of the floorboards...''talk about ugly'',.... lol....

 

[olympicorange]

Bruce, You going to be burning the midnight oil to have it ready for sat!!! I spent 1/2 day yesterday to get the lombard running,queen bee,batterys ,battery charger, of coarse i hadn't started it in a year.The bus seats will be a hit !! Don

… it's amazing how the day flies by , when you're just expecting a 30 minute or so project,..lol . cleaning battery cables , just to crank it over ,.. and it's two hrs.. later. yup, been there. the Lombard is the show King, definitely have to get that out every year to make laps,.. it's too ''Kool'' not to show it ,... yeah , I had a few kicking around, had to put something on the back,.... and the forecast , I hope, sounds super warm. so why not give more people a ride . that tiny one ,man cab doesn't cut it ,.. my 14 doesn't fit in the cab very well either,.. I guess we're cursed in that way Don,..

 

[PJL]

Snowy R, that was a great explanation about welded VS bolted and riveted frames. It explains a lot.

 

[DAVENET]

… it's amazing how the day flies by , when you're just expecting a 30 minute or so project,..lol . cleaning battery cables , just to crank it over ,.. and it's two hrs.. later. yup, been there. the Lombard is the show King, definitely have to get that out every year to make laps,.. it's too ''Kool'' not to show it ,... yeah , I had a few kicking around, had to put something on the back,.... and the forecast , I hope, sounds super warm. so why not give more people a ride . that tiny one ,man cab doesn't cut it ,.. my 14 doesn't fit in the cab very well either,.. I guess we're cursed in that way Don,..

Should I pack the tree stand harness so I don't get sucked thru the floor?

 

[olympicorange]

………. LOL , that's a good one D/N ,... floor is all in and allset. had a buddy show up today , and offered to lend a hand , Big Sam . he probably saved the project from making it at all . he did some welding , helped with the doors, hood , ...5 hrs. later. so there seems to be a light at the end of a very long tunnel... ...… he's going to bring some old skidoo's down to show … belonged to his dad brand new …. he might sell one , you never know. but many thanks to him.... will you be bringing yours ….

 

[olympicorange]

……… omitted also ; Sam built the rear deck,.. great job,...

 

[olympicorange]

………. And ''... here's the rest of the story'' ,...…… so Sat. a.m.. (5am) … (-12 below) , trying to put the finishing touches ,... or safety factors, trip worthy , etc.... replaced r/f sprockets, ''fabed '' up hand throttle cable assy., adjusted doors ( not sure how they shrunk , from cab removal/install) , and a ton of other things I can't remember,... finally got loaded at noon,.... attempted to leave ''Tucker Lake '' ,... buried the truck/trailer a 100 ft. from main rd. ugghh. walked back to shed for the JD6310, which won't start below 40 degrees. finally starts, hooked on, ( wifey at the helm of the 'ol Burb) , …. and we drag the train to the asphalt. back to shed to park & close up again. and , ….. off to the show in Thorton . gave rides & interviews non-stop for hrs.... well worth the ''killing myself to make the show'' ,.... bday dinner with the gang,... short nite's sleep , and off again. can't wait till next year....LOL. hopefully be more prepared. wait,... I started in April,...…

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Sounds like y'all had a great time...all considered.

 

[olympicorange]

…….. So , all that being said,..... and all the weekends activities,... ( the best weekend of the year, in these parts, to be a snocat owner/enthusiast) …….. operated Sat. , and Sunday's 12 mile parade,.. back at Tucker Lake for another hour to let the gang drive around & play ( sunday afternoon),.... and today for another hour of testing , ……. and up to the height of the land , ( for the first time this winter) ,... man, we need more snow ,... before the early spring...…. checked the fuel tank ,and...……….. only used a few inches. the marker stick ( was just below my thumb) …. pretty happy with the 'ol '' hummins cummins''...…….

 

[alryA]

I'd guess you folks know what the "mora vasaloppet" is?

 

[olympicorange]

……… I've talked with the people at the ski mountain,... it's adapted from a place in Europe ,.. france?? my crs is kicking in. but , fill me in on what I missed. so the history of this machine ; Dave's dad bought this machine from the resort,...….. had it shipped to maine. he groomed his apple farm for X-country trails ,... and then he bought a M.E. tucker,... and dave & his family sold it to me,.... been a great project .

 

[alryA]

The mora vasaloppet is a ski race in Mora MN. It's part of the vasaloppet series. That's all I know about it.


https://vasaloppet.us/

 

[olympicorange]

…….. cool. they had mounted a ''tiller'' power pack assy. onto the rear of this tucker. ford power plant , hyd. system , tiller, etc. ( I posted a diagram earlier in post) , extra controls in cab , etc. beat the hell out of the rear half of the Cat. rear fifth wheel had been replaced, beefy rear leafs, cracks everywhere in the chassis ,reinforced rods welded onto rear diff. axle housing, trunnions pounded to death, etc...…….. been chasing my tail in the rear section. thx. for link...…...

 

[DAVENET]

Well hell, that threw a toggle switch in the memory core. I never made the connection between the first page of this thread and the Five Fields machine. Tried to back track the old pictures of this machine all intact, but they must have died with my old flip phone. I wonder how many of those tiller setups were sold? That was the only one I have ever seen (not even any in photos). Did you get the tiller/track setter as well or were they building a new framework for the ME?

I rode up & over the mountain into Bridgton last summer and saw the ME in the shed & wondered where the 1542 went

 

[alryA]

Seems the tucker did not sell many of those tiller equipped machines. When I test operated a Tucker X years ago, it was used on a ski hill and no tillers to be seen. It came from Power Horn for those familiar with that area back aorund 2000. For XC which I'm much more familiar with, I've never seen a Tucker with a tiller either. In fact very few truckers can be found in the XC world.

 

[olympicorange]

………… ...…….,.....''ding, ding, ding,'...……..''winner winner , chickn dinner'' ….. nice job Dave . that is correct . dave is going to mount the tiller onto the M.E.

 

[olympicorange]

………. well, it's official , almost 50 here today..... Tucker Lake has open water ,.... maybe that damn groundhog knows something ,.... or not …..

 

[olympicorange]

……….. just breaking engine in alittle more , let it run in the spring weather, without the fan running , stayed at stat temp,... 190* ,... love that sound,...………….

 

[olympicorange]

…………. , back onto the list of things I ran out of time to do before the Big show,,... starting with a better mounting system for the elec. fan,... and also for the future shroud to mount to,...…

 

[olympicorange]

…… what a change in the Lake conditions; from ystrdy….to ….today. from open water , to 8'' of the heavy wet stuff....

 

[olympicorange]

,...…. so , the mission today was ; ''crush as many snowflakes with Grousers, as possible'',.... well 4hrs. later …. the snowflakes were still well Ample,.... but I burned another gallon of ''oil'',....

 

[olympicorange]

oops,.... pics, oh yeah. made it up, the fire road to the height of the land once again,...

 

[olympicorange]

… well, I think I did as much as possible,... 45 degrees,.. and low tide down to 4 inches. sorry to say I think the Lake is drying up....Dratt………..

 

[olympicorange]

……….. well, five weeks have flown by , even being cooped up for the most part. definitely was a ''short'' snow accumulation total and length this past season,... always next year , as they say. SO,.... I've gone and thrown another ''monkey'' wrench into the works, yet again.... or ….a ''side step'' once again,.... as Don said, ''you're '' gonna have to start a new blog,...thanks again Brian,.....

 

[olympicorange]

…….. .. walking by the 1542 ,... a quick glance under unit,... noticed no new blood spots on the floor, just the old ones from the past,....