I disappeared for a while, but haven’t quit on the Kristi. Life’s been busy and now with two cats, my time is split further.
What’s new? KT3 #00045, 3rd KT3 unit produced. I really thought the tracks were going to be a quick, simple job
. I hope to never do them again. For much of the past couple of years, it’s been tough for me to find more than an hour or two at a time to work on anything snowcat related. However, eventually I managed to get it done.
As of now, #45 is a running machine. I was able to fabricate a new corner window from acrylic. I used a locking rubber gasket from trimlock that I’m really happy with. I found it easiest to heat the acrylic and then quickly install it into the gasket and form it in place. I’m surprised it worked so well. New flywheel, starter, boiled out the gas tank, put a new fuel pump and alternator in (previous owner had rigged up an alternator in place of the generator). Regarding the alternator, what was there was a very low amperage unit and it was causing a parasitic draw. I replaced with a larger 1-wire unit. Required a new bracket to be fabricated, which I’m not completely happy with, but works for now.
I replaced all the bogey wheels with new one piece wheels and tires from etrailer. They are a standard size so will be easy to replace when needed. I had to put a 5mm spacer on the back wheel because it was rubbing on the frame very slightly. Plenty of play in the wheel guides to allow for that and hasn’t seemed to cause any issues so far.
I don’t plan on much more than field testing her this winter somewhere where I can recover easily. I don’t know the machine well enough to feel comfortable with getting stuck far from home. Work will continue as I can make it happen. In the meantime, the Snow-Trac ST4 is operating as A-team. I focused on interior creature comforts (primarily sound insulation) and routine maintenance over the summer on that machine.
Attaching a few photos of the very slow progress.
What’s new? KT3 #00045, 3rd KT3 unit produced. I really thought the tracks were going to be a quick, simple job
. I hope to never do them again. For much of the past couple of years, it’s been tough for me to find more than an hour or two at a time to work on anything snowcat related. However, eventually I managed to get it done.As of now, #45 is a running machine. I was able to fabricate a new corner window from acrylic. I used a locking rubber gasket from trimlock that I’m really happy with. I found it easiest to heat the acrylic and then quickly install it into the gasket and form it in place. I’m surprised it worked so well. New flywheel, starter, boiled out the gas tank, put a new fuel pump and alternator in (previous owner had rigged up an alternator in place of the generator). Regarding the alternator, what was there was a very low amperage unit and it was causing a parasitic draw. I replaced with a larger 1-wire unit. Required a new bracket to be fabricated, which I’m not completely happy with, but works for now.
I replaced all the bogey wheels with new one piece wheels and tires from etrailer. They are a standard size so will be easy to replace when needed. I had to put a 5mm spacer on the back wheel because it was rubbing on the frame very slightly. Plenty of play in the wheel guides to allow for that and hasn’t seemed to cause any issues so far.
I don’t plan on much more than field testing her this winter somewhere where I can recover easily. I don’t know the machine well enough to feel comfortable with getting stuck far from home. Work will continue as I can make it happen. In the meantime, the Snow-Trac ST4 is operating as A-team. I focused on interior creature comforts (primarily sound insulation) and routine maintenance over the summer on that machine.
Attaching a few photos of the very slow progress.
