Re: Southern Snow Trac
Don, the weight is close to 3000# but is distributed over a very large footprint. To put that into perspective, your New Holland TC18, with loader, is over 2000# and the foot print is measured in a few square inches. Bear in mind, the top, windshield and side window areas of the cab simply bolt on and can easily be removed for use in a warm climate which would shave a couple hundred pounds off the weight.
I know of an open top Snow Trac that is in Indiana (unless it has been very recently sold) that spent its working life in Texas working on the sand in the oil fields.
I ran mine on the lawn this summer and fall, while it was in various states of repair and there were no problems with tearing up the grass. These are NOT tight turning machines, they probably turn a 30' circle. They are fantastic on the sand and dirt and they are reported to do exceptionally well in marshy land like muskeg, bogs, etc. Deep water would not be advised because they do not have a waterproof floor pan, and the engine sits low in the unit, futher you'd have to elevate the exhaust above the water level too.
The variator belt is going to run about $175, give or take. I'm in the process of buying a spare, but I'm lucky in that mine is in great shape so I doubt I will need a spare for a very long time. The tracks are very simple affairs, it is simply reinforced belting. If a drive sprocket wears, it can be reversed so it has quite a long life expectancy but if it breaks you'd either have to have a machine shop cut you one our you'd have to hunt to find one in salvage. Bogey wheels are available, I have about 20 spares, plus half that many inner tubes. But I've also heard of folks who have been able to buy similar sized units.
As for the fringed surrey top, you are probably the first to think of that, but I have some grand illusions of taking mine with me and turning it into a beach cruiser if I actually ever end up retiring to the beach. Like I said, removing the top is just a matter of unfastening some bolts. I'm seriously considering modifying mine to make it even easier to remove the top for summer use up here, I've just not thought the process through yet. But as there are no electrial wires on the rear 3/4ths of the cabin, it would be simple enough to leave the windshield area in place and just remove everything from that point back each summer. But in your climate, I would probably make the removal a complete removal including the windshield.
They go about 20mph. There were some that had a high speed sprocket, those go about 25mph.
The beauty of these is that they are relatively inexpensive. The open top unit in Indiana is/was for sale for $3500.
- In my first photo below, you should be able to see the bolts that hold the cabin in place. For my use, I am thinking of leaving the section with the 4 front windows (2 windshield + first window on each side) on for summer use and simply unbolting the rest as one unit and removing it each summer.
- Photo 2 below shows how simple the tracks really are. The front drive sprocket would be my biggest concern to replace. And yes, that is grass all over my tracks, I drove it across my freshly mowed lawn sometime before taking that photo!