Thiokol 4VL registration page

[nikadog]

1959 Thiokol 4vl Snow Machine
Make: Thiokol
Equipment #: 449
Model: 4VL Trackmaster
Serial #: PBT4
Lenght: 13 feet 6 inches
Height: 8 feet
Width: 8 feet
Color: Omaha Orange and Black
Engine: Ford 6 cyl, 223 cu. in.
Transmission: 4 sp manual
Axle: dual axle usr
8 passenger
Track Width: 32 inches'
Purchased in 1977 new FOB to Sacramento,CA $8,500.00
Thiokol/Logan Division
Main Office
P.O Box 407
Logan,Utah 95826

This was an experimental vehicle developed by Utah State University. Thiokol bought the rights for over the snow vehicles from the University.
In general, The trackmaster vehicle is patterned, insofar practicable, to utilize automotive type supplies and suppliers. The accessories, power unit, tires and tubes, engine and transmission, drive shaft, and other such equipment are from automotive manufactures. Ford 1956 F150 engine and transmission parts are still available for this cat.
This snow cat was purchased in 1977 by my mountain neighbor. He had many years of good use out of the cat. He had to move down closer to town for medical reasons. I'm the second owner.

 

[Bobcat]

Oh, yeah, right. Like there's going to be another one of these out there to register on this thread!

 

[couchloafer]

Oh, yeah, right. Like there's going to be another one of these out there to register on this thread!

Here ya go Bob.........ask and you shall receive

Manufacturer - Thiokol Snow CatsModel - Trackmaster 4 VLYear - 1950sOccupancy - 5-passengerEngine - 200 L6 FordTransmission - Manual Transmission Hours - Stock # - STS 152Description - This unique Thiokol is equipped to handle 5 - 7 passengers. A great vintage machine!
and its for sale too....................



Dont mind Bob we hear he doesnt really have a running cat just a Krusty lawn ornament

 

[Bobcat]

Glad to be proven wrong. Hope to see more of these jalopies out there, besides the one from the SafetyOne museum.

I see from your avatar that your Snow Trap is safely tucked away in a garage. That's at least one step up from a circus tent...I guess.

 

[Mainer]

just for you Bob....and yet another... there a number of them but still relatively rare.
Last I saw, that one at safetyone was going for about $5,500 in Q4 of 2007. I'll look through my data and see if I can find the price for the purple people eater. It was for sale for about 3-4 months given it's uniqueness..and people often fear the unique due to parts, lack of info, etc...but that's half the fun! There was one on eBay that was the predacessor to this that was a total one-off R&D unit. See if I can dig up the photo.

 

[couchloafer]

Man these things are very interesting !

 

[nikadog]

On the purple people eater I see 2 inch pipe for cleats. Is there an advantage? Better or worse traction? I'm thinking of going all plastic or rubber cleats if I can find them or make them. The oak treads tend to split on the ends. Rot is a issue if you don't store them off season. What do you guys think. Anybody with experience on this?

 

[socal4t12]

On the purple people eater I see 2 inch pipe for cleats. Is there an advantage? Better or worse traction? I'm thinking of going all plastic or rubber cleats if I can find them or make them. The oak treads tend to split on the ends. Rot is a issue if you don't store them off season. What do you guys think. Anybody with experience on this?

im sure if you took one of the cleats off,,,"FALLINE" in reno would be able to make polyurethane ones that might last a good long time. im sure there are other construction applications that would have a hard rubber interchangeable cleat (bobcat, cat tractor, JD). the original oak cleats do look nice though.

as for the 2" pipe for cleats,,,,im sure they were just made for a quick replacement. you might want to look at using square tubing (see pic). easier to drill, cheap to buy, and provide a building block if you want to add extra tubing to increase depth of cleats (see pic), or to hard face.

 

[Mainer]

Yea, agree with Socal... that round tubing is a quick fix and it's certainly got less 'bite' than square tubing. Then again, if the price difference is that considerable maybe it's sufficient...but I'd rather go with square tubing.

See the photo below that should have the type of grousers that socal has posted photos of. They were replaced with simple square tubing.

Note that the drop-center grousers were design for Trackmasters and other 'ATV' type tracked vehicled for a decreased friction pad on hard surface for decreased energy loss on hard surface where a full contact grouser is a waste.

So, if you're going for pure snow...then no need for the drop-center and a simple replacement of some tubing variant would work. Th2Track pointed out that it would be better to galv-dip them than what I was planning to do...powder coat. Probably wears better, is easier to apply, and also gets inside of the grouser. Oooh... I know... I think I'll galv and THEN powder coat! Now we're talking! Then maybe sputter a layer of Silicon over the whole thing.

 

[SRT-1]

Here still is another 4vl's. Running and being restored. Don't have specs, as there is no tag that I have found. It’s been used to recover a snowmobile from a mine shaft.

http://www.sled-necks.com/ridelog0329.htm

 

[nikadog]

Hi, thanks for posting the pictures. They look great. I was wondering how the cable or rope was attached to the cat. I have a 4vl with no attachment points. I was thinking of using 4 inch wide straps around the frame if I had to be pulled out or pull someone else out of a jam. Mark.

 

[redsqwrl]

Not a 4 vl but a 4v (s)hort.

Number 103

 

[vintagebike]

Not a 4 vl but a 4v (s)hort.
Number 103

 

[vintagebike]

let's see if we can round up 10 Trackmaster 4VLs or close family members with serial numbers and glamor pics.

 

[snownut]

Glamor pics

, no lipstick...

 

[sno-drifter]

They had their ship together when they sloped the front window out at the top. No need for wipers when the wind doesn't blow. If the wind is blowing, I stay home. All the new sno machines have sloped back windshields, good for mach 3 travel I guess.

 

[vintagebike]

serial numbers soon... from north eastern California, north western Nevada and east central California All phone company rigs. And now in Boise and McCall Idaho. No lipstick either, not yet.

 

[vintagebike]

Every early 4V series Trackmaster owner posting his/her rig gets a prize to be revealed and awarded at SV 2024! Need not be present to win. Yep, we are going this time with our highly evolved Trackmaster progeny LMC1500.

 

[vintagebike]

Looks like there are only 4-5 left?

 

[Wowsy]

Trackmaster Experimental Model 4T4
Serial 147
Built by Utah Scientific Research Foundation with Utah State University

This machine is still running like a champ Don't use it anymore because I moved. Thinking of selling it and would like input from those who know more about these machines.

 

[Thefatsquatch]

Oh, yeah, right. Like there's going to be another one of these out there to register on this thread!

And another one. I snagged this one fast enough that I haven’t checked for the serial plate yet. More when I get her home. But I’m guessing I’ll have all kinds of questions.

 

[Thefatsquatch]

just for you Bob....and yet another... there a number of them but still relatively rare.
Last I saw, that one at safetyone was going for about $5,500 in Q4 of 2007. I'll look through my data and see if I can find the price for the purple people eater. It was for sale for about 3-4 months given it's uniqueness..and people often fear the unique due to parts, lack of info, etc...but that's half the fun! There was one on eBay that was the predacessor to this that was a total one-off R&D unit. See if I can dig up the photo.

Is this the same one I just picked up? It's been orange, some of it has been yellow.... but the purple people eater appears to have the same bullet hole in it that mine has. So either there are actually only 3 of these units left, and one of them keeps acting like a chameleon, or people just like shooting these in the hood!

 

[redsqwrl]

let's see if we can round up 10 Trackmaster 4VLs or close family members with serial numbers and glamor pics.

there might be three at the clowder if everthing works out. One is a resident cat.

 

[vintagebike]

We had two 4VLs that were 24 volt military units that serviced DEW line radar up north brought down from a Yellowknife, Canada salvage yard a few years ago with high hopes of resurecting them. But they were just too far gone and ended up in the Valley County Idaho landfill for metal recycling after stripping them of quite a few good parts that are now mostly in Washington. The circle of life.

 

[Thefatsquatch]

I am struggling to find the casting number for the bell housing between the ford 223 and the Borg Warner t-98 4 speed. It seems that was just a very unusual combination, even in the ford f100, even though it was an option. Can anyone tell me what the numbers are, or even take a picture?

 

[Yancey]

Another one that has not been forgotten, I have a 1958 4VL, this was used by a local search and rescue before being retired and sold at auction. I have just replaced the rubber on tracks, new carburetor, rewired the dash board, replaced a window and many other small repairs. However I am needing some help for some parts info. I have been struggling to find an owners manual (PDF is fine). Especially the drive train section. I just had a problem and lost drive on one side. I suspect the chain in the drop box may have broken. I am not sure which rear end I have, it is not an OC4 or OC12. it does have a single drive shaft and the brakes are exposed outside the gear box. I suspect it may be the one from the IH TD-6, but not sure yet. I will post a picture of the rear later.

 

[Thefatsquatch]

Another one that has not been forgotten, I have a 1958 4VL, this was used by a local search and rescue before being retired and sold at auction. I have just replaced the rubber on tracks, new carburetor, rewired the dash board, replaced a window and many other small repairs. However I am needing some help for some parts info. I have been struggling to find an owners manual (PDF is fine). Especially the drive train section. I just had a problem and lost drive on one side. I suspect the chain in the drop box may have broken. I am not sure which rear end I have, it is not an OC4 or OC12. it does have a single drive shaft and the brakes are exposed outside the gear box. I suspect it may be the one from the IH TD-6, but not sure yet. I will post a picture of the rear later.
View attachment 175593View attachment 175594View attachment 175595

I like this one! Your dash is set up differently than either of the ones I have. Kinda cool. Those look like the tracks off a 601. The top rack is also something I need to add to mine. Gotta keep that cargo space up. Did you end up mounting the space heater front or back?

 

[redsqwrl]

The grousers look straight across mixed with drop centers or is that an illusion

 

[Thefatsquatch]

The grousers look straight across mixed with drop centers or is that an illusion

I can't tell from the pictures. Some of them look straight but some of them look dropped. Was there a machine that ran a straight grouser with a wheel cut-out but not a raised pad? Mine are just the wooden ones with caps. These look like the bolt heads are up too, which would certainly help with the sideways sliding that GMoose mentions in his Frandee.

 

[Yancey]

The tracks were changed out at some point, I do not know what the "new" tracks are from. All the parts are mild steal and every 5th one was a double stack of square tubing (picture is a single). The original belting was too short and was extended to fit this machine. Most of the wheel guilds are welded permanently like the part on top. When I got done every 4th one is now a double, which go straight across with a small welded pad in the middle.
I have a machine shop in Sheridan, WY that says they will make a mold to make more of the wheel guides as I have been unable to locate any this size available anywhere. I can tell you from experience changing the belting on these tracks is really hard work. There are 64 grousers on each track 10 bolts in each for a total of 640 bolts per tracks.