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THIOKOL 601 RESTORE
- Thread starter weatherby
- Start date
Wow! You are going to have an absolute blast restoring her! Please keep us in healty supply of pics as you go along the path! I'd enjoy getting a 10-person Thiokol like yours and undetaking the same project... so I'll try to live vicariously through your updates to the forum.
Cheers
Cheers
koz
New member
Here's a link to a snowmobile club in Maine that has a few of the SUV's with snowmobile tracks on them http://www.gorhamsnogoers.org/
weatherby said:can you believe it (the wife just doesn't get it)
Your wife doesn't get it?
I'm pretty sure that any wife who thinks we are sane to buy 30 to 40 year old snowcats so we can take them apart to put them back together and really have no practical use for them would have to be insane to "get it."By the way, is that a Cub Cadet 7000 series tractor in the background? Or maybe a Challenger?
These snow mobile tracks look to be a pretty good possible option to the ridiculously over-priced Mattracks (ok, I know, lots and lots of engineering into it but alot of those engineering costs should have been recovered by the military-related design efforts). Anyone know the approximate cost? I'm checking into it.koz said:Here's a link to a snowmobile club in Maine that has a few of the SUV's with snowmobile tracks on them http://www.gorhamsnogoers.org/
I firmly believe there are two types of people in this world. When you tell them you bought a snow cat there are two reactions "how cool" or "why would you do that?" My wife is firmly in the second category of people.
Good luck with the restore and with the wife.
79Bombi
Good luck with the restore and with the wife.
79Bombi
Are you planning to restore to original or upgrade this 601? Past history?
weatherby
Member
Well I went back & forth for quite awhile (years) trying to decide how to restore this (thing) as my wife calls it and because of its tour of duty in the U.S.A.F. I finally decided to bring it back to its original condition.Now I know thats going to be allot easer said than done but I'll try to get as close as I can get. I am now trying to find out the correct color of blue it is supposed to be and thats turning out to be some what of a problem. The HISTORY of this 601 that I have been able to find out is it started life in the A.F it went directly up to the ARCTIC CIRCLE to be used to patrol what we then called the DEW line (distant early warning) line. (Radar instillations sites that watched RUSSIA). Long about the mid to late 60s it was shipped down to K.I. SAWYER AFB in Marquette Michigan and it stayed there patrolling the B-52s that were stationed there at that time also at that time it had some type of machine gun mounted on the roof next to the roof hatchmtncrawler said:
( now only if I had pics.of that )
That AFB closed in the early 80s and then it was some how given/donated to the county up there and they used it for just getting back into the bush when needed, fighting forest fires, and grooming snowmobile trails which they say it did not make a good groomer so towards the end of the 80s they bought a big new TUCKER and this 601 began sitting more & more till it just started sinking into the ground out behind one of there out buildings and never even started for about 4 years. Thats when I started inquiring about it then after about 2 years of red tape I finally got my hands on it in JAN.94 and its been sitting till now. The gun was taken off when K.I. sawyer closed.
That is a great history.weatherby said:The HISTORY of this 601 that I have been able to find out is it started life in the A.F it went directly up to the ARCTIC CIRCLE to be used to patrol what we then called the DEW line (distant early warning) line. (Radar instillations sites that watched RUSSIA). Long about the mid to late 60s it was shipped down to K.I. SAWYER AFB in Marquette Michigan and it stayed there patrolling the B-52s that were stationed there at that time also at that time it had some type of machine gun mounted on the roof next to the roof hatch
Do you have any idea what the original AF markings would have been on this unit? I presume a white star, but there must have been some other designations?This restoration project will make some great reading, I'll be looking forward to your progress reports and photos.
weatherby
Member
Boy you said a mouth full there!!!!!!!!B_Skurka said:Your wife doesn't get it?
By the way, is that a Cub Cadet 7000 series tractor in the background? Or maybe a Challenger?
And yes that is a 27HP diesel Cub Cadet
weatherby
Member
I am glad you brought that up because I forgot to include in that post that when I was in contact with my source at THIOKOL along with the manual that he sent me he also sent me a 8x10 black&white photo of one of several 601s that left there factory at that time for the Arctic he had no idea of which one it was maybe mine maybe not but at least it's exactly what what mine did look like when new. I am going to try and get that 8x10 on to my P.C. so I can post it and show you guys. But I don't know yet if a 8x10 can be made to look as it should when and if I can figure out to make it fit a 700x800 pixel postB_Skurka said:That is a great history.
This restoration project will make some great reading, I'll be looking forward to your progress reports and photos.
weatherby
Member
Very cool I,m sorta one to I,d like to show you some pics. of a Fordson Major Diesel I restored a few years back but can I post them here? or should I post them some where else. This is all new to me (writing into a forum )so I don,t know what I can or can not or where or where not to do certain things.B_Skurka said:
There is a TRACTOR area here in the Forums. I would post the photos there. Most of the original members here at the ForumsForums website are actually tractor people. I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate seeing the pictures and hearing about the restoration.weatherby said:
As for any rules here on the ForumsForums website, the #1 rule is to be civil. Most anything goes for topics or discussion, but there are some areas where some discussions are better held than others. For example, many of the Tractor people do not frequent the Snowcat areas, many of the political debates occur in the Debate/Discussion area and those people to visit some of the other areas. There are places for Jokes, computers, etc. Just look over the main index and post your pictures or topics in the area you think would be best to get the most people viewing them.
Also there is a photo gallery, you can post larger photos and files in the photo gallery than you can in the discussion area. BUT if you post photos in the gallery, you cannot really discuss them because it is more like a photo album where you "look" at the pictures or files. There is even a secret "adult" area called the LOCKER ROOM. It has adult oriented humor and photos. You have to ask "DOC" our ForumsForums administrator to let you in there, and you have to be a member here for a certain amount of time and make something like a dozen posts to qualify to get in there. Some of the stuff in there is pretty funny. Some of the photos are pretty entertaining
but there is no x-rated stuff in there.
weatherby
Member
Are you refering to the VEHICLES / Heavy Equipment sectionB_Skurka said:There is a TRACTOR area here in the Forums. I would post the photos there. Most of the original members here at the ForumsForums website are actually tractor people. I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate seeing the pictures and hearing about the restoration.
As for any rules here on the ForumsForums website, the #1 rule is to be civil. Most anything goes for topics or discussion, but there are some areas where some discussions are better held than others. For example, many of the Tractor people do not frequent the Snowcat areas, many of the political debates occur in the Debate/Discussion area and those people to visit some of the other areas. There are places for Jokes, computers, etc. Just look over the main index and post your pictures or topics in the area you think would be best to get the most people viewing them.
Also there is a photo gallery, you can post larger photos and files in the photo gallery than you can in the discussion area. BUT if you post photos in the gallery, you cannot really discuss them because it is more like a photo album where you "look" at the pictures or files. There is even a secret "adult" area called the LOCKER ROOM. It has adult oriented humor and photos. You have to ask "DOC" our ForumsForums administrator to let you in there, and you have to be a member here for a certain amount of time and make something like a dozen posts to qualify to get in there. Some of the stuff in there is pretty funny. Some of the photos are pretty entertaining
weatherby
Member
Thease pics. were taken at the time I bought it (JAN.94). Water had collected in the rear drive housing over the years of sitting and was frozen ice hard so we had to drag it out to the road then lift so I could get under the rear drive with a tourch to heat it & melt the ice so I could push & pull it up on the trailer for the (400mi) trip homeweatherby said:The beginning of my long awaited restore. And can you believe it (the wife just doesn't get it)
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AKdadio
New member
Cool photos! I hope you have a great time with this project and post photos. I noticed the suspension the 601 uses, had never seen that, it is like a torsion-bar suspension approach with really man-sized springs.
On another note, if anyone was curious what it is is like to actually use a snow cat in snow. . . here you go . . .
On another note, if anyone was curious what it is is like to actually use a snow cat in snow. . . here you go . . .
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weatherby said:Are you refering to the VEHICLES / Heavy Equipment section
No there is an area just for TRACTORS.
The FORUMSFORUMS has several areas. We are obviusly in the SNOWCAT area. But there are some general topic sub-forums and some specific sub-Forums.
Below are some screen captures, you can see that the RURAL LIVING sub-forum has the TRACTOR section. But the VEHICLE sub-forum has the has the HEAVY EQUIPMENT section.
Boy now I know what it feels like to have to have somebody draw you picture to show you how to do something
