1973 Tucker Sno Cat 1443 New to Me

[Pontoon Princess]

I myself, like to think of it, as, smiles per mile, and Tucker Sno-Cats have the highest ratings in the industry. and then there is Brian, he is the poster child for happy Tucker Sno-Cat owners, he always includes his family which is very special and yes, mr loggah, he has created the next generation of Accumulators

stay orange and tucker on.....

 

[loggah]

Brian,Has to be like that "HE HAS TUCKERS IN HIS BLOOD" !!!!!

 

[Track Addict]

Options are family time or no time so everybody wins.

Me and little bri fetched the tucker mid day. The belt failure was due to the alternator bracket broke at one time and a poor repair. Instead of bending and rewelding they sistered up an angle bracket and thru bolted bracket in the new bent position. It had to be a 1/2 or 3/4 out of line causing extreme belt wear. That and the steering pully belt is 3/8 and the other is 7/16. They used a 3/8 which made it ride way to low. Increased the failure rate.

I took a belt and used one of the steering pulleys to get it out of them woods.

Re-bent the bracket into line with the pulleys and welded the repair. The time it took them to drill and bolt the bracket was more than the correct re weld and they had to have taken it off to drill and bold the repair.

Had an exhaust leak at the header flange and connection below. Re sealed the flange and cut out the rotted metal and added a piece to make whole again. Plan is to make a new one off season. I was able to bring the current setup more inline. The low spot in the pipe rotted because I believe it got water in the open exhaust. I added a flapper which should be better at keeping elements out.

 

[Track Addict]

This little guy anxious to get on his tucker this morning. Poor little guy just walks around the house with his carhart in one hand and one boot on the other saying daddy until I get home from work. Must be the Tucker in him!

 

[Pontoon Princess]

poor little guy, J. Tucker.... that must be hard for him, to see his tucker sno-cat just sitting outside in plain view, you should at least put in the cat house, out of sight, quite sure he loves the tucker sno-cat more than than anything, he is J. Tucker.......

 

[DAVENET]

Not sure yet. Now that I can use the cat we will find out quickly. The enter and exit is awkward. Also want a safer bottom step without the sharp edge for the kids.

Think there will be another design coming...

Make a box steel frame & cover it with expanded metal. That way snow & ice drop thru it when stepped on. Someone will slip on the current design when it's ice covered and smash their ass.

 

[Track Addict]

Now that I scored a nice used Yakima rack I can for go the receiver. Think a step with some expanded steel boxes somehow is the way to go also. Nobody has misstepped yet but it's coming!

 

[Track Addict]

Knocked off work a little early to celebrate my birthday and my valentines.

Went for a nice tucker ride. My homemade exhaust gasket failed so I picked up a new one hope to fix tomorrow night.

Took the other cats out with the boys to cruise the fresh packed trails. Plan was to hook the drag up after dinner and lay some ribbon.

Plans ended with a broke ring gear on the arctic cat and a broken drag. Drag must have been frozen to the ground and tried to pull it out at and angle snap the main connecting tower and probably bent the other side.

In the house for the night before Tucker breaks or another leg does!

 

[Pontoon Princess]

Happy Birthday.....

 

[Track Addict]

Somebody found the stash! Either he is saying Dudda or tucka pointing at it.

Either would be appropriate I guess.

 

[Track Addict]

Strong weekend. 160 smile snowmobiling Friday. There has to be 7 plus feet up in some parts of NH. Ride fresh groomed trails Friday courtesy of the 6 groomers we saw. Seems to be lots of Tucker Terras these days and they move. Passed three of those 2 PB edge and a couple BR 180s all dragging big mogul masters. Numerous others on the trek we never saw. Rode twin mountain up to Errol and back. I know you westerns have snow but this year they are doing well in the north!

Hit the slopes with the kids Saturday and came home to embrace the last day of sno for now 50 degrees and sun shining! Warm up so we hit the reset button while in McCall.

Trailered over to a friends farm other part of Haverhill few hundred privat acres. Lots of friends and family loving the Tucker and took a few on a tour to see parts of their farm they have not seen in many many years. Of course had to bring along the 120 class race team. Night tour was a big hit.

Tucker made many more memories today across all ages!

PS thumbs down is the tucker time out pit for some of the non listening race team.

 

[Pontoon Princess]

yup

 

[Track Addict]

Few YouTubes for you. All about the kids these days . Mostly....

5-7 year olds on this team


https://youtu.be/DdWJ2LR7W14

https://youtu.be/-r0Rh6sxhX8

https://youtu.be/0cK4PjNEYBE

 

[Track Addict]

Last one for the night.

J. Tucker fighting the wheel for control driving with Dad tuckering in Tucker and in the back is a neighbor boy my other son has taken a liking to whom coincidentally happens to be named Tuckyr. (Spell check is correct) Random but true and we try to share what we are very fortunate to have!

Mom may or may not have taken this photo and was holding my beverage ! Haven't found good cup holder solution yet.

 

[Track Addict]

Lie few more came in via text

 

[Pontoon Princess]

i am beginning to think you are now LEFT leaning.....

 

[Track Addict]

Scored a great deal on a nice used Yakima roof basket with extension. Think it compliments the cat proportionally. Of course it will be sitting up a bit once mounted on the cross bars and the location needs to be fine tuned. Has some accessories that can be mounted to it that may be useful in the future.

Taking a little break from the project till next week McCall is calling! Unfortunately I think we will back to bare ground when I return.

Plan is to overdose on catnip out in Idaho just in case !

 

[Track Addict]

Got the rear cross bar on tonight. The rivets that hold the roof on are in the top of then 3-4 square stock so the thru bolt option was abandoned because won't line up. Had to mill and file a recess for the rivet gun to get low enough to line up with existing rivets.

Used rivets like factory instead of thru bolts and made new holes. Between the rivets and existing flange support plenty sturdy. System works well and clamps secure to the new brackets and under the factory roof flange. Little black touch up paint and should like good racks on or off.

Thule low raingutter mount hug the roof nice!

 

[Track Addict]

Rack mounted up nice easy to reach from back or side tracks.

On to the track reversal.

 

[Track Addict]

Got the rear tracks off. Good news is there are 5 ice breakers not the three I thought must be color blind. One extra ice breaker is on the front. Will take off and replace with the spare rubber one.

Tightened all the spindle/ bearing nuts and greased new cotter pins. Number of turns on each. Greased the carrier fitting and adjusters. Have to replace one fitting.

The sliders although real new looking have cheap full thread carriage bolts and some were loose and ovaled the steel. One repair was to add a thin plate instead of just fixing it right. I plan to address this by weld filling and re drilling and instead of carriage bolts Allen head with washers.

Few other questions I will ask in another thread about carrier bushing wear, bearing caps, washers,etc.

Pretty easy compared to the steel track! Miss it though.

 

[Track Addict]

Completed half of the trackeotomy procedure got rear tracks reversed and the sliders re attached securely. Nothing too surprising. Have some work to do in the off season. Rear leaf spring shackles need to be re bushed and I think the shackle to rear table will need bushing work also.

Seasons winding down in the east very sad...

 

[DAVENET]

Freaking crazy how much snow we have lost in two weeks. Drove out to Schenectady yesterday and the only place that still had snow was the plateau up by Prospect mountain in VT. Everywhere else is back to grass.

 

[Sno-Surfer]

I like your attention to detail on both your cat projects. They found a good home.

 

[Track Addict]

Rear door open holder check. Works as a bumper and locks with a little tap.

Great for warm weather touring !

 

[Track Addict]

Found some winter up north. Might be one more dumping of sno for us next week!

 

[Track Addict]

Looks like some other people I know found sno with a cat up north this weekend also!

-digits cold

 

[Track Addict]

Got the tracks all reversed . Changed out the slider bolts. Greased the wheels. Adjusted the tension.

Just in time for the blizzard we are getting today !

 

[Track Addict]

Thanks Mother Nature for a little end of season boost.

Put a few smiles on and the tracks seem to ride a little smoother this way.

Heavy wet sno!

Question on the front carriers? The adjusters are both on in the front of the tracks. I believe these are on backwards .

Doesn't make sense to have that adjuster take all the impact being the front wheel.

 

[tatman]

On my Tucker the back adjusters are bolted solid and the tracks are adjusted in the front. The manual says that's the way Tucker intended.

 

[sno-drifter]

On my Tucker the back adjusters are bolted solid and the tracks are adjusted in the front. The manual says that's the way Tucker intended.

Think about it. You want the strongest, least amount of wobble when going forward on the carrier. The tension on the belts is highest behind the drive sprocket and less on the forward side when going forward. Tatman and manual correct.