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Adventures in Snowcatting

We've got clsoe to 200km's of trail we take care of. There's clubs on each side of us that have around the same mileage they maintain. Our club isn't goverment owned. We're all basically private clubs joined together by the OFSC(ontario federation of snowmobile clubs) We sell trail permits for snowmobilers to ride on the trails we maintain. When they buy a permit, they can ride on any OFSC trail in the province. If you chose to, you could start at one end of the province and ride your sled all the way to the other end through the trail system. We have our local trails which are trails that go around town then we have our main trails that join to other communities. It's allot of work to maintain a trail system like that which is done mostly by volunteers.
 
groomerguyNWO said:
We've got clsoe to 200km's of trail we take care of. There's clubs on each side of us that have around the same mileage they maintain. Our club isn't goverment owned. We're all basically private clubs joined together by the OFSC(ontario federation of snowmobile clubs) We sell trail permits for snowmobilers to ride on the trails we maintain. When they buy a permit, they can ride on any OFSC trail in the province. If you chose to, you could start at one end of the province and ride your sled all the way to the other end through the trail system. We have our local trails which are trails that go around town then we have our main trails that join to other communities. It's allot of work to maintain a trail system like that which is done mostly by volunteers.
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What kind of penalty for the idiots that run the trails without the permits...
 
cops can charge them with tresspassing........................we can't do anything to them other than politely tell them to get the H*LL of the trail until they get a permit
 
Sorry if you are getting tired of seeing this 323. But we are haveing a fantastic year for snow. Week after week it is snowing hard from about the Three thou. foot level up. This week end we had the poor girl loaded with about 1300Lbs of people and gear. We had no room for even a case of beer.
(Or should I say another case) It would of been better to make two trips. Or I should find or build a trailer I can tow.
We had the cat loaded by 9Pm. For the 6 Km trip up the mountian.The first 2 Km were not to bad. Then we were getting into very wet and heavy snow. By the time we were about 2km from the cabin The snow had changed to a thin layer of wet snow sitting on top of 2Ft of power We broke throught the wet snow and lost all traction in the power. When the tracks started to spin we had to stop and back up and try again. It was first gear and very slow going after that.
We did not make the cabin untill allmost midnight. Once we were safe in the cabin with the fire going, then it was beer time.
A four track unit or a cat with a wider track would of been better in this snow. But the road is very steep and narrow in places.
The last photo is the thinking room. But you are in and out so fast you do not get much time to think.
For safety. On these trips we have it all, From sleeping bags to food
 
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An overhead heat lamp will make your stay in the thinking room much more enjoyable. Years ago, in one of our remote rooms we installed the heat lamp and it was amazing how much more enjoyable it was with a little heat and light...:yum: It even warmed the seat a little if you turned the light on a few minutes prior to use...:thumb:

Great pics and I look forward to your weekly treks with the 323....
 
took a trip to a cell sight and remembered my camera today here a couple pics of the lmc 1500 aka the blue bird
 

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I also think those pics. are GREAT keep them coming all you guys. They also get my enthusiasm back up to go out & keep working on that 601 of mine when things are not going very well or just don't feel like it:thumb: :applause:
 
How wide is the imc1500 ? And what is the weight. My gess is about 8 feetwide and about 5000Lbs.
Something with a small blade is what I need.
 
My conditions are exactly th same as yours. The blade on my Tucker is worth it's weight in gold. I did notice that turning in that crusty, wet snow was different. For your conditions I would really recommend you have a 4 tracked snow cat, specially if you have any side hill, or drifting. I have several steep grades and I have yet to find a spot that my Tucker won't handle. I chicken out before it stops. The blade is great for removing snow that falls off the roof and you can drop the blade close the the entry ways and drag the snow back. I think it is hard to beat a Tucker for our Western conditions. Here is a picture after I had plowed the front of the house.
 

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In deep dry power snow I have no troble at all turning. Because the snow is so light you can turn your pontoon, and the cat just slides around. But when I have a wet heavy layer that I brake throught into the power then it becomes hard to turn because the pontoon is so deep in the snow. The weight I was carring did not help either.
 
I understand. The snow conditions this last week made turning hard for everything I imagine. Once the grousers cut through the hard crust, it turned fine. It was just geting them turned in 3' of that stuff. I never had any loss of traction issues. It froze hard Saturday night and did not get above freezing today, so I was able to get a decent trail made.
 
What is your Avalanche danger like down there. Ours is very high here. If the freezing level goes way up, all hell will brake loose here.
 
very high here. I am not in an avalanche prone area where I run my cat, but there are some aras I have to watch. This year, the base was very icy, so it has been a serious problem in the Cascades. 8 people have died this year in the Washington Cascades in avalanches. I can see the mountain across from me had a number of large avalanches when it warmed up.
 
Bulldog Your( hopelessly lost but making goodtime) beings back memories about a trip up the mountian to the cabin. It was Another late start and we were about 3miles from the cabin in a bad snow storm at 11:30 at nite. We could just see the trail. The going was good But we could not see very far ahead at all. We compleatly missed your turn off to the cabin. A Half hour later we stopped and Started to scratch our heads. This do"s not look right.
Somebody said. We turned around and followed our tracks back untill we found the right trail. that noght we did not make the cabin untill 1:00 in the morning
Thank god the wife was not there. She would of Slaped me silly.


The photo is the next day. Sorry for the UFOs Some dummy used the flash.
 

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Took the Super Imp out for a 14 mile trip each way. 4 to 5 feet of powder loaded down with 2 guys (one fat one skinny) and about 700 lbs of gear (guestimate). She climed powder covered hills with no problem. BobP has a short vid and some pics. Actually I did discover one problem. I seem to have a fuel starvation problem. I believe the fuel filters are original and need to be changed out. I am only guessing at this right now. BUT never the less she ran great fully loaded in the powder! We even found some Bear tracks where we unloaded the Cat!
 
Snowcat Operations said:
Took the Super Imp out for a 14 mile trip each way. 4 to 5 feet of powder loaded down with 2 guys (one fat one skinny) and about 700 lbs of gear (guestimate). She climed powder covered hills with no problem. BobP has a short vid and some pics. Actually I did discover one problem. I seem to have a fuel starvation problem. I believe the fuel filters are original and need to be changed out. I am only guessing at this right now. BUT never the less she ran great fully loaded in the powder! We even found some Bear tracks where we unloaded the Cat!
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Careful, you may have to post a bear story.... Just remember, in Alaska you don't have to be able to outrun a bear, just the slowest person in the group... if that is you, then carry a walking stick so you can rap the faster ones in the knee as they pass you....:thumb:
 
Performance anxiety? Looks like it rips right along pretty well. I think he gave you a few "get readys" to make sure you could keep him in frame when he did take off. :thumb:
 
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