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Alpine Cat Jamboree 2021 - January 8th, 9th, and 10th

IMG_20210109_125530_01.jpg
 
Thanks again for putting this event together! As Willow was saying in an earlier post Rusty decided to destroy his 250k+ mile transmission 3 miles from the parking lot. Luckily we got him loaded onto the trailer as he barely had even first gear left. We got home safe yesterday and had to use some creativity to get him into the shop.

Nik Orlov a.k.a. BudNixon of Nixon overland offered up a spare transmission missing reverse and I found an OEM master rebuild kit on ebay so we will see what I can cobble together to get Rusty back in the snow.

With only 16 hours on this "new to me" restomodded pandemic project cat I consider this a huge win and will be able to repair him for more adventures.

I put together a raw footage video and we tried to get as many cats on camera as we could. Enjoy!

 
DAMAGE REPORT - just what you all have been waiting for.

My kitten, first time out since I have owned it, made it about 5 miles on day 1 then we lost the left drive. We did not open up the pontoon to inspect, but based on the behavior I believe we lost the left clutch. Got towed out by the Frandee and loaded into the truck with a come-a-long and a lot of help and muscles.

Next up, Rusty, as has been explained earlier, lost his transmission, but only after some great catting around, and winching a snowmobile up out of a steap drop off. Bonus, he made it out and onto the trailer under his own power. Oh ya, he also had a radiator hose start to leak, but a quick fix by his creator and he was back in action (this was prior to the start of the transmission problem).

The Tucker taper back bent the stearing mechanism but was able to drive out. Cat was taken to town and repaired and welded. Excellent repair since that cat ran the next two days.

Frandee developed a heater core leak, had to shut the supply valve, cold ride after that. Did valve it in once to get warmed up until cab looked like a Chech and Chong movie. Also ripped a third of one grouser wear bar off from one grouser.

Up next, another one for the taper back. Not damage, but a temporary issue. After a stop the left front drive had an ice freeze event which would only allow the drum to rotate about 3/4 of a rotation. After digging snow and ice out, that we could get to, we used a torch and the Muther Tucker, track thawing hose to melt the ice jamb. Before long it thawed and we were on our way.

The 1966 543 had some mystery ignition or fuel issue, but it seemed to move along fine, especially when near red line in the powder.

The Spryte that led us to the top of Mt. Howard, bladeing us a path when needed, walked out of a track. Had to leave it on top of the mountain for the night. We went back this morning and got the track back on, thanks to a lot of great ideas and workers.

I can't believe it, but to my knowledge the Muther Tucker did not break anything, which if you know Rod (aka drive it like you stole it or hell ya I think we can go up that, let's try it). But he doesn't get off free after all. His way cool air lift custom trailer, the coolest one on the planet, has a leaking air valve that needs replaced, sorry Rod.

And lastly, Rob's 443, to my knowledge he wins with no damage, and this cat went everywhere. Congratulations Rob!!!

I hope I got everything correct here, if not please correct me and add what I missed.

Can hardly wait until next year for the Alpine Cat jamboree ADVENTURE. Thanks for putting this on Jesse!

This report comes to you from the passenger seat of my 2001 F350 with a Kitten in the bed and the Frandee in tow out on I-84 with 350 miles behind us and 150 miles in front of us.
 
GMoose said:
DAMAGE REPORT - just what you all have been waiting for.

My kitten, first time out since I have owned it, made it about 5 miles on day 1 then we lost the left drive. We did not open up the pontoon to inspect, but based on the behavior I believe we lost the left clutch. Got towed out by the Frandee and loaded into the truck with a come-a-long and a lot of help and muscles.

Next up, Rusty, as has been explained earlier, lost his transmission, but only after some great catting around, and winching a snowmobile up out of a steap drop off. Bonus, he made it out and onto the trailer under his own power. Oh ya, he also had a radiator hose start to leak, but a quick fix by his creator and he was back in action (this was prior to the start of the transmission problem).

The Tucker taper back bent the stearing mechanism but was able to drive out. Cat was taken to town and repaired and welded. Excellent repair since that cat ran the next two days.

Frandee developed a heater core leak, had to shut the supply valve, cold ride after that. Did valve it in once to get warmed up until cab looked like a Chech and Chong movie. Also ripped a third of one grouser wear bar off from one grouser.

Up next, another one for the taper back. Not damage, but a temporary issue. After a stop the left front drive had an ice freeze event which would only allow the drum to rotate about 3/4 of a rotation. After digging snow and ice out, that we could get to, we used a torch and the Muther Tucker, track thawing hose to melt the ice jamb. Before long it thawed and we were on our way.

The 1966 543 had some mystery ignition or fuel issue, but it seemed to move along fine, especially when near red line in the powder.

The Spryte that led us to the top of Mt. Howard, bladeing us a path when needed, walked out of a track. Had to leave it on top of the mountain for the night. We went back this morning and got the track back on, thanks to a lot of great ideas and workers.

I can't believe it, but to my knowledge the Muther Tucker did not break anything, which if you know Rod (aka drive it like you stole it or hell ya I think we can go up that, let's try it). But he doesn't get off free after all. His way cool air lift custom trailer, the coolest one on the planet, has a leaking air valve that needs replaced, sorry Rod.

And lastly, Rob's 443, to my knowledge he wins with no damage, and this cat went everywhere. Congratulations Rob!!!

I hope I got everything correct here, if not please correct me and add what I missed.

Can hardly wait until next year for the Alpine Cat jamboree ADVENTURE. Thanks for putting this on Jesse!

This report comes to you from the passenger seat of my 2001 F350 with a Kitten in the bed and the Frandee in tow out on I-84 with 350 miles behind us and 150 miles in front of us.
Click to expand...
GMoose,
Sorry to have missed this event this year but just couldn't fit it in. Looks like I missed another good one though.

Just see the pics, but agree Rod's trailer looks pretty cool. Also can you explain track thawing hose? Just curious, sounds intriguing.
 
1boringguy said:
GMoose,
Sorry to have missed this event this year but just couldn't fit it in. Looks like I missed another good one though.

Just see the pics, but agree Rod's trailer looks pretty cool. Also can you explain track thawing hose? Just curious, sounds intriguing.
Click to expand...
The hose is a metalic flex hose about 1-1/2 diameter and maybe 15 ft long. He hooked it to his exhaust and ran the other end to the drain/clean out hole in the side of the pontoon.
 
GMoose said:
DAMAGE REPORT - just what you all have been waiting for.

My kitten, first time out since I have owned it, made it about 5 miles on day 1 then we lost the left drive. We did not open up the pontoon to inspect, but based on the behavior I believe we lost the left clutch. Got towed out by the Frandee and loaded into the truck with a come-a-long and a lot of help and muscles.

Next up, Rusty, as has been explained earlier, lost his transmission, but only after some great catting around, and winching a snowmobile up out of a steap drop off. Bonus, he made it out and onto the trailer under his own power. Oh ya, he also had a radiator hose start to leak, but a quick fix by his creator and he was back in action (this was prior to the start of the transmission problem).

The Tucker taper back bent the stearing mechanism but was able to drive out. Cat was taken to town and repaired and welded. Excellent repair since that cat ran the next two days.

Frandee developed a heater core leak, had to shut the supply valve, cold ride after that. Did valve it in once to get warmed up until cab looked like a Chech and Chong movie. Also ripped a third of one grouser wear bar off from one grouser.

Up next, another one for the taper back. Not damage, but a temporary issue. After a stop the left front drive had an ice freeze event which would only allow the drum to rotate about 3/4 of a rotation. After digging snow and ice out, that we could get to, we used a torch and the Muther Tucker, track thawing hose to melt the ice jamb. Before long it thawed and we were on our way.

The 1966 543 had some mystery ignition or fuel issue, but it seemed to move along fine, especially when near red line in the powder.

The Spryte that led us to the top of Mt. Howard, bladeing us a path when needed, walked out of a track. Had to leave it on top of the mountain for the night. We went back this morning and got the track back on, thanks to a lot of great ideas and workers.

I can't believe it, but to my knowledge the Muther Tucker did not break anything, which if you know Rod (aka drive it like you stole it or hell ya I think we can go up that, let's try it). But he doesn't get off free after all. His way cool air lift custom trailer, the coolest one on the planet, has a leaking air valve that needs replaced, sorry Rod.

And lastly, Rob's 443, to my knowledge he wins with no damage, and this cat went everywhere. Congratulations Rob!!!

I hope I got everything correct here, if not please correct me and add what I missed.

Can hardly wait until next year for the Alpine Cat jamboree ADVENTURE. Thanks for putting this on Jesse!

This report comes to you from the passenger seat of my 2001 F350 with a Kitten in the bed and the Frandee in tow out on I-84 with 350 miles behind us and 150 miles in front of us.
Click to expand...
You got it right. Thanks for the fun. We got plenty of video footage of you on the first day. We had a blast and will be back next year, fingers crossed!
 
GMoose said:
The hose is a metalic flex hose about 1-1/2 diameter and maybe 15 ft long. He hooked it to his exhaust and ran the other end to the drain/clean out hole in the side of the pontoon.
Click to expand...
Ahh yea, great idea. And I can just imagine him pulling out that hose and hooking it up in the field. Fits right into Mad Max On the Snow theme of his build imo ??
 
I finally got around to putting my footage together from last Friday. I was only there for a short time, but a great time!! Awesome to meet all of you, and thanks for the ride and hangs Sean & Willow, and thanks for letting me drive my first cat @GMoose and Ian!! I decided I had to leave Sat to go ski in Idaho & WY. Currently posting this from Jackson Hole aka Aspen Hole. Onward to MT, SD, MN and the Michigan UP Cat Clowder! Cheers friends ->
 
Besides the fact that Milwauie Tools should sponsor you. I agree that auto is a good thing. But, I would never trust that trans again. Too many places for that sliver of crap to hide, only to surface out of walking distance.
 
Cidertom said:
Besides the fact that Milwauie Tools should sponsor you. I agree that auto is a good thing. But, I would never trust that trans again. Too many places for that sliver of crap to hide, only to surface out of walking distance.
Click to expand...
Maybe it would be better to rebuild the spare transmission??? Just a thought.
 
Yeah I would agree. That gear box is the textbook definition of a grenaded transmission.
Is Bud's transmission a better place to start?
 
PJL said:
What was the cause of no reverse in the donor transmission?
Click to expand...
A bad seal on the drive drum so the reverse clutch piston was not getting pressure. I spotted it right away when I took it apart. About 1/4 of the seal was destroyed. Looks like it got pinched on installation and eventually failed after sitting a long time not being used so the seal had time to dry out.
 
Great video and some of the best kitten video I've seen! Even the tow looked fun. That Frandee is sooo quiet! Also interesting that from the cab of the Frandee, it's still hard to see the end of the steering ski.
Thanks for putting this together. Looks like a neat area.
 
Sno-Surfer said:
Great video and some of the best kitten video I've seen! Even the tow looked fun. That Frandee is sooo quiet! Also interesting that from the cab of the Frandee, it's still hard to see the end of the steering ski.
Thanks for putting this together. Looks like a neat area.
Click to expand...
You can see in the video me hitting the Kitten with the ski, this is partly because it is hard to see, even though it sticks out front a dozen feet. It is even harder to see the ski when you are going over terrain where the cat is going upward and the ski is going downward.

I have the kitten repaired now, once we get some decent snow here I will get some more on use footage of it in action.
 
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