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DMC 1450. New to forum.

B

Biospheare

New member
Hi everyone,

I purchased a 1985 DMC snowcat in early November--the on that was on the govdeals website. I wanted a snowcat since I was 19 and discovered what they were on the internet. This happened to be when my sister was pregnant in the hospital and I was just hanging out and searching random things. Fast forward 13 years and now I have one. To be honest, I have never looked to even buy one and just stumbled upon it on the govdeals site a day before the auction was to end. I found myself bidding until I won and I am glad I did!

So far, I have taken off the front clip, the front cab, and rear cab. Sand blasted the insides of the cabs and the whole front clip. Painted it all and installed new gaskets. Installed LEG lights in both cabs. Installed LED light bars on the outside. Installed a emergency exit window on the top for safety and a moon roof. For the engine portion, I ran new transmission cooler lines, spark plugs and wires, cap, new water pump, and rebuild the radiator. Also, installed new oil and coolant lines. New lines to the back heater. Flushed the engine. I did not do anything internally. When removing the existing fluids it all looked brand new and had low hours; therefore, I figure it is all in decent shape. I also upholstered both seats and lowered the driver seat down. Installed noise dampener and carpet on the doors.

I took it to La Porte, CA, and tested it. I will post pictures. It ran nicely and no big issues. The only issue is that it slightly tracks to the right, but very gradually and hard to tell. If anyone has any clue on why then let me know. The motor runs strong and fires right up and idles nicely. I still have a lot to do with it. I need to get new gaskets for the windows. I need to insulate the front cab and back cab. Mainly to help with noise and vibration. Any good insulation ideas, let me know :). The back heater works awesome. I also need to install a new inner gasket for the sliding windows. Any idea on where to get gaskets then let me know. I need to get back seats installed and a rubber floor liner.

Overall, I wanted to say hello and share my progress! I will be posting updates and checking out other posts. Thanks to wbuffetjr1 for info about the paint!

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Welcome aboard and congratulations on the new family member.

Great job on the cat. Looks very nice.

There is a procedure to adjust track tension and the bands that might help with the steering issue.
 
Very nice job! No hydraulics means the lower 1/3 of your radiator isn’t blocked by the related cooler...engine should run cool. Tracks and tub look rust free - very nice. Take a close look at your axles (they’re just 1/2”x10” grade 8 bolts) for damage or misaligned wheels or front idlers. Any damaged zircs on the wheels or idlers could mean a long time since greasing. Using the zircs doesn’t guarantee bearing coverage anyway. The wheels need to have been taken off in the past to properly get it done. I learned all this the hard way. My bearings were all rusted solid to the races.
Shiny can mean a whole lot of sitting and rusted stuff.
Sweet 1450WT for sure ?
 
BearGap said:
Sweet 1450WT for sure ?
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BG,

You have far more experience with 1450s than I, but I believe that is a Standard Track machine; not a Wide Track. Looking at the photos it appears the inner and outer belt width is the same. I have a 1984 DMC 1450 Wide Track, and the belts are different. The inner belts are 9 1/2" wide and the outer belts are 15 1/2" wide.

Unfortunately Safety One no longer has their library of snowcat spec sheets available for viewing online, however I did find this forum post with a spec sheet. It shows a Standard Track machine to be 70" wide and a Wide Track to be 84". It shows the track widths to be 25 3/8" (Standard Track) and 31 1/2" (Wide Track).

It's post number two here:

1984 DMC Super Imp

I need to get a trailer for a 1984 Super Imp, but I don't have the machine to measure. Does anyone know how wide the Super imp is. It says 84" wide, does that mean it would fin on a 7' wide trailer or do I need more width on the deck.
www.forumsforums.com www.forumsforums.com
 
I was told the best way to tell whether you have a wide track or a narrow track, the tubes that hold the leaf springs if they have a bunch sticking past the outer leaf it's a narrow track. Bands are equal on inside and outside on both wide and narrow track. Unless someone modified a narrow track asymmetrical.
 
This one is definitely a standard track.
 

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mbsieg said:
I was told the best way to tell whether you have a wide track or a narrow track, the tubes that hold the leaf springs if they have a bunch sticking past the outer leaf it's a narrow track. Bands are equal on inside and outside on both wide and narrow track. Unless someone modified a narrow track asymmetrical.
Click to expand...
Well THAT'S sure interesting!

Your post prompted me to get off my lazy butt, and look in the manual. You are absolutely correct! Per the 1450 parts manual, a standard track machine uses belts that are 8" wide, and a wide track machine uses belts that are 9 1/2 inches wide. I also looked at the leaf spring/suspension tube relationship and there is very little tube extending past the leaf springs.

My apologies to Bear Gap, and everyone, for my erroneous information. As Homer Simpson would say, "Doh"!

I guess my 1450 is an "Ultra Wide Track" model (I made that up). But at some point in its life a previous owner went to considerable trouble and expense to add the wider belts and a bunch of longer grousers. According to the manual, a wide track machine has a ground pressure of .56 lbs per square inch unloaded, and 1.00 PSI with a 2,400 pound load. The extra belt width (including the estimated extra weight of the wider belting and longer grousers) shows an unladen ground pressure of .49 lbs per square inch, and .86 PSI fully loaded. While that's an improvement, the extra width is going to take more power. I wonder how they compare head-to-head in actual conditions?
 
Sweet ride......enjoy....

I got interested in cats when I was 16 yo....68 now.....Finally got my first cat back nearly a year ago now.
I got the big brother to your 1450 (A 2100 packmaster)

The crew here can help a lot with issues that may need help with.

Have fun
 
Mr. Bio, very nice cat. I don’t know if I’ve seen a 1985. I’d heard they switched to LMC by then. Could you post a picture of your data plate just for fun? I’d love to see it. It seems they made about 400 of them from 1969 to 1985-ish. Mine is #1415, and Manistee’s is 1413 I believe.
 
Blackfoot Tucker said:
BG,

You have far more experience with 1450s than I, but I believe that is a Standard Track machine; not a Wide Track. Looking at the photos it appears the inner and outer belt width is the same. I have a 1984 DMC 1450 Wide Track, and the belts are different. The inner belts are 9 1/2" wide and the outer belts are 15 1/2" wide.

Unfortunately Safety One no longer has their library of snowcat spec sheets available for viewing online, however I did find this forum post with a spec sheet. It shows a Standard Track machine to be 70" wide and a Wide Track to be 84". It shows the track widths to be 25 3/8" (Standard Track) and 31 1/2" (Wide Track).

It's post number two here:

1984 DMC Super Imp

I need to get a trailer for a 1984 Super Imp, but I don't have the machine to measure. Does anyone know how wide the Super imp is. It says 84" wide, does that mean it would fin on a 7' wide trailer or do I need more width on the deck.
www.forumsforums.com www.forumsforums.com
Click to expand...
Yes, the DMC 1450 Super Imp is 7' or 84" wide stopping it from fitting on most trailers with wheel wells such as car trailers. You'll need a deckover trailer.
 
That's a nice looking machine with a good paint job. I just took delivery on my 1450 a couple of weeks ago. The manuals will be along shortly but at the moment I have a question about greasing the front idler wheels. Do they have zerk fittings? So far I can't find any.
 
Very cool. I wonder if those are Spryte grousers? Awesome 1450 for sure.
And it’s nice you live just a few feet away. ?
 
Here’s my plate. Mine was started in ‘80 by Thiokol and sold in ‘81 by DMC.
 

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I think you’re correct. I’m really not an expert. Before he retired Dr Zaug told me from his records, my D Zero C #1415 was built in ‘80 but wasn’t completed/sold until mid 1981.
 
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