first snowtrac/snowcat run

[Roadkill]

Finally the snow hit locally. I scoped out the local mountain on thursday and we had 4 feet of fresh powder. Buddyauto and I planned on hitting the snow the next day with my snowmaster and his imp. We took off friday morning and unfortunately a slick steep corner heading up the mountain sucked me and my trailer in. while we were unsticking my rig, it was one of those murphy moments when all of a sudden my H1 catches fire.. the starter selenoid caught fire! the truck was just idling then bam, sparks and fire.. after an exciting minute we get the fire out but my starter is toast. we unload the snow trac, move the truck and trailer to a turnout and get the trailer hooked to buddyauto's truck.. our day wasn't ruined! so the snowtrac was towed the rest of the way up the mountain and we had a great time in the new powder. we found that the wide track imp had better flotation than the snow trac (didn't leave as deep of tracks) but didn't have near the ground clearance as the snow master.. both rigs did great in the soft powder and neither came close to getting stuck. i definitely have to get used to the large turning radius of the snow trac.
sadly, my digital camera got lost in the scramble to get the truck fire out. so my photos of the event are limited.. all in all, the day turned out great considering the unfortunate morning events.

 

[pixie]

That sounds like one of my days !!!!

Great pictures and it's great to hear a comparison of the machines. Thanks

 

[northeastheavy]

Where are you located that you are just getting snow??? Great story,especially as you got to ride!!!!!!

 

[VXclimber180]

Nice photos thanks for sharing, so sorry about your H1

 

[2datop]

gr8 pics... thx for posting!

 

[lowell]

sorry bout the hummer great pics looks like you had a good outing

 

[snow dog]

Great pictures , sounds like fun

 

[Roadkill]

I'm not sure why this thread double posted.. i hope a mod could delete the other thread. anyways, i am local to northern california and this is only our 2nd decent snowfal for the season near the coast. dds made a good point about turning radius that i will have to try next time i have it out. i just expected it to turn sharper than it does. the other thing i noted is that when turning it would sound like the belt sprocket would skip a tooth sometimes. i don't know if that is normal or not. we are planning a longer trip next time and may do a 10-15 mile run next go around. good thing that i have another 4x4 to pull it with while the hummer is in the shop. i'm dying to try it out at night as well. i am thinking about heading back to the mountain next days off and see if i can locate my digital camera with a metal detector.

 

[300 H and H]

Roadkill,

Having just had my variator apart and replaced the belt, has taught me some things....Removing the passengers side sheeve, the top one is just three bolts, and removing a spined shaft from the middle. This allows removal of the variator belt, so you can clean the sheeve face's on all 4 of the sheeves with sand paper, or a wire wheel. These sheeves rust up in the off season, and getting them free of rust has a profound effect on your steering. A new belt is a good idea if yours looks like it is glazed or is cracking in the varigations....as this can let the belt strech, not a good thing, when you are trying to steer the thing!

And as dds stated, lifting out of the throttle as you are turning can make a big difference. This is one of the things you learn to do after driving them for a while. Also turning up into hill is much harder for the variator than turning into a down hill situation. Soft deep snow or wet heavy melting snow will also work the variator belt much harder than hard pack will. Also heat is not a good thing for variable speed belts. Above a certain temperature, they get pliable and sqwish, or change dimentionally in the sheeves. This is only problem for me in 40+ temps in wet melting snow with a load of folks in the cab.....Trying to turn up a hill.

Regards, Kirk