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Has anyone built a snowcat type homemade.

F

Front wheel drive

New member
Hi everone on hear .Their sure is some nice tuckers and cats on hear. Whear I live their is no clubs or people dont evan know all these kinds of machines evan exist.So I have been thinking for years about building somthing Afordable for me As I am not ritch.I enjoy cyout hunting in the winter. So I was thinking why cant I use a lets say small ford ranger truck cab and box.Make it rear wheel drive. can I use lets say a one ton diff out of old 47 chec grain truck .Can sprockets be bought to fit the drum bolt patern.Make my own tracks. From potash mine, I can buy used belting ,three eights thick.Use angel iron for track bars. Use some kind of v6 with auto trans.I was kinda thinking of using Rat trac style frame with tourque flex axels,I need to know how many lb axels to use. Is the very front axel solid or can it be tourque flex also,And the best way to desing track tighting sistem.Then I was thinking just make it brake steer, use two master cyl. Put the engine and trans in the frame I wood have to build above the axels .Then bolt the cab and box ,less front end fenders exetra.Then just use the cab and box for all the acesseries.Has anyone tried this,will it work.
 
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here are some ideas if you want to do something like that look how the bv 206 track rails are attached to the body its sinple and works now add a steering diff to the rear like out of a m29 weaseland attach a drive shafttorque flex axles are good don't buy the cheep ones at northern hydraulics mine were made in canada and the torque arms are indexable and the spring is a solid cast piece of rubber Brad at mn outdoors alse sels one that sounds like it's the same i would discourage the use of a open diff with an automotive axle as there is not enough gear reduction in the spiders and steering will be un predictable and you could have axle failures 4.80 by 12 trailer tires make good road wheels good luck

ps i don't know where you are but out here in bush alaska weasel carcus's are a dime a dosen and if there is one thing good about them is that old oc rearend was bullet proof
 
Hi FWD,

A lot of guys back east are building their own track system for SUVs and pickups using snowmobile tracks and homemade sprockets made from standard steel rims. They work real well and have become so popular that there is at least one company building and selling them. These are similar to Mattracks but much more economical and seem to hold up as well if not better. Some clubs are even grooming trails with them.

Here is a link to photo:http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u287/e2spear/DSC00321.jpg

There is a lot of discussion on this conversion at Koz's Grooming Talk at :http://s8.zetaboards.com/snowgroomingtalk/index/

What part of Canada are you located?
 
Alaska Snow Cat said:
Hi FWD,

A lot of guys back east are building their own track system for SUVs and pickups using snowmobile tracks and homemade sprockets made from standard steel rims. They work real well and have become so popular that there is at least one company building and selling them. These are similar to Mattracks but much more economical and seem to hold up as well if not better. Some clubs are even grooming trails with them.

Here is a link to photo:http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u287/e2spear/DSC00321.jpg

There is a lot of discussion on this conversion at Koz's Grooming Talk at :http://s8.zetaboards.com/snowgroomingtalk/index/

What part of Canada are you located?
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we have three trucks up here with pod type tracks 1 is a little toyota pretty good on packed trails a fulsized chevy with mat tracks sinks an inch on the trail and 8 to 12 if they get on the side or off the side leaving some deep rutts to swallow snow machines and dog sledds and the newest is a full size toyota with som mattrack lookalikes with snowmachine tracks way too much psi it's sinking 3 to 4 inches in to packed snow my opinion is that the podds with snow machine tracks are a poor substitution for a snow cat and i do expect to get a call for recovery the first time they try to cross willows or a blown in river valley on the plus side they are cheap
 
dds said:
we have three trucks up here with pod type tracks 1 is a little toyota pretty good on packed trails a fulsized chevy with mat tracks sinks an inch on the trail and 8 to 12 if they get on the side or off the side leaving some deep rutts to swallow snow machines and dog sledds and the newest is a full size toyota with som mattrack lookalikes with snowmachine tracks way too much psi it's sinking 3 to 4 inches in to packed snow my opinion is that the podds with snow machine tracks are a poor substitution for a snow cat and i do expect to get a call for recovery the first time they try to cross willows or a blown in river valley on the plus side they are cheap
Click to expand...

I agree they are no replacement for a snowcat but then again the guys that use them stay on a packed trail and don't get real deep snow. Some groomers have snowcats for the heavy snowfalls and then when the trails get set and hard use the pod rigs for grooming the moguls.

Right now our trails are getting almost icy hard as the sun heats up the surface in the day and then drops below zero at night. My Pisten Bully has almost 4" tall grousers and is a rough ride and has poor traction on the steep hills in these condition. An all rubber tracked vehicle would work great even if it had a high psi footprint as long as you stayed on the trail.

I guess it all depends on your mission what works best. I personally would invest in a snowcat and have it shipped rather than convert a road vehicle to a snowcat. You can pickup a Bombi, Imp, Track Truck or Snow Trac for well under $7000. Even a J5 or SW48 would be easier to widen out than start from scratch. Heck I bet you could get a Krusty for nothing or even get paid to haul it off. Sorry Big Al I thought I would beat Don to the punch.:flowers:
 
Alaska Snow Cat said:
Hi FWD,

A lot of guys back east are building their own track system for SUVs and pickups using snowmobile tracks and homemade sprockets made from standard steel rims. They work real well and have become so popular that there is at least one company building and selling them. These are similar to Mattracks but much more economical and seem to hold up as well if not better. Some clubs are even grooming trails with them.

Here is a link to photo:http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u287/e2spear/DSC00321.jpg

There is a lot of discussion on this conversion at Koz's Grooming Talk at :http://s8.zetaboards.com/snowgroomingtalk/index/

What part of Canada are you located?
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for the info ,I am living in Manitoba.This winter we had not much snow .Those mat tracs would have been ok,I like to play on the asiniboin vally and some winters lots of snow ,and I like the idea of a go anywear vehickel.Clime hills ,go through brush,all the while being in a comfy warm cab.
 
Hi I dont know If I typed my message in the wrong place .So I wiil do it hear also. I live in Manitoba.I like to play on the Asiniboine valley.I need somthing that will go anywhear.Clime hills ,go through brush,Have littel box on the back to bring game home with.I have a frend that put those mat tracks on a 800 quad and he didn;t like them at all.How do I look at the bv206 or weasel carcus,do I type it in on google or can I see it some how on hear ,did you send a picture,I am new to this,Thanks.
 
pm me your e-mail i will send you a bv 206 man in pdf as for the weasel google is your friend search for m-29 weasel on a side note weasels had a terable track system you never drove a weasel any farther than you wanted to walk but the studibaker flat head motor was great they run smooth as glass and all day long on 15 gallons of gas also the oc diff they had was bullet proof and because of their bad rap generaly they can be picked up cheap i got mine for 600 bucks us every thing worked i just had to put the tracks back on i never did it and eventualy gave it away to another mv collector a thiokol or nodwell track conversion works real sweet on weasels and makes them quite a good hunting rig on the cheap
 
Alaska Snow Cat said:
...I agree they are no replacement for a snowcat but then again the guys that use them stay on a packed trail and don't get real deep snow.

I personally would invest in a snowcat and have it shipped rather than convert a road vehicle to a snowcat. You can pickup a Bombi, Imp, Track Truck or Snow Trac for well under $7000. Even a J5 or SW48 would be easier to widen out than start from scratch.
Click to expand...

I think that's some good advice.. (AK Snow Cat; please forgive my editing)

Here's a link to a Tucker project in MN:http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/rvs/2874561423.html

I have no affiliation and haven't seen the machine in person. But it looks like it's pretty much "all there". It supposedly comes with another engine.

Tucker used Chrysler Industrial engines which have some differences from the automotive versions. Assuming the original engine also is part of the deal you should be able to assemble one working 440, hopefully fairly reasonably.

There are a couple of potential issues:

The steel track Tuckers use a bunch of flanged bearings (two per grouser and there are something like 31 grousers per track, and four tracks, so over 240 of 'em). They are no longer available from Tucker and the last price I saw was roughly forty bucks each from Cooks Equipment in Vermont...

They won't all be bad, but replacing those could get real expensive, real fast...

Another issue is the transmission. When Tucker first offered automatics they used a Chrysler Loadflite. It's essentially a heavy duty version of the Chrysler Torqueflite. They (Chrysler) offered it in two versions. One used a long tailstock housing and the other a short version. (Tucker used the short model.) Those transmissions really didn't hold up all that well and if the tailstock casting is broken they are extreeeemely difficult to find (more-or-less unobtainable). (From the photos it looks like this has that transmission.) Since it looks like this has sat for a while, the transmission is a big question mark.

This could be an opportunity to get a Tucker project (and a capable Cat) for a reasonable price assuming the flanged bearings are in decent shape and the transmission is okay (or can be rebuilt/replaced cost effectively). I would strongly suggest you look it over very carefully so there are no major surprises...

From my experience it's a lot easier to repair something than to design from scratch, or even modify an existing design.

Good Luck with whatever route you go...
 
On one of your messages you said that I Should invest in a snow cat and have it shipped.I live in Manitoba. Wear are you living .And wear are you sugesting I get one and have it shipped, do you know of a good place to buy good used one.Another question I have ,Are they noisy inside.I have watched some videos on this site and some sound Quite noisy.Hear is another idea.Take a front wheal drive cars powertrain with auto trans.And set it up somthing like the st4 chains from the drive axels to a jack shaft then to track drive spindals using disk brakes for stearing.
 
Thanks for the info.I live in Manitoba Canada ,Whear are you. I am a mech by trade. I think that it is just to big for what im wanting.That 440 would break me just for fuel.Our fuel is 1.35 per liter.I dont know how those bearings in the steel tracks last ,must have a realy good seal just to keep moisture out,or have to replace them often.It sure looks like it all their though,and I would jump on it in a second if my financial situation was better.This is a thought I had ,could a guy take a engine 4cy or v6 from fwd car with auto trans,and set it up somthing like the st4 .put sprokets on the drive axels to a jackshaft ,then to track drive spindels,and use the disk brakes for steering.I dond need it to push snow or groom trails .I just want it for hunting and touring the country ,valley .What do you think.
 
Front wheel drive, seeing that your a mechanic & live in Manitoba, I would suggest that you look around your province for one of these shown below. I'm sure you can find a fixer upper not too far from home.
A lot of parts you'll need are regular automotive pieces. Google northerntracks.com & have a look around. This is a site based in Manitoba. Give it a look see. Nothing against buying a snow cat that you see on here, as I personally love a lot of them myself, but you will be looking all over Canada & the US. for parts. That could be a lot of $$$$. A lot of "new" parts for these machines are "manufactured right here" in Manitoba.
jeff1.jpg


KPM1309.jpg
 
Hi your emails got through. I looked a littel at the northern site.Do you know what kind of diff they use on the old Bombadeer,and how was it steered by tracks or just the skies.And when they mt the engine facing the rear end how do they get drivetrain to work .When it was put into gear it would be going backwards,not.
 
those old bombibusses were powered with flat head dodge engines i have seen every thing from 225 slant sixes to 6.2 diesels grafted in to them they just run a dodge axle i here they run the trails quite quick but may be a bit lacking in deep powder they were used quite a bit on the north slope in the early days with a huge fuel tank and 6.2 liter diesels
 
Front wheel drive said:
Hi your emails got through. I looked a littel at the northern site.Do you know what kind of diff they use on the old Bombadeer,and how was it steered by tracks or just the skies.And when they mt the engine facing the rear end how do they get drivetrain to work .When it was put into gear it would be going backwards,not.
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You can use almost any diff. Chev, Ford, Dodge. For the narrow gauge you will most likely have to narrow it up some, along with shortening the drive shaft. On the wide gauge, pretty well whatever you can find. All you have to do to make the diff work right is to keep the yoke facing you & flip it over, putting the crown on the other side. You will have to make up a set of adapters to line up the tracks & mount your sprockets to.
In the earlier years a few had drum brakes on them to help in steering on hard ice. I plan on using a drive shaft brake (like on monster trucks) for mine. For steering the skis are used along with engine torque. All this info & lots more is available on Northerntracks.com.
 
dds said:
those old bombibusses were powered with flat head dodge engines i have seen every thing from 225 slant sixes to 6.2 diesels grafted in to them they just run a dodge axle i here they run the trails quite quick but may be a bit lacking in deep powder they were used quite a bit on the north slope in the early days with a huge fuel tank and 6.2 liter diesels
Click to expand...

That's right Don. The first ones, the B-7 had a V-8 flat head. Most after that had the 251 Chrysler Industrial flat head although I've seen 265's in them to. Some have even put in a 460 cu.in, with a hell of a lot of cutting to the body, making it top heavy. On the narrow gauge, you only have a 24" wide engine bay to work with.
I have never been in one for a ride yet, but they say they do lack a bit in deep snow. But if you took off the idler wheels & put on a set of sliders you would be amazed of how much snow they will push through. It's amazing. I have a video of them going through snow up above the top of the tracks. That's over 34". I don't know how to put the video on here.
Here is a pic of a friend's B-7's V8 flat head & a pic of the sliders.
b72011014.jpg



b-72.jpg


P1000181.jpg


IMG_1245.jpg
 
Quote from DDS:
they were used quite a bit on the north slope in the early days with a huge fuel tank and 6.2 liter diesels

Don is this bomber like what you were talking about ?? Notice the BIG fuel tank back behind the rad. The bodies back then were built of wood.

Here's the photo. It says it was taken at the Military Snowmobile (Bombardier) Manufacturing plant at Valcourt, Quebec in March, 1943.
e000761188.jpg
 
Hi old tucker.That is a good picture ,It looks bigger and higher than the purple one.I have another question.I am not familiar with the type of rims used on a lot of bomb, snowcat type vehicles.Why dont they use axels with hubs, is it to make them lighter.Whear could I see pictures of those type axel's and wheals.
 
Front wheel drive said:
Hi old tucker.That is a good picture ,It looks bigger and higher than the purple one.I have another question.I am not familiar with the type of rims used on a lot of bomb, snowcat type vehicles.Why dont they use axels with hubs, is it to make them lighter.Whear could I see pictures of those type axel's and wheals.
Click to expand...

FWD, look up northerntracks.com. It's ALL there. The rims used on the B12's are what they call a bearing wheel, I think. They are similar to the ones on a J5, but they use a smaller bearing on the outside. If you look at the site you can see how they used the temporary spare rims from a crown vic with bombardier tires. as for the diff all they did was weld up the vent & relocate it on the new diff. Suspension springs can easily be made. There is too much to post on here.
Below are a few bomber rims just blasted & awaiting primer & paint.

DSCF0246.jpg


BELOW IS A DIFF FROM A 57 METAL BOMBER. THEY ARE ONLY ABOUT 3.5 -4' WIDE. I THINK IT HAS 4.88 RATIO GEARS.

DSCF0244.jpg


HERE IS A WOODY WITH CAR RIMS ON IT.
Apr26201.jpg


Here is the diff I am using in mine.
bomberdiff002.jpg
 
Old Trucker, I wish you would stop posting stuff on these old Bombers! Now i want one!:bonk: But seriously, they are not practical for my uses but they sure are cool. Thanks for the pictures.
 
I am very interested in the DIY approach that a minority of folks are bringing to the forum. I have been to the northern tracks site at least six times looking for info about those old bus type cats. OT you said *It's ALL there. * and I was rolling my eyes thinking Where?

Well I found the forums today. thanks for insisting that it is there.

Mike
 
redsqwrl said:
I am very interested in the DIY approach that a minority of folks are bringing to the forum. I have been to the northern tracks site at least six times looking for info about those old bus type cats. OT you said *It's ALL there. * and I was rolling my eyes thinking Where?

Well I found the forums today. thanks for insisting that it is there.

Mike
Click to expand...

Sorry Mike, I should have posted this to make it easier to find the forum. Google this;; northerntracks.com-index This will put you directly on the main page. Alaska Snow Cat we'll have to blame FWD for this...Ha Ha :whistling: :whistling:


I was trying to explain to Front Wheel Drive a little about how this style machine would probably be easier for him to pursue, being where he lives. Parts would be more readily available to him.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to own a 601 or snow track. But it would cost two arms & a leg to get parts & send to me as there are no 601's here & only 1 snow track that I know of here. By the way, here is in Newfoundland, Canada, as far east as you can go.
 
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