Kristi for auction- live now

[TheSkipper]

For those that want a Kristi….

https://www.hemmings.com/auction/1962-kristi-snowcat-597216

VEHICLE INFORMATION​

Offering a 1962 Kristi KT3 snow cat, tracked vehicle. Full history of the company at kristisnowcat.com.
Runs great but needs cosmetic refurbishment and tracks rebuilt. Comes with the original Kristi supplied tilt bed trailer.
Owner's father was the second owner, having purchased it from AT&T (original owner), who used it to service their communication towers in mountainous areas. owner's father (an engineer for AT&T), bought it for his personal use when AT&T de-fleeted it in the mid 70's. This is serial number 45, of a total production of 110 KT-3's produced between 1960-1968. It has 383 hours showing on the hour meter, which is believed to be accurate.
A unique feature of the Kristi is that each corner is independently height adjustable so that the machine can traverse much steeper side slopes than competitive machines, by allowing the operator to 'level' the cab by extending the suspension/tracks on the downward side. All these hydraulics work as designed.
One of the forward cab corner windows is broken and needs replaced, but the broken window(included in sale) is in 2 large pieces and be used as a template to make a replacement.

Being an offroad vehicle without a title, this will be sold on a bill of sale.

 

[Rover’n]

From what I can tell, this would be a very good deal at $7.5K, given the low hours, included trailer, and overall condition.

 

[Stygian7]

Where would one get new tracks for this thing and at what cost? I suppose the broken window would need to be custom made acrylic?

 

[Rover’n]

I redid my cleats using a synthetic product similar to the outdoor patio material called Trex. Balustrade stock. On my second season w/ no issues. Cost about $700 w/o new belting and only minor work on the grousers. The curved plexiglass would be a trick, but doable.

 

[luvthemvws]

No one offers New tracks for Kristi's. You would need to rebuild what is there.
Not that difficult. It will require some generic Belt material, a bunch of bolts and some hickory wood or some UHMW plastic. This machine has the "narrow" drive sprockets which are notorious for causing the groucers to flex/crack/break. Expect some metal fabrication and welding to get the tracks in complete and functional condition.
Overall this machine appears to be an excellent foundation. With some tlc and some repairs and upgrades it should provide many fun times.

 

[Stygian7]

I think my biggest issue right now is going to be the logistics of getting it to me. Any way I slice it, I’m looking at $1500-2000 additional cost of transportation. I checked uhaul to rent a truck and pull it home. About $1200 + fuel cost + ~11hrs of my time. I’d also need to fly down, so in the end, I’m looking at 3 days of my life plus the cost (I’m not willing to sit and drive for 11 hours straight anymore). I’ve got about 2 million airline miles that I need to burn, so no *real* cost for that part. In the end, maybe it would just be cheaper to have it shipped. I wonder how that would work with the trailer being part of the package?

With the added cost, I’m not so sure a project cat pencils out for me. Still contemplating though.

 

[redsqwrl]

has anyoneseen the tracks?

 

[Rover’n]

There are some newly added images of the tracks. The wooden cleats look to be dry-rotted, at least many of them, probably from sun exposure. The drive belting appears to be three-ply, but again surface crazed from exposure. The alignment grousers are not pictured, but given the low hours and condition of the tires makes me think they should be okay.

 

[vintagebike]

When researching hauling Snow Cats I have found and used many well documented and insured "UShip" haulers ready to tow loaded trailers using their own 3/4 or 1 ton trucks. Most of the time they were able to haul both ways and kept the fees reasonable. Just check the reviews.

 

[Stygian7]

Well, I bought myself a project.

 

[vintagebike]

welcome to the good, but possibly a bit unhinged, Kristi family.

 

[Stygian7]

Thanks, I’m excited to finally have a cat. Life is super busy this year, so will plan on track rebuild and whatever maintenance is necessary to make it somewhat reliable for in and out of the cabin next winter. Plan on total refurbishing in 2024 or 2025. Should be fun.

 

[peace]

Welcome to the Kristi club. If you need information when it comes to rebuilding the tracks, I recently went through the process of restoring a Kristi and fabricating all new wheel guides and building a set of tracks from scratch. I fabricated new corner windows by building a cardboard template of the window shape, cutting a sheet of plexiglass to match the template, then heating the plexiglass in an oven and using a stove pipe with the proper radius to shape the bend while the plastic was warm.