• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

looking to buy a small cat for Grooming.

G

garygaboury

New member
Hey guys, i know this isn't a grooming forum but I thought posting here couldn't hurt. This summer I've been working with the dogsledding operation. Since I run our cat in the winter I've been given the task of coming up with a solution to groom our dogsled trail. Right now it takes 1.5hours each way to get the cat down there to groom a trail 3.5km out, 3.5km back.

So we're looking to purachase a small cat, Maybe a BR160 or similar(Like Groomerguy NWO's yellow one) to groom every night. Again, easy work, flat trail but very wet heavy snow. If any one out there knows of something that might suit it would really help me out. i've posted on the "grooming" related snowcat site but no one is online yet this season... You guys here seem to be able to find everything...

Thanks In Advance

Gary

BTW: If you made it this far you deserve a picture, I envy you guys that work in garages, Our cat is 1 3/4" wider than our shop door..
Can anyone else see the bend in the tiller in the second pic? It drives me crazy that I can't find the bent part. I swear I've spend hours pulling it apart and can't find anything wrong, It is crooked in the air and on the trail.. Stupid tiller.

DSCN3125.jpg

DSCN3133.jpg
 
Thanks for the pictures, Gary !

I would think a BR60 and a drag would be enough cat for the job and fit your budget better. I know where there are 2 of those for sale at the moment.

I've also seen used PB100s with tillers for sale under $15k

Looks to me like the twist in your tiller is at the mounting point.
 
First off, how wide are you looking at going with the trail? You'd need at least a 10ft wide trail to fit a BR160 on it with an 8 ft drag behind. Our snowmobile trails that we maintain are anywhere from 12 to 15 feet wide. Not quite sure how wide of a trail you wan't to go with for dogsleds but I'm guessing a BR60 with a smaller 6 ft drag would do the trick. Do you plan on going with a drag or tiller behind? You could always opt for a cheaper route and go with Bombi type machine like the one pictured below. I think that would be plenty to get the job done unless you plan on making the trail 12 feet wide.
 

Attachments

  • P000447_small.jpg
    P000447_small.jpg
    2 KB · Views: 361
Brian, I wear tri-focals. Any chance you could make the picture any SMALLER?
 
????? Maybe it's the shock or strut or the whatever that thingy is that ain't connected on the left side like it is on the right side.
 
O.K., I little more information. Trail width is not an issue for us, we need 4 feet, would like 8 feet but have 16feet if we need it.

GGNWO, I've looked at the little bombi's but I think were looking for something a little newer and easier to use. As far as tiller or drag, I'm really not sure.. Since all my experience is with a tiller i would really like to get a drag, I'm all for trying
new things. For the dog trail a drag would be great.

The only upside to a tiller I can see is ease of transport. Getting both the machine and a drag on our trailer would be exciting, a tiller would be no trouble. If it was easy to move we might end up using it for our horse drawn sleigh tours as well.

We use a JD tractor for plowing the road into the site in the winter and thought about adding tracks, with the cost of the tracks and the fact it can't go on the HWY when tracked has ruled them out..

Pixie, You've seen PB100's with tiller for $15 000? If you have any info where I might find such a deal I would owe you one for sure.. I could talk the boss into writing a cheque for one of those tomorrow.. We are probably looking to spend $30 000ish... 15 sounds way better.

Thanks
Gary


O.K, you guys have peaked my interest in my bent tiller problem, I'm going to start a seperate thread..
 
Good luck trying to find a used BR160 for around 30ish. Most of the ones I've seen for sale are around 40-60,000 for an early to mid 90's model. Also consider that with the BR's being hydrostatic drive, buying a used one can easily rack up a hefty bill in a hurry. The one I run on occassion is a '94. I can't recall offhand how much was paid for it but it got a major overhaul to the drives and pumps just before last season to the tune of $40,000.

Food for thought......we paid roughly $21,000 for our 2002 Lamtrac a few years ago. I just found one the other day older than ours for sale and I think they were asking $40,000. We were at the right place at the right time and got a heck of a deal. And, after operating both machines in the same conditions, I can say that the Lamtrac will walk circles around the BR160 any day pulling a drag. Actually, last season, I was running the BR160 without a drag on behind breaking trail with the Lamtrac following hauling a 10 ft drag and the other operator had to keep stopping behind me as the Lamtrac/drag was far outperforming the BR160/no drag. The Br does have its good points though. It will trun in its own radius and has a better front blade setup.
 
You're right, Gary .... my memory's bad.... It was a PB70 for $12,500 but it finally sold.

Didn't you say something about a tight turn around ?

Do you have to truck this unit back and forth ?
 
Gary, we have sold several Bombardier SV252 machines with the fold-up drags 8 foot for this pupose the dog sledders love them because the drags fold-up and they can trailer the whole machine easy. they can be bought for around 10K with the drag and blade. PM if intrested we have some for sale.


garygaboury said:
O.K., I little more information. Trail width is not an issue for us, we need 4 feet, would like 8 feet but have 16feet if we need it.

GGNWO, I've looked at the little bombi's but I think were looking for something a little newer and easier to use. As far as tiller or drag, I'm really not sure.. Since all my experience is with a tiller i would really like to get a drag, I'm all for trying
new things. For the dog trail a drag would be great.

The only upside to a tiller I can see is ease of transport. Getting both the machine and a drag on our trailer would be exciting, a tiller would be no trouble. If it was easy to move we might end up using it for our horse drawn sleigh tours as well.

We use a JD tractor for plowing the road into the site in the winter and thought about adding tracks, with the cost of the tracks and the fact it can't go on the HWY when tracked has ruled them out..

Pixie, You've seen PB100's with tiller for $15 000? If you have any info where I might find such a deal I would owe you one for sure.. I could talk the boss into writing a cheque for one of those tomorrow.. We are probably looking to spend $30 000ish... 15 sounds way better.

Thanks
Gary


O.K, you guys have peaked my interest in my bent tiller problem, I'm going to start a seperate thread..
Click to expand...
 
Found a BR160 with drag for you in the price range you were looking at. Looks to be in nice shape too. And, looks like it's got the narrower track setup which isn't a bad thing and the wider grousers/cleets have a habit of breaking and putting more stress on the track belts. Also, that appears to be a decent drag. Mogulmasters do a good job at laying down a smooth trail. Here's the add I found on the Resort Boneyard website:

1994 Bombardier BR160 with at 1999 Mogulmaster 16-08 drag.
300hrs on New Perkins Turbo Diesel Engine. $32,995.00 for both. In Colorado. Call Tod 970-379-1229

Email: welchex@sopris.net
 

Attachments

  • 106.11-1.jpg
    106.11-1.jpg
    39.6 KB · Views: 312
  • 106.11-2.jpg
    106.11-2.jpg
    20.5 KB · Views: 314
  • 106.11-3.jpg
    106.11-3.jpg
    21.1 KB · Views: 316
If anyone is wondering what the plywood deck is for on the drag, I'd be willing to bet they load a snowmachine on it when they head out. I've seen that before.
 
groomerguyNWO said:
If anyone is wondering what the plywood deck is for on the drag, I'd be willing to bet they load a snowmachine on it when they head out. I've seen that before.
Click to expand...

Especially useful when pulling with a Lametrac. You will need a way home. :rolleyes: :poke:
 
Thanks GGNWO, Thats the cat that got this whole conversation going.. Now with the canadian dollar at .85 buying in the states doesn't seem like such a good idea. We have decided against that cat just because it's hard to move. If we did buy a second machine it would need to serve two locations and be moved with a F-450 and 24ft gooseneck.

I'm still thinking that it's only 7kms of trail, and we have a big cat for the big days, there has to be an easy way to keep this stupid trail flat for less money...

BTW: GGNWO, you are everywhere.. Everywhere I look online for grooming info I find you there,, am I missing any grooming forums other than here, Koz, and HCS?

Thanks Again
Gary
 
GroomergitNWO has a LameTrac, so he has to keep the feelers out across the net for spare parts. :rolleyes: :poke:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top