Raidtrac snocat

[mbsieg]

I have purhased a Raidtrac snocat and I am curious if anyone else has owned or ran one of these units??? It is the same size as the Bombi I looked at only 10,000$ cheaper!!! It Has a 7 person cab on it but comfortably would hold 4or5. it has 2 tracks on it about 84"X30". It weighs 2,394lbs less than .5 psi. Thanks Mike.

 

[Melensdad]

Mike,
I'm not familiar with it, but then again I'm no real expert.

Do you have any photos, spec sheets or brochures you can post so we can see what it is?

What type of engine? Is it hydraulic steer or mechanical? Gas or Diesel? Front engine or mid-engine? Drive sprockets on the front or the rear?

 

[pixie]

Here's the website

http://raidtrac.com/

 

[mbsieg]

It is a mechanical steer model, it has a 40 hp gas engine in it. It has the drive sprockets on the front. I am in the process of fixing it up. Paint interior ect. I have pics have not figured how to post them to large of file it says???? The engine is up front.

 

[mbsieg]

Here I think i got it!!

 

[mbsieg]

Here is a couple more. If anyone sees anything wrong with it let me know. better to fix now than have to walk out??? Please excuse the mess My wife has not cleaned the shop lately. HA HA

 

[mbsieg]

Here is the spec sheet. any concerns please voice your opinion???

 

[Eric L]

I like it though I know little about it.

It would seem a little short on power to me. and wouldn't the short length be an issue for climbing, especially a ledge or log? looks like you could stand it up on the ass-end pretty easily

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[Melensdad]

It sort of looks like a mini-Bombi but the Bombi has a mid-mount engine and this is a front moutn. The overall layout seems to be fairly similar to my Snow Trac. Front engine, front sprocket pulling the tracks. The overall size is fairly short, a full 2' shorter than a Snow Trac so it might stand up on its rear end if going over some large object, but I suspect the operator would back down before going over!!! But it does look tall for its length, again compared to my Snow Trac it is a few inches taller in height, 2' shorter in length, and 10" wider.

The cabin sure looks like it pretty small, not sure I'd want to shoehorn 7 people into that, but is also looks like its more modern than my Snow Trac.

I'd bet it is a lot of fun to play with, and with those wide tracks it should float on the fluffy powder snow with ease.

As for the 40hp being light on power, I would suspect that it has plenty. If it was a hydraulic steer it would need lot more power because hydraulic steering consume a huge amount of power. My Snow Trac has a VW engine in it, those are not known for excessive amounts of testosterone, but it gets up steep grades as well or better than most other brands of snowcats. The key is that the steering is not robbing power so the power can go to the tracks.

 

[mbsieg]

Looks like I need some wheelie skis??????

 

[Ice Queen]

I want some snow!

 

[mtntopper]

If it was a hydraulic steer it would need lot more power because hydraulic steering consume a huge amount of power. My Snow Trac has a VW engine in it, those are not known for excessive amounts of testosterone, but it gets up steep grades as well or better than most other brands of snowcats. The key is that the steering is not robbing power so the power can go to the tracks.

Don't you mean "brake steering" consumes large amounts of horsepower?
With hydraulic steering pumps, engine rpm and horsepower remain more constant and the steering control pumps change speed to turn or brake the snow cat. Horsepower and RPM consumed to drive the steering control pumps is the only variable. Hydraulic steered snow cats do not consume horsepower in the same manner as brake steered snow cats.......

 

[mbsieg]

Hey but best of all it FLOATS???? I had better remember to put the drain plug in before I cross any lakes!! Here is one with wheel kit on it.

 

[mbsieg]

I think what B_Skurka is saying going through a gearbox you would loose less hp when you are going in a straight line. than you would with a hydro unit. even the most expensive hydro units are only 70-80% efficient in the pump and motor, then you also have to take friction loss of the fluid into consideration. I think hydro is the way to go in the steering dept but a gearbox will only loose 1-2% of HP compared to lossing 20-30% hp in hydro unit, when you are going in a straight line, turning is a whole different can of worms.

 

[Melensdad]

I think what B_Skurka is saying going through a gearbox you would loose less hp when you are going in a straight line. than you would with a hydro unit. even the most expensive hydro units are only 70-80% efficient in the pump and motor, then you also have to take friction loss of the fluid into consideration. I think hydro is the way to go in the steering dept but a gearbox will only loose 1-2% of HP compared to lossing 20-30% hp in hydro unit, when you are going in a straight line, turning is a whole different can of worms.

Exactly. Just like on a tractor. I've got tractors with hydro transmissions and compared to gear tractors they offer something like 10 to 20% less horsepower to the wheels and at least a 10% loss to the power take off.

Anything going through a hydraulic pump loses efficiency so more input power is needed to compensate.

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

Not knowing what a Bombi costs. What's the ball park price on one of these?

 

[Melensdad]

Not knowing what a Bombi costs. What's the ball park price on one of these?

I see early to mid 1980's Bombardier Bombi's in good condition listed for sale on a regular basis ranging from $8000 to $15,000 USD, depending on configuration and condition (track type, track width, hydraulic options, winches, etc). Below are some photos of an ex-USAF Bombi that was outfitted with a mosquito spray rig and used on a tropical island at an air force base. Most are painted bright yellow. Front and rear hydraulics are often stripped, but these are mid-engine little beasts with a 4 cylinder industrial Ford motor and for their size and can pull a modest size trail grooming drag, tiller, and/or run a front grooming plow.

 

[Lyndon]

A collector, or should I say, The Foremost Importer/Collector of the Citroen CV2's, sent me some literature on these because they used the Citroen CV2 engine and trans. I saw several of them in Alaska, and perodically one comes up for sale in the Canadian Equipment Trader. It looked like 2 snow mobile tracks. Interesting vehicle!

 

[mbsieg]

I will not devulge the price I paid for the Raidtrac. it seems to get around and steer realy well on dirt and the couple feet of snow I had it in. It does not seem to pull wheelies in forward or reverse I can load it on my car trailer without ramps easily, just climbs right on. as for the price lets just say I paid more in gas to get it home than I paid for the unit. I found this cab insulation and it seems to work good. http://www.cabinsulation.com/headliner.htm

 

[mbsieg]

A collector, or should I say, The Foremost Importer/Collector of the Citroen CV2's, sent me some literature on these because they used the Citroen CV2 engine and trans. I saw several of them in Alaska, and perodically one comes up for sale in the Canadian Equipment Trader. It looked like 2 snow mobile tracks. Interesting vehicle!

Would it be possible to to get contact info. I am very interested in the cars these motors came in very good mpg.

 

[Melensdad]

I found this cab insulation and it seems to work good. http://www.cabinsulation.com/headliner.htm

Wow that looks like great stuff! I've been considering using indoor outdoor carpet on the walls and have seen some very nice installs using that, but this stuff looks even better (to me). It says it is acoustic insulating material, does it also help as a thermal insulator?

 

[mbsieg]

I saw on another sight that it has a r value of 4 not bad considering that i used r-19 in my shop walls???

 

[Lyndon]

Re: Citroen

I believe the gentelmans name is David Allen. He advertises in 'Hemmings Motor News'. He is quite the authority on CV2's. He is also an Importer of these little french cars. When he wrote me he was in the process of moving from one of the southern states, So. Carolina I believe, to Up state N.Y., but that was several years ago. I didn't see an add in the on-line version of Hemmings, but he advertises there regularly. CV2's lasted forever. The owners described them as having 5 or 6 speed, Slow, slower, slower, slower, & slowest. "You can fix anything on it with a 12MM rench and a Swiss Army Knife", they get 50MPG, were very popular in movies such as the Peter Sellers series of the 'Pink Panther'(they were in every movie). They were front wheel drive so the machinery would probably adapt to the Raidtrac application very readily. Rumor has it that Citroen would give you a NEW car if you could flip it over or roll it on their test track. Because of their trapezoid stance they are vertually impossible to flip over. Both the cheesy CV2 and the larger Luxury SJ will operate quite well with one or the other of the rear tires removed, on 3 wheels! This was the TV show, Candid Camera's favorite "Trick Vehicle" and was featured in at least a dozen shows.