1boringguy
Well-known member
Cat looks like it's about to pounce
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sno(w) cat serenade, march 13-16, 2020
- Thread starter Pontoon Princess
- Start date
TalleyHo
Active member
Backyardski
BackyardskiLima
Wow, that event was everything that was advertised and a whole bunch more.
So many great people and stories and mountains and cats. My only regret is not getting a chance to get to know the entire crew better(it was a big crew!). My wife’s sister Susie and her husband John from ID Falls definitely had a good first impression of what these machines are all about. John knows how to find good equipment too so you better be on your toes around those parts.
I think it may have been my wife, Sara (she’ll correct me if I’m wrong
) that suggested Jinn be elevated to Pontoon Goddess. That’s how perfect everything was. 
Thanks Jinn!
Stay healthy and happy everyone!
P.s. The cat house is the nicest living room I’ve ever ridden in. Super quiet and smooth even on a hard packed trail/parking lot/ road crossing etc.
So many great people and stories and mountains and cats. My only regret is not getting a chance to get to know the entire crew better(it was a big crew!). My wife’s sister Susie and her husband John from ID Falls definitely had a good first impression of what these machines are all about. John knows how to find good equipment too so you better be on your toes around those parts.
I think it may have been my wife, Sara (she’ll correct me if I’m wrong
) that suggested Jinn be elevated to Pontoon Goddess. That’s how perfect everything was. Thanks Jinn!
Stay healthy and happy everyone!
P.s. The cat house is the nicest living room I’ve ever ridden in. Super quiet and smooth even on a hard packed trail/parking lot/ road crossing etc.
Attachments
olympicorange
Active member
…. one procedure I learned from ''the 'ol timers'' ,... cut the shaft off flush, drill a large hole thru the center of spindle/axle shaft ( small hole at first & work your way up, a mag drill makes the process much easier , may have to weld a temporary mount plate onto track frame, remove next bogie wheel also, perhaps),... rosebud the track frame around shaft completely, use a carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher ( with a hose to fit into drilled passage), to cool center of shaft down, for shrinkage. have an assistant help with a pindriver, and hammer away. once you get it to move, the porto-power should handle it from there. usually requires a few attempts to get things moving,... I like a 12LB. sledge myself.....
good luck,....
…. one procedure I learned from ''the 'ol timers'' ,... cut the shaft off flush, drill a large hole thru the center of spindle/axle shaft ( small hole at first & work your way up, a mag drill makes the process much easier , may have to weld a temporary mount plate onto track frame, remove next bogie wheel also, perhaps),... rosebud the track frame around shaft completely, use a carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher ( with a hose to fit into drilled passage), to cool center of shaft down, for shrinkage. have an assistant help with a pindriver, and hammer away. once you get it to move, the porto-power should handle it from there. usually requires a few attempts to get things moving,... I like a 12LB. sledge myself.....
I like that Olympic, makes total sense. I was just thinking maybe the hammer is ineffective because the arm is just bouncing around. If you could back up the arm with something heavy like the blade of a caterpillar or tractor implement, your hammer would be more efficient. I have used Tri-Flow to move some things that were untouched by any other penetrant, but when the torch comes out you are probably passed all that.
If you go the drill route, it doesn't have to be perfectly centered, when the drill breaks through the edge of the shaft through the bore, that will relieve a lot of the pressure. then it should pound out easier.
YMMV
thank you for the kind words, many did ask if you were coming, and you were missed,
yes, it was a good event and pretty sure everyone went home happy
Attachments
we accomplished something very important, last weekend with our gathering, we have a SEAT at the table at the Ketchum office of the USFS, when it comes to over snow vehicle useage and in turn Idaho, had a very good follow up call to review how things went, all n all, we dun good....
thank you to everyone for being great !
thank you to everyone for being great !
1boringguy
Well-known member
So, even though I did get to Sun Valley
and meet a couple of you fellow catters Friday night, I sincerely regret that I didn't get to meet most of y'all, and check out your cats - cathouse. Had the best of intentions but about 5 am Saturday morning had to get mom to the hospital. They decided for safety sake to fly her down to Boise. Of course I followed, only with a cat in tow. About 5 weeks early, but mom and baby girl doing fine.
I appreciate everyone making my friends Jess and Julie feel welcome. We had brought the 1644 for them, and they went ahead and joined the group Saturday with it. It was their first cat trip and they enjoyed it a lot.
Although I doubt if I'll get another cat trip in this year, I'll definitely be looking forward to meeting more of the forum/cat people at a future event.
BG
and meet a couple of you fellow catters Friday night, I sincerely regret that I didn't get to meet most of y'all, and check out your cats - cathouse. Had the best of intentions but about 5 am Saturday morning had to get mom to the hospital. They decided for safety sake to fly her down to Boise. Of course I followed, only with a cat in tow. About 5 weeks early, but mom and baby girl doing fine.
I appreciate everyone making my friends Jess and Julie feel welcome. We had brought the 1644 for them, and they went ahead and joined the group Saturday with it. It was their first cat trip and they enjoyed it a lot.
Although I doubt if I'll get another cat trip in this year, I'll definitely be looking forward to meeting more of the forum/cat people at a future event.
BG
4TrackCat
New member
Congratulations!!!
Blackfoot Tucker
Well-known member
Interesting photos...
The machine we re-cabbed (now known as The Vail Cat) was an ex-Sun Valley machine, and had number 425 on the doors.
The carriers on that machine also bore evidence of "mechanics" beating the stew out of the adjustable ends.
In a conversation several years ago with Jeff Godard from Tucker, he recommended we remove all the axle spindles when we had the carriers off, clean the spindles and spindle tubes, and reinstall them with never seize. He explained that it's smart preventive maintenance as if you ever have to change a spindle in the field, if they are rusted/corroded in place it is a bear of a job. We heeded his advice and have run into the same problem you did (which in our opinion confirmed the wisdom of his suggestion). Ultimately we used heat, a crane and a hydraulic press to persuade the recalcitrant spindle to let go. Eventually it did, but it wasn't easy.
Blackfoot Tucker
Well-known member
A Truly Epic Event!!
Others have posted some great photos and descriptions. I'll post the Blackfoot Tucker Awards. (Yes, these are my opinion only, are purely subjective, and all awards are final.)
Grand Prize:
Pontoon Princess. Hands down, no contest. What an incredible job of planning, organizing, coordinating and executing a phenomenal experience for all who made it. If you think for a moment of all the t’s to be crossed, and i’s to be dotted in creating this event, she hit every single one. I know there are professionals who organize business meetings, conventions, etc. They have nothing on the Pontoon Princess. She could teach them… Yes, it WAS that great!
By the way, aren’t princesses essentially queens in waiting? Queens “outrank” princesses, and I think our beloved PP needs to be elevated in status to not just the Pontoon Queen, but maybe the Snowcat Queen. Now we need a coronation to make it official!
Coolest Snowcat:
GMoose and the Frandee SnoShu. There were lots of serious contenders, but GMoose wins. That machine is simply awesome. Hard to believe how well it performs, and indeed outperforms, machines many decades newer. As an aside, I’ll mention that he kindly offered me the opportunity to drive it. I (wisely) demurred, explaining honestly that I “lack fiscal discipline”. If I drove it, there was a strong chance I’d want one... and then have to figure out how I was going to make that happen. He explained that there weren’t any available, he wouldn’t sell his, and so the threat didn’t exist. But I knew one does exist…on consignment at SnoTrans (though it lacks the steerable front ski). http://www.snotrans.com/ See, I was smart not to drive it!
Coolest New Concept:
K Talley and The Cat House. Wow! What an incredibly cool creation. And if you consider how quickly that evolved from something for sale on ksl.com to the finished product, it makes it even more of a feat. When I think of the words “luxury” and “snowcat”, they generally don’t belong in the same sentence. Well ,The Cat House redefines the rules. Pictures don’t do it justice, you must sit in its sumptuous interior to get the experience. Very, very cool and unique! Huge WOW factor!
The WBJ1 Award for Most LED Lights:
Archmage and his 1643. Holy Moly. I counted 29 separate LED lights (and I think there may be some under-cat “disco lights” I didn’t see). I teased WBJ1 about the amount of amperage necessary to power all those lights at once. I’m thinking Travis Nottingham has him beat…
The Best Line:
Mother Tucker. Though I didn’t meet everyone, I did meet Mother Tucker and some of the Canadian Contingent. (Great folks!) Anyway, he and I had some nice conversations and at one point the topic shifted to the Coronavirus. I asked if people in Canada were reacting similarly to Americans. He said they were, and though I can’t recall his exact words, it was something like “…and what’s with the toilet paper thing? It’s similar to the flu. It’s not like a shit storm was forecast”. Priceless!
Incidentally, he introduced me to Bayern Groomer Lager (Bayern Brewing Missoula, Montana) and Revelstoke Pecan Whiskey. (Ironically not distilled in BC, but in Minnesota?) Awesome stuff! When I got home I Googled it and one can buy it online. But in "The Peoples Republic of Utah" one cannot get beer, wine or liquor shipped to a Utah address. I think it’s a Mormon thing. That whole concept about separation of church and state…doesn’t apply here.
If you didn’t make The Serenade, you screwed up. My advice is to learn from your mistake and try harder next time.
To all who made it, my sincere thanks for a spectacular experience. I didn’t meet everyone, but I sure had a fantastic time, and I hope to meet more people next time!
Others have posted some great photos and descriptions. I'll post the Blackfoot Tucker Awards. (Yes, these are my opinion only, are purely subjective, and all awards are final.)
Grand Prize:
Pontoon Princess. Hands down, no contest. What an incredible job of planning, organizing, coordinating and executing a phenomenal experience for all who made it. If you think for a moment of all the t’s to be crossed, and i’s to be dotted in creating this event, she hit every single one. I know there are professionals who organize business meetings, conventions, etc. They have nothing on the Pontoon Princess. She could teach them… Yes, it WAS that great!
By the way, aren’t princesses essentially queens in waiting? Queens “outrank” princesses, and I think our beloved PP needs to be elevated in status to not just the Pontoon Queen, but maybe the Snowcat Queen. Now we need a coronation to make it official!
Coolest Snowcat:
GMoose and the Frandee SnoShu. There were lots of serious contenders, but GMoose wins. That machine is simply awesome. Hard to believe how well it performs, and indeed outperforms, machines many decades newer. As an aside, I’ll mention that he kindly offered me the opportunity to drive it. I (wisely) demurred, explaining honestly that I “lack fiscal discipline”. If I drove it, there was a strong chance I’d want one... and then have to figure out how I was going to make that happen. He explained that there weren’t any available, he wouldn’t sell his, and so the threat didn’t exist. But I knew one does exist…on consignment at SnoTrans (though it lacks the steerable front ski). http://www.snotrans.com/ See, I was smart not to drive it!
Coolest New Concept:
K Talley and The Cat House. Wow! What an incredibly cool creation. And if you consider how quickly that evolved from something for sale on ksl.com to the finished product, it makes it even more of a feat. When I think of the words “luxury” and “snowcat”, they generally don’t belong in the same sentence. Well ,The Cat House redefines the rules. Pictures don’t do it justice, you must sit in its sumptuous interior to get the experience. Very, very cool and unique! Huge WOW factor!
The WBJ1 Award for Most LED Lights:
Archmage and his 1643. Holy Moly. I counted 29 separate LED lights (and I think there may be some under-cat “disco lights” I didn’t see). I teased WBJ1 about the amount of amperage necessary to power all those lights at once. I’m thinking Travis Nottingham has him beat…
The Best Line:
Mother Tucker. Though I didn’t meet everyone, I did meet Mother Tucker and some of the Canadian Contingent. (Great folks!) Anyway, he and I had some nice conversations and at one point the topic shifted to the Coronavirus. I asked if people in Canada were reacting similarly to Americans. He said they were, and though I can’t recall his exact words, it was something like “…and what’s with the toilet paper thing? It’s similar to the flu. It’s not like a shit storm was forecast”. Priceless!
Incidentally, he introduced me to Bayern Groomer Lager (Bayern Brewing Missoula, Montana) and Revelstoke Pecan Whiskey. (Ironically not distilled in BC, but in Minnesota?) Awesome stuff! When I got home I Googled it and one can buy it online. But in "The Peoples Republic of Utah" one cannot get beer, wine or liquor shipped to a Utah address. I think it’s a Mormon thing. That whole concept about separation of church and state…doesn’t apply here.
If you didn’t make The Serenade, you screwed up. My advice is to learn from your mistake and try harder next time.
To all who made it, my sincere thanks for a spectacular experience. I didn’t meet everyone, but I sure had a fantastic time, and I hope to meet more people next time!
Backyardski
BackyardskiLima
Gmoose, although I didn’t get a chance to talk to you, I did get a kick out of watching your beautiful Frandee purring around all over the place.
Thank you for arranging to have the Eskelsons come to the gtg, I could have listened to that amazing historical info all day. There was mention of binders full of photos that may or may not have been passed around, I can only imagine how cool those are. Their recollections and photos would probably be the most complete and personal record of Frandee and Thiokol, as well as Bombardier’s entrance into the alpine cat market. Put me down for a few copies on the preorder list if you can nudge them into putting a book together!
Edit- *i posted this before seeing BFT’s post above and would have rather not followed that one! TLBFT gets the award for the most thorough, accurate and entertaining posts!
Thank you for arranging to have the Eskelsons come to the gtg, I could have listened to that amazing historical info all day. There was mention of binders full of photos that may or may not have been passed around, I can only imagine how cool those are. Their recollections and photos would probably be the most complete and personal record of Frandee and Thiokol, as well as Bombardier’s entrance into the alpine cat market. Put me down for a few copies on the preorder list if you can nudge them into putting a book together!
Edit- *i posted this before seeing BFT’s post above and would have rather not followed that one! TLBFT gets the award for the most thorough, accurate and entertaining posts!
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Ahhh yes there may have been some whiskey running/smuggling going on around the mountain. But it was an excellent group of cats and people, probably the best bunch in the country. Well countries since we had friends and cats from both side of the border and several state lines, and I never saw one cat fight!!! We should and will all get together and do this again in Sun Valley or in other parts unknown. Great to meet everyone we all had a grand time. Keep posting pictures for the one who didn't come, and they know who they are right"Tye on One"!!!!!
Mr. Blackfoot, there definitely was an outside influence on the liquid pecan, i had a connection no names,(Logger1965) help us out there. On the gathering, we had a great visit with all. Awful happy there was no cat fights, lol. We arrived home yesterday. Sheeple are stupid everywhere, need to form our own catnation where stupid stays away. Great photos thanks everyone. Gord, Gloria, Kevin & Heather, next year for sure.����
I counted 18 cats at one point, any one else?
Track Addict
Bronze Member
I got into the 20's Saturday but they were a lot of moving parts to stay consistent.
I have 28 different cats during our stay, very much a moving thing
28 is a good number
pointy chops
Member
I know I'm late to the party but we had a blast. Big thanks to PP for all the time and effort organizing this get together, the location was awesome. Also a big thanks to everyone that came. It was tons of fun getting to hang with everyone and we can't wait to do it again. As usual we didn't enough photos, but here they are
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Got wind of next years date. I'm in!
You got enough keys?
Oh my,..yes!
Blackfoot Tucker, thank you so very much for the kind words about the Frandee. I still think you should drive it, maybe next year, unless of course you buy that one that is for sale and bring your own.