a little historical perspective of the Tucker Sno-cat, to start, a brilliant concept, trick the snow into thinking the Tucker is floating on the snow. and that worked!
the only real competition Tucker had when he started out, was snow shoes and cross country skiis, so, speed was never an issue, the Tucker pontooned machines were designed and meant to be run at 5 to 7 mph and no FASTER. at the higher speeds, the track system simply self-destructs and wear out at a very high rate. by design, tucker sno cats should not be run faster than 7 mph, and are a high maintenance machine, Tucker was far superior to snow shoes and cross country skiis. Tuckers were built to access the back county where there were no road and hill to steep.
And in every published "on snow trials" right up through the 60's, Tuckers were shown to be far superior in back country conditions !
as, competitors came to the market in the following years with rubber tracked machines, tucker continued to remain true to the original design, pontoons, 5 -7 mph machine, with the new rubber tracked machines were going, an unheard of 15 mph, WOW, and in the early 70's, tucker started offering a rubber tracks on their machines. they continued to offer pontoons into the early 80's. what seems true, speed was the new norm, and vintage tuckers can not compete, the are still 5 -7 mph, high maintenance machine, and yes, I should acknowledge the real issues with the construction of mild steel pontoons rusting from the inside out, with link pins that have worn nearly in half from use ( wears much faster the faster you go ) and rollers that are meant to wear to save the rails on the pontoons, that have flanges so razor thin. The real cost of replacing these items can run into some real serious money when done correctly, ( and yes, you can cheat death and make do with worn and patched together parts, all in the name of saving money ) these costs alone for the pontoon restoration can and do exceed the cost of buying a real nice Snow Track, and or, I dare say a Imp/super Imp.
please keep in mind, more smiles per mile in a Tucker and you meet the nicest people in a Tucker, stay orange and tucker on. I do enjoy the slow pace of traveling and adventuring out into the back country in a Tucker Sno-cat
And IMHO, for the vintage market in the real world, Snow Track is a better buy for the money.
The Legend of Tucker is unmatched and no other snow cat even gets close, and that is why I am drawn to these legendary machines and collect them, it is the history.
