Putting the "track" back in Trackhead.

[pdiddy]

Will you be towing it to the trailheads or am I missing something?

Looks killer, I'm anxious to see what it looks like with the tracks installed...

[My Pet Powder Goat]

fucking awesome!

[F#*k you cat]

TH

what is the case of green JELLO for. need a little more horse hooves in your diet??

CAT

[fallguy]

i 2nd marshall. this thing is tits. my hats off to you for bringing this thing to life. please update with progress reports,photos and tr's. KICKIN' ASS.

[roadgap]

I don't believe you marshal!!!

Well, it's definitely the coolest thing I've ever seen. My standards may or may not be low.

[Trackhead]

nice! give me a shout if you're gonna head up skyline. right by my house.

I was actually referring to Skyline down by Manti.

[Trackhead]

TH

what is the case of green JELLO for. need a little more horse hooves in your diet??

CAT

Too funny. Didn't notice that. Bought them from a guy in central Utah, so Green Jello and Utah go hand in hand. It's a box of hardware for the tracks.

I still have to get some custom lug adapters and some other shit to the amount of $500 bucks before I can use them. So, still not ready yet. Gotta find some more cash first.

Here are some vids of another guy's Samurai on tracks.

[brice618]

Will sell body for rides in Samurai.

You could totally live in it for a while if you get buried in an avalanche.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Wow - this is awesome. Please post up an on-going TR as you fabricate this monster.

You also just need the Cobra turret:

[ey_allen]

Holy shit. I want one.

[bendtheski]

Meh. Prolly can't even fly/float...

[Trackhead]

I'm getting lug adapters next week, then a locking rear differential. Should be up and running by early December.

Here's a pic of the rear track mount next to the vehicle. Pretty significant surface area that should be plenty for cruising down snomo trails.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Are you going to put a small blade on the front? It might help with deeper/heavier snow.

[Meadow Skipper]

Pretty significant surface area that should be plenty for cruising down snomo trails.

It's funny to think about a sled ripping around a corner and coming face to face with your rig. Some priceless facial expressions are on tap for you.

[Trackhead]

Are you going to put a small blade on the front? It might help with deeper/heavier snow.

Yes, I'm fabricating a blade for it. But I'm under no illusions about it's ability to move too much snow.

[Mannix]

Freaking spectacular. I've been going around in circles trying to figure out the next step in over-the-snow transportation. This has come to mind, as has an 80s Toyota minivan - the goofy box thing, there was a 4wd version....hmmm. Gut interior, replace glass windows with plastic, add tracks, win?

The Samurai is cooler, though. Excellent.



Iain

[Trackhead]

Freaking spectacular. I've been going around in circles trying to figure out the next step in over-the-snow transportation. This has come to mind, as has an 80s Toyota minivan - the goofy box thing, there was a 4wd version....hmmm. Gut interior, replace glass windows with plastic, add tracks, win?

The Samurai is cooler, though. Excellent.

Iain

The holy grail for snowcats is a ground PSI of 0.60 or so. The Samurai will be nearly double that with Tatou's. A Rhino UTV can run around at about 0.55 to 0.60 psi with Tatou's. Eventually I'm going to get a Rhino, just don't have funds now. Whatever vehicle you get, make sure it's as light as possible. A stock Samurai weighs about 2000-2100lbs and doesn't come with locking differentials. Rhino's come stock with locking diffs, which makes a huge difference.

People argue that UTV's can't do what sleds can do, but I'm not interested in using these things to haul my lazy ass up for turns. I'm only interested in hauling a load of shit into the mountains, party style, at 10mph.

[Mannix]

Interesting. I've only seen two UTVs out and about here in CO; on one hand, I found some tracks up higher/above steeper stuff than I thought they'd be capable of, but the snow was fairly set up windpack that day. OTOH, I watched one move through ~8" of untracked on a gentle slope at 11k' - it did just fine, but not very fast and it sounded like it was using ALL the motor. Hmmmm. Do Rhinos have a decent motor? I get it - you're not trying to do what a sled can, a UTV with tracks never will - but wow, this thing (sporty looking side by side) was doing ALL it could (two people in it) to go *really* slow. It could be that they were just idiots and needed to shift, dunno, but the motor was not just wound out, it sounded like it was under a lot of load.

I keep coming back to Snow-trac + modern engine. Or snowmobiles. Or a newer Tucker with a blade. Wait a sec, bank account is bigger in fantasyland. Snowtrac with a modern engine is doable; I know you had a Bombi(? Bombardier somethingelse?), the snowtrac/master SEEMS like it would be a very good answer.


Iain

[TacocaT]

I have been watching you build this here and on advrider. Pretty damn cool
Whats top speed on the pavement and how do you get it to the trail? What does it take to switch from tracks to tires? Is it like changing tires or is it more involved?

Winch?

[Trackhead]

Old snowcats are money pits. I'd avoid them. The tracks, differentials, sprockets are VERY expensive to maintain when they break. That said, if money was no object, an LMC1500 would be nice.

This is reality. Snowmobiles are great, but they have their limitations. I had a Polaris Wide Trak that hauled HUGE loads in for hut trips. A very practical machine for that kind of stuff. But snomo's just don't do much for me mentally. I'm in to tracked vehicles because they are kinda cool, and can haul multiple passengers in heated cabs.

Any personal tracked vehicle (Imp, Super Imp, Bombi) will use every bit of it's engine to go through deep snow.......BTW. Perhaps a Kubota 1100 diesel would be a burly tracked UTV.

[Trackhead]

I have been watching you build this here and on advrider. Pretty damn cool
Whats top speed on the pavement and how do you get it to the trail? What does it take to switch from tracks to tires? Is it like changing tires or is it more involved?

Winch?

65mph on pavement with the shitty little 1300cc motor. Cruises well at 60mph getting 24mph with the big tires.

Switching to tracks is like changing tires, plus adding anti-rotation bracket.

Once I mount the tracks, I will leave them on for the winter. This rig will be used for nordic ski trail grooming in Corner Canyon.

[Trackhead]

Plot thickens:

Picking up a small tent trailer tomorrow. Going to mount it on skis and tow it behind the Samurai for the ultimate in deluxe, portable, backcountry accommodations.

[inthemtns]

Screw a tent, you could pull an entire yurt with that thing. Tip of the hat to you and your bad ass creation. Have fun.

[BC13]

That rig just gets better and better. I can't wait to see pics of it on the snow towing the trailer. You are going to be the envy of a quite a few people this winter.

[StuntCok]

That looks like it is going to be teh awesome. Jealous <napolean dynamite voice>