Another Ahab
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M1028 thru M1028a3, cant remember which had what, but at least some had traction aiding diffs, IIRC.Thanks for the replys I was hoping that a chained up military vehicle could be made to work. Guess I'm back to putting tracks on a conventional 1 ton and possibly adding a front diff locker. I've been reading thru posts and it sounds like you are all a great bunch of guys. And I may yet buy a deuce or a 5 ton! Are There any other surplus military vehicles I should look at?
I've driven my 5 ton in the snow. Its top heavy and with it's weight, if it slides and gets stuck you will have trouble getting it out, even with a winch you need a big anchor. It will make deep ruts that aren't good for a snowmobile trail. I run my Case 450 dozer on the snow and with it's tracks I can stay on top of deep snow. I've been on top of snow over 6 feet deep. I'd look for a dozer with wide tracks to groom trail. A 6 way blade on it will help keep snowdrifts from messing up a groomed trail.Pure speculation but, I doubt it unless you can have some snow tracks made for the back. Virgin snow or thin packed snow maybe, thick light pack from snowmobiles, progress with tire chains probably wouldn’t be pretty. These things are HEAVY with not a lot of ground contact...
JarheadMtn!! Missed you much, Man! Ahab here.I've driven my 5 ton in the snow. Its top heavy and with it's weight, if it slides and gets stuck you will have trouble getting it out, even with a winch you need a big anchor. .
Have you priced tracks for pick ups? I know the smaller tracks for a Jeep are $16,000. You can get a used tracked Thikiol snow cat for not much more than that. I was a mountain warfare instructor in the Marines and we tested a lot of vehicles in the snow. Take a look at Extreme Hagglunds website. They sell BV206 military snow cats and its one of the best snow vehicles made. He has several videos that show them in action so it will give you an idea of what they are capable of doing in the snow. He is in Roscoe Montana near the Beartooth.Thanks for all the replys. Do the military pu trucks generally have differential lockers in the front axle. Thinking of going back to original idea of putting tracks on a 3/4 or 1 ton and pulling a 3/4 scale drag.
The people here who know snow are The FLU Farm (CO) and also jarheadmountain (MT), but I'm not sure that either is tracking the thread.Would duallys on the front with a track wrapped around them solve the digging in on snow. Also weighting the very back should reduce front end weight. The truck of choice would be short. A semi or dump truck would be best I think. checking pricing on belt material. Waiting for estimates.
How would this do in snow.
I think I can make these tracks myself.
How would this do in snow. The Eskimo's supposedly have 1000 different words that describe snow. The depth of snow pack, density of the snow and terrain make a huge difference in what will work in snow. My 813 is worthless in most of my snow conditions here. Its too deep of snow and steep roads. If you have deep snow your front end will be sinking down and turn into a plow. I have snowmobiles for running around and dozers for grooming and plowing. Even my tracked excavator has trouble in the snow once it gets a couple of feet deep, but its great for self recovery with the long reach of the bucket. If you want to groom, I would look for some time of wide track tractor. Weight matters, My Cat D-7 runs on the ground and pushes snow whole my Case 450 is light enough to get up on top of the snow. The Case does drag the belly pan and ruts the snow, but it will go on top of deep snow drifts.
A used Thikol might be your best bet.
the problem where I live is the forestry roads are not plowed in the winter to access the lakes for ice fishing. Other roads may get plowed a few times a week or less. the roads get deep with snow and my front differential becomes a snow plow. Im in the process of building a "fixed V snow plow" that I can lower to about 12 inches or less above the road level and push the snow to both sides of the truck as I travel. I doubt that this will help grooming a snow mobile trail unless it was wide and the snow was not over 4 feet deep or less.Seems workable, but not so sure the front axle won't just dive depending on how deep the snow gets, you know?