Have you got snow?
- Thread starter Steve in Mi
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Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
Now that is just flat out badass!!!!!!! And a simple design. Thanks for sharing that.
tatra
Well-known member
saw a vid of a similar military vehicle , modern day............russian maybe?............thing was fast and went thru bog/ and swamp nicely..........will try to find vid..............
JackOfAllTradesRuss
Well-known member
Cool, I want one..... Few years before seat belts and ROPS.
Russ
Russ
Torque1st
MEMBER EMERITUS
Safe for SOME drivers but that thing would make hamburger of anyone that got swept off by a low branch. A leg slipping off the pedals down onto one of those drive screws would be mangled instantly. I am afraid it violates just about all modern safety standards. Nowadays it would have to have a cab and guards over the drive chain and over the "screws" at a minimum.
Fun vehicle tho with enough snow.
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
Safety standards take all the fun out of it
Hell...the guy driving is probably still around to tell you stories about it. LOL!!!Major Ramifications
Well-known member
I have never seen more than an inch or two of snow, but that thing is cool! It is beautiful in its simplicity. I wonder how it would work in mud.
Torque1st
MEMBER EMERITUS
But if they had brought in 100 drivers off the street to run it thru the same course 20 of them probably would not have survived.Safety standards take all the fun out of it
goodfellow
Well-known member
Great flick -- Bet it could float with just a few mods.
Junkman
Well-known member
Safe for SOME drivers but that thing would make hamburger of anyone that got swept off by a low branch. A leg slipping off the pedals down onto one of those drive screws would be mangled instantly. I am afraid it violates just about all modern safety standards. Nowadays it would have to have a cab and guards over the drive chain and over the "screws" at a minimum.
Fun vehicle tho with enough snow.
If all the modern safety standards, EPA regulations, etc. were around 100 years ago, we would be a 3 world nation still struggling to get ahead. The way that things are going, I have a bad feeling that we might just become one as a result of current events..
ghlkal
Well-known member
I've got 4' drifts outside and it's been 10* below 0 ... that thing needs a heated cab! 
e-tek
Well-known member
OK I can't believe I'm the first one to say: I'm going to build one!!!!!!! Now, I'll need some of my GJ colleagues help of course
I have a tractor I could use that would fit the bill - several to choose from at the in-laws farm (SK is FARM country y'know!!)....but, WHAT to use for those treaded skids??? WOuld some kind of drum, witha cone weleded on to the front work...what would you use for the 'tread' - guess a 2" thread of steel welded in a perfect spiral would do....
Let's hear those ideas!
I have a tractor I could use that would fit the bill - several to choose from at the in-laws farm (SK is FARM country y'know!!)....but, WHAT to use for those treaded skids??? WOuld some kind of drum, witha cone weleded on to the front work...what would you use for the 'tread' - guess a 2" thread of steel welded in a perfect spiral would do....
Let's hear those ideas!
Iron-Iceberg
Well-known member
Old water heater and some angle iron wraped around it.
mmg440
Well-known member
Just get a old pontoon boat and use the tanks. Go with a longer but smaller diameter. Then if still sealed you should be able to use it in the water too.
eaglein99
Member
Here is the link to what you were thinking. http://englishrussia.com/?p=2034 It was a Soviet vehicle.
Jesse
This guy wasted no time taking matters into his own hands....
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-01/thar-she-blows
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-01/thar-she-blows
tatra
Well-known member
eaglein99 , thanks buddy, thats the one.........just got home from work and was going to start lookin and lo and behild the work is done for me, cheers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Torque1st
MEMBER EMERITUS
You got that right. I have the same fears. Civilization is a mighty thin veneer especially when the technology that enables our "civilization" is so fragile. We may never get out of this worldwide depression. There are not enough resources around to spend or consume our way out of this one.
Tech Guy
Well-known member
Nice machine. Imagine seeing that coming down the trail ! Looked a little tippy at some points from being top heavy.
Tech Guy
Well-known member
A bit of history on that machine :
Armstead Snow Motor
In the 1920s the Armstead Snow Motor was developed. When this was used to convert a Fordson tractor into a screw propelled vehicle with a single pair of cylinders; the combination became known as the Fordson Snow Devil. A film was made to show the capabilities of the vehicle as well as a Chevrolet car fitted with an Armstead Snow Motor.[4] The film clearly shows that the vehicle copes well in snow. Steering was effected by having each cylinder receive power from a separate clutch which, depending on the position of the steering gear, engages and disengages; this results a vehicle that is relatively maneuverable. The promotional film shows the Armstead snow motor hauling 20 tones of logs.
In January 1926, Time magazine reported:
“ Having used the motor car for almost every other conceivable purpose, leading Detroit automobile makers have now organized a company entitled "Snow Motors Inc.," to put out a machine which will negotiate the deepest snowdrifts at six to eight miles an hour. The new car will consist of a Ford tractor power-plant mounted on two revolving cylinders instead of wheels—something on the order of a steam roller. The machine has already proved its usefulness in deep snow previously unnavigable. One such machine has done the work which formerly required three teams. In Oregon a stage line uses a snow motor in its two daily round trips over the Mackenzie Pass between Eugene and Bend. Orders are already in hand from Canada, Norway, Sweden, Alaska. The Hudson Bay Co. has ordered a supply to maintain communications with its most northern fur-trading stations. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police have also gone into the market for snow motors, and may cease to be horsemen and become chauffeurs, to the deep regret of cinema people. A number of prominent motor makers have also been interested in the proposition from the angle of adapting the snow motors equipment to their ordinary models. Hudson, Dodge and Chevrolet are mentioned especially as interested in practical possibilities along this line.[5] ”
An an extant example is in the collection of the Heidrick Ag History Center in Woodland, California. This particular vehicle is said to have been used to haul mail from Truckee to North Lake Tahoe.[6]
Despite this interest, the Armstead Snow Motor was not a long-term commercial success.
Armstead Snow Motor
In the 1920s the Armstead Snow Motor was developed. When this was used to convert a Fordson tractor into a screw propelled vehicle with a single pair of cylinders; the combination became known as the Fordson Snow Devil. A film was made to show the capabilities of the vehicle as well as a Chevrolet car fitted with an Armstead Snow Motor.[4] The film clearly shows that the vehicle copes well in snow. Steering was effected by having each cylinder receive power from a separate clutch which, depending on the position of the steering gear, engages and disengages; this results a vehicle that is relatively maneuverable. The promotional film shows the Armstead snow motor hauling 20 tones of logs.
In January 1926, Time magazine reported:
“ Having used the motor car for almost every other conceivable purpose, leading Detroit automobile makers have now organized a company entitled "Snow Motors Inc.," to put out a machine which will negotiate the deepest snowdrifts at six to eight miles an hour. The new car will consist of a Ford tractor power-plant mounted on two revolving cylinders instead of wheels—something on the order of a steam roller. The machine has already proved its usefulness in deep snow previously unnavigable. One such machine has done the work which formerly required three teams. In Oregon a stage line uses a snow motor in its two daily round trips over the Mackenzie Pass between Eugene and Bend. Orders are already in hand from Canada, Norway, Sweden, Alaska. The Hudson Bay Co. has ordered a supply to maintain communications with its most northern fur-trading stations. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police have also gone into the market for snow motors, and may cease to be horsemen and become chauffeurs, to the deep regret of cinema people. A number of prominent motor makers have also been interested in the proposition from the angle of adapting the snow motors equipment to their ordinary models. Hudson, Dodge and Chevrolet are mentioned especially as interested in practical possibilities along this line.[5] ”
An an extant example is in the collection of the Heidrick Ag History Center in Woodland, California. This particular vehicle is said to have been used to haul mail from Truckee to North Lake Tahoe.[6]
Despite this interest, the Armstead Snow Motor was not a long-term commercial success.