3 Alpines should make one for X country ski trail groomer

[Scottyb]

Paul, those groomers are about as high tech as you could get! It would be a treat to get to drive one of them just once, and long enough to get the feel for it.

In the meantime, I have my 1980 Alpine out on the trails. The rebuilt engine is running as it should, and I easily made a trail today in 4 feet of powder snow (without anything attached). I hit a hole and buried it out of sight but, two tries on the reverse/forward, and it came out without any digging. I was impressed. Exactly what I was hoping for. One unexpected issue is it does not steer very well (real poorly when not pulling something) so some modification to the ski or suspension..or both, is in order.

Made some nice trails before friends arrived for the weekend.

We went cross country skiing on the weekend, on a very clear Saturday night under the full moon.

There is nothing like being out in the snow under a beautiful full moon.

Scott

[Paul Buhler]

those groomers are about as high tech as you could get

True enough! I first ran Tucker Snocats with homemade rolls and other implements behind them - no blades. We groomed the same steep slopes as now, but it was always a grit your teeth and pray experience. Now the cats run all over the mountain with much more comfort and safety; the winch cats do most of the really steep stuff since they leave the best surface and don't take the "slides for life" - the final passes on steep loose snow wants to avalanche. Experienced operators know how to minimize the problem).

Killington was in the fore front of winch grooming and we started with LMCs with Braden winches mounted on the backs parked at the top of a slope assisting a second cat as it pulled snow up the hill while tilling; Kassbohrer, and then Bombardier developed integral winches which are self contained as shown. This means one man - one machine. Over time the reliability, winch rope technology and operator skill has improved greatly and many large areas now use them on their steepest terrain because they get the job done better, quicker and safer (fewer cats sliding into the woods)

Being on the mountain while grooming with a full moon is pretty impressive too.

A burried snow machine is no fun to get out; One that can slog through the deep soft stuff reliably is my machine of choice - I'm not jumping them any more - my back objects.

On another note, the 275 gallon fuel tank that I made into a stone boat/ firewood sled, packs out behind my dozer nicely leaving about a 6 foot wide flat track - good for snowshoeing, cross county, and I'd assume snowmobiling.