Grooming history

indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
cobalt_502 said:
I live in Greenville too, were you on School road growing up, for some reason I thought you did years ago and I would look for you out in the field behind the homes.
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I now live on the north side of Greenville out by JJ. But, I grew up by the schools, little piece of land I used to ride on they planted an “urban forest” on about 10 years ago. I did however run down the ditch line of school rd to Julius, then across the Julius ditch lines to get to the trails when I was a kid.
 
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warner

Active member
Found it several years ago about 15 miles from my house, brought it home and rebuilt the entire undercarriage including new tracks.
the boon dock inn in Twin Lakes , MI is having a vintage sled ride this weekend and bonfire cookout Saturday out in the woods...i am gonna take the lil snocat up there and play in the woods, most likely with a beverage.
 
mezz

mezz

Well-known member
Sweet!, I'll bet that is a blast to bomb around in. Looks like you could use a sound system in there to dampen the engine noise.
 
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old abe

Well-known member
elf said:
Growing up in Burnett County my dad worked for the county and was one of the people who helped establish the first trails in that area. I remember them grooming in the late 60's/early 70's with a bull dozer pulling a drag. And they had a ski doo Alpine (?) single ski/twin track that they pulled a small drag with. Then going riding with a bunch of families on the weekends and about 1/2 the sleds made it home. My brother and rode on a sleigh where you could stand on the back. Good times! There was even a picture of us on the old Wonderland trails map.
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Yes elf, you are absolutely correct on it being a Ski Doo Alpine! My neighbor who moved down from Minnie had one. There were timber trails in several forested areas and they would also pull a bed spring with the Alpine. As I remember it was not a fast sled, but it would go places other sleds could not. As in slow and steady, eh! The bed springs would not work on the woopies that the sleds of today create. o_O It was really the whole family being involved back then. Bonfires and weenie, marshmallow roasts all day long! Good times for sure! I was hooked at early, age. :D
 
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old abe

Well-known member
mezz said:
Tuckers were the first used here in the early 80's. They were prone to breakdowns quite frequenty as these were previously used for ski hill grooming & weren't designed for high mileage. Prior to that, there were no groomers much less official trails. It sure has come a long way.
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Yeah mezz, our early times in the Yoop was before they got going on grooming. We were lodging in Hayward WI. Had a friend in Mellon, WI., and we rode over to see him. He started talking about the deep snow belt, which they were right on the edge of. The rest is history as we had to see this deep snow belt. When we got into the Yoop, it was absolutely amazing. Having to leap frog our sleds to be able to ride the forest roads! Many, many times stuck too! We didn't have our bungee's back then, but soon learned to be equipped better in the deep stuff! Sleds were prone to having problems, and issues back then too! o_O But all fun!
 
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old abe

Well-known member
Does anyone here remember back in the mid to late 1990's, around the BRFL/Millston area of W/C Sconny, clubs using a Compact, Foreign made (Japanese, Korean?) smaller COE Compact Diesel Truck Groomer rig. It had 2 rear rubber tracks, 2 wheels up front to steer with, and a Semi Mounted Drag with 2 transport wheels out back. Really easy to travel to other areas on roads. Does any one else remember these? Have any idea what make/brand groomer these were? They weren't a Full Sized Groomer, and they could go where a full sized groomer could not. Jerry Green and his wife that ran the Evergreens Supper club south of BRFL, had one based there that Jerry operated for the club. I don't remember the clubs names?
 
bearrassler

bearrassler

Active member
old abe said:
Yup that's exactly what I was referring to! Spot on bearrassler, would you happen to know about what year that was from? My memories were mid to late 90's?
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It is a Track Truck made by ASV in Grand Rapids, MN, the guy who was one of the founders of the company was Edgar Hetteen, the same guy who started Polaris and Arctic Cat, our snowmobile club used one in the early 90's, my younger brother who lived in Warroad on Lake of the Woods had a couple of them and another one or two for parts, he just passed away last fall but I think there are a few still up at his place. The Grand Forks Park District still uses one to groom cross country ski trails. I believe they started building them in 1983 and built them into the mid to late 90's. They worked well in the trees but out in the open where the snow drifted they ran out of power.
 
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old abe

Well-known member
bearrassler said:
It is a Track Truck made by ASV in Grand Rapids, MN, the guy who was one of the founders of the company was Edgar Hetteen, the same guy who started Polaris and Arctic Cat, our snowmobile club used one in the early 90's, my younger brother who lived in Warroad on Lake of the Woods had a couple of them and another one or two for parts, he just passed away last fall but I think there are a few still up at his place. The Grand Forks Park District still uses one to groom cross country ski trails. I believe they started building them in 1983 and built them into the mid to late 90's. They worked well in the trees but out in the open where the snow drifted they ran out of power.
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Interesting bearrassler, thanks! Good Ol' Edger helps once again! Yes I can see where they couldn't handle the deep, or drifted conditions. I know Jerry groomed quite often, never let the trails get out of hand. The drag wasn't heavy enough to handle badly, deep moguls trail conditions either.
 
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