Everything Grooming....the grooming thread

[millertime]

so am I understanding this correctly...the smaller groomers (tucker's & Piston bully's) are less prone to get stuck and can handle more variations in terrain than a large tracked tracker like a New Holland?

If so, why would clubs not stick with one or the other? I've seen john deere with tires and tracked, New Hollands with tracks and tires and then the smaller groomers. I'm confused why one type isn't clearly the favorite choice. Is it the cost?

It all depends on what you groom.
Track groomer have less PSI than tractors which allows them to stay on top of the snow... If you have hills then a tractor typically won't make it. The older steel lug tuckers do the best with hills, even compared to the terra tuckers. Bottom line you need to have the right machine for your trail system. Railroad grade and flat land a tractor will suit the best. Hills, swamps, and light duty bridges a track machine will fit the best.

 

[rocky367]

Our county and Monroe next to us have a mix of tractors and track units, all in all the tractors work really well on our steep hills. Most of the time it is a matter of the operator getting used to the feel of the trail. I will say we usually send the track units out for deeper snow to at least establish a path in areas we know will be trouble.

 

[millertime]

True as long as there is no icing. We groom in the Holy Hill and Glacial Hills area...tractors can't do the job, unless you only groom down the hills.

 

[MZEMS2]

True as long as there is no icing. We groom in the Holy Hill and Glacial Hills area...tractors can't do the job, unless you only groom down the hills.

Hmmm. I don't know, a 4wd tractor with chains all around is pretty darn good on the ice.

 

[millertime]

Hmmm. I don't know, a 4wd tractor with chains all around is pretty darn good on the ice.

We thought so too....

 

[jr37]

Anyone have a new Tucker? What do like/dislike about it?

 

[jr37]

Come on guys. It's mid-season, we should have some current grooming pictures. Let's see what you've got. Maybe even some grooming disasters?

 

[bearrassler]

No current pictures, but we have a 1993 Bombardier BR400 with a 250 HP Cummins Turbo, the front blade is 16' wide when the ends are extended and the tracks are over 14' wide. We had a new 10' X 20' skid made by a local machine shop last year that works great. We groom a lot of road ditches in MN and ND and the snow gets drifted and sometimes hard as a rock and it needs all 250 HP to pull the skid. I did find a couple of old pictures of it with are old smaller skid.





We used to have a Bearcat with a small skid for doing some in town trails but sold it a couple of years ago.

 

[440_chazz]

Our club hires out our grooming to a guy that loves to do it so much he owns three tracked machines. Two tuckers and a big mammoth called the ultimate snow groomer. Its a custom built machine with a John Deere 300HP engine. The thing tows a 10 foot drag with folding wings capable of grooming 12 foot swaths. Its pretty impressive. Some of you may recognize the company logo, and yes its the same company that produces concrete and builds roads

 

[skidont]

I am a groomer for the North Branch Sno-drifters here in Minnesota . We use a br180 to set the trail system and then use a New Kubota M-126 with rear tracks after that . The kubota is awsome for what we need and was only around $65,000 new . very easy on fuel . It may be just me but I never worry when grooming at nite with the tractor as I did with the BR . Also if anyone knows of a old cheap 20 ft sno-plane drag we may be interested .

 

[jr37]

If your club has a groomer/tractor with the Soucy tracks on them, tell me if there is anything you don't like.

Our club is demoing one this weekend, and man am I impressed. Someone on here once said they are like a Tucker on steroids, that is a good choice of wording. That thing will out work our Tucker any day.

So please tell me if there is anything to lookout for, any issues, anything bad.

 

[r/l groomer]

Go to kozs grooming site, there is thread about some people with issues they were talking about, tractors, transmissions, etc.

 

[groomerdriver]

If your club has a groomer/tractor with the Soucy tracks on them, tell me if there is anything you don't like.
Our club is demoing one this weekend, and man am I impressed. Someone on here once said they are like a Tucker on steroids, that is a good choice of wording. That thing will out work our Tucker any day.

That was me and it still holds true. If Deere/Case/New Holland/ etc. built a tractor with a 2-man cab like a Tucker has you'd be pretty damn close to the perfect groomer. Still too heavy for some though.

 

[MZEMS2]

Come on guys. It's mid-season, we should have some current grooming pictures. Let's see what you've got. Maybe even some grooming disasters?

Diddly squat for snow in our neck o the woods. Haven't been out since Xmas eve, here in south central WI. We've been getting nothing but what I call "nuisance snow".....1" at a time, every few days. Just enough to make a mess, but not enough to get the trails opened back up.

 

[bearrassler]

Went out today to do some trails in town (East Grand Forks, MN) after our 45 MPH winds yesterday and took a couple of pictures of the BR 400 and our new last year skid. Some drifts were over 4' high and almost as hard as rocks. The temp was -14 when I started.

 

[440_chazz]

Can it be too cold to groom? Our trails are open and the wind is howling today making drifts with more snow predicted. We are gonna have to groom. I was reading eagle rivers trail condition report during a cold snap and they mentioned the fridgid temps and because of them they did not groom. Just wondering why they wouldnt groom because i thought the colder it is the the less time it takes for the trail to set up.

 

[krupps_resort]

Can it be too cold to groom? Our trails are open and the wind is howling today making drifts with more snow predicted. We are gonna have to groom. I was reading eagle rivers trail condition report during a cold snap and they mentioned the fridgid temps and because of them they did not groom. Just wondering why they wouldnt groom because i thought the colder it is the the less time it takes for the trail to set up.

Maybe because this extremely cold weather is very hard on machinery/equipment. I've known of loggers shutting down for that reason also.

 

[scott_l]

Can it be too cold to groom? Our trails are open and the wind is howling today making drifts with more snow predicted. We are gonna have to groom. I was reading eagle rivers trail condition report during a cold snap and they mentioned the fridgid temps and because of them they did not groom. Just wondering why they wouldnt groom because i thought the colder it is the the less time it takes for the trail to set up.

safety of the operator!!!!!!!!!!What woudl happen to the driver if the equipment went down and lost heat? Yes most of these guys wear or bring bibs, jackets, boots and what not but in some of the remote areas in the middle of the night it could be a few hrs before help would arrive.

 

[Deleted member 10829]

It's both for the safety of the driver and to a lesser extent, being hard on the equipment, although that is a consideration for sure. Trails set up great in this weather but safety has to be first.

 

[srobak]

Here are pix I took last year of Forsyth Township Snowmobile Club's (Gwinn, KI Sawyer, southern Marquette County) rig. This was at Kountry Korner in Gwinn.