<VV> 1926 snowmobile

[Ron]

It does look quite unstable and heavy.
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Swiatowy" <gswiatowy at rochester.rr.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 8:56 AM
Subject: Re: <VV> 1926 snowmobile


>> From: "Dennis Pleau" <dpleau at wavecable.com>
>> Subject: Re: <VV> 1926 Snowmobile- NOW WITH CORVAIR CONTENT
>>
>> This is almost unbelievable.  Today in the Sacramento area all museums 
>> had
>> a
>> free day.  My son Michael and I planned out a route hoping to see between
>> three and five museums.
>>
>> Next stop was back to Woodland to the Hedrick Agricultural History Museum
>> (eat your heart out Lon), lots of tractors including a Fordson snow
>> tractor,
>> setup exactly like the one in the video Dick sent out.  Next to the
>> Hedrick
>> Museum is the Hayes Truck Museum and in the Hayes Museum is a 61 
>> Rampside.
>> Nothing special.  It's a driver.  It could be spiffed up and since I'm
>> unemployed, I may volunteer.
>>
> Even more on the 1926 snowmobile:
>> 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. 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."
>
> 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.
>
> Despite this interest, the Armstead Snow Motor was not a long-term
> commercial success
>
> Gary Swiatowy
>
>
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