minus the cooler and fans this was all made from the drop bin.
minus the cooler and fans this was all made from the drop bin.
tonight I got the oil tank mounting bracket fabricated. all that's left now is mount the filter, install the pump and make some lines. kristi's are geared to climb a 100% grade. now the oil system should keep up at those angles for longer periods of time.
another view of the mount bracket. if I recall I cut the front legs at 30º and the rears at 20º to account for the curved floor. then bridged with angle to spread the load out on the fiberglass. also going to run fender washers on the outside with some button head cap screws. welded nuts on the backside for ease of install and once again made from recycled drop bin materials.
What a great thread. At the beginning I was going to warn you to be careful where you break it, but I see you did that yourself and you got out. I have a Cushman Trackster, which I saw one at the rodeo in your pics. One issue I have with it is it goes where other things won't. If it breaks when you are in one of those places it is a bear. I started to have a track come off in a swamp once, it was a long crab walk out!
Congratulations on building such an awesome machine, they are a real labor of love.
NYN
In reply to New York Nick :
thanks man! they most certainly are a labor of love. always been drawn too the smaller cats so naturally i like the trackster. actually talked to the guys who brought that one for quite awhile last year. sounds like your day in the swamp was an exhausting adventure.
didn't get alot done this week but i still think im a shoe in for first ever dry sump kristi. gonna need a few more fittings. started mocking up tonight with the exhaust and battery tray. you can see how little real estate is left.
made all the lines with -8AN fittings and nylon braided line. got the stock oil cooler swapped for the block off plate. just need to shoehorn that pump in there and pour in some oil.
the space issue is always a challenge on this machine. would love to run a bigger dry sump pump but there is just no way inside this body.
Can't you run a pump stack above a cylinder head? Pumps oriented "behind" the drive toothed belt.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
haven't seen any aircooled vws running dry sump pumps outside the stock pump location though im sure its possible. could use the same belt as the hydraulic pump. still might be tough to fit it on this machine
Look at the Pegasus catalog for remote style dry sump pumps. There are some from circle track suppliers as well. There is nothing VW specific about an oil pump, only the way you need to plumb it into the engine. Drive it with a tooth (Gilmer) belt not a V belt.
Saw a tucker while snowmobiling in Iowa today. Thought of this thread. These things are super cool.
I saw this for sale in Buffalo if anyone wants to get into the tracked snow machine game. I would be interested myself except the 1 person cab, I like to bring my boys out with me when we ride.
https://buffalo.craigslist.org/hvo/d/arcade-bombardier-sidewalk-plow/7264790682.html
made a puller. got the stock pump removed. party piece is in. next week ill slap everything back together with the ignition upgrades and hopefully take it for a spin in all this new snow.
Does anyone make new front 1/4 windows?
I enjoy following your projects on this KRISTI. Picked one up this summer from a family friend in Butte, MT. Been looking for years. Has about 800 hrs on it. Believe it is an old Mtn Bell Telephone fleet rig. Has all the usual issues with the exhaust stacks, deteriorated tracks, and broken springs. Lotta fun to run, although it is a bit slow going. Just now getting real good snow amounts in MT.
Things I have done to the snowcat: Total overhaul of fuel tank (sat for ten years); Realign hydraulic pump; pull tin and clean.out passages; Remount throttle cable; drill out and replace broken exhaust manifold stud; Fix broken exhaust (ongoing); Pull inspection plate and pump out old 90 wt oil; Drain and replace all fluids and grease the zerqs; Adjust track tension; overhaul ranch-built deck-over tilt-back trailer that came with it.
Stuff it needs: Most of the hydraulic lines replaced; Couple of hydraulic rams need overhauling; Almost all springs need to be replaced; Tracks, grousers, and treads overhauled; Tires and tubes; Drive sprockets to change out.
That probably just touches on all the issues.
In reply to Pdriscoll66 :
all in all yours looks like a very clean body. definetly a typical kristi laundry list but they really are simple and reliable machines overall. glad to see another one getting used. id love to know more about your throttle cable setup. mine is still running linkage and im becoming less happy with it. Im betting you have an original kristi tilt trailer like mine from the sound of the description haha
not a ton of visual progress this week. fixed a few exhaust leaks. pressure tested the stacks and made them grinder pretty again. got the front seal and new pulley installed. started swapping ignition parts, found a few things that need attention.
I am still using a linkage throttle system, just a bit improved. I will be exploring further improvements to that system since it is lacking on several fronts. I have had to support both the exhaust stacks. Particularly on hard packed snow, the Kristi tends to really jump around. It is a lot like a severe washboard effect. It really rattles those tall stacks,. The trailer is a double axle and a bit heavy duty for the purpose, but it works okay for the time being. I have on-order a 32-inch long spring that I can cut to length to repair the suspension, as I get to it. Curious whether you preserved the original starter dog nut when you changed out the pulley. I do carry a hand-crank starter rod as part of my emergency kit. Have not tried hand cranking it yet, but have cranked lots of old Land Rovers and tractors over the years. Best of luck on your oil cooling system. I will be following developments.
In reply to Pdriscoll66 :
they are indeed shaky little things. hopefully the urethane sprocket group buy will happen soon. I think that would be the biggest improvement you could make on a kristi. smooth out that percussion of the sprocket on the grouser. i do still have my hand start crank bolt. not currently installed. mine doesn't line up very well with the vent hole in the body so im not sure it would work out on my kt-3.
finally slapped it all back together. all said and done the system holds over 7 quarts of oil. swapped the original dead amp gauge for a new volt gauge. going to add oil temp and O2 gauges soon. colorado snowcat jamboree is coming up in a couple weeks.
@
In reply to 2K4Kcsq :
Great photo. We don't get enough snow in my area to justify a "cat", but the Kristy looks like it would be a blast.
In reply to TurnerX19 : thanks man. we dont get much snow at my house but work has more than enough most years. and to answer you from earlier no one makes quarter windows but they are just a piece of plexi with a little curve added. might have a go at replacing them once the big windows are in.
shakedown runs out the ridge.
had one little mishap with the oil tank vent hose touching the exhaust. went ahead and tied down all the important hoses like i had planned. that's why we shake them down. see what rattles loose.
Amazing picture. Glad to see it back on the snow.
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