Hey snowmobilers!!!

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Snow tractor

1926 Snow Tractor - rare original video of an invention by Henry
Ford that never went very far.

1926 Snow Tractor You're not gonna believe this.

Talk about ingenuity!

This is a 1926 silent film (on video) of a tractor-snow-machine
invented by Henry Ford, who is shown driving it.

Watch the whole thing. Note the "hat and tie."!



http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...topicseen.html

[bikerphil]

That's pretty wild. It does donuts.

[joceiphus]

Henry Ford was pretty awesome. He had personal vehicles that ran off of diesel fuel made from hemp. He also took very good care of his employees as long as they did'nt form a union.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Henry Ford was pretty awesome. He had personal vehicles that ran off of diesel fuel made from hemp. He also took very good care of his employees as long as they did'nt form a union.

Yea, he could see what the unions would do productivity and manufacturing.

Driving manufacturing prices so high that products produced by union manufacturers in this country would be so expensive that our retailers and citizens would be forced to buy from other countries.

Just like it is now.

All the cars, electronics,and household items you can afford are made in Japan,Korea, or China.

Just grab something...anything sitting within reach and see where it's made.

Most likely it won't say " Union made in USA" unless you bought the most expensive thing you could find.

Appollogies in advance to any union bros out there but that's how I feel.

[joceiphus]

Wow look at you all fired up!!

I was just trying to make to my 100th post.

Didn't know I'd bring out the Union Basher in ya!

[1st bike]

okay, i seriously want one of these. old tractors are sooooo cool to begin with, but then to do this....my wife is gonna kill me when i tell her i want to make one of these.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Wow look at you all fired up!!

I was just trying to make to my 100th post.

Didn't know I'd bring out the Union Basher in ya!

Imagine that something we come close to agreeing on!

You got that piece of **** running yet? It's warming up and I'm gonna get some riding in here the end of the week.

[joceiphus]

It's got a ways to go.

[xs11jack]

WOW is right

I would love to tinker one of those into existence. As you say he was a genius of the mechanical world. What were the drums made of? If hollow, would it float?

[XSokieSPECIAL]

okay, i seriously want one of these. old tractors are sooooo cool to begin with, but then to do this....my wife is gonna kill me when i tell her i want to make one of these.

Ain't it though?

Reminiscent of Da Vinci's helecopter isn't it?

[XSokieSPECIAL]

I would love to tinker one of those into existence. As you say he was a genius of the mechanical world. What were the drums made of? If hollow, would it float?

They gotta be hollow man. Just to stay on top of that fresh snow and manuver like that.

You know, it's not any more bulky than a snow cat, and a lot more agile.

I wonder why something similar didn't catch on.

[T99Ford]

That is pretty cool. I wonder why it didn't catch on? It looks like the utility factor was pretty good.

[jmnjrpa]

Figure a weight system you could drop and this would be a great watercraft.
You would also have to lower the center of gravity. It would not replace jetskis but would be far more maneuverable.

[trbig]

I wondered... what you do in the mornings when the pontoons/screws are frozen and stuck to the ground or big chunks of ice stuck to them?

That did look pretty cool though.



Tod

[Jerry]

Photo of a Fordson Snow Devil that was used commercially is at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/refractionless/2909902484/
Short summary of the Snow-Motor:

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.[4] 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.[5]”

“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.[6]“

“Despite this interest, the Armstead Snow Motor was not a long-term commercial success.”