28 January 2009

1926 "snowmobile" could pull a 20-ton load


In the 1920s, Fordson tractors were converted to winter use by adding screw propulsion via large cylinders. The result was a "snowmobile" - dubbed the Snow Motor or Snow Devil. The 11-minute (silent) video shows impressive performance, and not just "for its time." The last portion of the video shows the screw propulsion mounted on an automobile rather than a tractor.

Found at Live Leak, via Reddit discussion board.

8 comments:

  1. Absolutely amazing!

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  2. Where do I get one of these?

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  3. LOOKS ALOT SAFER & MORE FLEXIBLE THAN TODAYS SNOW MOBILES. THEY SHOULD HAVE KEPT IT IN PRODUCTION, FOR TODAYS WEATHER SITUATIONS WE HAVE BEEN HAVING.

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  4. They don't make them now because think about what would happen if you tried to drive one on the road or ice or basically anything other than 2 foot deep snow.

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  5. Did you actually watch the whole thing? It went on ice just fine, and even negotiated bare summertime ground (although they said this was for emergencies only).

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  6. Affirming what the last "anonymous" said, the video does show the vehicle traversing roads and dry farm fields without difficulty; it's basically a tractor with big wheels.

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  7. After watching this. I am very impressed. I was wondering how it would have work in light snow drifts.

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  8. You need to watch all the way to the end of the video, even though it's a bit tedious. The latter part shows the machine navigating over dry farmfields in the summertime.

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