1924 snowmobile prototype like you've not seen before

[madokie]

http://www.flixxy.com/snow-vehicle-concept.htm

I kid you not. Other than the horse scene this is good. 1924.

[City of Mills]

1. Cool

It looks like some kind of ground-torpedo with a seat!

[madokie]

3. with a 'tud on 'roids

[FredStembottom]

12. there's a type of corkscrew tractor.....

.....that actually went into production. You see one turn up at the threshing/steam shows around here every once in awhile. Thin, small corkscrew treads, though. Meant for muddy fields and wouldn't "float" on snow like this machine.


oops! Replied to wrong post.

[Myrina]

2. That was pretty brilliant!

:applause:

[madokie]

4. Thats what I thought too

I kinda like that kind of stuff anyway :-)

[tridim]

5. It would suck to fall off that thing into the screws.

But it also looks like a lot of fun to drive.

[madokie]

6. No shit, did you notice the driver looked like he almost did a couple three times

he was having as much fun as I was when I watched it first.

[Greg K]

9. It's like a pontoon boat for the snow.

It'd be neat to see a smaller, lighter modern version of this.


But that poor horse. :(

[Xithras]

26. Yep, it's a product liability nightmare.

Could you imagine the result if you actually hit ANOTHER PERSON with one of these? Sliced and diced.

It would ride like crap anyway. As cool as it may look, the reality is that the screws rule out any kind of traditional suspension. If you watch the driver in the video, you'll notice he bumps around a lot. This might be fun for a short while, but any driver would quickly end up stiff and sore.

[sutz12]

7. That's pretty cool.

:thumbsup:

[enlightenment]

8. That is neat (except the horse scene).

I wonder how they would work on sand?

[hootinholler]

30. I bet they would work well on sand or mud

If the drums were watertight, it might be amphibious also. A great ice fishing vehicle.

-Hoot

[enlightenment]

31. Are there any vehicles that use that rotating drum idea?

I am sooo clueless about this sort of thing, but it seems very effective - more stable and maneuverable than skids.

[FredStembottom]

10. Wow!

That seems like a win-win-win kind of technology! A few shields and chain-guards, please, though!:scared:

[Warpy]

11. This is an idea that needs to be revisited

since it takes a lot less power than what we're using now, big graders coming through.

[bobbert]

13. less power?

are you kidding? You're spinning big heavy metal drums one way while the car is supposed to move perpendicular to that. current snowmobiles make a lot more sense in that the direction you rotate the tread is the direction you are moving. Each rotation moves you a larger distance.

[Warpy]

14. Try doing that on wheels in 4 feet of snow

You can't.

[Xithras]

29. This may be more efficient in deep drifts, but is less efficient otherwise.

The other poster is correct. In most cases, you're transferring power into a large heavy drum that has to spin a many times to gain a fairly small amount of distance. A traditional snowmobile can cover the same distance using fewer rotations...and less energy.

The utility of the design is limited to deep snow. It's an interesting idea for snowcats and rescue vehicles, but isn't very practical for transportation over packed snow or for recreation.

There is a REASON this design never went anywere.

[dysfunctional press]

15. what's the secret to getting the video to play?

every time i click on the pic, it just reopens the same page- but no video...:shrug:

[madokie]

16. do you have adobe flash player installed?

I tried again and it comes right up, guess it could be using whats already on my computer now though. try cut and past sometimes that works when nothing else will.

[dysfunctional press]

19. yes, i do...

cut and paste...what? :shrug:

[madokie]

20. the link

[dysfunctional press]

21. the link takes me to a page of pictures...

when i scroll down to the pic of the guy on the snowmobile, and click on it- it reopens the same page in another window- but no video plays.

my browser is firefox

ansd just to be sure, i reloaded flash 10 and restated my computer. same thing still happens.

[dysfunctional press]

22. where on the page is the video supposed to appear?

there's no obvious 'screen' like on you tube.
on the linked site, i get a grid of 15 picture-links at the top, and then two columns of picture-links below that.

[madokie]

24. up to the left is where it is here

thats strange cause it still works fine here

[dysfunctional press]

27. i found the problem...or rather the good people at flixxy did.

i was running adblock on firefox, not adblock PLUS. so i had to delete adblock and upgrade it...
works fine now.
thanks for the link.

[madokie]

28. I hadn't thought about that angle

I have my blocker allowing anything from DU

[originalpckelly]

17. Looks like something out of a Batman movie.

[Mr. Hyde]

18. I want one.

[lame54]

23. Snow-Screwing

[madokie]

25. All right, now I want one

since you put it like that.

[BelgianMadCow]

32. What's that, if not a giant toy?

Ribbed for pleasure, the opposed turning directions add that little bit extra.
Only use in a well ventilated room and do not smoke afterwards.

:shrug: :hide:

[Doremus]

33. Fascinating. There was a factory billowing dirty smoke in the background of one scene.

I wonder what its purpose was or what was manufactured there.

So many changes in our country since the 1920s, some for the worse but others not. For instance, they couldn't so blatantly abuse that horse today I'd think, and streets would be plowed.

It's fascinating getting a small glimpse of life back then. Thanks.

[dmr]

34. Awesome! We got another foot up here Saturday, could use it right now!

Really, it was pretty ingenious. And, that poor, poor horse.

I enjoyed watching the film. Thank you for sharing.

:)

[bvar22]

35. I have seen this type of vehicle in South Louisiana.

I saw several about 8 years ago in the rice paddys/fish farms of southwest Louisiana(Abbeyville/Rayne). Contra- rotating drum pontoons.
They were much lower than the tractor in the video...lower center of gravity, but same basic layout.

They had no problems skimming across the mud and open water of the paddies, and climbing and crossing the earth barriers between paddies.

I don't know if they were commercially available vehicles or some type of experiment, but they looked sleek and well built.
Looked like a lot of fun to drive.