in Fatbike Forum

So a local farmer in Cambridge has an Arctic Cat Panther. Nicely stored inside a concrete floored shed. Looks to be in decent shape, but who knows how many years since it has been run? The current owners do not know the history of said machine as it "came with the farm when we bought it". It looks just like this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Arctic-cat-Panther-440-Located-in-Stamford-CT/291244006016?_trksid=p2045573.c100034.m2102&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D26215%26meid%3D0a5c673d79594e9fb7435a1302a547e4%26pid%3D100034%26prg%3D10926%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D301361328405

Long story short: This beautiful piece of American Engineering is ours for the taking. Heck it even has leopard/panther printed seats I would love to see this machine added to CORP's arsenal to develop winter grooming on our trails. It is the perfect type of machine we need to groom a lot of our trails. These older sleds are a lot narrower than newer ones and can fit on our trails much easier. But I have neither the time nor the know-how to take something like this on.

Do you, or someone you know, have that ability? It would be awesome to get looking into this. Initially we would need someone who knows what they are looking at to give it a once-over. Does it have the ability to run? How much would it take to get operational? Would it be worth the effort to get it running?

Please post up, PM me, or give me a ring at 7:SEVEN:2 7833. Thanks for all you do!

Parts availability is almost always a issue with this old stuff. I think we would be much farther ahead
getting something a couple of decades newer and running......been down this road hundreds of times
with motorbikes.

CycleTech Mike

Parts availability is almost always a issue with this old stuff. I think we would be much farther ahead
getting something a couple of decades newer and running......been down this road hundreds of times
with motorbikes.

CycleTech Mike

I would agree with this as well.  Rotted tracks and other things can rack up pretty quickly not to mention a ton of labor.  A quick search for snowmobiles on craigslist seems to have some fairly reasonably priced machines.  I would certainly be willing to donate some money for the cause.  $50 and some volunteer time to kick things off.  How much to get a berm named after me?  LoL

Probably way further ahead with something like this

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/rvs/4731796318.html

What type of terrain are we talking about grooming? I don't think a snowmobile would
make it through most of the single track.

What type of terrain are we talking about grooming? I don't think a snowmobile would
make it through most of the single track.

Here are some good grooming articles.  http://fat-bike.com/?s=trail+grooming&submit=Search 

I would probably be best to have a different route for winter fat-biking for that reason and others according to some of those articles.

Thanks everyone for the input. Big G puttin' your money where your mouth is! I like it!
You comments pretty much confirmed what I was thinking about something that is free. You get what you pay for ;-)
One of my biggest concerns is the how much of the trial can we groom with a snowmobile question? This is part of the reason I have hesitated to go out and try to get $ to buy a machine. I don't want to put a bunch of $ and time into something that does not work for us. Certainly there are areas out there that a snowmobile just wont fit through.
And I have looked at a Rocon (2 wheel drive mini bike) seriously for that reason. Very maneuverable, and seems to be able to go about anywhere.
After further review, and talking to some other trail groomers, it seems that the length of the groomer and whatever is pulled behind it is as big of an issue as the width.
The Trail grooming article from Levis is pretty spot on. As with holding a race on these trails, there will need to be some tweaks to make it work in some areas. There will surely be areas we don't groom. And there may be areas where we need to do a winter trail bypass or seasonal re-route.

A very recent development may help alleviate some of these issues. At least for the upcoming year. And it would also give us a chance to test things and see what may and may not work at CamRock. Stay tuned for more info. Not sure if I can disclose it yet.

I bought some snowmobile parts two weeks ago and I'm building a custom tracked trail groomer for Quarry Ridge that could be used at other trails. It's still in the works, it just needs time for me to finish mocking up the track frame and part of the drivetrain before I buy a new engine and transmission to complete it. I was tentatively going to have it ready by mid-December, not sure how much free time I'll have to get it done (probably needs 30-40 hours yet). It's a narrow design and can make the tight switchback turns on all of our trails.

If all else fails, I could fix up that Arctic Cat and get it working for not much money. It's very easy to find parts for something like that and cheap. It probably needs a $30 belt and a general cleaning. The only problem can be rusted or seized bolts on the suspension. Keep in mind the turning radius is about 10-20 feet depending on snow conditions and technique, so it won't work very well in the woods. 

One other thing, standard snowmobiles are geared too high for pulling. At 5-10 mph pulling a groomer, the snowmobile consumes a belt every 10 miles. That's why all the ones used to pull nordic groomers are Ski Doo Skandics or an equivalent from another brand. Those sleds typically have a 2-speed transmission for tractoring around, a much wider and longer track, and reverse. They are heavy beasts weighing 650+ lbs, which makes them very tough to dig out of a snowbank when they get stuck!