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Had a Really Fun Day Today

Started by Coon, March 11, 2007, 08:26:43 PM

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Coon

Today was the day of the Third Annual Kelvington Snowplane Rally.  Each year snowplane owners from across Saskatchewan come to the rally to show off their machines.  This year there was a mixture of both antique snowplanes and those of the homebuilt variety.  The owners get together to give rides and chat with everyone who comes out for the day of memories both new and old.  There is no charge to come to the rally but they did have a donation bucket that gets divided up between the snowplane owners for fuel and the costs of travel.

I think I rode in nearly all of the 14 snowplanes that were present at this years rally.  Some I think I even rode in twice or three times.  It was alot of fun and brought back many fond memories of my great grandfather who was the first snowplane owner in this area.  He was contracted to drive the doctors around and deliver groceries to local farms that were otherwise snowed in.

Here's a few pics to start with.  I will put more in the post as the conversation arises. 




















Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

thecfarm

Couple questions.Was you in a big field,plains,lake?How do they go in deep snow not packed down?Speed?Noisy?Never seen these before or heard of them.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Coon

First thing first.  YES these things are noisy and many of them have full or partially sound proofed cabs on them.  Some don't have sound proofing at all. 

Snowplanes generally aren't the greatest in deep snow but the lighter the machine the better.  The longer the skis you have the smoother the ride will be.  Where we were at today was in a big field of about 300 acres with hills and a nice gradual slope besides.

One of the snowplanes I was in could do in excess of 100 mph given you had the distance.  The local RCMP officers that were on duty stopped by to check it out.  They were asked by a couple of owners if they would use the radar to clock the speeds of their machines.  One of the owners happened to be a friend of mine who had recently done some tinkering with his machine.  He has an airplane engine on his machine that puts out in the neighborhood of 160 hp.  Just as I was about to go for a ride with him the Police officer said that she would clock us.  She parked along the highway beside the field we were in and down about 3/4 of a mile from where we were to start from.  We were clocked at 92.4 mph in that distance.  Lorne said that he was only at about 3/4 throttle as well.  When we were up to the high speed you could feel the front of the plane getting light. 
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Coon

This snowplane is all home built.  Love the name he gave it.









This engine is a 350 chevy small block with the bell housing from a standard transmission. 



The weight of the machine he tells me is about 1600 lbs and will do about 75 mph tope end or so.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Troy

First time I ever saw such a thing.  That's pretty cool.  Kind of a cold weather version of an everglades air boat.  The things you learn about on the Forestry Forum!
Peterson ATS 8" 27hp

Faron

I never saw one of these before.  Looks like a lot of fun.  Do they handle well, as far as turning?  We don't get much snow here, but that makes the wheels start turning...... ;D
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

Kevin

You could plant a lot of corn in a hurry with one of those.  ;D

Nice pictures, thanks.

sprucebunny

Those are really cool, Coon  8) 8) 8)

I've seen pictures of a few snowplanes but never a bunch of them together !

Was there ever a company that made them or are the 'antique' ones homemade also ?

MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

leweee

Thanks for sharing those pics Coon. :)

Bet those snowed in folks could hear them groceries coming a few miles off.  8) 8) 8)
just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

Sprucegum

Nice pics Coon  8)

I saw a couple snowplanes years ago but didn't realize they were still so popular. They sort if faded out of the picture when snowmobiles were developed.

Sprucebunny I believe Bombadier made one as well as several other small companies. This was in the days when there were more small companies than big ones.

Coon

Sprucebunny and Sprucegum,  Bombadier was not the only company that built snowplanes. 







This plane is a Polaris which was made by Scorpion I am told.  The owner told me that they were built until about 1955 or so.  He says they were built in Michigan somewhere and that this machine is worth a pile of money.  He had an American friend find the plane in North Dakota a few years ago and he went down their and it followed him home.  From his studies he found out that the plane is worth a small fortune and worth about 4 times what he paid for it.  The previous owner didn't know it was worth that much until he told him.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Mr Mom

     I was looking for wings  ::) ::) ::).

     Thanks Alot Mr Mom

sawguy21

He will be wishing for wings when one of those things hits an ice ridge and takes off. :D They are a blast.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Coon

Sawguy,  This is the machine that will do in excess of 100 mph that I mentioned earlier.  I don't think a coyote out in an open field would stand a chance.  ;) Actually I know they don't.  :D :D  We put one on a dead run a couple of winters ago out on a lake.  We wizzed by it and turned around and did it again.  The coyote didn't even know which way to turn.  His tongue was draggin' so bad that he tripped over it and landed on his kieshter so fast that he didn't know what happened.  He eventually out smarted us by laying down and we stratled the skis on either side of him.  That poor ol' yote musta thought the roadrunner came back to life. :D :D




Guess I missed the pating in the pic earlier.   ???
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

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