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1926 Model T Snow Tractor - Video

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:58

Check this out! This is a rare film of an invention that never went very far. Why? It's the 1926 Model T Snow Tractor.......You're not going believe this. This is a 1926 silent film of a tractor-snow-machine invented by Henry Ford, who is shown driving it. Watch the whole thing to see the full capabilities of this now extinct piece of brilliance. Why didn't it catch on? Is there a fatal flaw somewhere?

By Alex

this is cool. but remeber this was 1926 techology. Amzaing..... Really looking forward to ski, http://www.snowbuzz.co.nz/

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By Ross

Water, Snow, Ice.... seems to be the ideal enviro for this amazing machine. No probs there I'm in Invercargill... I'll take two!

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By Graeme Hill

Yes... but it's not called a SNOW Tractor for nothing. The video display just shows that it can cope with a bit of grass.

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By mark

What an ingenious machine. Perfect for snow and amazing on ice. But i cant see any other uses other than on water. I think the problem for farming, as i see it as a farmer, would be too much traction. The friction generated by those drum screw things, which enables the amazing grip on smooth surfaces would rip the drums apart on dry land or cause so much damage to the soil that it would counter any benefit in traction.

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By Graeme Hill

Gravel isn't too good for tyres either if you're driving on it all the time, but this is primarily a snowy creature, so horses for courses... these should be everywhere from Queenstown to Helsinki! But.... they're not. Hmmmm. CONSPIRACY!

graeme

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By Mouthguard

Hmm, I disagree also with Chopsue, they are actually rolling across the ground due to the rotation, the film clearly shows little of the drag you speak of. One of the issues would be stress on the chassis due to forces twisting the frame downwards against the long axis. It seems pretty effective to me. Limits would really just be the surface. I guess it would be fine on sand, snow, and water, and possibly long grass, but I suspect it would stop dead on anything else. Ford clearly recongised this though, hence his adaptation of his Model T to pop the axles and wheels back on for summer. Well done Graeme!

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By chopsuwe

I imagine this would not be very efficient as the surface of the drum is constantly moving across the ground leading to a lot of friction. Maybe not a problem on snow but what about other surfaces? Imagine what the helical ribs would do the our roads!

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By Graeme Hill

Nice Russian machine. Thanks.

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By Guy

Wonderful find. I hadn't realised it was invented so long ago. I thought it was a Russian idea. I first came across pictures of them after seeing an attempt to build one on junk yard wars. Here's video From Russia.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afJ18eJeNgU

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By Phil

Totally agree with your first comment Graeme, with todays technology this should be a winner, imagine instead of hard Titanium blades maybe something softer like kevlar over the drums this could also possibly float?

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