Snow too deep?

[ridndirty]

Yesterday we were out grooming our trails,(Trailseekers,west of Stony Plain) and we were having a hard time climbing some of the hills with all the fresh snow on them. The trails have been set and groomed for about a month now, and I thought that our groomer (BR 275 pulling a Mogul Master drag) would never have a problem. We have 18 to 24 inches of fresh snow right now, but that is nothing compared to the snowfall's that they get in the mountains. Anybody have any tricks under their touques for grooming in the deep stuff? When we were done for the day, I noticed that one track was a fair bit looser than the other one, would that give me grief on hills?

 

[magnet]

ya some of the hills would of had some big drifts on the backsides of them. keep up the good work you do an awesome job.

 

[ferniesnow]

Yesterday we were out grooming our trails,(Trailseekers,west of Stony Plain) and we were having a hard time climbing some of the hills with all the fresh snow on them. The trails have been set and groomed for about a month now, and I thought that our groomer (BR 275 pulling a Mogul Master drag) would never have a problem. We have 18 to 24 inches of fresh snow right now, but that is nothing compared to the snowfall's that they get in the mountains. Anybody have any tricks under their touques for grooming in the deep stuff? When we were done for the day, I noticed that one track was a fair bit looser than the other one, would that give me grief on hills?

Keep on learning! It is a big curve learning the snow science of grooming!

I had the most intriguing groom of my career last week and it was because of valley bottom rain and higher elevation heavy snow. All through one groom.

First of all, we find it best to let the sleds beat and pack the storm snow before we go out. That way the snow is more manageable.

Yes, a loose track will effect the pulling power and control. When experiencing the climbs in deep snow; lift the drag onto the pan or maybe the even the wheels and concentrate on getting the equipment to the top. Do you groom in a circle or over the same trail twice? Our SnowCat isn't powerful enough to pull the drag and groom uphill so we doo the downhills on the way back. Sometimes we struggle just to get the equipment up the hills as our snow can be very deep.

I can't imagine a hill in your area that a BP275 couldn't climb. We use a BP180 and although under powered at times we can getter done. Sometimes it is best with a big snowfall to go out with just the SnowCat and a packer bar. Groom with the blade and re-pack the snow.

Hope this helps, fs

 

[ridndirty]

Thanks for the replies guys, Ferniesnow, your comment about how a 275 should do it all here is exactly why I was so surprised when we had problems. We thought that our groomer would climb straight up, until now. To be fair, the fresh snow was almost over the tracks on most of the trail Live and learn.

 

[polarice]

Thanks for the replies guys, Ferniesnow, your comment about how a 275 should do it all here is exactly why I was so surprised when we had problems. We thought that our groomer would climb straight up, until now. To be fair, the fresh snow was almost over the tracks on most of the trail Live and learn.

yeah but its a nice problem to have

 

[ferniesnow]

Now here is a drift on the Coal Summit that we regularly have to address. The 2x2 is 12' long or 4 meters and we use them to mark the high side of the trail along the Summit. We probably have about 6' of snow below the groomed trail. We have 40 markers so that when the wind blows and it is just about every night, we can find and feel our way.

A crazy place to groom.....:d:d:d

 

[imdoo'n]

shheeet fernie you should get some glasses, if you can't see. keep up with the grooming, is that like manscaping?:d

 

[ferniesnow]

shheeet fernie you should get some glasses, if you can't see. keep up with the grooming, is that like manscaping?:d

yea, only there are no prizes....sheeet no prizes:d:d:d

 

[imdoo'n]

we'll get you a prize, you deserve it. takes a lot of dedication to run a groomer. thanks

 

[Ministik Man]

Now here is a drift on the Coal Summit that we regularly have to address. The 2x2 is 12' long or 4 meters and we use them to mark the high side of the trail along the Summit. We probably have about 6' of snow below the groomed trail. We have 40 markers so that when the wind blows and it is just about every night, we can find and feel our way.

A crazy place to groom.....:d:d:d

Do you only groom during the daylight so as to better see your trails??

It usually takes Tri-County 14 hours to do a one way loop so we start in the dark and return in the dark

Now we GPS the GROOMER Track so it avoids all Ice/Water/Beaver houses/ruts/rocks/stumps after freeze up and before the snow flies

So now when dark we ALWAYS run off the GPS track as it is so easy to get diverted off the trail in the dark

 

[Ministik Man]

Yesterday we were out grooming our trails,(Trailseekers,west of Stony Plain) and we were having a hard time climbing some of the hills with all the fresh snow on them. The trails have been set and groomed for about a month now, and I thought that our groomer (BR 275 pulling a Mogul Master drag) would never have a problem. We have 18 to 24 inches of fresh snow right now, but that is nothing compared to the snowfall's that they get in the mountains. Anybody have any tricks under their touques for grooming in the deep stuff? When we were done for the day, I noticed that one track was a fair bit looser than the other one, would that give me grief on hills?

Tri-County found the same thing this winter
Our BR180 pulls a mogul master 08-18 and usually never had a problem on the trails with the exception of the outside track on tight corners will want to spin down but we usually powered through it.

This season in early February 2 & 3/11, we had a lot of trouble climbing hills and turning tight corners as there was so much new snow on the base that the tracks would start to spin which ate away the base.

What we found this worked well in tight corners was to use the steering potentiometer and dial it all the way to the direction you were turn in to. That way if gave more fluid to the outside drive track without putting the brakes onto the inside track as we turned the steering wheel. Which prevented the outside track from spinning down.

In the farm fields (we have 18km) beside the trees there just too much snow for us to even pan through without spinning all the way. We ended up dropping our blade to move 6" to 12" of snow off to the side and panning the remainder down for the trail base. Yes I know that is a cardinal sin to remove snow off a trail but it was alot easier on the groomer drive train. Three days later the winds drifted the trail over anyways

On the hills it took upto 4 runs at them to make it over the top, even with the drag up in the panning position

But now that the snow has been disturbed from tree line to treeline the next grooming should be easier as the old powder snow had been churnded so much that the tracks will now grab the snow and turn or climb the hills

Check out some of the pictures of the Tri-County Groomer in Action this Season at https://www.snowandmud.com/forum/f510/tri-countys-br180-groomer-action-44512.html

 

[ferniesnow]

Do you only groom during the daylight so as to better see your trails??

It usually takes Tri-County 14 hours to do a one way loop so we start in the dark and return in the dark

Now we GPS the GROOMER Track so it avoids all Ice/Water/Beaver houses/ruts/rocks/stumps after freeze up and before the snow flies

So now when dark we ALWAYS run off the GPS track as it is so easy to get diverted off the trail in the dark

We start at 5:00 pm and finish around midnight or later. We need the night time temps and undisturbed snow to set up the trail. If we groom in the daytime the trail is shot for the next day.

We don't have to worry about beaver runs, ice, water, nor skeg. And our groomer has good lights so night time grooming is the best for us.

Keep up the good work up there.....

 

[Longhorn]

We are trying to do more and more plowing at night now too. For us, we find we can see better at night, easier to find the remnants of trails, but we have tons of lights too, makes a huge difference...

Oil and gas companies do not want us to work at night however, so its been a big ordeal.

 

[ferniesnow]

We are trying to do more and more plowing at night now too. For us, we find we can see better at night, easier to find the remnants of trails, but we have tons of lights too, makes a huge difference...

Oil and gas companies do not want us to work at night however, so its been a big ordeal.

What's the oil companies' concern?

Oh ya', the shadows of the berms are easy to read. There is always something to see unless the wind has a "horizontal attitude" and it is snowing.

That's what our stakes are for; saves many a worry when it is a few hundred feet down about 12' away from the stakes.

 

[polarice]

What's the oil companies' concern?

Oh ya', the shadows of the berms are easy to read. There is always something to see unless the wind has a "horizontal attitude" and it is snowing.

That's what our stakes are for; saves many a worry when it is a few hundred feet down about 12' away from the stakes.

yeah dont need to be going there