This bulky machine constructed by one enthusiast retiree from the Russian city of Kirov is powered by the old Yamaha motorcycle engine and is entirely made of scrap. Fiberglass seat was formerly a part of a small carousel, gear shift lever was a part of an unidentified old Coca-Cola souvenir. The front skies are covered with fluoroplastic, a material with extremely low friction factor. The main distinctive feature of this snowmobile is a big wheel instead of a regular for such kind of transport rubber heavy caterpillar made of metal and rubber. For this reason this monster is very light which allows it to drive on fresh crumbly snow.
Another thing is that this wheel is much less complicated in maintenance and will never cause a stop in the middle of a snow field if one detail is broken, as caterpillar does. The engine is mounted in such a way that it could warm the driver and give some heat to the fuel supply system. Construction works on this unusual snowmobile have taken about one year.
6 thoughts on “Homemade snowmobile”
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With its heavy use of salvage and its Chevy engine block orange color, it looks like something out of the video game Half-Life 2.
Trust me, that is a good thing.
One other benefit of being so light is that it would be less likely to crash through ice on frozen lakes. Ha, maybe he could fit some air bladders inside the wheel so that it acts as a flotation device!
“The main distinctive feature of this snowmobile is a big wheel instead of a regular for such kind of transport rubber heavy caterpillar made of metal and rubber.”
Ummm… are you referring to the “track”? This method may be lighter, but has MUCH less surface area to distribute the weight than a track. The snow collecting on the inside of this wheel can be an issue also. In a wet snow this would lead to trouble fast.
“Another thing is that this wheel is much less complicated in maintenance and will never cause a stop in the middle of a snow field if one detail is broken, as caterpillar does. ”
Well, not really. One small piece of debris in that exposed drive chain and it is off the sprocket.
This IS a neat, homebuilt project, no doubt. But not close to the reliability and engineering found in a snowmobile.
(Yes, I live in Florida now, but spent MANY winters playing on snowmachines in Vermont.. fond memories!)