VEHICLES ADAPTED TO ICE AND SNOW

SNOWMOBILE

How to adapt vehicles to ice and snow conditions?

In extreme ice and snow conditions, like the arctic, planes, trucks, tractors and buses have to be adapted.To reach and harvest oil and gas in the bitter wasteland of the Arctic regions where the land is bare in the summer. On the top it is muddy and boggy and frozen solid of several hundred metres underneath. In the winter the whole area is covered with snow and ice, temperature reaching -50oC with blizzards raging. The drilling team have to have vehicles which are totally reliable in those conditions.

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Their trucks and support vehicles are fitted with enormous low-pressured tyres. This spreads the weight of the vehicle over a larger area. In both conditions, snow and mud, it stops the vehicle to be bogged down. It also prevents more damage to surface than necessary. These vehicles are used for transporting extreme loads like drilling rigs, supplies and exploration equipment.

A big-wheeled snow vehicle with 36,000 kg load will have ground pressure of 2.4 kg/cm2.and has a speed of 40 km/h

A tracked vehicle with the same load will have a ground pressure of 0.33 kg/cm2 and a speed of 15 km/h. No doubt it is slower but it is the ground pressure which is really of importance.

Tracked vehicles are used in the Antarctica and it carries supplies plus pulling large cargo sledges. The supplies to the scientific research station are once a year which are sent by ship and then transported over land for several kilometres.

The first who tried to use this method was Captain Scott in 1911. Unfortunately, his tractor was braking down too many times and eventually he abandoned it. Scott also refused to use dog-sleds and therefore they man-hauled their supplies.

SNO-CAT

The most famous polar vehicle is the big sno-cat. This was also used on the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1955-58. It weighs 3175 kg but is capable of carrying one tone of supplies and pulling two sledges with two tones each. The sno-cat has two tracked units, which are called pontoons, at the front and two at the rear. They are independently sprung and designed to enable it an almost 100 % traction. The front pontoons are steered to the left; the rear one automatically steers to the right; all four pontoons follow the same arc which enables the vehicle a maximum manoeuvrability. The sno-cat can be fitted with a straight blade or a curved blade. The range of blades is from 2.6m with 6 positions and up to 3.5m blade with 12 positions.

PREPARATION OF PISTE

To satisfy the skiers and make them come back year after year, the slopes (pistes) have to be in perfect condition. No effort is spared. After the skiers left the slops the maintenance team go over with their powerful, low-body and wide-tracked vehicles. These vehicles are with pusher blades in the front to shift the snow to the part which worn thin from skiers. At the rear rollers and smoothing blades to compact the new snow. It leaves the slope clean, smooth and with a firm surface. A tiller, mounted at the front will scoop up excessive snow and blows it 40m away with the ejector chute.

Small machines clear and repair the cross-country trails. Also tracks to and from ski-lifts.

Large machines which have a width of five metres smooth and surface the main slopes. This means 70,000 square metres are treated every hour.

The black runs are surfaced just the same but on a surface too steep to drive on. The tractor is fitted with a 650 metre winch cable which enables the driver to go up or down in safety.

In Canada, American Rockies, Scandinavia or the Alps a snowmobile is used to go to the store for supplies or for the weekend up to a cabin. The forest ranger, border guard and member of the mountain rescue team use it for work. There are also racing snowmobiles capable of up to 190 km/h.

The current sports model is sleek, low, aerodynamic body with a two-cylinder engine of 350-700cm3. On the front there is a pair of skies which is steered by the handlebar. The broad rubberised track under the rear, two-third, of the machine is to provide propulsion. They are also fitted with wind-deflecting shields, powerful headlights and electric hand-warmers for drivers and passengers. You definitely need padded, insulated windproof clothing, helmet, face-mask and goggles. These models can reach a speed up to 100km/h.

Snowmobiles were first invented by Canadian Joseph Amand-Bombardier in 1930. It was designed to carry troops. It was fitted with ski-like steering runners at the front. A petrol engine was fitted to a half-track drive at the back. Bombardier-Nordtrak is still a leading manufacturer.