Personal Snowcat 101: Questions and Answers

Some words of advice to personal snowcat shoppers. My experience comes from use of personal snowcats for access to my house in the winter (full-time) during the last 25 years. Snowcats have become my hobby and I have accumulated very helpful knowledge for people in search of a cat. If you’re looking for a cat, consider some of these main issues concerning your intended use or you may be quite disappointed with your purchase.

What are your Snow Conditions?

What’s the deepest fresh powder you will ever need to get through? Do you need to climb steep pitches? Cats come in all different snow (or lack of) capabilities. Tracks are made in various widths and out of different materials. A wide track typical steel grouser w/rubber belting personal snowcat will get you through the deepest of powder but compromises speed and trailerability due to excessive width. On the other hand, a rubberized narrow track cat will be lighter, faster, easily trailered, and more suitable when used varied terrain (mud, dirt or rock roads, swamp, etc.) The Weasel is one of the most incredible vehicles for varied terrain travel despite its age – it’ll cruise down the highway at 50mph, ramble over rough off-road non-snow terrain, bob along through water, climb out of the water onto ice and proceed up the hill through 1-2 feet of powder effortlessly. On the other hand, the asymmetrical track groomer will go up just about anything in just about any depth of snow. These wide track Sprytes (1200A or 1200B or 1202WT or 1202B-42) and this 1500WT also do very well in deep powder.

What size cat do you need?

The size of your cat can be your friend or your enemy. There are two common problems with large wide cats. They are too wide to tow on the highway without special permits and they can’t fit through trees. Smaller cats present various other limitations. They can’t successfully move snow, carry large loads, use attachments, or travel easily through deep powder – especially up steep hills.

Do you really need a Blade?

Unquestionably the most commonly underestimated factor of snow is it’s weight. It is the common misconception that any cat with a blade will take care of any of your snow removal needs. I learned the truth first hand. I bought this 1450 super imp with a blade. I thought I would be able to clear the relatively little snow I need to move with it. This consists of a bit of snow around my house (wind drift and roof shedding) as well as some piles of snow that my truck plow blade leaves where I park my cars. The Imp’s performance was pathetic to say the least. Two guys with shovels could move more snow faster than that cat. And in several occasions I actually got out of the cat with my shovel to move snow when the Imp was failing miserably. Having a blade also greatly handicaps the capability of your cat. On the mountain behind my house, just about every local utility company, and public agency uses their own cat to access the microwave/cell site at the top of the mountain. They have quite a variety of cats and they all get put to the test as the hill is very steep and a typical storm leaves between 2-8 feet of powder. Cats without blades definitely travel better through the deep powder but a blade is essential for cutting a road across a steep sidehill. This 1500WT is a great all-around utility cat which can do well at most tasks and reach almost any location. If you need to move a lot of snow then look for a cat with over 10,000lb. GVW or you may be disappointed (This LMC 4700 weighs 16,000 lbs and will easily move any amount of snow). Otherwise, do yourself a favor and forget about a blade if you have any deep snow to travel through.

Hydrostatic or Brake-Steer?

Hydrostatic cats operate on individual hydraulic motors driving each track. They are the only cats capable of counter steering (one track driving forward while the other track driving backwards). This allows you to turn on a dime and while not necessarily easy on your tracks, it does make the cat more maneuverable than any conventional brake-steer cat. Hydrostatic cats are the ‘cadillacs’ of cats. They are very smooth and easy to maneuver. The two main drawbacks are warm-up time and cost of maintenance & repairs. To prevent damaging the hydraulics, the cat must warm up for about 20-30 minutes in cold weather before it should even move. If you skip this step you could be looking at a $2,000-$10,000 repair. For the personal snowcat commuter, a ‘brake-steer’ cat is much more convenient – just like your car – start it, warm it up a bit and go!

Don’t be fooled with ‘Toys’.

There are many vehicles out there that fall in the all-terrain class that you don’t want to make the mistake of purchasing of you really need to travel over deep snow. If you get more than 2 feet of powder from any one storm where you live, these vehicles are not going to serve your needs. For lighter snow conditions however, these vehicles may be very adequate. Examples of these vehicles are Cushman Tracksters, ASV Track-Trucks, Argos, Playcats, etc. These are not snowcats!