SNOWMOBILE COOLING MODIFICATION PROJECT

Our first “project” comes from Russ Barkman of the Tumalo Langlauf Club in Bend, Oregon. You can read all about TLC and the trails Russ and his buddies groom on their website at http://www.tumalolanglauf.com/.

We have discussed various problems with engine overheating related to specific snowmobiles in a past article (see “Selecting a Snowmobile”). There are some snowmobiles, in particular those with liquid cooling systems, that seem to have trouble staying cool at low grooming speeds. But even the most popular fan cooled snowmobile used for grooming, the Ski Doo Skandic, also will overheat when pushed far enough.

Russ's project involves the following three parts: 1. Adding a pyrometer (engine temperature gauge) to enable an operator to monitor engine temperature so that he can do something BEFORE damage from overheating occurs. 2. Adding a supplemental electric cooling fan attached to the grill opening under the hood to supplement the engine driven fan. This fan is manually switched on when the pyrometer indicates that the engine temperature is getting too high. 3. Enlarging the air intake opening in the hood for the Skandic's engine driven fan.

The supplemental fan and the enlarged air intake should allow an operator to do more work while keeping the engine temperature at a safe level. If you are reluctant to make these sort of modifications to your brand new machine, then at least consider the pyrometer. Look at it this way: Why would anyone NOT spend around $200 for a gauge that could prevent an operator from burning up the engine on a $7000 snowmobile? Once you can monitor your engine temperature, you will be able to see the particular conditions that may be causing your machine to work too hard and overheat. Perhaps that information will enable you to change the way you groom, or convince you to make the changes to the snowmobile that Russ has. In any case, without the pyrometer the only way you really know for sure that the engine has overheated is when it seizes up.

In discussions with Russ, I asked him a few questions about his project:

Q - What experience have you had with your Skandic overheating prior to the modification and how does it work now? Any comparison to other snowmobiles? In what kinds of conditions do you experience the overheating - ambient temp, snow conditions, terrain?

A - Prior to making these changes we experienced two engine seizures, in both cases the temperature was 40 plus. The first time the operator was pulling the tracksetter in fairly soft snow on a steep uphill. The second time I was pulling our roller over fairly gentle terrain and at that time there was about four inches of new snow over older hardpack.  We have made some changes in our grooming procedure. We never start grooming if the temperature is over 40.  The problem is that often the temp goes up after we start so it's necessary to monitor ambient temps. We have also been stopping the machine every hour or so for one of the aforementioned cool downs. We have also switched to 100% synthetic oil. These modifications and changes are not the cure-all for overheating the engine but should help reduce the risk.

Q - Was the pyrometer a stock dealer item specifically for the Skandic, or was it an aftermarket product? Any idea which model/brand so that if someone walked into a dealer they could ask for the same one?

A - The pyrometer is an after market product. I don't know the name.  It was one of several in the dealer's parts catalog. They are commonly used by snowmobile racers. Because of the work load we put on these machines, the mechanic says they need some of the same modifications and the same treatment that racing machines get, thus the cooling modifications, synthetic oil, and the after use cool down. The after use cool down is very similar to the process of letting your diesel engine run for a few minutes after prolonged use to cool the turbocharger cooling oil to prolong the life of the turbo bearings.

The installation of the fan and other modifications took approximately 2 hours. The total cost was around $280.00 which includes the dealer installed pyrometer.

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Tidd Tech Equipment at the Birkie

By Phil Zink, Tidd Tech, Ltd.

The 2002 Johnson Bank American Birkebeiner was in serious trouble on Tuesday afternoon February 19th., less than four days before the race start. It was raining and the temperature was above 40 degrees. The Birkie had been shortened to 25K(half normal length) and Cherie Morgan, Birkebeiner Foundation Executive Director, recalls that it looked like cancellation was a probability at the Wednesday morning BF Board meeting. About 5PM Tuesday the rain changed to snow and 6" accumulated by Wednesday noon. The Birkie was lengthened to 45K, but open water on Lake Hayward still prevented the normal 50K finish in downtown Hayward.

The problem now was to get the trails groomed. Thursday's 3K of trail on Hayward streets for the Elite Sprints and the Barnebirkie, Friday's 3K Junior Birkie and the 10K family race/tour at Telemark, the 14K of the new Kortelopet Trail (after it splits from the Birkie at 9K), and 45K of Birkie trail add up to a total of 75K of race trail. Taking into account that the Birkie Trail is 30' wide, you have the equivalent of 120K of 15' wide trail to groom. The first 2K from the Cable Airport start area and the last 3K of open fields at the Wheeler Road finish had been bare (very wet) grass before the new snow. Volunteer shoveling teams had been attempting to cover many bare spots on south facing hills over the past two weeks, but were losing ground to the warm temperatures and rain. A virtual clear cut at 28K in l999 resulted in about a half K of grass showing there. The decision was made to groom only with snowmobiles due to the minimal snow base.

The grooming of these trails was a joint community effort. The local snowmobile club groomed the streets of Hayward for the Elite Sprints and Barnebirkie on Wednesday night. The Junior Birkie and 10K courses were groomed by Telemark Resort Thursday night. On Friday night Telemark did the final race grooming for the last 14K of the Korte and the Birkebeiner Foundation groomed the entire Birkie race course.

A total of nine snowmobiles were used to groom these trails during the three days after the race-saving snow. Seven were pulling Tidd Tech Trail Tenderizers. In addition to the two Tidd Tech units owned by Telemark and the Birkebeiner Foundation's new Tidd Tech, Tidd Tech units were loaned by the Seeley Ski Club, The City of Drummond, and Tidd Tech Ltd.(2 units). Additional snowmobiles were furnished by the Seeley Ski Club(2 units), the city of Drummond, and Tidd Tech Ltd. Four volunteer groomers assisted the Telemark and Birkie Foundation grooming staffs, including the Pres. and VP of the Birkebeiner Board who went out at 4AM Thursday to pack the Birkie Trail south from OO to the finish when a 30 MPH wind was blowing the ungroomed snow off the open fields.

Over 80% of the total grooming was done with Tidd Tech equipment. All of the classic tracks were set with Tidd Tech tracksetters. Early reports indicate the tracks held up very well. A remarkable result was a woman from the 11th wave finishing second overall in the Birkie women's classic race. The Kortelopet Trail was in good condition throughout the race. The Birkie Trail held up better than expected, given the lack of an existing base prior to Wednesday's snow and the fact that it was 41 degrees and raining when the last wave of nearly 7000 skiers started the race.

Overall the groomers put in about 200 total hours on snowmobiles over the final three days (and nights). The Telemark staff, led by Jack Moin, and Bob Murdock's Birkebeiner staff deserve a lot of credit for making the 2002 Birkie a success. The contribution of Eric Anderson, owner of ABR ski area in Ironwood, MI, also deserves recognition. Eric was retained by the Birkebeiner Foundation to provide grooming support. Eric brought his new Alpina double-track snowmobile, which could climb the steepest Birkie Trail hills with the renovation teeth on his 6' Tidd Tech heavily working the snow to increase the density and firm up the skating lane and the tracks. Eric also installed electric actuators on the other Tidd Tech units working the Birkie Trail to allow maximum renovation without getting stuck on the hills. I'm sure his expertise was invaluable during the critical last three days. On Sunday, the Hayward-Cable area received another 6" of snow. When we loaded the Seeley Ski Club equipment Monday morning at OO, the Pisten Bully was just heading out for it's first run on the Birkie Trail this year.