1953 Bombardier
B-18 Model
December 2017
it only took 3 years to purchase this bombardier which has been named the Beast. most bombardier are nicknamed the bomber but xena's yamaha ski-doo has been called bomber for 20 years so we had to come up with a new name. the Beast will be used for packing snow on the winter roads and other hard work the KoO-Tracks can't do.
the plan was simple to make a round trip taking 2 days from the Kingdom in lynn lake to grand rapids manitoba and back to pick up the Beast. the plans changed very quickly becauce of an arctic cold front moving in and i did not want to be traveling before xmas in -45c weather. at 8pm it was decided to leave the Kingdom and at 4am i was there loading the Beast in the darkness. after a quick coffee i head back to the Kingdom to beat the weather with arriving back in the Kingdom at 7:45pm. the trip was 24 hours non-stop with no dramas.
the next day i unload the Beast only to have the track fall off which seems to be normal when you bring a southern track machine to the great white north. the maxtracks did the same thing but i got a 10 minute ride and a 1 hour walk before i made them in to the KoO-Tracks.
i was able to get the Beast in the little shop to thaw out before the weather turned to -45c.
to my surprise the Beast came with a ford motor in it which is different because bombardiers came with the 318 dodge motor. the fellow who installed this motor did a really nice job with the mounts and brackets.
since i was not raised a ford man, this ford engine will be a learning experience with help from google. i found the stamping at the front left side of the motor that says 8D14 which means a 1968 year??
the bell housing is a 6 bolt pattern and according to google it might be a 289 ford engine. the trans is a 3 speed which means lots of fun, lol.
to send the unlimited "raw" horse power to the rubber tracks, bombardier flipped a 1940s dodge rear end over. i have no idea what the rear end is or what it came from. this will be solved later when it needs parts.
i frew up in the south and most farm trucks were 3 on the tree which was great fun not to blow a shift when the transmission was beside you. now move the transmission back 10 feet and make it the opposite way. the adventure in speed shifting has just gotten interesting to the point of an automatic transmission might get installed.
on xmas eve i spent the day cleaning up the Beast and then splashing paint around.
it will take most of xmas day for the paint to dry so i can begin working on the Beast boxing day. once the track is back on then i'll paint the blue circle on the roof. there is only so much room in the little shop.
