# Snowmobiles Circa 1924 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646 "2009-02-13T03:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/1 "2009-02-13T03:24:52Z")
Judging by [this silent film](http://www.flixxy.com/snow-vehicle-concept.htm), the idea was that you pulled the wheels off your car or tractor, and replaced it with an assembly that had two long drums, with spiral ridges on them. The drums rotated in opposite directions to move the vehicle along, with one drum stopping for turns. It could even be driven on grass, it seems (check out the guy wearing a shirt, tie, and a fedora driving the thing). ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/2 "2009-02-13T14:48:15Z")
I have seen a flim clip from the 1940s or 50s of a bulldozer that used the same type of drive system. Looks like a good idea, wonder why the concept never took off? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/3 "2009-02-13T15:38:52Z")
That is awesome, especially the turning radius. I wonder why you don’t see anything like that today as well. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/4 "2009-02-13T16:03:21Z")
Seems to me that they were advertising a radio-controlled toy vehicle that used that system a couple Xmases ago. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/5 "2009-02-13T16:09:02Z")
Looks cool, but maybe one reason it never took off is safety? That threaded, spiralling drive drum looks likes it’s just waiting to grab someone’s arm, leg, or scarf. I suppose you could cover it with some type of fender though. Looks like it’d be fun to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/6 "2009-02-13T16:15:29Z")
Efficiency-wise, I think this drive has some problems - Lots and lots of losses to friction, and a LOT of energy put into massive the drivetrain. It also has a footprint problem, in that it’s pretty wide. Lastly, in powdery snow, or slush, I think you’d wind up just stirring the media, rahter than propelling yourself forward. Also, while the effective pulling power (provided you can get traction at all) is huge, speed and acceleration are going to be seriously limited by the large relative mass of the drive components and the pitch of the threads on the screw-drive. That all said, there are some strong points in favor of it, for certain uses; it’s almost certainly bouyant, so would be good for crossing marshes and possibly ice-choked water, and it might also be applicable to, say, amphibious work on beaches, so long as the water nearby was relatively calm. Nifty design, but not terribly practical for most purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/7 "2009-02-13T16:32:12Z")
The US Army fiddled around with some vehicles like this in the Fifties. The concept is useful for an amphibian, because (as noted above) the drums make the vehicle buoyant, and the screw threads work fine in water or on land. But the concept never went anywhere (I suspect the problem was operating on paved roads). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/8 "2009-02-13T22:03:40Z")
[Here’s a thread on a board, which talks about similar machines.](http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/showthread.php?p=99127)[Apparently, one was used not too long ago to rescue some whales.](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4D71F39F937A15753C1A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2)[A 1936 design for one.](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/27/hill-hopping-a-worm-drive-sled/) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snowmobiles-circa-1924/485646/9 "2009-02-14T17:07:00Z")
[Here’s](http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9663060-1.html) the toy in question.