My pal, and BangShift reader Paul Lafayette tipped me off to one of the single coolest vehicles I have ever shared here on BangShift. This is a 1975 Ford truck converted into a “snowcat” and then further modified with a Holmes 440 wrecker body by a towing company in Idaho. The current owner is the one who mounted the wrecker unit on the truck and he’s used it to pull trucks off of snowy mountain trails and out of some bad predicaments, I’m guessing. I think he is using the “snowcat” name as a generic term because there is actually company called “Sno Cat”, but they didn’t build this particular unit. This one was converted by a company called DEMAC Industries that was (and my still be) out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. DEMAC would take trucks and turn them into these machines and I’ve seen other vehicles like K5 Blazers they converted as well.
Mechanically, this is a 1975 Ford truck with a 360ci engine, four speed transmission, and (unless I’m reading it wrong) a special 4-speed transfer case. The original purpose of this truck was probably for use in the oil fields of the western USA and Canada as a flatbed for trucking supplies over the (literally) frozen tundra and snow. As you can see, the truck uses a bunch of normal tires to drive the tracks. I’m taking a stab here and saying that there is probably a normal steering wheel up front and not a pair of tank-like sticks that would be found in an actual Sno-Cat. Also, the seller references “Ford rearends”. Note the plurality there! Are there two nine-inch rears back there both turning the rear tracks? I can only guess and wonder how they have them setup in a “twin screw” arrangement. My mind reels with the awesome possibilities.
The seller is looking for $7500 and I would pay that in a New York minute but the issues are (a) lack of $7500 and (b) the complete self immolation of my marriage if I did spend it. Imagine road tripping this monster home from Idaho to Massachusetts. Who needs a highway, I got tracks, baby!
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THE EBAY LINK TO THIS 1975 DEMAC BUILD SNOWCAT WRECKER!
eBay Link: 1975 DEMAC Snowcat Wrecker
I would imagine the reference to “rearends” is a reference to axles. There are a lot of people who refer to a front axle in a 4wd truck as a “front rearend”. It is confusing, but you have to know how to speak backwoods Craigslist lingo…
Part Ford F series, part Snocat, part wrecker- ALL AWESOME!!!!!!
I would make cruise night with this thing (heartfelt).
Drive your kids to school on unplowed roads and RIGHT and I mean RIGHT to the bunny hill at the ski slopes.
I like what the owner has done with the wheels. Makes the Ford look awesome.