These are the original implements I built for the front renovator.  They were over-complicated and not very effective.  But this has been a learning process and these taught me what works and what doesn't work.

This "Front Renovator" attaches to the plow mount on the front of the Grizzly.  It's raised and lowered using the winch.

The front renovator is a simplified version of the front renovator on snow cats.  The idea is to work the snow a few times in front of the Grizzly so the final grooming by the drag on the back of the Grizzly creates a better ski trail.  It's really for the two extremes - deep powder snow or a hard icy trail.

When the front renovator is down on the snow, steering can be difficult, so I also added a weight peg on the front.  It can hold two 25 lb weights, and I have a 50 lb cast iron weight I put inside the front cargo box.

Weight Peg

Weight Peg with Weights

The front renovator consists of:

• The plow mount with one Cross Bar

• Two additional Cross Bars

• Spacer Bars in three sizes (unpainted)

• Front Skis

• Implements that are mounted to the Cross Bars

On each Cross Bar, there are two sets of mounting tubes that the Spacer Bars (unpainted) and Skis slide into.  This allows the distance between the Cross Bars to be adjusted, depending on the order that the Implements are mounted. 

The Implements are mounted to the Cross Bars with four bolts (you can see the holes for the bolts where the paint has rubbed off).  They can be arranged in any order, depending on the snow conditions.

The Skis on the front are used for depth control, depending on the snow conditions and the Implements that are mounted on the Cross Bars.  But they don't rotate/turn, so they have to be "forced" around the curves.  This does Not work real good in deep snow.  I'm working on a design so they'll rotate and follow the curves in the trail, but that will be kind of tricky.

Front Renovator - No Implements Attached
Frame	Cross & Spacer Bars	Close Up	Front Skis

These are the Implements I have (so far!) that can be mounted on the Cross Bars.

The original Cutters are 1/2" solid steel teeth spaced 3/4" apart on a steel frame with white UHMW plastic with a curved front:.  I've added two rows of 3" solid steel teeth spaced 2" apart.  These were the original teeth on my Tidd Tech.  I welded them together and bolted them to the original Cutters.  The Cutters are used:

• In low snow conditions, they renovate the trail when the spring loaded teeth on the Tidd Tech would take a real beating

• In icy conditions, they renovate the trail before the spring loaded teeth on the Tidd Tech

The Tines are two rows of springs from a baling machine:

• In low snow and icy conditions, they roughen up the trail before or after the Cutters

• In deep snow, they mix up the new snow to take the air out

The Rakes are two rows of leaf rakes mounted on a 2x6 cut at an angle:

• In low snow and icy conditions, they rake up leaves and sticks on the trail

The Powder Board is a large piece of black HDMW plastic with a curved front:

• In deep snow, it packs the snow to take the air out

The Chains hang down with steel bars between them:

• In deep snow, they drag thru the snow to mix up the new snow to take the air out

Front Renovator Implements
Single Cutters	Triple Cutters	Triple Cutters	Triple Cutters
Tines	Rakes	Powder Board	Chains

This is a set-up for Deep Powder Snow conditions:

• The Powder Board packs the snow to take the air out

• The Tines mix up the new snow to take the air out

• The Cutters pack and then roughen up the new snow to take the air out

Deep Powder Snow Set-up - Down

 

Deep Powder Snow Set-up - Up

 

This is another set-up for Deep Powder Snow conditions:

• The Front Skis control the depth of the other Implements

• The Chains drag thru the new snow to mix up the snow to take the air out

• The Tines mix up the new snow to take the air out

• The Powder Board packs the snow to take the air out

Deep Powder Snow Set-up - Down

 

Deep Powder Snow Set-up - Up

 

This is a set-up for Hard Icy Trail conditions:

• The Front Skis control the depth of the other Implements

• The Rakes clean up leaves and sticks on the trail

• The Tines roughen up the trail before the Cutters

• The Cutters renovate the hard icy trail

Hard Icy Trail Set-up - Down

 

Hard Icy Trail Set-up - Up

 

So far, the front renovator has worked ok just playing around our house.  I'll see how it actually works on the trails.  It's more things to watch and adjust while grooming - it might just make it more (too) complicated!  I tell everyone else to keep it simple, but I don't follow my own advise!!

 

Update - January 2012

 

The front renovator works, but it is a lot more to watch and adjust while grooming.

 

We've only had a few big snow falls since I built it, and it hasn't really worked in the deep snow.  It tends to load up with snow, and the Grizzly doesn't turn real good when it's pushing the front renovator loaded with snow.  If I raise it a little to improve steering, it dumps a pile of snow on the trail and makes a mess, which defeats the entire idea of the front renovator.  So I'm working on adjusting the depth and spacing of some of the implements.  I'll see if I can get it to work.

 

The front renovator does work on a hard icy trail with just the Triple Cutters.  They do a nice job of renovating a hard icy trail to give the Tidd Tech more loose snow to work with.

 

The Grizzly has plenty of power to push it, and on the tight curves I raise it just slightly to reduce the resistance and increase the weight on the front tracks and it turns just fine.

 

Front Renovator with Triple Cutters - Up

 

Front Renovator with Triple Cutters - Down

 

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