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Refresher Course — Groomer Tracking Systems
GROOMER TRACKING SYSTEMS
By: Dave Newman, AWSC President
GTS.GROOMERTRACKINGSYSTEMS.COM
This winter will bring the second season of using the GPS devices from Groomer Tracking Systems (GTS) to record the grooming activity for all of the groomers in the state. Last year went relatively smooth considering there were a lot of clubs using them for the first time. Currently GTS has 679 tracker units in groomers. As was the case last year, the cost of these trackers will be covered directly by the snowmobile program and clubs will not have to be invoiced for their units.
Knowing that there may be some clubs in the southern half of the state that weren’t able to get their groomers out on the trails due to a lack of snow last winter we felt it was a good idea to give everyone a refresher course. Here Nathan Matter, from GTS gave us some quick reminders of some of the important things to remember to most effectively use the GPS system. Additional questions can be sent by email to nathan@ groomertrackingsystems.com
1) To login to the GTS Trails administrator site, use the link at the bottom of the GPS tab in SNARS. Remember that
GTS Trails and SNARS accounts are separate and will not necessarily have the same login info. Club managers for
SNARS aren’t necessarily the club’s GTS administrator. 2) Be sure to notify GTS of any grooming equipment changes so your automated SNARS grooming entries report correctly. Changes in grooming equipment or requests for
GPS devises for new groomers can be made through the links under the GPS tab in SNARS. SNARS Club Managers can verify your club’s grooming equipment and the associated rates and GPS device ID numbers under the
“club profile” page in SNARS. If you removed your GPS devices for the summer, make sure the correct GPS goes back into each groomer and is wired correctly. 3) Trail changes that require the geofence to be moved need to be reported to GTS for accurate grooming time calculations with the GPS. It is also important to check the
GTS Trails admin map once you travel your trail system with the GPS device to confirm all trails are mapped correctly and staying inside the geofence. This can be done while brushing or signing trails in fall to avoid delays and issues once it starts snowing. If there are any issues, the best way to notify GTS is with the “Trail mapping issue reporting form” under the GPS tab in SNARS. Trail changes on the map do not happen automatically so please be sure to fill out the form or email GTS with any mapping issues. 4) Be sure to power on your GPS device early and verify it is working and reporting to GTS trails early so there is time to fix any issues before the snow falls. Issues with your GPS unit can be reported through the same reporting form found under the GPS tab on SNARS.
5) Once the snow grooming season begins, verify that grooming entries are populating in SNARS for all your grooming activity. Entries will appear in SNARS the morning after the grooming activity occurred. Verify the amount of time submitted in SNARS matches the amount of eligible grooming that occurred. The entries are created in SNARS at the club level. Remember that the automatic grooming entries still need to be reviewed and submitted to the county to be eligible for reimbursement.
Submitted By: AWSC Vintage & History Committee Arctic Cat VIP Info: Facebook - Time Machines
Did you know, in 1974 and 1975, Arctic Cat and Yamaha used hydraulic torque converters instead of conventional drive belts on certain models?
In 1974 and 1975 Arctic Cat had the VIP which used a Kawasaki hydrostatic drive (Cat-A-Matic) and Yamaha had the TL433F & TW433F which used a hydrokinetic drive. The 1974 Arctic Cat Panther VIP was sold with the “CatA-Matic” transmission. Arctic’s approach was
40TH ANNUAL
2023 a fun ride. a great cause.
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• Up to 250 miles of riding, with trail support • Three-nights lodging at Lake of the Torches Resort
Casino, including six meals • Free hat, bandanna and long-sleeve t-shirt
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Fundraising minimum applies; Tour proceeds support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. to eliminate all drive belts. They did this by mounting the Kawasaki torque converter directly onto the crankshaft in place of the primary clutch. The output shaft from the reactor is connected directly into a horizontally mounted chaincase serving as the oil reservoir for the torque converter and oil cooler. The brake disc was mounted directly to the front track drive opposite the chaincase outside of the tunnel.
Unlike the Yamaha design, the drive ratio to the converter could not be changed to improve low end torque. Owners of the VIP all have the same comments.
In deep snow or climbing hills, nothing could go where it went. Why? Zero track spin. Just seamless power applied to the track. Arctic realized the limitations of the design, so it was only offered on the top-of-the-line Panther VIP trail cruiser. The VIP didn’t win any drag races, but once the machine reached top speed it would run as fast as the standard Panther with a CVT.
