Another 'new to me' [ J5 ]

sprucebunny · September 12, 2006, 07:54:58 PM

The Thiokol snowcat doesn't have enough ground clearance to use in the summer. I'm really afraid of mushing the rear end so I decided to try something else ;D

These Bombardier J5s were made to work in the woods. This one has a 3/8 steel belly pan, a high Braden chain drive winch (PTO) and a wide snow blade and a narrow heavy blade. Engine is rebuilt and it came with spare tranmissions and wheels.

I can't wait to try it but I think I'll remove the 40 years of old oily leaves etc. from inside the belly first ;D

More pics when I get it out in the woods 8)

isawlogs · September 12, 2006, 08:13:14 PM

Aint notin like having something new to play with . :D :D

Great find Joan , hope this new to you Bomby works out fine . Does it have a roller on the back for the cable ?

getoverit · September 12, 2006, 08:17:18 PM

Nice score on the bomber Joan!

Cant wait to see what ou do with it when the snow hits :D

I understand they had a good dusting of snow in Colorado yesterday.. winter isnt far off !

beenthere · September 12, 2006, 08:40:11 PM

sprucebunny
You sure find some neat toys.

Looks like more fun in the spruce for you.
What else lays on the trailer behind the tracks?

dewwood · September 12, 2006, 08:52:20 PM

Thats a good looking find sb. I bet you can't wait to get it into the woods to see what it will do. It looks like it could do most anything you wanted it to. Have fun & be safe.

sprucebunny · September 12, 2006, 08:58:29 PM

Thanks .

These machines were made to work year 'round. Not really a snowcat.

It has a hunk of 2" round steel welded on behind the winch, Marcel. Came with a couple of chokers, even !!!

Beenthere, it came with 3 or 4 extra transmissions. That is an extra rear end.

Here's some more of the loot ;D

I don't know how useful that one with the rusty gears will be ???

Burlkraft · September 12, 2006, 09:42:32 PM

WOW Joan...............

You got the neatest toys 8) 8) 8) 8)

I can just see ya drivin' around the house blastin' squirrels off the roof :D :D :D

GREAT SCORE .............

Have fun.........

leweee · September 12, 2006, 09:46:15 PM

Joan... Congrats on the J5 8)
Show us a picture of that motor while your in there cleaning out those leaves. ;D
Didn't know you were into restoring antique forestry equipment. :P
Got lots of rust reaper! ;D

isawlogs · September 12, 2006, 10:25:07 PM

Nice to have some spare parts .
Do you know how strong to winch is on those . ???

sprucebunny · September 12, 2006, 10:32:21 PM

Thanks, Steve ;D

Lewee, I'll put up a bunch of pics in the next few days. Got some more parts coming soon ;) Don't know how much restoration will happen soon... got some logging to catch up on !!!!

I'll get the numbers off the winch tomorrow, Marcel. Got to be stronger than my 4wheeeler winch and the owners said it went as fast as a brisk walk ;D

barbender · September 12, 2006, 11:09:28 PM

What kind of engine is in that SB? Looks like it should work real well, good find!!

sawguy21 · September 13, 2006, 01:28:03 AM

Joan you fit right in here. Yer just a DanG packrat like the rest of us. :D :D That looks like a useful toy, er sorry I mean tool.

Norm · September 13, 2006, 06:56:23 AM

Cool! I've never seen a Bombardier before, looking forward to some action shots of it working in the woods.

moosehunter · September 13, 2006, 07:23:53 AM

Nice find Joan!
Our club (snowmobile) sold one of those a few years ago. It goes like a tank in the snow, but does not float on the snow like a groomer should :

Ours had a 6cyl chrysler industrial engine in it. 3 forward gears, one reverse. The steering is done by brake bands in the differential ( you probubly know this stuff SB but others have asked ;D)

It will pull a house of its foundation in first gear, and go almost scary fast in high gear.

If it does not have a Tachometer....... put one in. Someone blew the motor in ours becouse they were not familar with it and over-reved it in first gear.

Good luck with yer new toy 8) ,er "tool"
mh

sprucebunny · September 13, 2006, 08:01:05 AM

Yup, mh, a 6 cylinder Chrysler. Thanks for the tip on the tach. This one has guages and they work

It has a 4 speed trans so it will probably pull a brick house down ;D They are supposed to have a top speed of 35 mph.
I read somewhere but don't know if it's true, that it's the same engine as in a 'M-37'. It's a 236 w/ a 12 volt system.

From reading the owners manual it seems that several different Braden winches were available.

Got to go get it some gas and get more of the wet/oily leaves out of the poor old thing

Murf · September 13, 2006, 09:45:22 AM

Good catch Joan!! 8)

Do yourself a favour though, geta kidney belt, and any other sturdy support items you might not already have!! :D

Those things aren't exactly known for their smooth ride. On snow their not bad, but in the woods, let's just say you'll need a loooong hot bath afterwards.

pappy · September 13, 2006, 11:04:00 AM

We had a J5 Bombie and two Muskeg All Terrain Carriers when I worked at Squaw Mt. ski resort in Greenville, ME back in the early 70's... The company rented a Muskeg All Terrain Carrier http://www.sotc.com/specsheets/bombi.muskplus.1.html
for us to use on the mountain during our snow making efforts... My uncle Louie rolled that sucker twice in one night

on not too steep an area... The co. thought it would be good for the two man crews to use after the snow-guns where set up to keep us out of the weather... With frozen ground these machines would skate sideways :

... When it started to take off you had to jump on one of the brake levers (left or right) to try to get it turned straight up hill and mat the gas to ta make it come around and stop it's slide...

In the summer months we used the Muskeg All Terrain Tractor http://www.sotc.com/specsheets/bombi.musktractor.1.html for mountain trail and lift maintenance. These suckers would literally climb walls

we'd pile 30 to 40 bales of hay add some bags of seed, lime and fertilizer your lunch three or four guys then head up the mountain for the days work... The boss never had to worry about letting a 20 year old with 3 or 4 teenagers head up the mountain cause he new that tank would take us out and back safely... This model had a winch also, it was the machine we used to cut new trails and roads with,,, still had to be careful where turning though, the worst was sloping flat rocks!!!

SB I believe the one you bought will do good by ya seeing it's built more like the Muskeg All Terrain Tractor and not the Carrier... The Carrier we used would have needed some counter weight on the back end :

... Wish I had what you got here for our wood lot... With not just the winch but also the small blade a person can do alot of work with a machine like yours safely... I also like the idea of the rubber track instead of steel like a dozer!!

Stay safe and enjoy 8)

rebocardo · September 13, 2006, 03:43:35 PM

I love the ROPS!

Corley5 · September 13, 2006, 06:01:36 PM

I like it 8) 8) and you even got spare parts 8) 8) 8)

sprucebunny · September 13, 2006, 06:07:34 PM

Thanks for putting up the info, pappy. That website has specsheets for the J5, too.

Murf, there are solid tires and air tires .... this has 3 of each :

The air ones should help the ride. I seldom go more than 8 mph on my 4wheeler(tracks on/dry land ) and don't expect this to be faster.

Got most of the black oily stuff off my arms... collected about 8 gallons of black oily,greasy,gassy goop/acorns from under the engine.pics of the engine in a bit ;D

Thanks, Greg. More spare parts on the way, too ;D

sprucebunny · September 13, 2006, 06:44:30 PM

More pics

Left side of motor.

Right side of motor.

You may be wondering ..... the 'rear end' is in the front ;D The radiator is above the engine ...The right hand track is 2" narrower; it's from an SW48. Not much original left on this machine...

Underneath the rear. You can see the bump over to the left where the PTO was accomadated.The PTO comes off the 'front' of the engine and there is a inch and a half diam. drive shaft to the rear chain/winch drive.

There's a couple more pics in my gallery.

Tim L · September 13, 2006, 07:46:53 PM

WAY COOL!!!
more pictures !!!

Mr Mom · September 13, 2006, 08:08:14 PM

sprucebunny...Good buy. Wish i could get somthing like that.

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

UNCLEBUCK · September 16, 2006, 11:32:32 PM

Holy smokes everybody is getting ready for the woods ! That is so cool sprucebunny ! I am at such a loss for going into the woods I cant stand it anymore . I guess now you really have insurance by having two cool machines for the woods . I really like it and if I had something like that they would have to drag me off it

sprucebunny · September 17, 2006, 07:02:51 AM

Here's the rest of the story ;D

I got two of them !!! The first one with the winch is heavily modified and this one is very original with it's original shortwood trailer.

Both of them need a bunch of tire and track work and having extra wheels means I can get a set fixed and have a going machine at the same time.

I guess Leweee knows me better than I do ;D I'd like to fix up the original/trailer one. And that tracked trailer will be very useful on squishy ground. I'm already imagining a dump body attachment for it ;D
It's too bad that the trailer won't work with the winch one but I have an idea to make the hitch up more universal without cutting the trailer at all. The cool thing about the hitch it has is the 4" pipe it pivots side-to-side on.....the whole trailer could roll over on it's side and not take the machine with it.

Got to go count my change ;D .... tires and sprockets ain't cheap.