Do the Weight Police have jurisdiction off road?

Tvov wrote:
Well, this thread has gotten weird!

Very cool article about the snocat camper (I've always spelled it "snocat" - maybe that is a brand name?).

I am curious why they would leave the plow on the front? Wouldn't the machine be lighter and more maneuverable without it?

The article does highlight that they built a jack system to be able to pickup the camper to service the snocat when they need to.

And... what about the heating system? The article seems to make a big deal about the "Alde hydronic heating system".... how does that work?

I have the same camper. I don't have a snow cat ...

The Alde heating system is made in Sweden since Mr. Alde invented it in 1949 for vehicle heating. In the camper it is a propane/electric atmospheric combi heating boiler / hot water heater. Low amp 12v powers the circulating pump and combustion fan/ignition. Glycol heating fluid is circulated to copper/aluminum convection heat exchangers situated around the perimeter of the camper and in the basement. The unit will heat with propane, 750w ac on 15 amp shore power, 1500w ac on 30 amp, or a blend of propane and ac electric. If you set it on "electric 1" or 750w it starts on ac. If it cannot supply enough heat it will fire the propane burner at the same time. It has auto night set back temperature then warm up in the morning before you get up. The temperature control is very consistent and comfortable vs the roaring fan RV forced air furnace. It is not a pressurized system so the piping elbows and connectors are big floppy rubber material made to take the shake rattle and roll of being installed in a vehicle. You can add a heat exchanger to use transfer heat from the engine coolant to the Alde system. The heating function can be used in "dry camp" mode when the potable water system is drained/winterized. It is very quiet in operation. The combination of convection and radiant heat warms the materials in the interior of the camper so everything is warm to the touch.

It uses maybe 1/3 the fuel an RV air furnace does and 10% of the battery power.

I've camped with water on board in -25C low -10C high but that is about the limit for the water drain valve area of this camper. The interior was sitting at 20C (70F) I have dry camped at -36F/calm wind in Montana. The system maintained 65-70F inside, running almost 100%.

Alde systems costs more than $412.00 wholesale so expect it is of no interest to 98.457% of the RV industry. :)