Editing Snowmobile (section)

== History ==
[[File:Coanda snow sleigh.jpg|thumb|Motor sled powered by a [[Coandă-1910|Coandă ducted fan]]]]

=== Early designs ===
[[file:Harold J Kalenze.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Harry Kalenze, inventor of the Vehicle Propeller]]
[[file:Kegresse tsar17.jpg|thumb|Nicholas II Packard Twin-6 with Kégresse track]]

A patent (554.482) for the Sled-Propeller design, without a model, was submitted on Sept. 5, 1895 by inventors William J. Culman and William B. Follis of [[Brule, Wisconsin]].<ref>Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office United States. Page 778. January 1, 1896; U.S. Patent Office.</ref>

The [[American Motor Sleigh]] was a short-lived novelty vehicle produced in [[Boston]] in 1905. Designed for travel on snow, it consisted of a sleigh body mounted on a framework that held an engine, a drive-shaft system, and runners.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/scientific-american-1905-01-28/scientific-american-v92-n04-1905-01-28#page/n31/mode/2up/search/sleigh|title=Scientific American Volume 92 Number 04 (January 1905)|website=archive.org|date=28 January 1905|access-date=2017-03-10}}</ref> Although considered an interesting novelty, sales were low and production ceased in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.american-automobiles.com/American-Motor-Sleigh.html|title=The American Motor Sleigh & The American Motor Sleigh Co.|website=www.american-automobiles.com|access-date=2017-03-10|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312044335/http://www.american-automobiles.com/American-Motor-Sleigh.html|archive-date=2017-03-12}}</ref>

An Aerosledge, a propeller-driven and running on skis, was built in 1909–1910 by Russian inventor [[Igor Sikorsky]] of helicopter fame.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/propsleigh/propsleigh.htm| title=The Propeller-Driven Sleigh| publisher=SelfSite| date=26 July 2005| access-date=2008-09-10| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710222219/http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/propsleigh/propsleigh.htm| archive-date=10 July 2011}}</ref> Aerosanis were used by the Soviet [[Red Army]] during the [[Winter War]] and [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.battlefield.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=123&lang=en| title=Soviet Combat Snowmobiles| publisher=The Russian Battlefield| author=Valeri Potapov Translated by: James F. Gebhardt| work=BATTLEFIELD.RU - всё о Великой Отечественной войне| year=1998| access-date=2008-09-10| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126023643/http://www.battlefield.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=123&lang=en| archive-date=2009-01-26}}</ref> There is some dispute over whether Aerosanis count as snowmobiles because they were not propelled by tracks.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.journal-a-day.com/Automotive/359658-enjoying-a-snowmobile-at-full.html| title=Enjoying A Snowmobile At Full| date=December 18, 2006| quote=Not only are snowmobiles popular in the United States and Canada, USSR has their very own version of the snowmobile, which can be seen in the Aerosani. Aerosani, when interpreted, intends "aero sleigh." The Russians usage this propeller-powered snowmobile for delivering the mail, patrolling the metes, as well as for recreational intents.| publisher=Journal-a-day| access-date=2008-03-01| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107134525/http://www.journal-a-day.com/Automotive/359658-enjoying-a-snowmobile-at-full.html| archive-date=January 7, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.vanishingpoint.biz/productdetail.asp?productID=790| title=Soviet Aerosani RF 8 (for 3D Studio Max)| quote=An aerosani (Russian: aerosani, literally 'aerosled') is a type of propeller-powered snowmobile, running on skis, used for communications, mail deliveries, medical aid, emergency recovery and border patrolling in northern Russia, as well as for recreation. Aerosanis were used by the Soviet Red Army during the Winter War and the Second World War.| publisher=Vanishing Point| access-date=2008-03-01| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107135340/http://www.vanishingpoint.biz/productdetail.asp?productID=790| archive-date=2009-01-07}}</ref><ref>{{ webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518143304/http://www.experiencefestival.com/aerosan/articleindex |date=2009-05-18 }}</ref>

[[Adolphe Kégresse]] designed an original [[caterpillar track]]s system, called the [[Kégresse track]], while working for Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]] between 1906 and 1916. These used a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments and could be fitted to a conventional car or truck to turn it into a [[half-track]], suitable for use over soft ground, including snow. Conventional front wheels and steering were used but the wheel could be fitted with skis as seen in the upper right image. He applied it to several cars in the Royal garage including [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] cars and [[Packard]] trucks. Although this was not a snowmobile, it is an ancestor of the modern concept.

In 1911 a 24-year-old, Harold J. Kalenze (pronounced Collins), patented the Vehicle Propeller in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/150493/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1|title=Canadian Patent Database / Base de données sur les brevets canadiens|first=Government of Canada, Industry Canada, Office of the Deputy Minister, Canadian Intellectual Property|last=Office|website=www.ic.gc.ca|access-date=3 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110224905/http://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/150493/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1|archive-date=10 November 2017}}</ref>

In 1914, O. M. Erickson and Art Olsen of the P.N. Bushnell company in [[Aberdeen, South Dakota|Aberdeen]], South Dakota, built an open two-seater "motor-bob" out of an [[Indian (motorcycle)|Indian motorcycle]] modified with a cowl-cover, side-by-side seating, and a set of sled-runners fore and aft. While it did not have the tracks of a true snowmobile, its appearance was otherwise similar to the modern version and is one of the earliest examples of a personal motorized snow-vehicle.<ref>Aberdeen American News 1914-02-04</ref>

In 1915 Ray H. Muscott of [[Waters, Michigan|Waters]], Michigan, received the Canadian patent for his motor sleigh, or "traineau automobile", and on June 27, 1916, he received the first United States [[patent]] for a snow-vehicle using the now recognized format of rear track(s) and front skis.<ref>{{US patent|1188981}}</ref> Many individuals later modified [[Ford Model T]]s with the undercarriage replaced by tracks and skis following this design. They were popular for rural mail delivery for a time. The common name for these conversion of cars and small trucks was ''Snowflyers''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=yt8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1935+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA878 "Snowflyers Replace Dogs in Frozen North" ''Popular Mechanics'', December 1934]</ref>

=== Development of modern designs ===
[[file:1921 Ford Model T Snowmobile.jpg|thumb|left|1921 Ford Model T snowmobile]]
[[file:Homemade-Snowmobile-1910-Pf008245.jpg|thumb|Snowmobile running on the [[Mississippi River]] near [[Hastings, Minnesota]], 1910]]
[[file:Snowmobile Taxi - John Miller 1937 Red Lake.jpg|thumb|upright|Airplane-engine-powered skimobile taxi in Red Lake, Canada, 1937]]

Carl Eliason of [[Sayner, Wisconsin|Sayner]] developed the prototype of the modern snowmobile in the 1920s when he mounted a two-cylinder motorcycle engine on a long sled, steered it with skis under the front, and propelled it with single, endless track.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Lame hunter invents swift motorized sled|journal=Popular Science|date=December 1928|page=62|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dicDAAAAMBAJ&q=lame%20hunter%20invents%20swift%20motorized%20sled&pg=PA62|access-date=21 March 2013}}</ref> Eliason made 40 snowmobiles, patented in 1927.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eliason|first=Carl J.|title=U.S. Patent #1650334|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1650334|access-date=21 March 2013|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Upon receiving an order for 200 from [[Finland]], he sold his patent to the [[Four Wheel Drive|FWD Company]] of [[Clintonville, Wisconsin|Clintonville]]. They made 300 for military use, then transferred the patent to a Canadian subsidiary.

In 1917, Virgil D. White set up to create a patent for his conversion kit that changed the Ford Model T into a "snowmobile". He also trademarked the term "snowmobile". At the time, the conversion kit was expensive, costing about $395. Virgil White applied his patent in 1918 and created his own snowmobile. In 1922, his conversion kit was on the markets and available only through Ford dealerships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhsnocar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=62|title=NHSNOCAR.COM – Classic Model T and Model A Snow Car Parts|website=NH Snocar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206033526/https://www.nhsnocar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=62|archive-date=6 December 2014}}</ref>

The relatively dry snow conditions of the [[United States Midwest]] suited the converted Ford Model Ts and other like vehicles, but they were not suitable for humid snow areas such as southern [[Quebec]] and [[New England]]. This led [[Joseph-Armand Bombardier]] from the small town of [[Valcourt (city)|Valcourt]], [[Quebec]], to invent a different [[caterpillar track]] system suitable for all kinds of snow conditions. Bombardier had already made some "metal" tracked vehicles since 1928, but his new revolutionary track traction system (a toothed wheel covered in rubber, and a rubber-and-cotton track that wraps around the back wheels) was his first major invention. He started production of the B-7, an enclosed, seven-passenger snowmobile, in 1937, and introduced the B-12, a twelve-passenger model, in 1942. The B-7 had a V-8 [[flathead engine]] from [[Ford Motor Company]]. The B-12 had a flathead in line six-cylinder engine from [[Chrysler]] industrial, and 2,817 units were produced until 1951. It was used in many applications, such as ambulances, [[Canada Post]] vehicles, winter "school buses", forestry machines, and even army vehicles in [[World War II]]. Bombardier had always dreamed of a smaller version, more like the size of a [[motor scooter]].

=== Post-war developments ===
[[file:1951B12a.jpg|thumb|left|Early [[Bombardier Recreational Products|Bombardier]] snowmobile]]

In 1951 Fritz Riemerschmid devised what he called a snow scooter. The machine had a track mounted beneath a [[snowboard]]-like base, on top of which were an enclosed engine with motorcycle like seat and fuel tank. the vehicle was steered via a steering wheel and cables linked to two small skis on outriggers either side of the vehicle.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Thorpe|first=John|date=28 January 1953|title=Continental Report|journal=Motor Cycling|publisher=Temple Press Ltd|location=London|volume=89|issue=2296|pages=407, 424}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/PopularMechanics1951/Popular_Mechanics_03_1951#page/n95/mode/2up/search/Snow-Cycle|title=Snow-Cycle|date=March 1951|work=Popular Mechanics|publisher=Popular Mechanics Company|page=95|access-date=12 September 2017|location=Chicago}}</ref>

In the mid-1950s, a United States firm built a "snowmobile the [[Arctic Alaska|arctic area]] of [[Alaska]] that had the drive train reversed of today's snowmobiles with two front wheels—the larger one behind the smaller one—with tires driving an endless loop track". Little is known about this "snowmobile" meant to haul cargo and trade goods to isolated settlements.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nNwDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA114 "American Snowmobile Ends Need for Dogs in Arctic."] ''Popular Mechanics'', March 1954, p. 114</ref>

An odd version of snowmobile is the Swedish ''[[Larven]]'', made by the [[Lenko Company]] of [[Östersund]], from the 1960s until the end of the 1980s. It was a very small and basic design, with just an engine in the rear and a track. The driver sat on it and steered using skis on his feet.<ref name="Larven">{{Cite web| url=http://www.larvenklubben.se| title=Larsen Klubben| access-date=2007-10-08| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016194654/http://larvenklubben.se/| archive-date=2007-10-16}}</ref>