Kei truck
The GBCTA’s snow grooming fleet is comprised of two snow-mobiles
– a 2016 Arctic Cat Bearcat and 2010 Yamaha VK Pro
– and a couple more vehicles that are much more unusual.
They are mini-trucks from Japan known as Kei trucks,
which are being imported into Canada in increasing num-bers
(even though Transport Canada only allows into the
country Japanese mini-trucks that are at least 15 years old)
and are used for a variety of purposes.
Hughes says the GBCTA’s person in charge of all-season
trail maintenance, Dave Cebuliak, asked him what he thought
about buying a used Kei truck when the association was in
the market for some new equipment three years ago.
“We did a lot of research into the potential of one of these
little utility trucks from Japan to tow grooming equipment,”
said Hughes. “It looked very, very promising … so we took a
chance and bought one of these Kei trucks from a dealer in
northern Alberta.”
According to Hughes, it was a gamble that paid off big time.
“We were just blown away by the performance,” he said. “It
climbs with abandon. It has fantastic traction, and an unbe-lievable
turning radius relative to a snowmobile. It’s just like
driving a pick-up truck in terms of comfort, just slower and a
little more cab noise.
“Over the last two seasons it’s been so successful that we
decided to buy another one,” said Hughes. He adds the sec-ond
Kei truck is currently being modified for on-snow use
and will be ready to be put to work on the West Bragg Creek
trail system this winter.
Both mini-trucks are 1999 models that had about 25,000
miles on them prior to purchase. Hughes maintains the cost
of buying a used Kei truck and turning it into a tracked on-snow
vehicle is comparable to purchasing a new, specialized
grooming snowmobile.
The trucks used by the GBCTA cost approximately
CAN$12,000 apiece and each one has had about CAN$10,000
in modifications done. That includes $5,000 for Camso tracks
with adaptor hubs and $600 for a two-inch lift kit.
The Kei trucks are 113 inches long, 59 inches wide and
75 inches high, and weigh 1,500 pounds. Both are four-by-four
“We’ve seen a 60 per cent
increase in the traffic every
year over last four years, and
we’re expecting to see close
to 200,000 visitors this year.”
– Jeff Hughes, GBCTA
turbo models featuring a 56-horsepower, 660-cubic
centimetre gasoline engine and a 1,500-pound towing ca-pacity
– which Hughes says is more than enough to handle
the Yellowstone Track System Ginzugroomers and YTS
Roller Compactors his association uses to groom the West
Bragg Creek ski trails.
The trucks also feature a box on the back that comes in
very handy for snow grooming purposes. Hughes says that’s
because it’s not unusual for trails in West Bragg Creek to lose
snow at times during the winter due to warm Chinook winds.
“Typically we can have phenomenal conditions, fresh snow,
beautifully groomed trails, and then over the course of two
days of Chinook winds, we can basically have a lake,” he said.
“It can trash our system very, very quickly. When that hap-pens,
we have areas around the trail system that we harvest
snow from where the snow is protected from the elements.
We’ll just load up the Kei truck with snow and then take to
where it’s needed, unload it and re-groom.”
Super safe
Hughes says another attractive aspect of the Kei truck is
safety.
“They’re super safe for our operators,” he said. “There’s
virtually no rollover potential, and we’ve never had one get
stuck. The trucks are equipped with VHF radios so the opera-
COVER FEATURE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GREATER BRAGG CREEK TRAILS ASSOCIATION
Continued on page 10
8 September 2017 | snowopsmag.com