Welding for the Ultimate Winter
A historical look back at the fabrication and welding of the massive Antarctic Snow Cruiser, one of the most ambitious exploration vehicles of its time.
October 1939
Workers at the Lasker Boiler & Engineering Company in Chicago, Illinois, fabricate one of the half-ton wheels for the Snow Cruiser, the primary transport vehicle for Admiral Richard E. Bird’s second Antarctic expedition. Once completed, the wheels spanned a 20-foot wheel base and were fitted with 12-ply Goodyear tires. The 75,000-lb., 55-foot-long Snow Cruiser arrived in Antarctica the following January, but fell short of performance expectations when the tires sank deep into the snow and spun too easily. The crew mounted spare wheels on the front to increase surface area, and chains on the rear wheels to improve traction.
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