After last year’s introduction of major new machines from Prinoth and PistenBully and the arrival of the Ohara 357, grooming vehicles for 2009 are mostly seeing refinements. Which is not to say that there’s nothing happening—quite the contrary. Here’s what they have in store.


PRINOTH
The Pininfarina-designed, Caterpillar-built cab now featured on the Bison, Bison X, and Bison Winch is the big news from Prinoth. Pininfarina has designed interiors and exteriors for vehicles such as Ferrari and Maserati and for powerboats and airplanes and now for Prinoth groomers.

Pininfarina conceived the cab using a virtual reality system; this helped get the design right more quickly and cut development and production time by two years, according to Western sales director Greg Clowers.

Making a mockup revealed that Pininfarina got just about everything right except seat placement. The prototype started with a center position, but for North American models it ended up eight inches left of center, so that the operator can see the tiller more easily. “In the Bison X, the terrain park version, the seat has a three-degree swivel for even better visibility to the rear,” Clowers says.

The new cabs debuted in Italy last year, to favorable reviews. For the U.S., though, Prinoth has made a few modifications. Biggest is lower doors, so that drivers can see the outside of both tracks. Second, the mirror placement and size have been tweaked.

In addition, Prinoth has gone to the CAN bus system, making it easier to troubleshoot. The system also tracks tilling time and general usage, which helps area managers track overall efficiency and improve fuel useage.

To boost productivity, Prinoth adopted a new joystick design that allows the operator to the use blade and tiller at the same time. “The goal is total utilization, providing top performance in both park and slope grooming,” Clowers says.

Looking to the future, Prinoth is working with the California Air Resources Board to meet Tier IV engine requirements. “Prinoth is starting to test Tier IV engines with a goal of meeting the 2011 deadline for manufacture and sale and could have working test machines by the fall of this year,” Clowers notes.

Prinoth has also purchased the production factory from Camoplast, moving this back under Prinoth management. The purchase includes the utility and maintenance machines that Camoplast was making for the oil, natural gas, and utility industries.

One last bit of news: Prinoth has opened its new shop in Grand Junction, Colo., which also serves as the central distribution point for parts in the West. “In this economy, we’re proud to work with a company that sees the need to move forward,” Clowers says. The new facility will also build components for wind energy and mass transit systems. “This is an investment now that will pay dividends down the road,” he adds.


PISTENBULLY
Introduced late last year, the PistenBully 400 has received positive reports from the field “on all fronts, from handling and performance to horsepower, agility in the park, ride comfort and visibility,” says marketing VP John Glockhamer. The Cummins QSL 9 engine with its Tier III rating has so far lived up to its billing.

Model configurations include the 400 Park for terrain park grooming, and the 400 W winch for steep slope grooming and snow management.

In addition, “the customer has his choice of sticks or wheel for steering control. This is a plug and play option,” Glockhamer says. Another choice is the option of rear deck for cargo transport or no deck for greater visibility to the rear when grooming. Two types of tracks are offered, steel or the high performance combi track.

Tiller choices include the Z Flex, MultiFlex, or the new AlpineFlex. New to North America this season, the AlpineFlex has several features that set is apart from the standard MultiFlex tiller, including lower overall weight due to the lighter weight framework and a completely new tooth configuration for the cutter bar. “The result is better snow processing with enhanced efficiency,” Glockhamer says.

“Lately it seems too much emphasis is placed on the cosmetic appearance of the finished snow surface,” Glockhamer adds. “Corduroy is nice, but at the end of the day it’s the quality of the tilled snow that the skier or rider feels beneath his skis and board. We believe this is the overriding criteria when measuring tiller performance.”

Still, since appearance does matter to some, the AlpineFlex has a finisher system that is designed to simulate the squeegee effect of the windshield wiper on your car to produce a more defined corduroy. Plus, foldable hydraulic end flaps help prevent berming in fresh snow.

In the spring of 2008, Kassbohrer purchased Finnish groomer manufacturer Hydroling Oy Ab and its Formatic brand. Kassbohrer is marketing the Formatic snowgroomer on a limited basis in North America this winter. The Formatic offers several features that compliment the PistenBully line. “Of most significance is the center seat cab design. Among other innovations are hydraulic adjustable suspension and an inline stack pump transmission that eliminates the need for a splitter box,” Glockhamer notes. The AutoTracer tracking system steers the triflex tiller automatically behind the vehicle when turning. The Formatic is equipped with the Cummins QSL 9 diesel engine and is rated at 350 horsepower.

Among other machines, the PistenBully 100 is receiving a facelift, including a longer track with increased spacing between the bogies for better climbing, hydraulic track tensioning and Xenon working lights. The PistenBully 600 high-production groomer and the ZFlex tiller both get continuing refinements.


OHARA
The Ohara 357 has been in the U.S. for almost a year, with demos at about a dozen resorts. “It did very well at the NSAA Western conference at Keystone,” says Paul Leck of PBL, the North American distributor. “We did everything the others did; a couple of places where the others augured in, we didn’t.”

Leck terms the 357 “an excellent park machine, with equal or greater blade motion or travel, raises higher than competitor machines.” For general grooming, “everything that entails, from all night pushing and grooming” to park work, it’s been averaging four gallons/hr., he adds.

The cab’s controls are different than many operators are used to. The steering controls are on a lever that sits in the driver’s lap. “Other machines have them on the left armrest,” Leck notes. Which do drivers prefer? “It’s about a 50-50 split,” he says.

Another different feature: The blade control (don’t call it a joystick) is a single lever with a ball on it; this allows “simultaneous, multiple functions,” Leck says. “It’s a unique highly functional blade control.” You can operate buttons on the ball without moving the stick, and you can do ball and button function at the same time.

“We are told the blade is quicker than others, and that the machine is fast, really fast,” he adds.

Ohara’s fuel-sipping utility cat, the Caliber, is now in its third version, Leck says, with a Tier III engine and various other updates and upgrades. It is just going into production now, he adds.

The Caliber comes in two versions: a 10-person cab and 2-man cab with flatbed. Both versions have the option of aluminum, steel, or rubber/summer tracks, to suit the intended uses. The 10-person cab suits snowcat operations, and “rescue is another possible use,” says Leck. “It’s large enough that you can have a full-size gurney and places for people to sit on both sides.”

The Caliber has just 87 hp, “but if you don’t need more than that, the Caliber will in general outshine other utility machines,” Leck says. The Caliber consumes 1.5 to 2 gallons an hour max, and only about 1 gallon in general use, Leck claims. The 2-man weighs just 6500 pounds with blade and tracks, the 10-man with blade and tracks, 7000. “That’s lighter than others,” Leck notes.

And it’s “proven to be very durable,” he addes. “We’ve done no major repairs on any of them yet, and a few on their fourth operating season.”


ZAUGG
If you have a halfpipe, chances are you have (or will eventually have) a Pipe Monster. Or Monsters. They come in 8-, 13-, 18- and 22-foot versions, the last being the newest, as well as the Official FIS and Olympic machine. It’s being used at Vancouver and was at Torino in 2006.

The tubing designer is one of Zaugg’s newer offerings. A few areas, including Copper Mountain, use the tube machine, and it is said to vastly reduce labor time. It’s a good match for a PB 100, says Leck of distributor PBL, who plans to put one on an Ohara Caliber this spring. “Then we will have some kind of a tubing cat,” he says—“ under eight feet wide, with tiller and tubing designer, for an all-new, low-cost way of approaching tubing hill design and maintenance.” This machine will be available next winter.

In addition, Zaugg manufactures snowblowers of almost every size, from 11 hp walk-behind machines to 600 hp behemoths. They come in loader mounts, truck mounts, cat mounts—“if you can power it, we have a mount for it,” Leck claims.