Bolens Diablo Rouge and Hus Ski Discussion Forums

Our friend Mark D from Kaukauna, Wisconsin shared some memories via a You Tube video.

For me, this was before my time. But it was cool seeing how things were in the mid 60's. I like the Hus Skis keeping up with the other sleds and smoking the competition in the flag race.

How many helmets do you see?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... vOyurCrxTA

Enjoy,

Bruce

Good footage for 1965

Thanks for sharing this Bruce.

I saw only (2) helmets. They were being held on their laps, not worn at (7:01) minutes you see a sled goes by with 3 people on it. One's on the hood, sitting on the light i assume.

I especially liked the slalom. no problem in cornering. I would have liked to see the Hus-ski go up hill where the other two got stuck.

PS: I was born in February 1965, so it is very cool to see what was happening then.

Jesse

Priceless video. Thanks for sharing Mark. I liked that blue hus-ski like machine and the hus-ski in the slalom. Hus-ski riders in the sixties hated giving up that maneuverability. Some of us never did. Those old Bombardiers bring back memories also. I wish I had more pictures from back then. Good luck Jesse in finding a crank today in Eganville. I'll keep an eye out for you. Roy.

Thanks Roy for keeping an eye for me.

I did purchase an engine and some spares for it, but I'll update my posts with pictures later. It was cold, I wasn't dressed for that.

If you find a crank for a 54R let me know. (I wasn't succesfull)

OK, I don't want to highjack Bruce's post any longer. More to follow later on my post.

Jesse

Very cool video. Really loved the scenes with the Hus ski ! Does anyone know what the blue hus ski type sled is ? is it home made, is it a prototype or a different brand or manufacturer or did someone else make a similar machine? All in all, pretty cool video.

Thanks for sharing the great video. I had a blue and a brown twin track prototype that we built and painted at 91 Hymus Blvd., Pointe Claire, Quebec the Hus-ski plant.

I lent my neighbor the brown one and I rode the blue one. At the moment I can't remember why we picked those colors or very much about the units. The machines were similar to the twin track model 600 and were 100% finished. They were not crude or rough.

Thanks, Ed

Here Ed, I made you a list of where I see the blue Prototype Hus-ski:

0:39 to 0:42
1:05 side by side with the yellow hus-ski
2:16 on the start line for the race (best side view)
2:36 first turn at far end of the run Notice it beat the Hus-ski
6:21 it does slasom
6:28 (try to freeze frame) best front view. it looks like a 4 stroke with a gravity feed gas tank.

(I will share a story with you guys)

I was born and raised in a small village called Clericy north of Noranda, Quebec. I have very distinct memories of my oldest brother comming home one day when i was probably 10 years old, and he had a "wooden platform" hus-ski. it was yellow, had a wooden body and all wooden ski seater and I can swear it had a 4 stroke "wisconsin Robin probably a 8 or 10 horse power engine. I know for a fact it had a lever action clutch because i had to give my boot lace way back in the bush, so my brother could fabricate a link to the clutch idler puley arm. It had a aluminum pulley type, like the ones you see on the furnaces on the jack shaft to a chain to the drive shaft. The engine had a double cast pulley, one small one and one large one.

anyways, i just taught i should share this. (MY first memories of a hus-ski) I'm sure it was a prototype of some kind and it made its way that far North.

Thanks for listening

Jesse

Hi Jesse,
The Hus-ski was designed by the Goulet brothers from Rouyn/Noranda near your birthplace. Barrie Graham has the only prototype that I know about. The Goulets were lumberjacks and had to snowshoe into the woods in the winter. They built their Hus-ski to hold a pioneer chainsaw engine on the engine mount. Take off the bar and chain, fasten the engine to the deck and ride into the woods, reverse the procedure, cut wood all day, and then do it again to ride back home.
When I joined Hus-ski in 1961 I knew about the Goulet prototype but I did not see it until I met Barrie in the late 1990's. Hus-ski started production in Hespeler, Ontario and the prototype was at Farmers Supply in Lachute, Quebec.
The McQuats owned Farmers Supply and the Goulets were their customers. The Goulet's had a patent on the design which was the ball joint which connected the tractor and the trailer. The McQuats bought the patent and the company.
The patent details were top secret and known only to a few people. I found out when we decided to put the ball joint on the tractor instead of on the trailer. I was a draftsman and the engineer asked me to make a new drawing for his approval. When I finished making the copies they went to our Patent Attorney and we obtained a revised
patent.
That is one reason why the machine was never copied. The other big reason was the cost of production. It was much more expensive to make a two piece Hus-ski than a one piece ride on machine
I don't think you rode a Hus-ski prototype when you were ten years old.
Prototypes
We made many prototypes at the factory but they were never sold or let out of our control. When our field tests finished the machines were stripped and cut up for scrap. We never ever wanted competitors, customers or anyone else to see future ideas.
I think you saw someones homemade idea.

Ed

Thanks ED. Very detailed.

I agree, this machine was homemade. But, What gets me is that the locals called it a hus-ski. That i'm sure of.

I did mention this to my older brother. He remembers alright. He used it to go "rabbit sneering" and he describes it as having a 5 H.P. motor, He said it was way under powered for the hills, he had to jump off of the seater and push or run along the side while holding the throttle and climb the hills that way.

My Bro also says that my mom (whom still lives in Rouyn) has pictures of these machines. I will look it up in the albums or boxes and boxes of pictures and will update yous for sure.

Jesse

I just e-mailed my 80 years old mother. I am hopefull she can find something. (old pictures) My father was a fabricator and he had some very weird machines. Course pictures would help, So am hopefull she can help.

Fingers crossed.