groomer Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 http://www.lelacstjean.com/Actualite...-et-exigeant/1 When the snowmobile trails wander in as comfortably as on a motorway, they often forget that surface operators have spent hours preparing these trails for their own pleasure. Miville Goulet, groomer operator for two years on behalf of the Union of snowmobilers Lac-St-Jean-Est, described as lonely and demanding his job he loves above all. Topics: Journal Le Lac St-Jean, Gilbert Products, St-Bruno, Alma Area Friday, March 18, after some 24 hours of beautiful snowfall, Miville Goulet welcomed the representative of the Journal Le Lac St-Jean aboard his tractor for an output of three hours, just to taste a little respect to this business single surface operations. "By nature I am a loner. Since I was little, I always loved machines and there, I'm spoiled. After a few minutes of work, I go into my bubble and I can work for 12 to 15 hours to prepare the trails. When you meet a random snowmobiler and he got up his hand in the air with his thumb, that means he appreciates the work being done to him, "says Goulet Miville. In the cab of the tractor specially designed by Les Produits Gilbert Inc.. Roberval, a leader in the surfacing of the trail, we entered a small world that is testing the skill of the operator and his ability to "grasp and feel" the bumps and curves of the snowmobile trail in order to adjust the guitar to perfection that does the job of surfacing the trail. The groomer Gilbert combines strength and flexibility. His two broad tracks of 28 inches each give it a flotation in powder snow with a total width of about 9 feet and a half. However, comfort side, the vibrations are constant even if the cab is mounted on shock absorbers. To compare, in terms of noise and vibration, it looks like a tank, and more comfortable. "Physically it's very demanding. We must look forward for once to see where it goes and back three times to properly adjust the pitch of the guitar. It requires constant attention. The first release was a bit stiff neck strength to turn his head but when it is used, we do feel it more. With the release of tonight, I'll exceed the 560 hours of work since December 19, when he has been boycotting the release of snowmobile trails by farmers. That was the day where my season started, "says Goulet Miville. While speaking with enthusiasm of his original profession, the left hand holds the steering wheel firmly while the right, carefully adjusted using hydraulic levers the various components of the guitar. The cruising speed is between 10 and 14 kilometers per hour and the club has some 240 miles of trails to be maintained with three machines. If the tractor is behaving normally, you should always carefully consider the grader back which is completely hydraulic and adjustable to different positions and at several degrees of tilt. This grader is 25 feet long with his tractor and trailer weighs between 4000 and 6000 pounds, depending on the amount of snow that way for the harvest to redistribute evenly. The width of the grader is 10 feet and includes, on each side, two guitars hydraulic stretch to get advantage of snow to fill holes and bumps. The smoother the track is located on the rear wheels and hydraulic lift to allow the whole block to cross roads. "The tractor / grader more than 40 feet. It does not always turn as you want and it does not back as easily as we think, "says Goulet Miville laughing. The vast majority of the time, the surfacing work is done at night. Exceptionally, on March 18, Miville Goulet began his shift at 18 pm, allowing it to admire a magnificent sunset over the fields, between St-Bruno and Alma. Then came a moonrise just as beautiful, full, round and huge, in the Alma area. "I love the full moon, I like the solitude of the job. Of time as we meet animals like a coyote. It even happened last year to collect a snowmobiler in the field, at 3 o'clock in the morning, almost frozen on his machine, "Miville said Goulet. seldom you see an article about groomer operators. translation maybe so-so.....from google. groomer !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vt_bluyamaha54 Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) Translation not too bad but anywhere it shows "guitar" replace with 'drag' or 'cutter'. Good article Groomer. I know I took another snowmobiler with me who had never been in a groomer before and his eyes were opened! In Vermont, our trails can be very twisty through the woods so we are lucky to drive even 7km/h. Very true what is said about solitude and taking a "special type of person". You must like to operate machinery, be patient, and be ready for any conditions. Edited March 31, 2011 by vt_bluyamaha54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 1 Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Good article, I rode along with a groomer operator in NY for about 2 hours. A lot more goes on than just sitting there...Bravo to the best groomer operator there is...Guess who Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg du Vermont Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Awesome, I just logged on to post the share the same article. Thanks for sharing it. This is a groomer operator from the Union des Motoneigiste (UDM) Lac St Jean Est which is the club that many QR's including myself have supported for many years. Our club has recently joined (absorbed) 2 other smaller clubs in the area and will now be responsible for not only trails from L'etape, Alma/St Bruno/Larouche but also the areas to the North of the Saguenay river on the east side of LSJ. A big job and a lot of trail. Thanks for your past and future support of this important club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) Big thank you to all the operators for their dedication which makes Quebec trails #1 in the world. THANK YOU TO ALL CLUBS and VOLUNTEERS. See you next year. Edited March 31, 2011 by iceman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markusvt Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 that guy from lsj is right.you must be a loner and like solitude and long hrs.i might have an advantage on this guy ,every run i bring my best friend while grooming,my camera !!!.....and i m still single.ha !! ha !!ha !!thats a big + for grooming.ha !! ha !! you must be ready 24 hrs a day and 7 days a week.like i said before ,it s a lot of sacrifices.the only place where i see my friends during winter,at the grocery.beside that ,don t see them at all ,unless i groom the lake a friday night.stop at a camp just to say hi !! very glad that many tourists and some locals,more the tourists i guess know about grooming.they are not shy to give me/us the thumbs up or wawe at me/us to say ''thanks ''.very appreciated ,better than a paycheck.some don t care at all,just like i/we bother them while grooming.those coming from behind ,i m sure some will be very glad to park their sleds on the ''pan ''.cant wait 15-20-30''for me/us to give them a chance to pass . some don t realize how many hrs we put in there,probably because they don t know much about grooming or they don t even care. well ,often i receive nice comments/jokes from sledders,but now, i think it s a great occasion to say thanks to them.thanks to those who are not shy to wave/thumbs up,write a little note in the guests book ,whatever the clubs.it s with sledders like you who know about grooming that keep us going !!!! pics: first one ,probably my all time favorite to represent grooming.taken at dawn at the st fidele cb,jan /3/06.photographycally wise,can see how many hrs into grooming ,how many left ,time of the day,the solitude ,etc .like that pic. second one ,when you put your heart into grooming,great results !! ''andyman bld'' march/19/07.some clubs have the chances to groom with 300,000.00$$ groomers equiped (sp) with huge bull that make it a lot easier to groom the trails.i/we do our best with tractors....and it s not easy sometimes ,specially ...curves !! about sacrifices ,fyi,no beers and wine for me since the first week of november !! .grooming can be very demanding....fatigue!! jean-guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 i forgot ,like vt_bluyamaha and phil said,if you have a chance to take a run with a groomer operator ,do it !! you re going to see the other side of the medal.the difference between riding and grooming!! not sure if i have the right word,your ''perspective/perception'' about grooming will probably change . thanks iceman and markusvt !! groomer !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnomoGary Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Very interesting article groomer, thanks for posting. Everything the groomers do is very much appreciated, without you snowmobiling wouldn't be what it is. So a big Thank You from the other side of the pond. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groomer Posted April 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Very interesting article groomer, thanks for posting. Everything the groomers do is very much appreciated, without you snowmobiling wouldn't be what it is. So a big Thank You from the other side of the pond. Gary hi gary !! thanks for your appreciation !! i ll return to the clubhouse next sunday ,very anxious to see what the president will decide about grooming.if we still continue to groom for the whole next week or more. i could '' beat '' my personnal record for grooming.april 5 th, back in 01 or 02 . jean-guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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