The Goob and I were talking about the old days at Cushman...
We started to dwell on the topic of lawsuits, and how they contributed to the demise of OMC, the parent corporation of Cushman...
The Goob has an infinite number of good stories, and I pried one from him regarding the Trackster...a Cushman model that enjoyed good sales, but was killed off after lawsuits made them unprofitable to build...
The Trackster is an amazing piece of collaborative engineering, considering it was produced during the infancy of hydrostatic drive, which is now commonplace in the ZTR mower industry, but was very uncommon back then, and, secondly, the Trackster was designed with several limitations placed on it's components...they either had to be made by one of the companies owned by the parent corporation, OMC, or produced by an outside vendor that Cushman could rely upon to provide parts, including revisions...
So, even though enthusiasts have several things they love or hate about the Trackster, it is amazing that it existed at all, considering what it took to get it designed and built, with the limitations that were put on the project from the beginning....
To me, the Trackster is an icon of an era...
It got people thinking about Zero Turn Radius design, and a 'light footprint', both extremely important in the manufacture of commercial mowing products today...
So, even though the Trackster isn't currently in production, even though resurrecting it has been tried twice, it has left it's footprint on products made today...
Many vintage Tracksters are not in original condition, and some have been simply driven to death, but there is one last survivor still in pristine original condition...
When Cushman shut down the production line for the Trackster, destroyed all the tooling to make it, and 'lawyered up' for the onslaught of lawsuits being filed by ambulance-chasers looking to shove their slimy hands deep into OMC's pockets, the Cushman legal department took one brand new Trackster from the last run of the line, and put it away for use as 'exhibit A' during court proceedings...
This Trackster still exists today...in original condition, and still being cared for by the individual chosen by Cushman to best look after their baby...
....and he was definitely the right choice...
He was instrumental in the design and production of the Trackster, and is definitely the most knowledgeable person concerning it's abilities and limitations...
Some pics...
1- The first production Trackster being driven off the assembly line by the plant manager...
2- Some of my family, in one of the numerous Tracksters we've had over the years...
3- A Popular Mechanics cover...the operator of the prototype model in the photo is the man I referred to in the narrative...I've named him before, but won't now, to save him from being asked to sell the 'legal department' Trackster...I get first shot at it if he decides to let it go...
We started to dwell on the topic of lawsuits, and how they contributed to the demise of OMC, the parent corporation of Cushman...
The Goob has an infinite number of good stories, and I pried one from him regarding the Trackster...a Cushman model that enjoyed good sales, but was killed off after lawsuits made them unprofitable to build...
The Trackster is an amazing piece of collaborative engineering, considering it was produced during the infancy of hydrostatic drive, which is now commonplace in the ZTR mower industry, but was very uncommon back then, and, secondly, the Trackster was designed with several limitations placed on it's components...they either had to be made by one of the companies owned by the parent corporation, OMC, or produced by an outside vendor that Cushman could rely upon to provide parts, including revisions...
So, even though enthusiasts have several things they love or hate about the Trackster, it is amazing that it existed at all, considering what it took to get it designed and built, with the limitations that were put on the project from the beginning....
To me, the Trackster is an icon of an era...
It got people thinking about Zero Turn Radius design, and a 'light footprint', both extremely important in the manufacture of commercial mowing products today...
So, even though the Trackster isn't currently in production, even though resurrecting it has been tried twice, it has left it's footprint on products made today...
Many vintage Tracksters are not in original condition, and some have been simply driven to death, but there is one last survivor still in pristine original condition...
When Cushman shut down the production line for the Trackster, destroyed all the tooling to make it, and 'lawyered up' for the onslaught of lawsuits being filed by ambulance-chasers looking to shove their slimy hands deep into OMC's pockets, the Cushman legal department took one brand new Trackster from the last run of the line, and put it away for use as 'exhibit A' during court proceedings...
This Trackster still exists today...in original condition, and still being cared for by the individual chosen by Cushman to best look after their baby...
....and he was definitely the right choice...
He was instrumental in the design and production of the Trackster, and is definitely the most knowledgeable person concerning it's abilities and limitations...
Some pics...
1- The first production Trackster being driven off the assembly line by the plant manager...
2- Some of my family, in one of the numerous Tracksters we've had over the years...
3- A Popular Mechanics cover...the operator of the prototype model in the photo is the man I referred to in the narrative...I've named him before, but won't now, to save him from being asked to sell the 'legal department' Trackster...I get first shot at it if he decides to let it go...
