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TOWN OF DANE, Wisconsin (Wisconsin State Journal ) Vaughn Watzke was clearly in his element.
He has been snowmobiling for over 50 years, but on this day he was behind the wheel of a Tucker 2000 Sno-Cat less than 24 hours after the biggest snowfall of the season.
Powered by a Cummins diesel engine, the Sno-Cat, owned by the Waunakee Winter Wanderers Snowmobile Club, is a beast of a machine. It has tracks that gripped the snow and easily pulled the heavy grooming sled across the dormant corn, hay and soybean fields of northern Dane County.
Not all weeks are like this in southern Wisconsin’s temperamental snow zone, but Watzke relished the opportunity to help ready the club’s 42 miles of marked trail for eager riders ready to break out their Polaris, Yamaha and Ski-Doo snow machines.