The naivety behind this vehicle is really fun; you would expect that by 1934, there was enough experience with tires and snow to know that it could never work.
Yet, they still built it and delivered it to Antarctica. Only to fail there.
Also that they only built one. I think most people with experince of trips in heavy snow conditions or any mountain trip know you go in at least pairs. 2 snowmobiles, 2 dog sleds, etc, so if one gets stuck, the other can help pull it out, or go get help. As you always get stuck.
It was built in Chicago. They could have just tested a bit North of Chicago. Wisconsin sees a fair amount of snow, and probably would not have needed to go all the way to Canada before the shortcomings were obvious.