Thank you for the Loop Carried Value suggestion! That was the main issue. I misinterpreted that for loop. Since it uses values that were modified in the previous iteration Loop Carried Value was necessary.
Another thing I had to do is do an Inverse Matrix on that matrix. Either that or reverse the order of the cross product to generate the bitagent. I'm not sure if this is because I messed up something else somewhere or C4D and Houdini store matrices differently.
But in the end it works just like in the tutorial.
The spline distribution doesn't work quite the same. It has issues at changes of orientation along the curve while this doesn't.
LOL, nope. 3 months later I've only just found out that Modo development is ending. I haven't done anything in Modo for years. I've modelled a few bits and pieces with MOI (Nurbs modeller) for 3D printing.
Cheers
Nigel / 3DKiwi