After seeing a couple of other threads pop up on the main board, and seeing as "search jong" appears to pull those up without there being a definitive thread in tech talk, I'm posting this with a few links and some thoughts from my own experience.
As there are others that have posted in the past, hopefully they will also chime in to contribute from their unique perspectives. That would be you, Blurred, GoNads, VC, Mountainman, Mannix, and others.
This first post is intended to get the thread rolling. I'll cover a bunch of things, however as this is a subject that covers a lot of ground I'm hoping that others will weigh in and contribute to keep it going.
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For those thinking of jumping in for the first time read this first.
It's a fairly comprehensive thread on sled skiing in general:
http://biglines.com/forum/sled-skiin...ned-discussion
They also have a forum dedicated to the subject:
http://biglines.com/forums/general-d...ednecks?page=1
Here's a link to the sled stoke thread in the main forum here:
[ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137127"]Maggot snowmobile thread - Teton Gravity Research Forums[/ame]
Here's one on homemade ski attachments in Tech Talk:
[ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11229"]Attaching skis to your snowmobile? - Teton Gravity Research Forums[/ame]
For those with more money then time to fiddle with a homemade ski rack, here are two links to companies that make one for just about every sled application (there are more, but these two seem to do the volume of business):
http://cheetahfactoryracing.com/
http://www.x-rack.com/index.php
This is a link to all things snowmobile that will answer most if not all questions with regard to which brand/model, which year, etc. Also, this forum has the best resource for information with regard to know problems etc:
http://www.snowest.com/forum/index.php
My personal experience has been with Ski-doo product.
We have 2, 04' Rev 800/151 highmarks with that have been trouble free.
IMO*, 800 with a 151 track is the smallest that will work effectively if your goal is to get off trail, ride two up and shuttle an aspect. If you plan to only run on groomed trails (or use it specifically for approach) you can get away with less.
*This post is written from a perspective that I will be using my sleds to session or shuttle a particular aspect as well as using them as an approach vehicle.
Every sled brand/model has it's own inherent strengths and weaknesses.
Some more than others. Go to the snowest.com to ferret this out.
From my perspective I would start by looking at the following sleds:
Ski-doo - Rev 800's
Arctic Cat - M series
Polaris - RMK/Dragon
Yamaha - FX Nytro MTX
Look for something with a 151 or longer track (Unless this isn't going off the trail).
When looking at a used sleds, look for something that has no, or few modifications beyond those that enhance function. Upgraded skis are common and often preferred for instance. The more a sled has been modified (engine and drivetrain), there is a higher likelyhood of it being well used and abused.
Clutching...
Much can be said about this, and for the most part it has (search snowest.com). I'm bringing it up here to say that a properly clutched sled does not blow through belts. Some sleds come from the factory with good clutching, others not so much. It's not difficult to overcome however, and most sled heads consider it part of the process when setting up a new sled. I'm still running the same belts that I have had for four seasons.
That's what I got for now, hopefully others will add to this to keep it going and growing...
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