Any Sled Heads Here? Help wanted.

[The Reverend Floater]

So I haven't really ridden a sled in about 15 years when I used to help my roommate at the time with avalanche forecasting. He had two FS sleds that were big, powerful and heavy as fuck. I was never great but we'd get up into some alpine basins and I only rolled mine every other time.

Fast forward to today. I'm thinking of buying a sled for everything from trail cruising with my six year old to exploring some back country. I don't need a long track hit rod but I dont want to break down, either.

The problem is, I don't know anything about them. My friends all ride rocket ships with giant tracks. Not sure that makes sense when there would be a lot of flats riding with the family. I've read they can actually overheat from going too slow or being on trail for too long.

I also hear that the trail sleds will be the suck off trail. They're heavy and prone to getting stuck. So it seems like there's no such thing as a jack of all trades.

Any of you have any recommendations? I am leaning towards something used to make sure we actually use it than trying to find a new, $15k kick in the dick.

Also, don't Tech Talk me. I haven't ventured outside this subforum in years and I'm not going to start now.

[oldnew_guy]

There is a huge thread in Ski/Snowboard full of people who probably haven’t been to the padded room in years.

[The Reverend Floater]

There is a huge thread in Ski/Snowboard full of people who probably haven’t been to the padded room in years.

I'm more comfortable here.

[shroom]

stalemate, bitchezzzzz

[Micol]

do not get a trail sled. get a 2009+ 154 track ski doo 800 mtn rev with 2.5 inch paddles or better, nothing less. teach kid canadian, nvr double sitting on single seat, make sure sled has engine temp guage as you want to monitor that closely all the time when u are not in pow. a ski rack, a water ski rope, a tunnel bag, plenty of synthetic oil, and you are golden....should find these starting at about $3000 depending on time of year. dont be scared of 2000 miles and no history of top end or new engine......get the one from the 50-60 yr old couple that bought his and hers and just buy one of them....stear clear of the kid or 20-30 yr old owned that raged/brrapppd it, along with any true slednecks old ride...

ps heated grips and throttle...but what i described should have that...make sure that they work b4 paying
check the belt for cracks or brittleness, if it looks bad, replace b4 venturing out, check reverse, ride the thing b4 paying
smoke on start and idle ok, while brrrapping , no, check for ripped out paddles on track, missing paddles can lead to trouble in the field

[m2711c]

skandic swt…. the snowmakers choice.






https://www.ski-doo.com/us/en/models...y/skandic.html

[Cruiser]

So much of riding is technique. I'm a hack so I get stuck and I dig. But digging is better than sitting at a desk so there's that. Ice scratchers help with overheating on the trail but sometimes you've gotta stop and throw some snow on the tunnel and have a beer.

Get any modern mountain sled with low miles and few mods. We mostly ride Polaris but it's Ford vs Chevy, ya know?

My 10yo slaying it on the 08 600 rmk a couple weekends ago...

[kootenayskier]

I use my sled for ski touring access: long road approaches, moderate trail breaking, tandeming, and towing a trailer full of gear. My 14 year old low km Yamaha Phazer MTX works great for this, and will probably last forever, but if I was buying new, I’d get a Skadic LT. Most friends of mine buy used Summit hot rods, which are great for breaking trail on deep days, but which seem prone to overheating, and to be constantly in the shop for repairs.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Its no different than buying anything else with a motor. The care given by the previous users is key. Prices are high but now tends to be a good time of year to buy. Everyone's access situation is unique be around here your trail sled won't get you to much skiing. Eventually, you'll want a Mountain Sled and a kid sled.

What is your budget? They are $5K sleds that will go anywhere you want and rip your arms off. Watch for the model year breaks. Learn each sleds idiosyncrasies. That type of stuff.

[Conundrum]

Your local shop is Polaris. Might be worth sticking to what they are happier to work on.

[heckacali]

I wish people would be more specific with where they ride when saying "this is great for me"

"My 1984 440 phazer is a great backcountry access sled...."

Yeah,
for a 500ft hill in Michigan or the upstates....

Not so much for BC, the Tetons, Tahoe, Utard etc ..

Elevation, steepness and deepness mean everything to what tool is needed for access....

[Foggy_Goggles]

I wish people would be more specific with where they ride when saying "this is great for me"

Agreed. There are plenty of places where you can just cruise up a groomed or well ridden FS road, stop and tour from there. Perhaps even yoyo ski from the road. Other places require a fairly serious sled and so fairly serious skills just to get to the start of the skiing.

[Micol]

my suggestion will navigate most terrain for op yet be user friendly for newby. however, after approx 14 years of doo (edit i spent first 2 years on a touring polaris (dig city!)) in the back country (dooh!!) , i switched to a polaris axys this season . but, i would suggest the doo for stability and ease of operation, low maintenance if not raged or abused by previous owners for a new user. my suggestion is based on riding rocky mtn high alpine steep , pow, untracked side hills etc, but the thing will work on a trail without scratchers...just watch the temp guage and run thru loose snow if temp is rising, yes your riding technique and skillset is going to determine whether u are riding trails or untracked , but skillset can be taught/learned, ftr digging is part of the learning experience, but once you build experience and confidence you rarely dig. however, a buried stream bed, side roll on steep in trees, or a buried shark that doesnt imprint the snow above might put you back in the dig mode, but u will be good at that ...

read the snow, keep your speed up, u be ok....

[toast2266]

For riding off of roads in deeper pow, the newer sleds are worlds better and are much easier to side hill - they're easier to tip up on one ski. That same tippy-ness also makes them less stable and more difficult to ride with two people on roads, especially where there's a substantial size / weight disparity between the people.

If it were me, I'd follow Micol's advice. 2010-ish skidoo rev 800. 2012 at the latest (I'd say you probably don't want t-motion) Should be findable for a reasonable price, they're stable enough to ride tandem on, the chassis rides better than the Arctic Cats of that era and the motor is more reliable than the Polarises of that era. And it'll get you around the backcountry enough for you to determine if you actually like using a snowmobile for access, in which case you can sell the skidoo for about what you paid for it and buy something newer and awesomer.

[adrenalated]

FWIW, I think I've only had to stop and let my '13 Summit cool once, and it's spent plenty of time on groomed roads. Use scratchers, pack some snow on the tunnel if you know you'll be on firm for awhile, drive in soft snow when able, etc.

Everyone's got their favorite but the Summits are pretty hard to beat for us skier jongs. Anything with an e-tec engine is fairly bombproof mechanically, at least as far as sleds go. A good general rule of thumb is to figure out your budget then buy the newest, lowest mileage, well maintained sled you can find with that budget.

[G. Gordon Liddy]

do not get a trail sled. get a 2009+ 154 track ski doo 800 mtn rev with 2.5 inch paddles or better, nothing less. teach kid canadian, nvr double sitting on single seat, make sure sled has engine temp guage as you want to monitor that closely all the time when u are not in pow. a ski rack, a water ski rope, a tunnel bag, plenty of synthetic oil, and you are golden....should find these starting at about $3000 depending on time of year. dont be scared of 2000 miles and no history of top end or new engine......get the one from the 50-60 yr old couple that bought his and hers and just buy one of them....stear clear of the kid or 20-30 yr old owned that raged/brrapppd it, along with any true slednecks old ride...

ps heated grips and throttle...but what i described should have that...make sure that they work b4 paying
check the belt for cracks or brittleness, if it looks bad, replace b4 venturing out, check reverse, ride the thing b4 paying
smoke on start and idle ok, while brrrapping , no, check for ripped out paddles on track, missing paddles can lead to trouble in the field

This is exactly the advice I got when I bought mine. I'm two years in and still love it. It's not pretty, but it gets me into the cabin and pretty deep into the Pios without too many issues so far. I ended up with a 163 2010 Ski-doo 800. It's a bit large for the kid to ride off trail, but on trail and packed snow he can handle it fine. If I were to get one for just the wife and kid I'd get a very similar sled, just a 153 track so it's not so heavy and hard to steer. Silver Creek across from Baker is a great place to take it out for practice and avoid crowds...

[Beaver]

I bought a 600 4 stroke ski doo skandic lt 10 years ago. 16" wide x 174" track. It goes everywhere i need it to in tje kootenay back country. It was 15 pounds heavier than tje 2 stroke equivalent. Top speed of about 110kph but on of the best features is its low speed clutch engagement. If i get stuck i wait a minute for tje snow under the track to set up and drive out slow. A 2 stroke revs up then the clutch engages and you start digging a hole with your spinning track. It is narrow and manouverable AF. 2 up seat is nice. It's not a high mark machine but will get you to the bottom of the skin track through deep pow.

[The Reverend Floater]

This is great and sort of confirms what I thought: Buy an older mountain sled in good shape. Skidoo vs. Polaris is Ford vs. Chevy, even though EVERYONE knows Ford is way better. Conundrum raises a good point about local service being Polaris but that place sucks regardless. That said, Karl Malone just bought them so maybe they improve? Who knows.

G Gordon Liddy, I didn't know you had your own sled. Where did you buy it from? Did you buy a trailer, too?

[Foggy_Goggles]

I'd say

Skidoo:Toyota

Polaris:Ford

Arcticat:Chevy

[Beaver]

ski doo in toyota

[Beaver]

I just rode away.

[Woodsy]

That said, Karl Malone just bought them so maybe they improve? Who knows.

It was worth sticking my head in here today just to see Rev say an almost nice thing about the Mailman....

[The Reverend Floater]

It was worth sticking my head in here today just to see Rev say an almost nice thing about the Mailman....

I wonder if the salesmen wear short assed shorts and punch you in the nuts when nobody is looking.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I wonder if the salesmen wear short assed shorts and punch you in the nuts when nobody is looking.

I drove by the one in Heber the other day. The Mailman and Stockton blowing each other in the parking lot. Short shorts.

[Beaver]

A couple more great things about a 4 stroke.

They're quiet, you can talk to the person on the back, you can even hear the person you're towing, you can understand wtf he's saying but when he falls and yells you'll know to stop.

When you get to the skin track you don't fucking reek of 2 stroke oil exhaust.

You don't have to fill the gas tank every fucking time you use it.