Snow Machines

Post by **Buddyw** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:42 pm

Ok, Last time I drew a cougar tag I didn't have Snow machines, ended up renting a couple.

this time I'm determined to have the equipment ready so I've decide to sell my Fishing Boat to buy some used Snow mobiles.

my Buddy told me to get an Air Cooled machine, What do you use and what do you recommend... I can't afford a new one so I'm going to be at the mercy of what is availible in my Price range.

hoping some of you guys can tell me what works good, and what to down right avoid concerning Cat hunting and Snow machines.

Nolte · Post by **Nolte** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:05 pm

You should get a lot of responses on this one.

In our country, we don't get a pile of snow and we don't have any hills. So the machine of choice would be a skidoo tundra, or a yam bravo. In the UP they get a pile of snow and a lot of guys still use a tundra.

If you get in some more mountainous terrain, I'd opt for a skidoo summit, polaris rmk. I'm sure yamaha or artic cat have a similar mountain sled.

Okie · Post by **Okie** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:45 am

We have one Polaris dealer thirty five miles away. Worst service and parts department in the country. Next dealer is sixty miles away, I drive the extra distance. Every company makes good and bad models, I look at the support behind the product. What is everybody else in your country riding?

FullCryHounds · Post by **FullCryHounds** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:29 am

I run a Polaris RMK 800 with a 151 and 700 RMK with a 144. We run a 50hp shot of Nitrous from Boss Noss. Big mountains and high altitude here.

Post by **Buddyw** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:43 pm

Most everyone around here is into more of the racing, I don't know of anyone here that has a sled that doesn't just use it to Race up mountains.... Everything is Liquid Cooled.

how many people putt around looking for tracks on liquid cooled machines? or pull a trailer at slower speeds with a Liquid cooled machine?? I have a much better time finding Liquid cooled sleds than fan cooled in this part of the county, Even most of the local dealers don't buy the trail sleds(fan cooled). .. Don't know if I should consider driving out of state to buy a sled or just get what's availble to me????

Do you ever have a problem with overheating? While hunting...

Hopefully I'll have my boat sold tonight, There are two Nicer 97 Artic Cats ZR 580's for sale just down the road from me. He wants 3200 for them, don't know if I should buy them or not..

runningredbones · Post by **runningredbones** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:30 pm

Buddy...we have run lots of sleds and never have a problem with the liquid cooled machines. That includes pulling dogs. I had a Ski-Doo Summit 700 and loved it. Ran like a champ and could pull too. Biggest thing is to tone down the cluch where it engages at a low RPM or else you will burn them up pulling dogs.

Spanky · Post by **Spanky** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:23 pm

Buddy I run 3 different sleds...we have a 500 Polaris indy trail deluxe, a Polaris 550 indy trail and a Polaris 340 indy lite GT. All are fan cooled because of our area.

Just like Dean said depending on your altitude you plan to hunt may decide the HP you need under the hood :wink:

I have owned several other models and there are plenty of good one's out there but have settled on polaris because of there quality equipment and service here.

I know some friends that really like there Ski-doos. My partner jim runs a 550 fan cooled ski doo.

Black&TanMan1 · Post by **Black&TanMan1** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:41 am

I would realy look into a Skidoo Tundra if you want just a sled to hunt on a dink around with. I run a polaris 600 and dont realy like it for cat hunting. It pulls the dogs great but in areas with little snow or drastic changes in depth it has a tendency to warm up. That and it loads up if just puttin up the trail. I used a tundra a few times last year and loved it. I plan on selling my bigger sled and buying a tundra. Oh and the tundra weighs very little and isnt to bad for one guy to get it in the back of a pickup, when trailering isnt possible or un handy. The only problem Ive noticed with the Tundra was the jetting wasnt setup for big elevation changes, but Skidoo offers a kit for them and it only takes a few minutes to change the jets.
A good place to find them is at government auctions, the forest service uses them as well as power companies. Ive seen lots of power house sleds pulled out wth tunras. average price around here is 1,200 to 1,800.

walkersforlife · Post by **walkersforlife** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:50 pm

Well, all my life we have owned Polaris's and cant say a bad word about them. I would personally for the mountains get me an RMK 700 or 800. I rode one thi past year by lake superior, very nice sleds, lots of power and travel with big lugs for extra deep snow. Another thing, unless it's really cold all the time, i would never get a air cooled machine. Around ehre you may ride when it's 25 degrees, and thats hard on air cooled machines!

larry · Post by **larry** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:04 am

Hey Buddy, have been around all kinds of sleds for a long time. The best advice I can give you is you can never have too much power, meaning don't buy a smaller sled if a larger one is available. Anything from the 670cc to 800cc range will do anything a smaller sled will, and alot more. Liquid cooling is preferred and should not cause any problems. Have had problems with fan cooled sleds overheating on warmer days, deep powder plugging intakes etc. As far as make goes, whatever you like will be just fine, I'm a Yamaha guy, but that is simply preference. Cabela's makes a pretty slick pull behind metal sled, just build a dog box on it and yer good to go. I would tend to stay away from the early to late 90's model arctic cats though. they seemed to be torn apart on the trail alot back then! A guy can find 00' to 03' year model sleds really affordable. Good luck

Spanky · Post by **Spanky** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:32 am

See thats just the opposite for where we hunt, many times the snow is not that great and the liguid over heat even with scrubbers and the fans continue all day with no trouble.
We stopped pulling trailers years ago and simply just mount the box on the back rack, no more trouble making corners and no more disconnecting the trailer to turn around.
I know several guys that use both and I guess its whatever your preference is for your area and snow conditions.

Kevin D · Post by **Kevin D** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:40 am

Put me down as favoring the liquid cooled powder sleds......at least for the area and type of hunting we do around here. The best cat hunting is after a storm so I need a sled that can break trail uphill pulling dogs. The Polaris 800 151" RMK I have now is the best sled I've owned to do just that.

You can buy after market "scratchers" that attach to the skis or track that kick up snow even in icy conditions to keep these liquid cooled sleds from overheating. I never had a problem with overheating on my old Arctic Cat Powder Special so I never had scratchers installed, but they are something I'd recommend for RMK's and other big bore sleds.

There was a bunch of houndsmen around here that experimented with Ski Doo Tundras a while back. The problem most of the guys around here had with them, however, is that the strain of being loaded down with dogs and pulling hills became too much for the small one cylinder engines and clutches to handle. Most guys were having to rebuild their engines after only a couple thousand miles. These same houndsmen are now riding around on RMK's, Summits, and other powder sleds.

Ultimately, however, the type of sled you buy should be determined by the terrain you're hunting and the type of riding you do.

Post by **Buddyw** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 1:44 pm

Damit Guys!! ... I Guess this isn't going to be an easy decision!!

I really appreciate the input..

So far the only thing I've found are liquid cooled..I think I'm just going to have to try and find the best Deal and go with that..

Buddy

Spanky · Post by **Spanky** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:31 pm

talk with Fred...he hunts alot of the same country and terrain. I'm not sure what he is running but I'm sure he would be some help.

Kevin D · Post by **Kevin D** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:51 pm

What kind of terrain are you hunting Buddy??

If you're primarily sticking to roads you could easily get by without a muscle sled. The way the terrain is around here, ridgelines are generally open, deadfall is buried, and creeks are frozen over so we spend as much time off road cutting for tracks on our own trail networks as we do on road. There is a lot of country that holds cats where you're only limitation is you're ability to get a sled and dogs back in there. That's why houndsmen around here generally prefer the beefier sleds.

When I head down to Utah County to hunt, however, and there are no open ridgelines to buzz up, they are all choked with oakbrush or too rocky to take a sled up. Consequently, I'm pretty well forced to stick to the roads. If all I hunted was this country, I can't see the need to spend the extra money on the bigger bore motors and the extended tracks because they'd rarely be put to use.

Having owned several both liquid and air cooled sleds, I still prefer the liquids for pulling dogs......I've just had better luck with them.

I think Scott's got a good idea, look around and see what the other houndsmen in your area are pulling around.....particularly some of those that have been doing it a while. That may be of help deciding on a sled.

Snow Machines

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