Carrying Dogs On/Behind Sleds

[imchestnut]

I'm looking at building my own setup for a sled and wanted to see how everyone else was set up to take 3-4 dogs on a sled. Also, what size sled do you run, I'm looking at getitng a new one.

[London]

I run a 4x4 with tracks, it works much better when there's not enough snow everywhere. But I have an older Ski-doo skandic 500 cc. It is a wide track with a low gear and a higher gear that is used by ski resorts for pulling. You can have a 800cc sled and still get stuck and burn up belts, but not on a wide track in low gear, you can about pull anything. I try to get you a picture of my trailer if you want. I just got a pull behind sled that a person can stand up on the back and built a wood box on it. My box is only about 20"x40" but it's 40" tall so I can get 4 dogs in pretty easy.

[Plotts]

I've got an 09 Polaris IQ Shift 600 155". Seems to do pretty good, but the sled is a little tippy sometimes on sidehills.

Home made trailer to fit a shipping crate. Its all you need.

[Plotts]

Hey London I've been curious about ATV tracks set up. I've even considered selling the sled and the old ATV, buying a newer ATV with the steering assist, and just running one machine all year. How much motor do you really need to drive a set of tracks? One manufacturer I spoke with says they have gear reductions based on the horsepower output of your ATV, which sounds good, but it looks to me like you would want a 800ish size motor..........

From your experiences, what are the pros and cons? And do you pack a shovel? LOL!

thanks/

[London]

I've never needed a shovel but, I have a winch and carry a lot of rope and straps. I have a 2005 Polaris 700 and it works great. I have heard of some guy's having tracks on a 500cc and doing ok. You really don't loose much power just a little speed that you don't need anyway. I can pull a heavy trailer up hills that you would never do on a snowmobile. You don't want to run tracks in the summer but it only takes about an hour to change them. If I have a lot of ground to cover I do it on a snowmobile because it is quicker, but when I haul in the dogs I use the 4x4. Tracks can run up to $3500 bucks but if you look around on craigslist or ebay you can get a little better price. I got a new set for $2000