I got some more done on the sled today. Not as much as I would have liked. I had to break away and plow snow for a couple hours I used the Simpson Strong Tie mending plates to initially attach the runners to the sign frame so I could roll it over . The primary attachment will be a bunch of 6" mushroom head timber screws. And angle iron and galvy carriage bolts. Ect. Ect. With my 2 previous sleds I learned what breaks a woods sled or what just generally makes them less than satisfactory.
I named it Smokey. It hadn't been started in several years. When I got it going this winter I mixed the first tank 50 to 1. Even tho it has an oil injector system. ( Didn't know if it worked and didn't want to toast the engine) It didn't have a hitch on it so I got this pseudo pintle hitch and installed it. Its a 99 iirc. Only has a 15" wide track and not any kind of big paddles on the track. But , it does have reverse and the track starts to engage at a fairly low rpm so it will (work) . I'de love to have a 570 Bearcat or 550 Skandic. Or a Yamaha Viking. But they cost half of what a new tractor with loader does. When I get tracks on my 4 wheeler, I'll pull this sledge with it. P.S. that log behind the snogo is the one I milled to make the runners from
I traded taking down 5 trees around my friends house for Smokey. And I got the wood. Already burned it. People that have these aspen in their yard are just arborist customers in waiting .
Got some more done on the sled today. Forgot to snap a pic @ quitting time. This is what I had done @lunch time.
I got the front bulkhead and the bow radius supports installed. Another day or 2 should have it ready to start loggin. I lapped the signs by 6" on the flat and set the front bulkhead on top of the lap so I can screw them to it. Some people advocate a flexible sled. I'm not a fan of flexible sleds.
More progress on the Eskimo P. Logger today. Little bit slower production than I was hoping for . But I think the end result will be worth it. With the exception of 1, 2x8 bulkhead and a few 2x4s all the lumber in this is stuff I fell, logged and milled.
The fore and aft bins are over 48" long so I can stack 4'long or 16" wood up to the top of the gunwales/runners. Then I could do 2 tiers of 4' or longer poles or logs up to 16' long. I did the arithmetic and I can haul 16 cubic feet of wood from the to of the 2" aluminum framing . Up to the top of the gunal/gunwales/runners. That's an eighth of a cord. In 2 loads that's a quarter. 4 loads it's a half cord. It adds up. Up at the bow I can put my piggy back jug and other items. A good friend made a trail drag that he hooks on behind his tobbagans/sledges. It Really helps maintain his skid trails. I have some old grader blade cutting edges I could use. Except I don't have my welder here.
I might replace 2 of the rear bolts with eye bolts so I can tow a bunk sleigh, trail drag, or even a Jet Sled. In the off chance I can't get enough of whatever on the Logger.
Thank God you finally put a sheet of metal on the front of the skis LOL. No way I wanted to tell an Alaskan I see a flaw in his sled design LOL Excellent job. How well do the older, tougher sleds and belts hold up to pulling that weight? I had a 2015 Indy 600 and it surely wouldn’t pull sleds well,,,never tried. They do make sleds designed for that tho just not the one I had. -20 in the house? Dang. I thought I was ruffing it when mine gets to 55
I never did change the belt on the OLD Yamaha Enticer( first one with reverse) or the old 440 Panther. And each one pulled a Lot of wood . they didn't have a power issue . But they did have traction and flotation issues. I might well ice pick the track on this 550 Panther. Its got Lots of power compared to what I used to use. I am concerned about the hitch. Hope it holds up. I need to find some springs ( valve springs) for the hitch or something is gonna break. I always used rope bridles in the past. I am thinking that this sled will be Much easier Pulling. But I know it will be much harder turning sharp. Its long and wide AND hard chined. [ the bottom is 90° to the sides] I use a lot of boat/skiff terminology describing this sled. If I caulked a few bullet holes , I could hang an outboard off the stern and go zooming down a river.
One of the big tricks to sled loggin is to learn the snow conditions. It's all about the snow conditions, temp, how the trail is. Or trail verses breaking trail. We have a reliable and long winter here. A person get LOTS of experience dealing with it. I've had plenty of times in deep snow where I had to break in a trail with snowshoes to get the snogo thru the first pass. Then carefully widen the trail with the snogo. If the trees are all scattered out it's a royal pain. Constantly breaking in new trails that will be abandoned in a day. Nice when it's a thick patch where you can log for several days or more.
Yeah that’s a heck of a load. The Indy I had had plenty of horses, bout 120 if I remember right. No hitch of course. I just don’t think the tunnel would hold up to the abuse. You can always convert it to an articulating sled if it only wants to go in one direction
It still amazes me, Alaskans wait for the freeze up to get stuff done & down here we wait for the thaw. Two different worlds entirely. I learned snow conditions in the woods as a kid from my Grand dad, but anymore we just don't get a lot of lasting snow.
I'm pretty sure I got the spring loaded hitch figured out today at the hardware store. Got the stuff .
