Sledding Season 2014/2015

It was but breaking trail with the snow coming back on me, I was ready for the warmth of the fire by the time I made one pass on our property.

 

I ran the same loop except I added a few miles on, I went up 8E through the woods to the first big opening. Some of the trail was groomed (my normal run) after that I was breaking trail again, just a few pics of the ride.

The first picture is from the state park, the second picture is from the county trail 8E and the rest are from our property.

 

I wanted to head up to get some sledding in myself this weekend. Not going to happen. I'll have to watch this thread to get my fix in.... For now. At absolute worst, I'm taking a long weekend up north for my 40th bday. But I hope to be able to get up north before that.

Breaking trail is slow going, and really more like jet skiing as the snow acts more like water. It's fun but take a lot more body English, and unless you have a sled setup more for off trail use ( longer track with taller lugs) you really have to watch it. Otherwise you get stuck, even on a trail system.

 

Another 3-6 before Thursday. I passed the groomer on the way to the state park so it surprised me that they only groomed part of the trail, I'm sure they'll hit it tonight.

Horkn gave a great explanation of busting trail. Maybe next year a new track for the sleds.

 

Do you have the stock tracks on those Indy trails?


I ask because one of our sled's is a 95 Indy 500 efi. I put a .92" tall track on it years ago and it made a huge difference in conditions like you are showing. You could go bigger lugs, but you'd need to do more radical changes to the driverain. A longer track is an option too, adding rail extensions and tunnel extention. I'm actually thinking of making my 1 person Indy 600 a 2 up 136" tracked machine. I'd use it it a lot more than do now.

 

I think so but I'm not sure, I think a new track would cost what the sleds worth.

We went out this afternoon, holy chit, the groomer still hasn't been up 8E. Once we made it back we hit the trails on our property, certain trails I never busted out after our big snow, the wife took off ahead of me before I could tell her, she busted out the trail in the big ravine so after that she let me run first.

I made it up this one trail but the back end of the wife's sled slid down off the path so I got it back on the trail so she could drive it out.

 

You can always buy a used track. That's what we did for our Indy 500. New, yeah they are pricey. Used, you can get then for $100 or so. When I got a used track for our 2up Yamaha that 136" track I got for under $80 shipped on eBay. The Yamaha we have had a similarly low lugged track stock too. We put a skidoo .92" track on that sled like 6 years ago, and it is only just starting to show signs of wear, like 3 or so lugs sheared off. Maybe a replacement for it next year is due if I don't convert the Indy 600 to a 2 up. But I think that making my 1person a 2up is the best option for me.

Are your tracks getting worn at all, missing lugs, or similar wear? What's the mileage of those Indy trails? The driveshaft bearings can only be changed by pulling the driveshaft, and that's the hardest part of changing a track too. Those particular bearings take a lot of abuse, and need changing after a few years.

 

When we had them checked after we bought them they said everything looked fine, they did have to adjust the carbs on both.

I think they have 4500 or 4600 on them.

 

I decided to take the sled out to see if they groomed today, the State Park wasn't but 8E was, even though the snow we received has no moisture the grooming made a difference.

6 or 7 inches of some wet snow would make it even better, just a couple of pictures from this afternoon.

I ended up putting 12 miles on between the State Park, 8E...part ofthe county trail and some of our property.

 

Fwiw, our 87 Indy trail with that same 488cc Fuji fan has nearly 12000 miles on it. I did a top end on it at like 7500 miles. Solid motors.

 

We went down to http://www.seveyspoint.com/ on the trails (over 60 miles total) we had some coffee with a bite to eat, while we were doing that the man that does the grooming in that area came in, we also caught up with him on the trail.

 

Looks like you had a great time. It also looks like your headlights are working well. Did you need to do anything to it?

 

It was a nice ride, the groomers are doing a great job on the trails considering this was our first big snowfall, we never had to do a thing on the lights.

 

That was a real nice area, with another 8-12 coming in the trails will be even better. The groomers finally have enough snow to fill in some bad areas, I'm sure the trails will be packed today.

I'll finally be putting the chains on the front tires of the rhino today an then start plowing our routes to the wood we're burning.

 

Yes, when I'm plowing in the woods I'll keep the plow up some, I've hit a few smaller stumps that need about a 1/2 inch taken off.

Most of our trails are packed down by the sled so usually we don't need to raise it, this year the snow has been dry so the base is real thin until this last big snowfall.

 

Heading out for a small ride on my new sled.

 

Cool! Is there a video of that thing Zap?