A couple years back, I put a new shock in the ol’ 2001 Panther 440. The old shock was blown and the bushings had disappeared; probably the original shock. And to add to the fun, one of the mount bolts was seized inside a sleeve. Oh, and Arctic Cat discontinued the sleeve. I got lucky and found one at a dealer from a recommendation from another member of a sled forum I was posting on. I greased that really really well before reinstalling. So after reinstalling the entire skid, I realized I had the lower shock mount incorrect…when compressing, the mount was hitting the track drivers. That was two years ago IIRC? I haven’t ridden the sled much; mostly for firewood hauling. But I wanted to get it sorted out. I tried the best I could to flip the thing around while the skid was in the sled…no dice. So I had the pull the skid…again! For a good laugh, you can picture me…just under 160lbs trying to heave this into the track/tunnel. It took some time. But I finally got it. Laying the sled on its side made things a bit easier. I also used a ratchet strap to the compress the skid to line up the mounting holes. Anyways, felt really good to get the sled out today and haul some wood! It’s an older machine, but only has 2,500 miles on it. I’ve put maybe under 100 miles on it since owning it. Not the fastest machine, but hauls wood nicely and rides like a couch. LOL! We don’t have a ton of snow in VT these days; I’d say 4-5” of snow after the rain and warm weather. We do have a bit of ice. Normally, I’d just run the quad in this amount of snow, but the sled is studded and has dual carbides…so it handles the ice nicely. Anyways, enough blathering, here are a few pics.
Sweet! Gotta love those old machines. I have a 96 Polaris 488 trail and pulled the skid last March. Both (!) old hydraulic shocks were shot. Bushings on the rear rear shock were gone as well. I ended up trying those Kimpex non rebuildable gas shocks. We’ll see if they last. I also went with stiffer springs as the stock ones were done… lots of bottoming out. I replaced every bearing and one wheel. Had a stuck bushing on a locked shaft that required cutting. eBay had a used one, thankfully. Yes to the ratchet strap. I modified one just for that purpose. Wrestling a skid and dealing with torque arms by yourself is toughhh. It has 1050 miles on it and I put on the 50 since buying it in 2021; not much snow here these days, too. What’s your preferred hauler? We have an otter sled but mainly use that to haul gear and sometimes people.
Love it! Sooo many memories. I know exactly what Skier76 experienced with the shock bracket. Giggling thinking about it. That there good friends is a REAL wrastling match. Not this fake made for TV cwap
Fore sure! I’m sure the folks at the factory back in the day got the skid installed in minutes. Live and learn!
Definately some work! Glad you got your skid sorted out. If neglected, thing scan go sideways pretty quickly! I’m looking to get a bigger tow behind sled…probably an ice fishing Jet Sled. The one I have is fairly small and doesn’t haul all that much. A bigger sled would make a nice difference. Gotta act quick as I’m sure many retailers will be switching to spring stuff soon. Ugh.
I had real good luck with the Otter Pro Magnum Sled (75" L x 38" W x 15" H) and just towed it flat for many years behind the snowmobile or ATV. Put it up on skis in 2024 but ended up selling the snowmobile and sled/trailer last year due to health reasons. The sled isn't too expensive, it's just finding cheap shipping due to the size. If you have a Bass Pro or Cabela's in the area, you could have it shipped to the store for free.
^what he said! Motorcycle on snow, I'd probably kill myself, used to have a dirt bike, had a few 'mishaps.' Now I have a Honda ATV and it serves as my speed drug but a rat got under the seat and gnawed a bunch of wires, the bastid! Big ol' wood rat, I saw him.
I agree with EODMSgt, Otter makes a good product. The points where the tow bar attaches is much more stout than the jet sled set up.
Ended up with an Otter from Runnings. It was a bit more than I had planned to spend, but they had only three sleds in stock, so beggars can’t be choosers!
Nice! You'll get a lot of year's use out of that sled. Now you just need the tow hitch and possibly the runners (I purchased the runners but never installed them as I didn't want holes in the sled and wasn't dragging over anything but snow). Tow Hitch - Standard - Otter Outdoors https://www.otteroutdoors.com/product/shelter-hyfax-runner-kit/
I recommend the hyfax for anything that gets high use. I didn’t like the drilling concept either but having a sacrificial area that can be replaced is my style. The tow bars (looks like you have a version of one) are good quality.
Pulling skids from sleds is pretty routine. If you want more fun, replacement of the jackshaft bearings is the worst thing to do in a sled.
They usually pull “okay” and within reason (unless the bolts are bad… but there’s ways around that). Going through it and seeing 30 years of neglect at every joint isn’t fun, though. Plus nothing is routine the first time you try it.
Thanks for the feedback guys! Yeah, I can imagine the jack shaft bearings can be a real pain. Gonna keep mine well greased! So I have an existing hitch from the current sled. It’s a Shappell Heavy Duty hitch and it mounts to the current sled with bolt hooks. I had to “Glenngineer” it a bit…. Here’s how it comes from the factory; note the position of the attachment points on the right side; they face up. I needed them vertical to attache to the Otter. I unbolted them from the actual hitch unit itself. I rotated them 90 degrees and drilled 5/16” holes in each one. Worked perfectly and here it is mocked up with a 5/16” bit to test fit: Initially, I was going to drill the sled mount out to 1/2”, but after looking at the inside of the sled, I realized that wouldn’t be ideal and it would loose some strength. So for now, I’m going to go with 4.5” 5/16” bolts, washers and a nylock nuts. Now, that’s going to cause a little clatter because the hitch holes are 1/2”. Sooooo, I found some 5/16” ID, 1/2” OD bushings on Amazon that I’ll use for that. I brought the sled back to the flatlands to work on this week. I’ll test it out this weekend, but won’t have the bushings. Those should hopefully arrive next week. Fun project so far!
That might just work. On low snow years, those otter brand setups would get discounted as “used” on Amazon. The best part of their design is the spring hitch that takes up some of the energy while pulling/stopping. I believe I have three now and two that are complete.
