Alpha Ice Scratchers - FYI!!!

[MTN_VIPER]

So do these sleds run hotter than a proclimb/ascender? I haven’t ran a snow flap on any of my proclimb/ascender sleds and never had an issue with heat running the stock scratchers unless it was rock hard frozen to where any sled would have issues.

If you were able to run without a snow flap on your Ascender, pretty sure that you will be fine on the Catalyst as well. Mine does run hotter on crappy snow compared to my Ascender, but the Ascender also had a snow flap. So, it's kind of an Apples to Oranges comparison. The couple of times my snow flap got bent upwards on the ascender it would get hot as well. It's more a situation of the conditions that I have to ride in to get to the play areas, more so than a problem with the sled.

 

[MTN_VIPER]

Got my Chewy22 ice scratcher mod done. With some help from my neighbor (he ran the torch, while I twisted the scratchers) we heated the area up about 1" from the bend about 2.5" long. My thought was by heating a 2.5" area, the 90-degree twist would be spread over a larger area and put less stress on the metal. Then quenched the scratchers in oil.
Once they were cool, I re-heated the modified areas again at a lower temperature using a propane torch with MAP gas. Then stuck them in sand so they could cool slowly. Hopefully this will re-temper the steel and time will tell how well they hold up.

For collars, I ended up using stainless steel 1/4" drill stops that I got off of Amazon. You can buy a set of 4 for 8 bucks (figured it would be good to have a couple extra in the tool kit) The drill stops come with short stainless-steel Allen set screws and prior experience with SS set screws has shown me that they have a tendency to strip out. So I replaced then with longer 10-32 hardened steel set screws from the hardware store.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it came out and there is plenty of clearance between the modified scratchers and the tunnel when they are in the up position.

I'm curious to see how well they work and if they improve cooling in marginal snow conditions.

 

[Chewy22]

Nice work. I’m in Cooke now and the snow is crazy deep so not a great test. But they do kick up a lot more, just like the ones in my twin rail.

 

[Chewy22]

Well reverse doesn’t really work unless it’s super hard pack. The second you hit any kind of snow they catch. So that is a bummer. But had to try.

They do kick up way more than the stock scratchers so that is a W!

Yes the 858 runs hotter. Not a lot but noticeable. And it everywhere, trails and deep pow. Something I have to get use to.

 

[MTN_VIPER]

Well reverse doesn’t really unless it’s super hard pack. The second you hit any kind of snow they catch. So that is a bummer. But had to try.

They do kick up way more than the stock scratchers so that is a W!

Yes the 858 runs hotter. Not a lot but noticeable. And it everywhere, trails and deep pow. Something I have to get use to.

Good to know, I was looking at my set up and was thinking that they might catch in reverse. Not too concerned about it though as I'm used to having to put the scratchers up in reverse anyway.
#1 goal for me is improved cooling.

 

[Old & slow]

Well reverse doesn’t really work unless it’s super hard pack. The second you hit any kind of snow they catch. So that is a bummer. But had to try.

They do kick up way more than the stock scratchers so that is a W!

Yes the 858 runs hotter. Not a lot but noticeable. And it everywhere, trails and deep pow. Something I have to get use to.

I dont know if it actually runs hotter or the gauge is calibrated differently. I have the small gauge and the temp runs about 3/4 the way across all the time. It shows like its warmer than my Ascender but i doubt it is. The fuel gauge is also not accurate. I was down to one bar and when I refueled it didnt take 20 liters. The gauge should have been reading around half for that much fuel.
I have rode on some icy trails and it will get hot but it takes a bit I cant say it is worst than my Ascender. I did have the snow flap removed on my Ascender also so compared to one with a snow flap it may run warmer I hadn't thought about that.

 

[ratlover]

Compared to my ascender with the flap removed the 858 seems to run warmer but harder to actually overheat or get hot on crap snow or the trail. When I added the baby flap to my ascender it really helped with the trail and low snow. Now its about the same as my 858 in terms of getting too hot in crap snow.

 

[MTN_VIPER]

I was able test the scratcher mod out today. Trail in was fairly rough and hard pack, so not mountain sled friendly conditions at all. Sled did get hot a couple of times on the trial in, but not as hot and as often as before.
One encouraging sign; there is medium size hill climb that is usually packed/tracked up. The base of the hill is at the end of the hardpack trail, so the sleds are usually pretty warm by that point. Often times guys (myself included) will stop at the base to let the sleds cool before going up the hill. On the ride before the scratcher mod, I let the sled cool to approx. 145 degrees and by the time I got to the top of the hill the temp was in the Red.
Today same hill, same starting engine temp, with scratchers down both times and same packed conditions, the temp stayed in the green to the top.

Interestingly enough I rode with a couple of other 858's that were 165"s (mine is a 154") and they seemed to run a few degrees cooler. Maybe track length makes a difference?

Overall, I feel that the scratcher mod does help as it seems easier to cool the sled down by varying speeds more so than before. IMO a worthwhile mod, especially considering how inexpensive it is to do.

 

[dgibbons]

I'm running a base gauge on my 858 so can't see actual coolant temps, but running down the trail going 30, it runs one tab over the middle coolant temp which I assume is operating temp. I rode in 2' of fresh on an ungroomed trail and even running down the trail in fresh pow, it still did this. Varying speeds and jumping off trail into total fresh didn't seem to make a difference either. In the backcountry, temps were good all day, but it was ~3' of fresh untouched snow all day, but sled was running hard. Has me a little bit concerned when I get into low, tracked snow and hardpack trails after two rides of pretty (and really) good conditions.

 

[BlueDevil]

I think a snow flap would really help this issue. Hopefully some buddy comes up with a nice functional kit

 

[Old & slow]

I think a snow flap would really help this issue. Hopefully some buddy comes up with a nice functional kit

One for a Riot should fit and its 4 screws to swap it out.

 

[MTN_VIPER]

One for a Riot should fit and its 4 screws to swap it out.

Not sure that it would work, as the M sleds tunnel is shorter in relation to how far the track extends past the tunnel. It's a noticeable difference when you compare the two sleds side by side.

 

[Old & slow]

Not sure that it would work, as the M sleds tunnel is shorter in relation to how far the track extends past the tunnel. It's a noticeable difference when you compare the two sleds side by side.

The tail light part is the same so it should just bolt up. If it is too long for track clearance you should be able to adjust it with a knife. I have been able to manage the temperature of my sled so far,I was trying to offer a nice clean option.

 

[MTN_VIPER]

The tail light part is the same so it should just bolt up. If it is too long for track clearance you should be able to adjust it with a knife. I have been able to manage the temperature of my sled so far,I was trying to offer a nice clean option.

Yeah, I was thinking about the possibility of modifying one. It's actually a fairly narrow set of conditions when it gets hot (175 degrees, Red light on). Normally, on a narrow sled width trail, up hill through the trees, where it's not always possible to go faster or get off into fresh snow to cool it down. Less than ideal conditions for cooling mountain sleds for sure, but we often encounter these conditions on our rides.

I decided to order the Ski Doo Linq removable flap pictured by Chewy22 earlier in this thread. I'm hoping that it will fit in my mountain tunnel pack when it's not on the sled, which should be most of the time. But we'll see when it gets here, may need to modify it to make it all work.