anyone having issues with sideclicks scratchers?

[happyfast79]

i have them on my 05 900 rmk 166 and have about 3 or 4 rides on them. on the first ride 50% of the plastic covering on the cable cracked and broke off, it was -20 f that morning so that may have contributed. they dont work half as well as the old style in my oppinion, if i run both of them down on a hard/ not ice just hard trails with a little 1/2" fluff on top, i still have to drag my feet to throw snow up in im skid and on my cooler or my hyfax starts smoking and my coolant temp climbs to 190 +. after i drag my feet it drops to 135 f- 140 f

and then both of the tips came loose last ride and i lost one but thats becase i didnt lock tite the tips , just tightend the lock nut.

probally work great on the shorter legnth track with shorter paddles, but my 166 with 2.4 paddles doesnt seem to like them.

not trying to bash the product, just giving you guys my review on them.

Nikolai

 

[skibreeze]

The plastic one one of mine started to crack and come off, before I ever took the sled out. It wasn't a really big deal though. This w/e the bolt that holds the scratcher up, broke off. As far as working, they have done just fine for me when I've had to use them. I have not had really iced up trails to run yet.

 

[happyfast79]

cool anyone else?

 

[2fun4u]

Get ahold of Travis at Between the Lines designs and give him the opportunity to fix your issues. 208-863-3308 or do a search for the "slidekicks" web page.

2fun

 

[sledhauler07]

I put a set of these on both my 151 X sleds and both have cracked (or missing) plastic... not sure if that matters so I just keep running them. I did notice a little trick they like to do though.

going over bumps or through loose snow on or near trails, they tend to hook up over/behind the rail. Kinda like a normal scratcher in the stored position but not like when you put the tips in the eye-bolt they come with. Kinda makes me nervous to have that steel tip riding the inside of my track.

Love them for reverse equipped sleds and not a big deal if you load the trailer with them down but also noticed the spray from mine yesterday was much less that my partners, who has traditional scratchers. So far no hifax issues though so... guess they are good enough.

 

[Barnes]

I have a set and they work pretty good. So far, my plastic has not cracked but both of my eye bolts have broke off. Also, they kept coming loose until i applied a general amount of locktite. I think I have mine on backwards (straight end on the rail and curved end on the ground) but they still seem to throw alot of snow.

 

[Sxrlar]

I have them on my 07 RMK, and live here in the midwest. I have used them a lot sledding here at home in south central Wisconsin. The majority of my sledding is in the U.P of Michigan though. Last week while in the U.P. in the morning the trails were very hard in the morning. The problem was that the scratchers weren't digging in very much at all on that super hard snow. Also, I noticed when hitting moguls in the trail, the scratchers would bounce up, and sometimes would land on top of the rail, or on the torsion spring, rendering them useless until I looked down and noticed they weren't doing anything. My temps in these conditions climbed from a normal 130F to 145F. The plastic covering is all wore off now also. I never had an overheat situation, but, I was getting pretty pissed with having to stop and take them off the rails or spring, and drop them back down onto the trail time after time. I think the slidekicks need to be heavier to keep them from bouncing around so much, a good idea, that needs some more tweaking yet.

Also, I think all the scratcher companies need to come up with a design to use these on the 121 tracked sleds. A lot of times here in the midwest guys with the short tracks won't ride 'cause the trails are so hard, they don't get any snow/ice on the hyfax or coolers. I think there is a market for it!

I have just ordered a set of the spring steel kind, now I just have to put a "scratchers" sticker next to my reverse button so I don't forget they are down. LOL.

 

[heinracing]

me and my brother both run them cracked plastic ends came off even with loctite and didnt seem to throw any snow up and to drag feet and ours actually froze straight out but i have head good things about them also

 

[Blk88GT]

If you guys are looking to jump ship to the traditional scratchers, I really liked the set I got from SummitSeeker (Rod). They saved my *** in IP earlier this month and let me be the first one down the trail early in the morning.

 

[happyfast79]

yeah they deffinatley dont throw up the snow as the conventional one do,

so anybody wana trade?

 

[Summitseeker]

If you guys are looking to jump ship to the traditional scratchers, I really liked the set I got from SummitSeeker (Rod). They saved my *** in IP earlier this month and let me be the first one down the trail early in the morning.

Thanks for the good word BLK88GT! I just sold out the red anodized ones but have lots of black anodized inserts in stock.

http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38435&highlight=scratchers

 

[dan8485]

I have mixed emotions about them.....

yes the coating has come off but and yes I have lost tips but that to me is not that big of a deal as the cable does not rust and new tips can be made from a u blot which costs me 2.49 at the hardware store. Real positive is its the only set I have bought all year since I have not had to worry about them being down. From on trail to off trail and never worry about them, I leave them down almost all the time, which might be a cause for some of my problems.

Issues I got......
Rails and inside wheels are beat to hell from them bouncing into the skid, I tried putting them away in the loops but once the stuff was beat up whats the point. The hardware to hang them up is missing, whether it fell out or busted off i dunno but both sides are gone. There is not as much spray off them compared to the spring I don't care what anyone says. I feel that I am getting sufficent spray just not as much as before.

I am thinking of trying to mount them to they ski some how or maybe even the trailing arm??? If I can't figure something out I am tossed on what to run next year, maybe go back to the spring maybe not...

Can't someone make them out of titanium like the bails on my spinning reels, you cant bend them they just spring back into place. Yeah the cost would be a lot but probably the last set you would ever have to but.

DW

 

[Trinity Taz]

I would encourage anyone having issues with their Slidekicks to give me a call at 1-208-868-3308 Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm MST or contact me via e-mail @ quickclickers@netscape.com

-Through the course of the winter we have made some minor changes to the Slidekicks to fix the exact problems some of you are experiencing. To date we have about 3000 sets out with about 50 reported issues. I'm sure there are more, so if you are hesitant about contacting us, please rest assured we are working on fixing the issues and would like to hear from you.
If you are having issues, we will upgrade your existing Slidekicks to the current design for FREE, you just have to call us.

Here are some of the changes we have made:

1.We have shortened the cable 3 inches to both increase tip pressure AND reduce the high-speed in and out cycling action.

2. We have added a 45 Degree Downward kink in the cable one inch down from the crimp on the rail end to add further tip pressure, to convert the cycling action from the "in-and-out" to an "up-and-down action" (which reduces or eliminates the beating the rails have been receiving), and we now install Red Threadlocker in each end of the Slidekicks so you dont have to (35 ft/lbs torque on the rail bolt is still a must).

3. We finally have in stock the carbide replacement tips we promised. The carbide is sharp-sided, 3/8inch square by 1/16th inch thick, robotically silver-soldered and zinc coated. ---These things are mean! ----A person could literally ride around on a hockey rink and keep the sled cool with these tips, they are that agressive. The carbide replacement tips retail for $34.95 and are well worth it, as no other brand scratcher even comes close to the spray these tips produce. (We currently have several sets on an arctic expedition over the ice cap.)

4. We have completed testing and are offering free of charge a sleeve kit to enhance the rigidity of the cable to combat harsh conditions such as traveling at over 100 MPH on rutted and choppy surfaces. (You Midwest guys know what I'm talking about!)

We apologize for any inconvenience our product may have caused and we feel confident we can solve the issues you are experiencing or we will give you your money back.
If the Slidekicks are causing damage to your rear suspension, please remove them at once and call us!
Please give us a chance, as this is this product's first year out in public and there were bound to be issues, much like the manufacturers are experiencing.

Thank you for your patience and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Travis Cook, BTLD

 

[Snorider]

wow this might be something i'll have to look into.

Talk about service.

 

[happyfast79]

All i can say is wow!!!! with customer service like this, im gona have to give these guys a A+++ .. sending me out a new updated set no charge.. ill have to see if they fixed the problems, but sounds like they did. so again wow!!!!

great job between the lines designs, you probally earned your self's another customer for life!......

 

[dan8485]

Email Sent, not many companies that promise service like this anymore!!!!

Thanks,
Dan

 

[happyfast79]

i agree

 

[whitefish]

As a dealer of Slidekicks and responsible for many of the 3000 units sold, I have had 7 known issues. The beauty is that these have gone from a new design in the market to something tweeked to one of the best add-ons for your sled. Having personnaly used every version available, the latest design with the carbide tip, 45 bend and hose cover is an absolte winner. I like the carbide tip so much I am probably only going to sell them that way.

Last week we rode 4 days in Idaho and it was a scratcher kind of morning. Started off with mud to dirt to gravel to slush and then glare ice. My buddies continued to be amazed at how much ice was coming off of the carbides. The spring style did not hold a candle to these. As for the regular steel tips, they were as good or a little less affective on the ice than the spring style.

So with that, if you have purchsed a set from us personally, either get with Travis or us to get the upgrade. We stand behind the product and appreciate you standing behind us.