First Deep Pow ride with TS and Poo Track

[ruffryder]

I guess I'm just too 'Old School' in believing, "you get it stuck, you dig it out", problem solved.

You use a shovel? Or are you so hardcore that you use your hands?

 

[Butta]

Ok, ok, ok... As I can see there are quite a few Jack proponents here. As I stated, I have not USED one, I've only seen one at the Show. But if 'cheating' is not only accepted but encouraged, why not just carry one of those portable Warn winches? Or keep a chopper on stanby to come pluck you out of a deep hole? Or hire a personal 'unstuck professional' kinda-like a bodyguard from 'stuckness' to shadow you all day, and as soon as you're stuck they spring into action? Obviously, these are extreme examples (except maybe for the Warn), but my point is, where do you draw the line?

In this day and age of 250+hp turbo/SC sleds with 200" tracks the line is getting pretty blurred. I guess I'm just too 'Old School' in believing, "you get it stuck, you dig it out", problem solved.

Max

Then have at it, bro!! No biggie, you wanna break your back digging out a sled, that's up to you. The jack is light, quick, simple, maintenance free, one person operation, and readily available to do all the hard work for you. Jeesh, I suppose you think that 4 wheel drive on a truck is cheating as well, since it's not "traditional".

The warn winch is definitely a huge step down in ingenuity (speaking purpose built) for this application. It requires electrical power, something else to attach the other end of the cable to, and a requirement to "walk" to that tree to attach it (this will take longer than the jack operation in itself!), heavier, slower (ever seen how slow those things operate?), and also puts a lot of stress on the attachment point (the front end? I can see someone complaining about bending stuff with this).

Bottom line, the jack is the schiznit. Simplicity and effectiveness at its best.

 

[glmtnapex]

You use a shovel? Or are you so hardcore that you use your hands?

Actually, I do mostly use my hands (and feet)! Even though I always carry a shovel, I tend to not use it much because I can usually pack the snow faster with my hands and feet than taking the time to pull-out my shovel, which is the reason I'm having trouble understanding the Jack. If I'm reluctant to pull-out my shovel, I don't think I would be likely to break-out the Jack. And that brings-up a good point too, PACKING snow seems a more effective unstuck method for me than MOVING snow, like with a shovel. Obviously the Jack doesn't really MOVE snow, but it would help someone PACK snow. So maybe we're not too far off in theory, just method.

Max

 

[mmaxcarver]

Usually the person who thinks buying a jack is a waste money is typically the one waiting for me to circle back around to help them get out of their hole -they dug - using my jack.
I just hope "Wild Bill" will be able to keep up this season, I know he had some problems this past summer...
I bought mine a couple years back and it weighed 10 pounds on the dot, best weight you can ADD to a snowmobile.

 

[powdermuncher]

I think of getting a Jack myself as soon as I am too old to get my buddy's out with a good old fashioned tug on the skis.

If you guys really get stuck that often it may be time to go out with some good riders and learn some good technique both in not getting stuck all the time and when you do get stuck how to get out the easy way without big fuzz
------------- gotta love stirring the pot -------------------

Cheers..............


By the way I used a series 4 Polaris track for years on a RX1 it makes any maverick look bad ----- the only draw back is they are only 151 inches long but will still drive circles around a 153 mav any day. And you can get them dirt cheap brand new.

 

[glmtnapex]

I think of getting a Jack myself as soon as I am too old to get my buddy's out with a good old fashioned tug on the skis.

If you guys really get stuck that often it may be time to go out with some good riders and learn some good technique both in not getting stuck all the time and when you do get stuck how to get out the easy way without big fuzz
------------- gotta love stirring the pot -------------------

Cheers..............

Finally someone comes to my rescue!

Another thought I had was how tall is the post for the jack? Mid-Season here in Grand Lake you would need a 10 foot pole (at least!) to do any good. Otherwise you'll just be jacking deeper into the snow.

 

[Butta]

Finally someone comes to my rescue!

Another thought I had was how tall is the post for the jack? Mid-Season here in Grand Lake you would need a 10 foot pole (at least!) to do any good. Otherwise you'll just be jacking deeper into the snow.

Not true, the bottom plate provides an amazing amount of flotation to jack from. All you have to do is pound the jack plate down a couple times to pack the snow beneath and you're good to go. I encourage you to actually see one at work, because it will dispell the misconceptions you have of it.

 

[67SnowCruiser]

Jack in the way?

I suppose there are times when the jack would be useful but wouldn't the tube get in the way of keeping your foot planted on the running board? I can imagine that you would be constantly stepping on it and/or it would be forcing you to stand farther toward the edge of your running board.
At 72" long doesn't the tube stick out the back far enough to be in the way when doing a wheelie, landing a jump tail first, etc?

 

[SRXSRULE]

I suppose there are times when the jack would be useful but wouldn't the tube get in the way of keeping your foot planted on the running board? I can imagine that you would be constantly stepping on it and/or it would be forcing you to stand farther toward the edge of your running board.
At 72" long doesn't the tube stick out the back far enough to be in the way when doing a wheelie, landing a jump tail first, etc?

On my Apex my foot never hits the jack rod when climbing or side hilling or doing any techincal moves. The only times I touch it is when I'm boondocking and doing very tight slow turns when I'm hanging way off the side of the sled and my foot pushes against the side of the tunnle.

As for it sticking past the end of the sled.....That depends on your track and sled. On my 162 Apex it does not get to the end of the tunnle. Eric

 

[tivoklr]

Don't get the jack. Seriously.

Seriously, don't get a jack. You don't want one.

I can say that the highliftjack has saved my butt on more than one occasion, including two weeks ago at Vail Pass when there was absolutely no base and those damn wide running boards on the Nytro kept the tunnel on top of the snow while the track blew all the snow out from below. If I hadn't had the jack, I would have been there for a long, long time. As it was it was still a 20 min job since there was no base and I was down to the dirt/shrubs and it took a few tries to get er out.

I ride alone. I ride at odd times. I have used the jack to get unstuck while a bilzzard was blowing in and it saved my bacon. I also carry a SPOT just in case.

To answer questions posed above, the jack is exactly as long as my stock tunnel on my nytro mtx and the jack mounts high enough on the tunnel that it doesn't interfere at all with my foot/boot. It weighs ~8# I think.

I was riding down near Gunnison last spring, alone again, and I went in for fuel at the store at Allmont, the guy working there was like "you're out riding alone, well at least you have a jack" which was pretty funny but a real testament to me of the increasing popularity of these things, given the increasing size of our sleds. I used to be able to lift my 136 AC no problem. This 153 nytro is too much when the tunnel is packed in with snow.

However, to each his own...