Going Green in the Snowmobile Industry

[shady_65]

A few days ago a bunch of us buddies were sitting around having a few beers and starting talking about the big trend of Going Green. This made me think….

What are snowmobile manufactures doing to be apart of the Going Green??

Do any of you guys know of anything they are doing different??

Where do you guys see snowmobiling in 5 years??

Any information or thoughts would be great, I’m going to write a paper about this for one of my college classes. I will also be talking about the big rush of flatlanders to get out west in the paper and how weather patterns have changed snowmobiling.

Thanks for the Information and input

 

[Ollie]

with all the makers rushing to make as clean a sled as possible it is very possible you will see DI sleds in the next year or two.
If that happens, 2 stroke sleds will be cleaner than 4 stroke sleds.
There are a number of 2 stroke engines that are buring as clean or cleaner than the 4 stroke sleds already.

With sleds all going fuel injection of one sort or another and the advent of computer control systems the engines in the current model sleds already burn so much cleaner than just 5-10 years ago it is unreal.

You get behind a modern sled there is no smoke, no nasty smell (some oils smell like oranges or strawberries though).
If you look back in 5 years, you probably won't believe the difference.
Just look at the 03 sleds compaired to the 08 sleds. Worlds apart.

 

[winter brew]

4-strokes and E-tec with virtually zero emissions, much cleaner than alot of cars on the road. The new sleds have to meet emissions standards and those will get even stricter in 2010. I believe most mfr's are ahead of the game on meeting the standards.
Doo has info on their technology on their webpage.

 

[Ollie]

oh, as for weather patterns.
Depending on who you talk to, the patterns you saw this year will be a lot more common. At which time you will see more and more flatlanders staying home and riding the snow they have.

The earths temp has dropped .67 degrees since 98. The forcasters are saying this trend will continue for the forseeable future (10 years). The whole "GLOBAL WARMING IS KILLING US ALL" crowd went nuts when the temp went up .5 degrees. I think the total warming was .84 degrees. It has and will continue to drop.

Just look at the hurricane season. Last season they were saying we were in for the worst in history. There were 2 majors and a total of (I think it was) 6. Not the 36 they were calling for. This year is no different. They are calling for 18-24.
We'll see.

 

[CleElum Sledhead]

I agree that the sleds now are a heck of a lot cleaner burning than the sleds from just a few years back.

BUT

It doesn't seem to really matter how clean and/or quiet new sleds are, and the fact that they do little to no harm to the environment and/or wildlife, there is still a mad rush by the green groups, politicians and public land managers, to restrict sleds to just a few designated trails and play areas in each national forest. I do not see that trend ending anytime soon. In fact, I would not be surprised that many of us will see the day where there is little to no off trail snowmobiling allowed except for maybe in just a few small "designated" play areas.

Very sad, but there are not nearly enough snowmobilers willing to fight to keep what we currently have, and the snowmobilers that are currently willing to fight this battle, are burning out at a very rapid rate due to not enough help and/or concern from the majority of sledders.

 

[Good to Go]

I agree that the sleds now are a heck of a lot cleaner burning than the sleds from just a few years back.

BUT

It doesn't seem to really matter how clean and/or quiet new sleds are, and the fact that they do little to no harm to the environment and/or wildlife, there is still a mad rush by the green groups, politicians and public land managers, to restrict sleds to just a few designated trails and play areas in each national forest. I do not see that trend ending anytime soon. In fact, I would not be surprised that many of us will see the day where there is little to no off trail snowmobiling allowed except for maybe in just a few small "designated" play areas.

Very sad, but there are not nearly enough snowmobilers willing to fight to keep what we currently have, and the snowmobilers that are currently willing to fight this battle, are burning out at a very rapid rate due to not enough help and/or concern from the majority of sledders.

Well put Dave.

Honestly, if you're reading this, and didn't write at least a couple of letters within the last year arguing for your rights, you're probably typical, AND, part of the problem of apathy.

 

[SnowSnob]

Unfortunately I totally agree with CleElum and no matter how clean sleds become they are a dying breed.
I really wish I could take my kid riding to some of the great spots I've been to and see the awesome views I've seen but I KNOW it's not going to happen.
And there's NO WAY of getting to these places on foot, unless you want to make it a 3-day backpacking trip in the summer but the scenery is SO much better in the winter.

 

[weetee]

Yup! And dont forget to vote. Land use is by far my most important issue.

 

[Dogmeat]

I'll tell ya what snowmobilers need to do to "go green", and it has NOTHING to do with making EPA-approved sleds.

1.) Don't litter. Do not leave your trash out in the wilderness.
2.) Do not spill oil and/or gas working on your sled on the ground. If possible, put it on your trailer, or if you do spill on the ground, take your shovel and scoop it up and throw the dirt away.
3.) Don't litter.
4.) Don't buy the most obnoxiously loud pipe you can
5.) Be courtious to the skiiers, even though they may be hippies that need to die.
6.) Don't litter. Did I say don't litter already? If not, don't litter

The whole "clean sled" thing I don't think we need to go overboard with. Sleds these days are MUCH cleaner than they were 20 years ago.

The "environmental impact" of snowmobiling is not from the sleds, it's from dumbasses leaving their trash, broken down sleds, whatever ... in the forrests.

That's what really pisses people off... The sleds themselves hardley impact the environment or contribute to pollution at all with respect to automobiles.

my $0.02

 

[-Alticity Films-]

I agree with dogmeat 110%.
Our group always picks up others trash when we are out. We make it a ritual to pick up at the absolute minimum one size-able piece of trash on every outing. If you don't see any in the back country I promise you will find some in the parking lot.

You would be amazed at how contagious it is to do the right thing.

 

[snowmobiler]

if anybody really wants to get into the go green nutty fad.check out treehugger.com
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/the_carbon_foot_1.php
and you can learn how eating 1 hamburger contributes to globel warming.LOL.

 

[TEC800]

if anybody really wants to get into the go green nutty fad.check out treehugger.com
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/the_carbon_foot_1.php
and you can learn how eating 1 hamburger contributes to globel warming.LOL.

at first i laughed at how ridiculous that was, but then i realized that this is the kind of radical fanatacism that some of these treehuggers have for their "cause" that some turn towards snowmobilers. kind of a scary insight to their thought process.

 

[Wade]

Besides not throwing trash around, we need to put together more "snowmobiler clean up" days. A little positive press wouldn't hurt us.

By 2012, the emission requirements on sleds will be so tight, a 4 stroke Yamaha Apex probably won't pass them.

The new ETec motors (skidoo) will cut oil usage by 1/3 at least. Hydrocarbon (unburnt gas) will decrease dramatically. Some idiot will go ballistic because they hear snowmobile emit more pounds of carbon dioxide than they burn pounds of gas. Just calmly tell them all forms of oxidation do that.

Another front that's coming is noise restrictions. Noise pollution.

Yes, I'm afraid all motorized activities will be restricted to trails before long. Washington, Oregon, California, and even Montana to some extent, are well on their way to having everything closed. Then the greenies will turn their attention East to Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.

 

[Veedy]

Sledding has changed a lot for the better, but as for fuel consumption.... well, I can remember when the largest displacement motor out there was 500cc and you maybe burned 5 gallons all day, throttle taped to the bars. Granted they were burning 30-40:1 . fuel injected Four stroke technogoly is still the emissions king and will still beat the pats off any direct injection 2 stroke. No loss system or total los system, your still burning oil. Don't let the hype from the 2 stroke manufactures fool you about the differences 2 to 4. Pollutants are one thing but sound emissions are another. Let's put it this way, we all may think our pipes sound cool, and it's our god given right to have them, but it pizzes people off. It's a great coal for greenies to use to stoke the fire of environmentalism. Tread lightly is another term that is used in the motorsport industry, we should use it in all sports, including skiing, mountain biking, climbing, hiking, ATVing, sledding, and 4x4ing.
If this battle were about carbon emissions the enviro nazis would be trying to ground jetliners and helicopters in heli ski and hike operations. They could give a crap about emissions. It's about the noise and evaisiveness of our sport. They don't like the sound of our motors or the fact that we travel through snow with little effort. It's Very hypocritical of them to fight against our sport then go to a ski hill and ski. I could go on and on about the impact ski hills do to the environment...

 

[weetee]

How much do ya think the coming Hybrid snowmobiles will weigh? I'm hoping for something under 1100 lbs dry.

 

[EricW]

Call me old school, but I thought this thread meant Kawasaki was back in the sled biz. Is there another "Go Green"?......lol. EW

 

[aadougie]

What? What did you say? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you because my idiot friends bought obnoxiously loud cans that piss off everyone within a ten mile radius... Noise pollution is likely the biggest "legitimate" complaint we face from the Go Green crowd. The industry has done a great job of controlling the sound levels - then we buy cans and screw it up to save 5 pounds.

 

[powdersledder]

Every Manufacturer and a lot of aftermarket businesses sponsor SAE's Clean Snowmobile Challenge

http://students.sae.org/competitions/snowmobile/about.htm

 

[SnowSnob]

With all the dumbazz kids who come on here specifically asking "what's the loudest can for my sled" I don't think the next generation is going to take the responsibility to MAN UP and try to make a difference. Nope they want to be like every other kid out there.....loud, annoying and think their invinsible. So I think the aftermarket companies should take it upon their selves and stop making these loud azz coffe cans.
Once again WE can't police ourselves and NEED someone to do it for us.
This country will soon be a communist country and we'll prove to the world that people can't control themselves or get along with each other.

 

[Yamadoo04]

I agree with the litter and trash that happens. We need to do better.

On the noise its not just the 2 stroke cans that are loud. Jump on a turboed Apex. Those suckers are loud. It has great power and I love riding that sled but man is it loud. We need to somehow get those quieter as well because with all the 4 strokes more and more will be turboed and that is becoming a problem as well for the greenies.
I personally love the sound but wouldn't it be great if they could get quieter as well.

Just look at the diesel trucks. Mine is a 99 Dodge and you can't talk to anybody while it is running. My dad just got a new GMC and it is much more quiet. You don't have to stop the engine when going through the drivethru anymore.