Mid West Mountain Sleds?
- Thread starter AKM7
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I am in Northern Wisconsin and ride a fairly capable crossover. (2006 900 Switchback, 144" 1.25 lug) for quite a few reasons.
it handles great on the trails, and has enough float to keep me on top of the deep snow when I get into Upper Michigan's play area's. and it tames the moguls on the main thoroughfares nicely.
Would I ride this sled out west in real mountains?? probably not due to the short lugged track
I see lots of guys up there with modded RMK's riding the powerlines, It ain't the mountains, but but we get the snow to warrant a longtracker in the northern snowbelt area's.
here is a pic of my rig
it handles great on the trails, and has enough float to keep me on top of the deep snow when I get into Upper Michigan's play area's. and it tames the moguls on the main thoroughfares nicely.
Would I ride this sled out west in real mountains?? probably not due to the short lugged track
I see lots of guys up there with modded RMK's riding the powerlines, It ain't the mountains, but but we get the snow to warrant a longtracker in the northern snowbelt area's.
here is a pic of my rig
I am in Northern Wisconsin and ride a fairly capable crossover. (2006 900 Switchback, 144" 1.25 lug) for quite a few reasons.
it handles great on the trails, and has enough float to keep me on top of the deep snow when I get into Upper Michigan's play area's. and it tames the moguls on the main thoroughfares nicely.
Would I ride this sled out west in real mountains?? probably not due to the short lugged track
I see lots of guys up there with modded RMK's riding the powerlines, It ain't the mountains, but but we get the snow to warrant a longtracker in the northern snowbelt area's.
here is a pic of my rig
Gettinold, that's plenty of sled to bring out west, you don't need a 174 inch track to play and have fun out west, a 144 is plenty, if you have any skill at all you could highmark, boondock, ditchbang, whatever you want to call it all day out west, I think these guys that bring their turbo 1000 174, are the guy's that have more money than brains, I've seen those things stuck too
Midwest rider on a mountain sled
I ride a 2005 700 RMK 144 x 2", and I ride in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, as well as Montana. With ice scratchers (slidekicks are what I use http://www.slidekicks.net/), things work fine. As long as you aren't an idiot about how/where/when you ride, you don't rip up the groomed trails any more than morons who spin all the time, and you don't wreck your track or slides.
It's all about compromise. 2"+ works better out West (or off-trail in Wisconsin or Michigan where the depth of snow would surprise a few Western riders), 1.25" works better on-trail, but I make my RMK work all-around. I lose short trackers in the twisty trails (and on the lakes where I just don't have the top end), but when there is 4"+ of new snow, they can't even come close to hooking up as well.
Until I have both, my RMK works fine for me.
That said, how do the new mountain sleds work when riding trails?
I'm not bashing, just curious! I notice a lot of members from Mich, Minn, Iowa and other states asking questions about their long track mountain sleds. Are there really enough mountains around to justify a mountain sled?I would think everyone would have a shorty for speed and performance!
I ride a 2005 700 RMK 144 x 2", and I ride in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, as well as Montana. With ice scratchers (slidekicks are what I use http://www.slidekicks.net/), things work fine. As long as you aren't an idiot about how/where/when you ride, you don't rip up the groomed trails any more than morons who spin all the time, and you don't wreck your track or slides.
It's all about compromise. 2"+ works better out West (or off-trail in Wisconsin or Michigan where the depth of snow would surprise a few Western riders), 1.25" works better on-trail, but I make my RMK work all-around. I lose short trackers in the twisty trails (and on the lakes where I just don't have the top end), but when there is 4"+ of new snow, they can't even come close to hooking up as well.
Until I have both, my RMK works fine for me.
That said, how do the new mountain sleds work when riding trails?
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00buck
Well-known member
WOOOOWWW! I made someone mad!
Bwwahahaha here's some green rep for ya....
T
TheBreeze
Well-known member
midwest mountain sleds
I am one of these people you talk about. I had a crossfire 600 with a 2" paddle on it, and now ride a M8 153. There may not be mountains around here, but I can trailer 1.5 hours north of the cabin, and be in areas that receive 300+ inches of snowfall. To me, it is worth it to have to ride a little bit slower on the trails, when I ride in WI, and have a very capable powder sled for the U.P. and the trips out west as well. If I had the money I would also have a trail sled, but having to choose between one or the other, I will take the long track hands down. We are not all lucky enought to be only a few hours from the mountains!
I am one of these people you talk about. I had a crossfire 600 with a 2" paddle on it, and now ride a M8 153. There may not be mountains around here, but I can trailer 1.5 hours north of the cabin, and be in areas that receive 300+ inches of snowfall. To me, it is worth it to have to ride a little bit slower on the trails, when I ride in WI, and have a very capable powder sled for the U.P. and the trips out west as well. If I had the money I would also have a trail sled, but having to choose between one or the other, I will take the long track hands down. We are not all lucky enought to be only a few hours from the mountains!
Finding this site four years ago got me hooked on riding out west. I found a good deal on a long track right here on SW and just knew that I would end up spending the same amount in rentals. Sure enough riding out west is the ticket and I have been out enough now in the last four years that I have paid for that sled. I have met and hit the snow with people from Cali, Washington, Utah and Wyoming and have friends for life. I do get to use it at the cabin late in the year to in Nothern WI and hopefully MI sometime this year. But having that sled to look at in the off season and think about the coming year man I wouldn't trade that for anything.
i've had a summit since 2000. new xp now with 45 miles on it and 24" fresh pow on the ground with in tensions of riding until next week when i get out west. i don't even want to ride around here any more. in the mtns is where it's at. exactlly 1000 miles from my drive to west yellowstone. i have made the trip 21 times since 1992
I was one of these guys who lived in the Mid West and owned a mountan sled. I got sick of using all my vacation time coming out West so now I use it to go back home. Not sure which is worse though...using vacation time to see family but riding the mountains every weekend or using vacation to ride the mountains for a week and being stuck in the flat lands the rest of the time.
Ah yeah no question cause my family can kiss my ars, if they want to see me they can come out here cause I'm goining on a REAL vacation this year chilin on a beach.
My buddy flys out once a year from MN and rents a sled....he's kinda glad he doesn't have to drive 16 hours anymore too.
Ah yeah no question cause my family can kiss my ars, if they want to see me they can come out here cause I'm goining on a REAL vacation this year chilin on a beach.
My buddy flys out once a year from MN and rents a sled....he's kinda glad he doesn't have to drive 16 hours anymore too.
C
CuzzinOlaf
Active member
I ride the UP and out west when I can. I am headed to Rabbit Ears next week, been to the Snowies and Cooke. I'd love to live out west but it just won't happen with my current career plans and the fact my girlfriend's family is all here and she is very close with them. The UP of Michigan gets an average of 240 inches of snow a year with as much as 390 inches in the late 70's. I live in IL and never ride here...
I guess I own the southernmost sled here. It's a PITA to drive to good riding but when I'm there, it's worth the 13-18 hour drives. I used to live in the snow belt off of Lake Erie and all we did was trail ride. Riding in the mountains ruined me but I wouldn't have it any other way.
C
ckspeed
Member
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spudman720
Member
Wow I feel lucky. 15 minutes from Big Hole mountains, 45 minutes from Island Park. We ride deep powder 2-3 sometimes 4 times a week. I dont think I could handle only getting to ride 2-3 times a winter with a 15+ hour drive. You guys are definately die hard. We complain when we dont go more than twice a week.
Renting sleds suck!!! With what digger said, here's my experience with rentals. Rented a poo a few years back, hit a bump in the trail, my knee came up and hit the dimmer switch. Broke that bad boy right off. The guy at the rental shop charged me $80 for parts and labor. 2 months later went back out, checked the same sled and sure enough, wasn't fixed!!! He had no intentions of fixing it.
Besides all that, if you don't own a sled, you'd have no reason to talk about them on here!
Being from MN there is really not a need for a long track. But 2 years after buying my 136" I turned it into a 151" for that 1 week I get to ride in the mountains. I ride everywhere the short tracks do here at home. I have not had any issues what so ever. I would like to have 2 sleds - one for the mountains and one for home. But hard to justify 1 sled for riding only 1 week a year. So I will ride a 151" around here on the flat land. I am not a big trail rider prefer the fields and the ditches. Just make sure I have the ice scratchers ready and I am good to go. Forgot to mention that the shortest drive that I have had so far out west was 16 hours to West Yellowstone and the longest was 24 hours to Revy.
I hitched a ride with a couple of friends back in '99 and went to the Pindedale, WY area for my first real snowmobile experience... I rented a 600 Summit and don't think I ever got it past 3/4 throttle... But I was hooked. One or two trips a winter every since. Renting was costing big $, so I gambled and bought an '03 MC570 in '04 year old from a rental outfit in Colorado. It served it's purpose and saved me rental for two years. By the end, it was on the bar almost 100% of the time, and I offed it just in time to keep from killing it I'm sure. Bought a new '04 MC600 in '06 and it's served me well. I notice last year in good pow that I'm on the bar again most of the time, but I can't afford a new sled just for the little bit of riding I do... I work in the UP of michigan most of the winter, and do a little trail riding with some co-workers as stress relief, but I also do some exploring too, and the 144 gets me through where they get stuck all the time. I'm probably really snow on the trail, but I just don't care. Wish I could move out west, but it won't happen for 12 or so years, so I keep travelling. Headed to West Yellowstone for a week on the 27th of december... Hope it keep snowing out there!
Chris
Chris
More and more are doing the same as Tog, just not enough snow in the midwest. Some guys will keep an older sled around, just in case. I was a dealer for 20 years and saw the transition from my customers heading to MN and WI to the west around the mid 90's. Probably the last 6-7 yrs you could count on 1 hand how many short tracks I sold. The rest were all RMK's.
if your a boondocker and ride off trail in michigans UP, ull want to have a long track. pretty much the only short tracks you see around are out of towners who stick to the trails.
