Question on riding techniques.....

[AVSROCK]

Get a snobunjie, they work great!!

Yep... only way to go.

 

[NoSecondChances]

Pull on the skis like 76MoFoCo said, easy throttle til it is out, then do whatever but if you get stuck more than twice within 200 ft, you're there til the end of the day becuz: a) yer sled ain't good enuf for where you're ridin' or b) you're a tool and didn't learn the first time.

I pulled a guy out 26 times in one day.....it was just me and him or I would have left him to find another rider to pull him out or to get a ride home with. That was our first and last day of riding together.

 

[aadougie]

Get a snobunjie, they work great!!

Yep - works really good on uphill stucks... I agree that track size matters - feathering a long track works - if it moves forward (not down!) then hammer and ride away.

 

[alrevedup]

Most of the people I ride with all carry a Harmon High Lift Jack. When someone gets stuck, jack it up, throw some snow under it and go. I know, I know, who needs a jack? I laughed about it too, until I started having to borrow one. Definitly one of those 'don't diss it till you try it' items. Your argument, my vote is for feathering, ease it out.

CM is right, The HighJack is the only way to fly.

With that said, you should know that I have no affiliation with this product nor do I or would I gain in any way from the sale of these (other that my back saying "thank you" for not having to dig out a sled).

Here is a photo of the jack I ride with. It is a 6 ft. 7/8 inch thick aluminum rod that a simple winter friendly jacking mechanism is attached to. It comes with a base plate and a strap. The base plate helps prevent the rod from going all the way to the ground, which is useful in deep snow. The strap goes around the bumper front or back to be "hooked" on the jack that is attached to the aluminum rod. When in position the hand jack pulls the sled (front or back) out of the snow inch by inch. Then simply push over the sled that is hanging from the jack on to the top of snow next to trench where it was previously stuck.

Even in the worst creek bottom or tree well stucks I have gotten myself into, the Highjack has made it much easier to get out. In most cases I can get myself out of a typical stuck in just a few minutes. Rather than 2 or 3 guys packing and pulling a machine for many labor intensive minutes.

 

[ItDoAble]

Most of the people I ride with all carry a Harmon High Lift Jack. When someone gets stuck, jack it up, throw some snow under it and go. I know, I know, who needs a jack? I laughed about it too, until I started having to borrow one. Definitly one of those 'don't diss it till you try it' items. Your argument, my vote is for feathering, ease it out.

Second that ! Highlift jack worth every dollar.

 

[Himark]

If I have help I will feather it out and have someone pull on the ski.... If by myself I keep a rubberband in my pocket and wrap it around the throttle taping it wide open than I give it a push or tug on the ski myself. This method also works with cruise control on the car if you set it above 45MPH.

 

[ItDoAble]

Before we discovered Highlifts, we would drill a small hole in the end of the throttle lever and carry a string with a small S hook tied to the end. You could then put the S hook in the throttle hole and pull on the ski while giving it throttle (by pulling the string). Worked great to get a sled out by yourself, if needed.

 

[rotax]

depends on stuck... typically..when i have a bunje, i make a tracka round the front of the stuck sled. hook up bunje, put tension on it, park sled. get off pack some snow under the bellypan/track...pull on ski that doesn't have bunje on it while rider pushes/throttles out and up onto the packed snow/track i made..

sometimes WOT/trench it out can work...but also depends on chassis...the Revs seem to work much better than the ZX/S chassis did/does.

 

[colorado_matt]

For those of you that have the jack, do you ever use the strap with the hook? This is really the ticket when you're stuck in a draw or somewhere where uphill is in 3 directions. Hook it to a rail or something in the suspension and lift her up and basically spin the sled around. It is very helpful to ride with Wild Bill often. His famous words, "Lets go get stuck!"

 

[Gold5th]

Depends.. I normally try feather it.. if that doesn't work, I pin it... if that doesn't work, I hop off pick up the rear end and toss it sideways... the 2 times that didn't work, I shoveled snow with my feet/hands... dragged it backwards into the clearing I made by hand.. then pin it getting as much speed as I can before getting to the deep stuff again, and thus hopefully back on top.

Well that's what I've done with the RMK.. haven't gotten the Pro X stuck yet

 

[colorado_matt]

Maybe a better explination would be this......clear out and/or pack down the snow along the running boards and belly pan. Thus making sure the sled isn't high centered. If your track can't dig into any snow........you're not going anywhere. If the snow is cleared out along the belly pan and running boards, usually a tug on a ski and light throttle will pull a sled right out of a hole.

 

[thumper450]

Duct tape works real well to pin the throttle wide open, just use the kill switch to control speed.

two guys one on each ski

 

[R J]

We were arguing about this so bad on our last ride that it almost came down to a fist fight...

When i'm stuck, or when just starting out, I tend to feather the throttle, and get the sled up on the snow a bit, then, hammer down, and ride. The guy who we were riding with (first time in the mountains) knows everything about everything, and of course, he was right. He was getting a buddy unstuck, and told him to just "hammer on it" right off the get go to get out. Seems kinda counter productive to me... I also realize that, depending on snow conditions (Ie. spring snow) his way MAY work.

NOW, as we all hate being stuck, what's all of your tips/ tricks for getting people un stuck?

I'm like you, feather the throttle and let the track grip new snow while someone is simply pulling on the SKI TIP, not the BUMPER (They break you know!) Once on top of the snow anyone can do what they want IMO, but when stuck I find it the most helpfull and I fell the rest of the group feels that way as well to simply feather it, get on top of new snow and then go. Handfulls of throttle lead to big trenches is all I see.

 

[ItDoAble]

For those of you that have the jack, do you ever use the strap with the hook? This is really the ticket when you're stuck in a draw or somewhere where uphill is in 3 directions. Hook it to a rail or something in the suspension and lift her up and basically spin the sled around. It is very helpful to ride with Wild Bill often. His famous words, "Lets go get stuck!"

We had someone in our group nose into a tree, no damage but steep enough that two were not gonna pull it backwards. Put the plate end of the jack against the tree, hooked the S hook strap to the front bumper and jacked it off.

 

[Supplicate]

When we were riding sunday I got stuck like you wouldn't believe right after helping another guy get unstuck. He got turned around and left. I was alone trying to get moving in powder to my chest while pointed uphill. Wound up getting unstuck by pinning it and rocking the sled back and forth. There was enough traction (trees, shrubs, etc) under the snow that it actually worked.

But... I was still left alone in the bottom of the draw. Wound up getting stuck in the creek bottom trying to follow the rest of the groups tracks and was stuck down there for a good half hour till the group finally realized I wasn't behind them and came back to help.

In normal stuck situations our procedure is to get the snowbunje on one ski and give her gas. Usually pops the sled up on top easy. Feather the throttle on the really deep/sugary stuff.


Question for you highjacker guys, how do you cary the poles? Has anyone figured out a way to do a segmented pole for easier packing?

 

[colorado_matt]

The jack kit comes with a mount for the rear of the tunnel that you "jack into". I drilled a hole towards the top of my footwell as close to the tunnel as I could and stick one end in there. Others use a u-bolt on the side of the tunnel. On my cats, the jack runs up the tunnel pretty much in line with the bottom of the seat. While I'm riding, I don't notice it's there. I've been on other sleds where the jack was mounted towards the running board and I found myself slipping on it. I haven't heard of any sectional jacks. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and put them on here.

 

[ItDoAble]

Highlift Jack mounted to M8.

 

[Supplicate]

Does it get in the way of your leg? Or do you get used to it?

 

[ItDoAble]

Not a problem if it's mounted higher than your ankle bone. It's flush against the tunnel.

http://www.highliftjack.com

 

[Luke The Drifter]

I find that if I'm losing momentum and I KNOW I'm going to get stuck if I keep going the way I do, I either, turn around and get the heck out of there or if there isn't enough room to do said turn around, grab the brake and minimize my trench depth. The only real time I trench it to China is when I'm on a steep hill.

If you can, roll the sled over with the park brake on. Generally, I like to let gravity do the work for me.