Summit 600 VS Skandic WT
- Thread starter dejadoo
- Start date
W
Wrong Turn
Member
A group of us regularly go on expedition trips in remote Alaska. We used to all use Skandics. Now all but one have switched to 600 146" Summits.
S
Summit 800
Well-known member
That looks like a good price on a 2012 Summit Etec 600. Can I ask which dealer?
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akgiauque
Well-known member
Do you want a work sled or a play sled. I do not mean the summit will not work but it will not last if you work it as it is set up.
If you want a work sled the WT or SWT is your ride. Either can consistently pull over 1500-2500 pounds and not sweat it. I pull these loads 60 miles with the 550 in a SWT and it has half the HP of the 600 and the same transmission. I am replacing the pistons after an oil pump issue at 3600 miles. The tunnel, hitch and clutch one the XU is made to do this work. It has the high & low range and wider track that helps for the first jerk and floatation at slower speeds. It has a decent ride for smooth groomed trails but the telescoping front and heavy rear is not so comfy on bumps. Halfway between the summit and WT is the expedition. XU chassis with better rear and a arms in the front. Money was not an option this is what I would get.
The Summit is much better for cruising and playing. It does not have the gearing or clutching for consistent work but that is not what it is made for. You can pull a sled, I would not worry about 500 pounds but that is 1/3 the weight of the WT. Guys up here are tweaking the clutches so they can creep slowly and ease them through the snow. I was told by a dealer that they change weights and springs but am not sure which ones. This gives them a hybrid "XP Tundra" with a better trail ride than the telescoping front suspension. Trappers are doing this because the cost, get a 600 etec that acts like a tundra for a lower price. It will pull a small sled and rides nice. If you have not done it yet talk with the guys in DOO talk as well lots of them are very knowledgable.
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/index.php?act=idx
If you want a work sled the WT or SWT is your ride. Either can consistently pull over 1500-2500 pounds and not sweat it. I pull these loads 60 miles with the 550 in a SWT and it has half the HP of the 600 and the same transmission. I am replacing the pistons after an oil pump issue at 3600 miles. The tunnel, hitch and clutch one the XU is made to do this work. It has the high & low range and wider track that helps for the first jerk and floatation at slower speeds. It has a decent ride for smooth groomed trails but the telescoping front and heavy rear is not so comfy on bumps. Halfway between the summit and WT is the expedition. XU chassis with better rear and a arms in the front. Money was not an option this is what I would get.
The Summit is much better for cruising and playing. It does not have the gearing or clutching for consistent work but that is not what it is made for. You can pull a sled, I would not worry about 500 pounds but that is 1/3 the weight of the WT. Guys up here are tweaking the clutches so they can creep slowly and ease them through the snow. I was told by a dealer that they change weights and springs but am not sure which ones. This gives them a hybrid "XP Tundra" with a better trail ride than the telescoping front suspension. Trappers are doing this because the cost, get a 600 etec that acts like a tundra for a lower price. It will pull a small sled and rides nice. If you have not done it yet talk with the guys in DOO talk as well lots of them are very knowledgable.
http://www.dootalk.com/forums/index.php?act=idx
R
rhalloran
Well-known member
Kinda resurrecting a semi-dead thread here, but I bought a 2013 Skandic SWT this summer.
It is EXPONENTIALLY more capable than a normal mountain sled in deep snow. It floats around on bottomless, baseless sugar snow with ease.
We had it out a month ago or so, blown-in meadow up high, 3-4' of previously unridden snow, the SWT just trundled around, mountain sleds getting stuck everywhere.
The guy I was with was on my 05 RT1000/162" track. At one point, he was directly behind me, he'd followed me in on my track. Told him to pass me and ride over there.
He barely got past the SWT in untouched snow, got the RT stuck. Partially rider error, but he does not _suck_ - he's got a few years under his belt. The RT certainly could get around that day, we had a great time on both sleds, but unless you did Something Stupid, the SWT would NOT get stuck....
He weighs ~100# less than me. The RT is ~100# less than the SWT (if not more).
I've CERTAINLY figured out how to get the SWT stuck, and the SWT won't climb straight up the same things the RT does not even flinch at (although the SWT is a better climber than I'd thought it would be).
It is a different kind of fun than a mountain sled. The deep snow, low speed capabilities are unreal, though.
Now, it is a heavy pig, it is not nimble (but better than I thought it would be), not fast (600 etec), no room for Monster stickers, but if moving around in deep snow in the backcountry is the goal, this or a WT with the taller lugs would ABSOLUTELY be the weapon of choice for me.
If you ride down it first, you can ride back up, too (to a point, I'm sure). The one thing it won't do is climb straight up something steep in totally untracked snow. It just does not have the lug height. That said, it turns out predictably and easily. It sidehills in soft snow well. Hard snow, ehhh, yikes, but not impossible.
Maybe the older Yeti chassis really were BAD, dunno, but the XU chassis SWT is surprisingly fun/nimble/agile, and if you can go backwards, you can go forwards - battering ram it forward in low gear til it starts to dig, put it in reverse, back up, hit it again. With enough time, I'm pretty sure you could make a road up pretty much anything.
The only thing I don't like about it is the lug height - not SO much from a climbing perspective, but descending on packed trails - steep catroads, this thing is terrifying. Spring conditions coming down a steep, alpine bowl, umm, yikes. It just Does Not Slow Down. Now that I KNOW that, though, and I figured it out without hitting anything, I can compensate.
In summary, from a deep snow perspective, with "not concerned about climbing," a WT or SWT absolutely crushes a mountain sled. Yes, big track mountain sleds CAN (and do!) get around in really deep woodsy stuff, but it is SO FREAKING EASY on the SWT, it is unreal.
I find it relatively comfortable on trails, too. It is gigantic, but seats two comfortably, goes faster than I need it to, shrug, I like it. If there's a deep, untracked meadow & I have to get across it, I'm taking the SWT.
Deep, untracked meadow, and I want to go do some powder turns? Ehhh, the SWT is kinda fun, too - tossup there between the RT1000 and the SWT.
The only thing that the RT does better than my SWT is go straight up a steep, deep utnracked hill. Run the RT up it, then back down, voila, send the SWT up.
I really, really like utility sleds (modern ones, anyway) for what we do (ski).
It is EXPONENTIALLY more capable than a normal mountain sled in deep snow. It floats around on bottomless, baseless sugar snow with ease.
We had it out a month ago or so, blown-in meadow up high, 3-4' of previously unridden snow, the SWT just trundled around, mountain sleds getting stuck everywhere.
The guy I was with was on my 05 RT1000/162" track. At one point, he was directly behind me, he'd followed me in on my track. Told him to pass me and ride over there.
He barely got past the SWT in untouched snow, got the RT stuck. Partially rider error, but he does not _suck_ - he's got a few years under his belt. The RT certainly could get around that day, we had a great time on both sleds, but unless you did Something Stupid, the SWT would NOT get stuck....
He weighs ~100# less than me. The RT is ~100# less than the SWT (if not more).
I've CERTAINLY figured out how to get the SWT stuck, and the SWT won't climb straight up the same things the RT does not even flinch at (although the SWT is a better climber than I'd thought it would be).
It is a different kind of fun than a mountain sled. The deep snow, low speed capabilities are unreal, though.
Now, it is a heavy pig, it is not nimble (but better than I thought it would be), not fast (600 etec), no room for Monster stickers, but if moving around in deep snow in the backcountry is the goal, this or a WT with the taller lugs would ABSOLUTELY be the weapon of choice for me.
If you ride down it first, you can ride back up, too (to a point, I'm sure). The one thing it won't do is climb straight up something steep in totally untracked snow. It just does not have the lug height. That said, it turns out predictably and easily. It sidehills in soft snow well. Hard snow, ehhh, yikes, but not impossible.
Maybe the older Yeti chassis really were BAD, dunno, but the XU chassis SWT is surprisingly fun/nimble/agile, and if you can go backwards, you can go forwards - battering ram it forward in low gear til it starts to dig, put it in reverse, back up, hit it again. With enough time, I'm pretty sure you could make a road up pretty much anything.
The only thing I don't like about it is the lug height - not SO much from a climbing perspective, but descending on packed trails - steep catroads, this thing is terrifying. Spring conditions coming down a steep, alpine bowl, umm, yikes. It just Does Not Slow Down. Now that I KNOW that, though, and I figured it out without hitting anything, I can compensate.
In summary, from a deep snow perspective, with "not concerned about climbing," a WT or SWT absolutely crushes a mountain sled. Yes, big track mountain sleds CAN (and do!) get around in really deep woodsy stuff, but it is SO FREAKING EASY on the SWT, it is unreal.
I find it relatively comfortable on trails, too. It is gigantic, but seats two comfortably, goes faster than I need it to, shrug, I like it. If there's a deep, untracked meadow & I have to get across it, I'm taking the SWT.
Deep, untracked meadow, and I want to go do some powder turns? Ehhh, the SWT is kinda fun, too - tossup there between the RT1000 and the SWT.
The only thing that the RT does better than my SWT is go straight up a steep, deep utnracked hill. Run the RT up it, then back down, voila, send the SWT up.
I really, really like utility sleds (modern ones, anyway) for what we do (ski).
A
AKlowmarker
Active member
I'll have to disagree wih rhallaron a little. If your goal is to haul a sled in deep snow through tight stuff then there is nothing better than a swt. No doubt about that, but in a meadow of deep snow they are not fun at all. And if the person with a summit has just a little room to get a run at something then there is no contest either. On my 800 I can lift the front end to cross little creeks that a swt would nose dive in and get STUCK. We regualry ride with people who have swt and they usually just ride straight from point a to point b, because they arent really fun to ride. They are workhorses though.
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rhalloran
Well-known member
XU or older?
EVERYONE says similar stuff.
I've never ridden a non-XU SWT, but the XU is a whole lot of fun, it can easily lift the front end for creeks and things, shrug, dunno.
Either my definition of fun and frame of reference is way off (spent the majority of my time on a ZX 700 and RT1000, beyond the SWT), or people are talking about the old SWTs.
The XU is shockingly good, IMHO.
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AKlowmarker
Active member
I have not been around the newer chasis in the superwide form. Hopefully it is more fun than the old. Also I have not rode a swt with anthing but a 550 fan or a 800 fourstroke. I would not classify them as fun or remotely able to carve. More power will always helps the fun factor (read 600 etec).
I have rode the new tundras with a 600 ace and it was really nimble. Put a 600 etec in that baby and it could be fun.
