Why do they put skis on mountain sleds?

[high time]

I was wondering why they don't make sleds like a stand-up Jet Ski.We arn't using the skis most of the time in good snow and actually they're in the way. I know it will take some engineering , but it would seem possible. I could stand up all day. The thing probably go though more snow and sidehill great.

Owen

 

[POW]

maybe if we lived in a perfect world with 5' of fresh powder everyday with no trails and never had to load it onto a trailer or navigate around a yard, then ya why put skis on a mountain sled

 

[drinkwyo]

WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dhoward]

Are you "High"

I just figured out I can post from Afghanistan...kinda slow, but this is cool.

 

[suva]

I talked to a guy in the Yakima area that built a machine like that, he said it was awesome in the deep stuff but getting there sucked... He said if the track was arched like an atv tire it would have worked a lot better for turning.

 

[dp2826]

I was wondering why they don't make sleds like a stand-up Jet Ski.We arn't using the skis most of the time in good snow and actually they're in the way. I know it will take some engineering , but it would seem possible. I could stand up all day. The thing probably go though more snow and sidehill great.

Owen

good luck with that, especially in minnesota

 

[Sneddonrider]

Dad bought a 1970 somthing Moto ski 250 when I was 7, the ski's barely touched the ground and the track was almost as long as the sled. It handled like a sled without skis which is really bad(really tippy and barely turn on hard pack).

 

[LRD]

Can just see a group of guys trying to ride the trail up the mtn without ski's. Would be a cross between a Monty Python bit, and the Three Stooges, sleds up trees on fire, run off cliffs etc.

If don't want a ski go pick up a used sno hawk and it will give you a taste.

Good Luck

 

[sledr2]

Can just see a group of guys trying to ride the trail up the mtn without ski's. Would be a cross between a Monty Python bit, and the Three Stooges, sleds up trees on fire, run off cliffs etc.

If don't want a ski go pick up a used sno hawk and it will give you a taste.

Good Luck

It would be funny for sure.

The stand up jet ski vs. sit down is a pretty good analogy put up against a Snow Hawk vs. Snowmobile.

Takes a little more skill....

 

[AKLankford]

Me and a friend have an old Rupp with 440 in it that we cut the skis off and put a plastic skid on the front. Does good when theres about 1 inch of snow mixed with some dirt in there.

On newer sleds you have to be crazy if you dont want skis on them.

 

[high time]

Maybe we could take them off at the end of the trail.

A couple of time I've taken off one or the other.

I don't have any designs in mind, but no one knew fifty years ago what sleds would look like in 2011. I do know the we counter steer because the uphill ski is in the way when sidhilling.

Owen

 

[rmking600]

i wonder it you could make runners in the belly pan to make it so you can turn on trails? or make detachable ones you can hide after you leave the trail? sounds like a good project for my old xlt if i can get more info

 

[McTwist700]

Well seeings how we are thinking out of the box why not make the whole front end motorize up and tuck into the side of the sled once you are in the powder and voila! no more skis.

On a side note I like my skis and will keep them.

 

[RED BARRON]

ANYBODY REMEMBER THE SINGLE SKI THAT SKI DOO BUILT. IT TOOK A 2 ACRE FIELD TO TURN IN A CIRCLE. PROBABALLY WOULD BE SIMILAIR TO THAT WITH NO SKIS.

 

[1shot1yote]

Ski-doo Alpine double track. My dad has one... He was ice fishing one day and the single ski on the front fell off. He rode it the rest of the afternoon on the bellypan. He said he got some funny looks from other people on the lake and it took a lot of room to turn around.

 

[Steve D]

Steve D

The only way to do it would be to make the track like the ad boivin where the center lugs are longer than the outer lugs. But I say screw the one ski, go all the way. Go no-ski.

The next thing to do would be wrap the track around the motor. Getting rid of the skis, may as well eliminate the whole belly pan too. If you wanted to prototype it with a conventional chassis, put the motor down low where the drivers/secondary clutch is and the secondary in front of the motor with the drivers out where the front bumper is. It'd be like straddling a tank track.

Problem is you lose track on the ground, but the only thing touching the ground is track, no skis or belly pan floating the front end so the whole sled digs. Longest track available to compensate for extra stuff your wrapping around.

A better way might be to start with a bike or quad chassis, where you got a motor that's narrow enough to fit between your legs. Track would have to be narrowed up to fit too. Rip out the front suspension. Figure out how to mount a more normal looking snowmobile suspension with the front swing arm out in front. Use a swing arm and rear axle drive out the back. (That goofball building rear axle drives for sleds got me thinking about this.)

Anyway, realistically, two-skis work and they're here to stay for now. I mostly think about "what if" like this when my sled is stuck on a hill pointing up into the air (and I won't lie to you, I get to think about it a lot...) and the skis and belly pan are on top of the snow and the track meanwhile sitting out of its trench with nothing to grab onto because the running boards are also helping to hold it up. It's basically high centered on the surrounding snow.

This concept sled was on to an interesting idea and was an idea that stuck in my head:

Obviously, the designers hadn't considered how to realistically put it together. It's just another on paper design, but it's thought provoking. (Obvious things like the crotch rocket seating position and lugless track just wouldn't work for a powder sled.)

More pictures:

A no-ski that was built in Finland.

More old no-ski concepts:

Sometimes I wish I had a shop and some fabrication skills (and money to burn) to try my hand at inventin' stuff.

Edit: To be clear, I ain't never invented nothing. Send kudos to the guys who made the stuff in these pictures.

--
2009 M8 LE

 

[high time]

Steve.......you're cool!!!!! Keep the grey cells cookin'

Thanks for the pics. I'd like to be your friend. Guys like you drive the future.
I am good friends with the engineers from Cat and they're quite busy with the next few years. Someone has to look a bit farther.

I myself have designed and built new ideas on another front. Most fail the test of time. But the two or three that have worked are a more than most people ever have.

Owen

 

[toddb]

Put tracks on a segway. (Paul Blart Mountain Cop)

 

[idaho ride]

good luck with that, especially in minnesota

lol

 

[FlyZ28]

I kind of like my skis/front suspension when I decide to jump my sled. I'm thinking landing with just a bellypan would pretty much suck.

Plus, when I grab the throttle in fresh powder, my track sinks a little bit. I figure if the only thing touching the snow was the track, it would sink immediately. But I'm no engineer, so what do I know?