snowmobile sled

[tworail]

I built a sled for my snowmobile, just got it done last night :) Went OK for the first try, but putting on the bottom was a pain due to the curvature the plywood had to conform to. The first sheet was a failure, so for the second one I notched the plywood and put the wood in a hot shower to soften things up a bit. Wasn't perfect and starting cracking a bit but I can live with it for now.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz79/jmack_2011/DSC_0155.jpg
http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz79/jmack_2011/DSC_0156.jpg

[Reckers]

Nice job. Did you consider using some sheet metal for the bottom instead of plywood?

[tworail]

Nice job. Did you consider using some sheet metal for the bottom instead of plywood?

Sorta.. when I was halfway screwing the first piece down and it was starting to look bad! :)

Yeah it would be a better solution I think, however I didn't have a ready source for the sheetmetal - maybe they would have had some at the lumberyard, dunno. But I also like working with wood. Buy overall sheetmetal would be far less stressful to work with in this application.

[Reckers]

Wood is a lot more satisfying to work with. Around here, hardware stores sell different sizes of sheet metal in small rolls, for project work, small duct repairs, and so on. You did a good job, though. Looks nice!

[Reckers]

Hey! I just remembered something, after taking another look at your sled. When I was a kid, we had a station wagon---10 kids in a family requires one. In winter, my dad would tie a rope to the back bumper, and string 3 long sleds behind the car in a line, then take us sledding on the streets. *L* He'd be jailed for child abuse if he tried that today!

[tw001_tw]

Great job tworail. Consider your self fortunate to have a (real) reason to build such a thing!

[tworail]

Thanks! It's been a fulfilling project. It's required now, there was too much snow in the field and we barely got the truck out back to the road. We took it out yesterday and it really works quite well. I put some stain on the bottom and the friction is really quite low for something that is about 5x2 on the ground. Cold snow is probably a benefit. The 'play' in the hitch really helps since the snow path is typically bumpy, much better than trying to lock it down in some way.

Here's a bad cell phone pic of the field:

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz79/jmack_2011/IMG00002-20100103-1447.jpg

[MacDaddy55]

I live about a block from a Sports center that deals snowmobiles and water craft....took your photo over and they were impressed. How much snow do you actually have? We have about 3ft. in low lying areas but pasture land and open areas have been reduced to a couple of inches(no matter which way you turn...the winds always in your face!). You must be in the "Burbs" of Toronto cuz that looks pretty out there. Well good job on the sled...if you seal that baby get some nautical sealant that'll keep the water out. Oh and don't forget the Ancient Eskimo Saying..If your sled breaks down on the trail....you can't eat it!:laugh:

[tworail]

Right now I am far from Toronto up north of Kingston, Ontario. There is about a foot or more of snow up here. It's in the bush basically.

Won't catch me in the burbs of Toronto, ever :)

[Reckers]

I live about a block from a Sports center that deals snowmobiles and water craft....took your photo over and they were impressed. How much snow do you actually have? We have about 3ft. in low lying areas but pasture land and open areas have been reduced to a couple of inches(no matter which way you turn...the winds always in your face!). You must be in the "Burbs" of Toronto cuz that looks pretty out there. Well good job on the sled...if you seal that baby get some nautical sealant that'll keep the water out. Oh and don't forget the Ancient Eskimo Saying..If your sled breaks down on the trail....you can't eat it!:laugh:

I recently read The Terror by Dan Simmons----a fictional account of a real lost British expedition to find the NW Passage. At one point, the main character watches an Inuit woman take the skin tent they had been sleeping in and turn it into a sled. She cuts it in half, then dips each half in the water of an open lead. She has a pile of fish there, as well, and before the skin tent-half can freeze, she lines fish up on top of one edge and rolls them up, carfully bending the last fish into a curve and holding it till it freezes. She then repeats it. Voila! Sled runners! Another wet skin is stretched over the two, tied and allowed to freeze. She loads up the sled and it's ready to go. So, I guess from the Inuit point of view, you CAN eat your sled!:laugh:

[big ed]

Hey! I just remembered something, after taking another look at your sled. When I was a kid, we had a station wagon---10 kids in a family requires one. In winter, my dad would tie a rope to the back bumper, and string 3 long sleds behind the car in a line, then take us sledding on the streets. *L* He'd be jailed for child abuse if he tried that today!


My Dad did the same thing all though he denied ever doing it in his later years.

I remember as I was on the tail end all the time getting whipped around the corners holding on for dear life. No helmets either.:laugh:

Did you think about encasing the sled with fiberglass?

I did that to an old wooden boat that cracked. Turned it upside down and gave it a coat of glass.

[MacDaddy55]

Hey Reck,
Here's another Eskimo Tidbit by none other than the late Frank Zappa..."Watchout where the Huskies go don't you eat that yellow snow!!":laugh::laugh:

[Reckers]

Fer real. There is no such thing as a lemonade icicle, no matter what the older kids say!