Snowmobile

[sailaway]

After looking at your mugs posing with snomobiles, my curiosity was rekindled to investigate getting one. I live on a sand spit according to Uncle Joe and it is 10 miles round trip into town or the hospital. We get snowed in every other winter for a couple of days. This has made me wonder about getting a good used snowmobile for emergencies, probably 10 years old. What brand would you recomend? Is one model of a brand better than another? How many HP for a motor? How can you tell if a snowmobile has ben abused? What options do you recomend? What should regular maintenance cover? What else should I know? Sail

[UncleJoe]

Originally Posted by sailaway

I live on a sand spit according to Uncle Joe

OK. What did I say that has slipped through this sieve I call a brain?

[NaeKid]

Around here we have two kinds of snowmobiles.

We have trail-riding units that are used to travel along snow-covered fire-roads, across open fields and used to pull winter-camping gear on skid-trailers (imagine removing the wheels from a quad-trailer and replacing the wheels with skis). These snowmobiles are low-power, torque-based units that are not designed with "thrill" in mind, but, with utility. That doesn't mean that they can't be fun as well.

Some current options on utility-style snowmobiles can be found here: Utility Snowmobiles: Utility Snowmobile Reviews, Videos, and Pictures


Then, we have the thrill-seekers.

One guy I know has a 6-foot track that extends way beyond the back of the actual machine (as shown on this link) and is running close to 700hp under the hood. He does "powder-surfing" and "vertical-climbs" where he might ride an avalanche-wave on his snowmobile or power against an avalanche to try to reach the top of a mountain.

[mosquitomountainman]

Neakid has some really good websites to look at to give you an idea of what to look for. Generally, deeper, drier and softer snow requires a longer track with taller "paddles" on the track. Firm (crusted or wet) or shallow snow (12 to 24 inches) is easier to get around on so your machine doesn't have to be as aggressive or powerful.

You always need to carry a spare drive belt and spark plugs. Wear earplugs. These things are LOUD! We pull a sled behind ours when hauling gear. Our small machine has a standard length track with 2 inch paddles and 440 cc motor. It will easily hit 60 mph on the flats. (If I wanted to know how fast it would really go I'd have my son test it out. I'm to old for the high speed stuff.) You don't need a big sled for normal use in moderate snow conditions. We have a neighbor with a sled built in the 70's that still works great. Newer sleds have bigger motors and better suspension.

If you're looking to buy a used one go to a dealer who will give you a warrenty of some kind or take someone with you who knows snowmobiles and knows what to look for.