Maggot snowmobile thread

[nortonwhis]

Got out for the first day ever yesterday. Managed to get it on and off the truck without crashing.
Buddy's sled was saying he was doing 150km hour which we def weren't. Any idea what was causing that?
Both were over heating pretty bad on a logging road, ice scratchers down, but still not much snow getting thrown around. Is there anything you can do or just pile snow on the tunnel. both are 2015 xp 163's

[el hefe]

Got out for the first day ever yesterday. Managed to get it on and off the truck without crashing.
Buddy's sled was saying he was doing 150km hour which we def weren't. Any idea what was causing that?
Both were over heating pretty bad on a logging road, ice scratchers down, but still not much snow getting thrown around. Is there anything you can do or just pile snow on the tunnel. both are 2015 xp 163's

Try and get the sled into some softer snow on side of road if possible. Get it a bit sideways and get the track dug in and gas it. Or pack snow into track under tunnel

[simple]

2015 is XM.

You can put another set of scratchers near the end of the track. Also skidoo xm do better with another set of tension wheels. The 2015 didn't have them. The 2016 did. Under a $100 and they bolt on in 10 minutes. Those of us with 3" paddles have to do these things to keep them from overheating on the trail.

Also do you have a stock snow flap? Make sure you do. Trimming the flap on a XM is stupid.

[theunknownusermane]

I haven't snowmobiled before but I really want to.

[nortonwhis]

Try and get the sled into some softer snow on side of road if possible. Get it a bit sideways and get the track dug in and gas it. Or pack snow into track under tunnel

Off the side was creek beds as was low elevation, think it was just a rough day for a couple of kooks to be out. No one else around which normally says something...

Thanks simple. Ill check into those things too...

[shafty85]

This past weekend we took the sleds out after the Christmas party. Was +8 on the trails. Was bored out of my skull and my snow flap kept getting sucked into my track. Anywho, while I wasn't paying attention and thinking about how I should get my shocks rebuilt and adjust my ride height I promptly smashed into the fiancee who had stopped cause she felt like her belt was slipping. Luckily we were able to hail a passing rider and he helped me pull my sled out from between her track and tunnel. We were then able to pull my coolant tank out from where it had been smashed off its mount and into the engine bay and ride the 3k back out to the truck. Whiplash and bruises for her and plenty of work required on my sled. It's called relationship building, I'm told

[Wapow]

2015 is XM.

You can put another set of scratchers near the end of the track. Also skidoo xm do better with another set of tension wheels. The 2015 didn't have them. The 2016 did. Under a $100 and they bolt on in 10 minutes. Those of us with 3" paddles have to do these things to keep them from overheating on the trail.

Also do you have a stock snow flap? Make sure you do. Trimming the flap on a XM is stupid.

Good suggestions. You have to move fast for the scratchers to work, and newbs generally can't go fast (understandably, sledding is NOT intuitive or easy). The scratchers on the new Doo G4s work a lot better than old school style. Add a pair of those to what you currently have, if you can afford it. And if you have a tunnel rack, you can pack snow in it. The tunnel has a cooler in it that circulates the coolant from the engine. Scratchers spray snow at the tunnel, which cools the engine. They also put snow in your skid. Snow is the lubricant for the track and when you are on hardpack, the friction of the track rotating without snow exacerbates the engine overheating. As you get better at riding you will figure out how to "mine" snow off the side of the trail (hint: you gotta spin the track in patches of loose snow, which requires being comfortable using all the power) to build a "plug"of snow and ice in the tunnel that will keep everything cool on the way up to the good snow. I took a newb out last weekend and there was spring like refrozen conditions at the snowpark. I had no problem keeping the sleds cool while he was struggling. I generally trade back and forth between sleds in those conditions to keep everything cool and moving forward. You won't have any issue in pow.

[Ville]

Little scouting trip to wilderness. We still need some snow up here.

Lähetetty minun FIG-LX1 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[nortonwhis]

Good suggestions. You have to move fast for the scratchers to work, and newbs generally can't go fast (understandably, sledding is NOT intuitive or easy). The scratchers on the new Doo G4s work a lot better than old school style. Add a pair of those to what you currently have, if you can afford it. And if you have a tunnel rack, you can pack snow in it. The tunnel has a cooler in it that circulates the coolant from the engine. Scratchers spray snow at the tunnel, which cools the engine. They also put snow in your skid. Snow is the lubricant for the track and when you are on hardpack, the friction of the track rotating without snow exacerbates the engine overheating. As you get better at riding you will figure out how to "mine" snow off the side of the trail (hint: you gotta spin the track in patches of loose snow, which requires being comfortable using all the power) to build a "plug"of snow and ice in the tunnel that will keep everything cool on the way up to the good snow. I took a newb out last weekend and there was spring like refrozen conditions at the snowpark. I had no problem keeping the sleds cool while he was struggling. I generally trade back and forth between sleds in those conditions to keep everything cool and moving forward. You won't have any issue in pow.

This makes sense, we still struggled going 20km, initially we were doing 40 and thought we were going too fast and causing the over heating, so backed off without any success either.

[Wapow]

More fuel actually helps cool the engine. Also, constantly pulsing the throttle is better than holding it at a steady rate. This works because when you pulse you are giving it a blast of fuel periodically, rather than a constant lesser flow. It is also how all expert riders do it all the time, because pulsing allows micro control of the machine. Every time you give it a burst, you drive power to track and skis, allowing you to make subtle changes to direction, speed and attack angle.

[simple]

Why then do the bros pulse the throttle in the parking lot? To get their thumbs ready for the day?

Lol I hate show offs.

[Wapow]

The phenomenon of the parking lot hero w/ the super loud aftermarket "muffler" is unexplainable by me.

[simple]

Lol it is just one of those things

[nortonwhis]

The phenomenon of the parking lot hero w/ the super loud aftermarket "muffler" is unexplainable by me.

I have one of those. Its so fuckin loud. Just came on the second hand sled.
Is it save to keep riding til the light comes on or should you back it off before then?

[Wapow]

If it's a Doo, you can probably find a stock muffler for cheap. If your sled has a temp gauge, you should keep an eye on it in refrozen conditions, which are the worst for cooling. Take measures before it overheats, mainly because once it does on Doos, the engine will go into safe mode until it cools down, which means that you will have to sit and wait for it to cool off. Worst case, you can pull over and pile snow on the tunnel and pack it into your rack periodically to help keep it cool on the way up to the pow. Repeated overheating will eventually lead to issues. At a minimum, it will wear out your "sliders". If you smell plastic burning when you're riding in those conditions, that's likely the source.

[tobytortorelli]

Sled stoke!

[pano-dude]

More fuel actually helps cool the engine. Also, constantly pulsing the throttle is better than holding it at a steady rate. This works because when you pulse you are giving it a blast of fuel periodically, rather than a constant lesser flow. It is also how all expert riders do it all the time, because pulsing allows micro control of the machine. Every time you give it a burst, you drive power to track and skis, allowing you to make subtle changes to direction, speed and attack angle.

And kicks the shit outta da trail.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

[Wapow]

Nice one Toby! I skied Ulrichs about 10 years ago w/ you. Good to see you're still killing it.

[Wapow]

And kicks the shit outta da trail.

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Ha! True. Turns out that's what grooming is really for.

[simple]

Sled stoke!

We had this kind of day today in Colorado. Unreal deep downhill turns.

[simple]

I found the creek bed

Nice shot of buddy

[Micol]

I found the creek bed

Nice shot of buddy

nice shots, Ive been in a few of those creeks myself.....eventually you get out, just gotta keep diggin

[simple]

I got lucky there was an exit ramp easily created. Not my worst stuck but painfull hitting that wall of snow.

[Judo Chop!]

hey what are you guys all doing for in-bed decks?

I want something I can leave in my truck and fold away, and still have use of the bed for other life stuff. Also keep access for a tonneau cover. Then remove in fall/summer for use with my camper, or just to carry surfboards without extra shit in the bed to ding them. I don't want a full deck since I never carry two sleds and don't like the weight up high, or the $$, and still use my truck bed like a truck bed for other things.

Previously I just went straight in the bed (and bent my tailgate to shit). This year I quickly made this as a sort of prototype. It's made loading & unloading so much easier with the glides + traction. the folding rear section spans the tailgate hinge and spreads the load. And the notches for the tabs on my CFR ramp made putting that on and off super quick.
But I want to be able to use Superclamps to tie down to something solid (not just the deck itself) - can't do that right now. And I still need to strap the ramp to the hitch, which is a pain. It would be bonus to be able to stow the ramp under the deck in a low-profile way.

Does anyone make what I want? I was thinking of making the same again out of 80/20 extruded aluminum and bolting it in.

thank mags.

[BCMtnHound]

Closest to a single sled, low profile deck I’ve seen commercially available is from ALFAB Mfg in Nelson https://alfabmfg.com . They don’t fold though. They do custom work, but I have no idea what price you might consider too high.