HELP!!!! Snowmobiles!

[Epkomd]

Looking to upgrade my sled this year. Bought a bearcat 340 last fall, and it worked fine for me this past winter, but lack of reverse was a real pain in the ass!

I dont need anything fancy, 2-up would be prefered since im usually fishing with at least one other person.

not much into trail riding, but i may hit em from time to time.

So i guess what im asking is, what would you suggest, and what should i stay away from. Im fairly new to snowmobiles, so any help is appreciated.


oh, my budget is right around 3000... but i could see myself spending a tad more if it was worth it.

thanks in advance!

[NorthWoods Harry]

I ride an '02 Yamaha Venture 600 2-up. Heated grips, reverse, elec start,etc....LOVE IT! It is my second Venture. Picked it up for $2500.

Made a hitch for it...it can pull a portable shack AND haul a second person...with EASE! And if you DO decide to hit the trails, it is a comfortable ride!

I got 5000 miles on it now...no problems...

Just my 2 cents

[HardwaterFish]

Not having reverse sucks 

If I was strictly ice fishing, and had 3k to spend, I would buy a skandic. 500 fan with RER, studs and a hitch. something like this, a little newer even:

http://maine.craigslist.org/snw/4648204110.html

[NorthWoods Harry]

Not having reverse sucks 

If I was strictly ice fishing, and had 3k to spend, I would buy a skandic. 500 fan with RER, studs and a hitch. something like this, a little newer even:

http://maine.craigslist.org/snw/4648204110.html

 The older fan cooled sleds are nice and cheap. I think he was looking for a 2-up though...

[Epkomd]

Not having reverse sucks 

If I was strictly ice fishing, and had 3k to spend, I would buy a skandic. 500 fan with RER, studs and a hitch. something like this, a little newer even:

http://maine.craigslist.org/snw/4648204110.html

Now i know why you got rid of it  still treated me well though.

Which is better, fan or liquid cooled?

[NorthWoods Harry]

I think it's more of a personal preference. My Yamaha is liquid cooled. Had it out on days that dipped well below zero with no problems...

[BassinAssassin]

Arctic cat bear cat 570.

[HardwaterFish]

 The older fan cooled sleds are nice and cheap. I think he was looking for a 2-up though...

Plenty of skandics are two up.

Now i know why you got rid of it  still treated me well though.

Which is better, fan or liquid cooled?

Thats a good sled for the money, but the lack fo reverse does get old!

You want a fan. When there is no snow on the ice, a liquid will overheat pretty quick. The fan will run finewithout snow, just put some dishsoap on the slides and you can go on bare ice. Buy a fan Josh, it will be just what you need.

[ice cracker]

I have a zrt 600 that's liquid cooled and you can still go a while on ice before it overheats.

[Portland3]

Polaris Indy 500's are every where and easy to fix and get parts.

[BassinAssassin]

The dish soap does work on the sliders for a while. That's what they use at the grass drags. If you just skid the track every so often will generate enough ice to lube the sliders. Those diggers are just asking for trouble. Also  Pretty much all of the liquid cooled  sleds don't have radiators, they have heat exchangers. Which are under the sled. The snow spraying over the heat exchangers cools the liquid inside. Have you ever owned or worked on a sled before?

[bart]

[Grumpyoldman]

Bart, that looks nasty.  Why in the world would they put such a fragile part in such a vulnerable place? 

[bart]

Bart, that looks nasty.  Why in the world would they put such a fragile part in such a vulnerable place?

Not sure what you are talking about?  The picture shows a stock Undercarriage, Rails and Sliders with scratchers installed as recommended by the manufacturer. It has been working great, "sending up a shower of ice chips/shavings into the slide area of the track."

[Grumpyoldman]

That thing dragging on the ground (a scratcher I presume) is supposed to be there?
Ya know, I think I better stay quiet on topics for which I have no knowledge.  I've never seen a snowmobile that had one of those before.  But then, I  haven't seen a snowmobile real up close since the 1980's. 
My apologies, it looked like a coolant or hydraulic line that had broken loose.  My bad.
 

[bart]

That's what it is! It's a Sidekick Scratcher, it's flexible for a forgetful old guy when he backs up and forgets to put back up.    I would have went through 3 or 4 of the rigid type scratchers all ready... 

They work great keeping your sliders lubricated. Here is a picture of it put up when not needed.

[tundra redneck]

Skandic long track, wide track, or super wide track, tundra or tundra 2, or yamaha vk 2.it all depends on how far you travel with it, I have a 89tundra and I wowould put it up against any other sled in the slush

[maineduckhunter]

How much for the Bearcat?? 

[Epkomd]

Going to keep it as a spare, but i suppose for the right price id let it go 

[IceHutt]

If you get a liquid cooled sled, I would agree with Bart and put on a set of the SIDE KICKER SCRATCHERS.  The new ones have a carbide piece welded onto them now and will help kick up the ice chips to keep your sled cool and your slides (also known as the hyfax) cool.   I would also agree thqt a fan sled will work well for what you want and they are usually priced cheaper but you will still want the scratchers to keep the hyfax cool.  I have had people use my sleds and run in hardpacked snow and ice with the older style scratchers (which you can't go backwards with without kinking them) and have had the metal track clips melt to the hyfax runners before I caught it and had to pry the track loose with a screwdriver.     I have these sidekicker scratchers on most of my sleds now. They run about $50 and the cheapest place that I have found them is online from firstplaceparts.com in South Dakota.  They are a good place to deal with and give good service and prices.    Happy trails !  

[joefishmore]

Skandic long track, wide track, or super wide track, tundra or tundra 2, or yamaha vk 2.it all depends on how far you travel with it, I have a 89tundra and I wowould put it up against any other sled in the slush

Does it have picks ?

[cjg]

Looking to upgrade my sled this year. Bought a bearcat 340 last fall, and it worked fine for me this past winter, but lack of reverse was a real pain in the ass!

I dont need anything fancy, 2-up would be prefered since im usually fishing with at least one other person.

not much into trail riding, but i may hit em from time to time.

So i guess what im asking is, what would you suggest, and what should i stay away from. Im fairly new to snowmobiles, so any help is appreciated.




oh, my budget is right around 3000... but i could see myself spending a tad more if it was worth it.

thanks in advance!

You could look into putting reverse into the sled you have, that would be way cheaper than $3000. Might be able to find the parts on Ebay for cheap. It's not that hard, I've put mechanical reverse on a couple sleds, Even converted my wifes over to the newer electronic reverse with a kit off ebay.

[Epkomd]

that may be so, but i wanted to upgrade.