Author Topic: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"  (Read 819432 times)

Offline hardwater diehard

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1980 on: Jan 02, 2021, 11:30 AM »
I think that pushing a smitty sled would be like pushing a chain, not very easy. Pulling is a lot easier.

May be on limited fresh snow atop hard ice ..but over any land terrain would be near impossible . hard pack drifted snow would present a problem.
Give a man a fish he eats for a day .Teach a man to ice fish he has an obsession for a lifetime

Offline HWP

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1981 on: Jan 02, 2021, 11:47 AM »
Thanks for sharing smitty experiences. I'm building my first.

Any opinions on ski width/style for pulling through deep snow?

I have an old pair of fat powder skis and long skinny racers. Thoughts?

Offline DANMAN

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1982 on: Jan 02, 2021, 12:57 PM »
Anybody use cross country skis on their sled?   Photos..?

Offline fishEH

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1983 on: Jan 03, 2021, 09:07 AM »
Deep snow and you'll want a fat ski with a wider waist. Hard pack and you could probably get away with a cross country ski. I went with a medium width ski that does well in most conditions.

Offline Uncle Al

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1984 on: Jan 03, 2021, 03:18 PM »
Not many use CC ski's cause they don't float very good. downhill or fat ski's are better.

Offline DANMAN

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1985 on: Jan 04, 2021, 08:14 PM »
Sled #2 for my Flipover #2




Offline smitty0312

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1986 on: Jan 05, 2021, 01:40 PM »
Anybody use cross country skis on their sled?   Photos..?
Downhill skis is what I recommend........
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Offline Iceassin

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1987 on: Jan 28, 2021, 04:03 PM »
Curious...has anyone used the "Slip Plate" brand graphite spray lube on their skis? I use it once a year on my auger flites to keep the water from freezing on them (works excellent by the way). Thinking it might be longer lasting and slicker than wax on the skis.
"Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice."
 


Offline NascarNHIS

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1988 on: Feb 10, 2021, 11:22 AM »
Just bought my $5 skis.   Removing the bindings went well. Removed 4 philips head screws on the front , one plane screw on the back and slid it forward a few off to expose mout screws
Cuting some wood, more picks to follow.










Offline NascarNHIS

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1989 on: Feb 10, 2021, 11:37 AM »
Used 2x8 and 2x3 . Drilled holes in skis,  my Skis have metal top and bottom So I needed to oversize the pilot holes on both sides And countersink the bottoms. Drill pilot holes in the risers . I Used 4 each #12 2 1/2 inch stainless steel screws in each riser. Probably overkill but I had them sitting around. Added a little leftover paint.










Offline NascarNHIS

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1990 on: Feb 10, 2021, 11:52 AM »
Added some more leftover paint so I can tell my left from my right in my front for my back. The red and blue Side I Used 1/4 lag bolts and sawed of the heads . I drilled countersinks on the bottom of the cross pices to make aligning the pins and holes for assembly a bit easier. I Think my pins may be undersized and might bend .I might make some changes later.  The other side are used some old aluminum angle stock to make brackets to surround the risers.  I haven’t tested the sled yet so whatever system seems to work best I’ll probably use later.
I have a jet sled JR and a medium Otter sport . I am going to do some kind of bracket to hold my Kdrill , then I will trim my cross pices shorrter.








Offline lefty2053

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1991 on: Feb 11, 2021, 06:14 AM »
Looks good.
<===Lefty===

Offline fishercat

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1992 on: Feb 14, 2021, 08:09 AM »
One hour of time got me this.....






Offline SirCranksalot

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1993 on: Feb 14, 2021, 08:41 AM »
Added some more leftover paint so I can tell my left from my right in my front for my back. The red and blue Side I Used 1/4 lag bolts and sawed of the heads . I drilled countersinks on the bottom of the cross pices to make aligning the pins and holes for assembly a bit easier. I Think my pins may be undersized and might bend .I might make some changes later.  The other side are used some old aluminum angle stock to make brackets to surround the risers.  I haven’t tested the sled yet so whatever system seems to work best I’ll probably use later.
I have a jet sled JR and a medium Otter sport . I am going to do some kind of bracket to hold my Kdrill , then I will trim my cross pices shorrter.







That's abrilliant idea. The marks LF etc that I put on have almost disappeared.
Keep yer stick on the ice!

Offline smitty0312

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1994 on: Feb 21, 2021, 11:19 AM »
Very nice....I like....tight lines
[email protected] if you don't have a FB account.....or search "The Original Smitty Sled" on FB....thank you

Offline sparksNfishing

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1995 on: Feb 21, 2021, 03:31 PM »
I'm sure glad I built a Smitty Sled this year. What an awesome setup. I usually take it with me each trip, even when driving on and then use it if I go off from the main setup. It's so slick for early ice and when you gotta walk on and head out a couple hundred meters. My addition to it was bending up some 1/2 EMT to connect to the back of my sled. I had to drill two holes on the back lip of the sled and than the rest sits/rest against the back wall. Really solid, super light, holds a ton more gear but a bit bulkier to pack. I added a couple rod holders also to it.



Offline smitty0312

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1996 on: Feb 25, 2021, 09:40 AM »
I'm sure glad I built a Smitty Sled this year. What an awesome setup. I usually take it with me each trip, even when driving on and then use it if I go off from the main setup. It's so slick for early ice and when you gotta walk on and head out a couple hundred meters. My addition to it was bending up some 1/2 EMT to connect to the back of my sled. I had to drill two holes on the back lip of the sled and than the rest sits/rest against the back wall. Really solid, super light, holds a ton more gear but a bit bulkier to pack. I added a couple rod holders also to it.



Looks very nice....thx for posting
[email protected] if you don't have a FB account.....or search "The Original Smitty Sled" on FB....thank you

Offline badger132

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1997 on: Feb 25, 2021, 12:34 PM »
I'm sure glad I built a Smitty Sled this year. What an awesome setup. I usually take it with me each trip, even when driving on and then use it if I go off from the main setup. It's so slick for early ice and when you gotta walk on and head out a couple hundred meters. My addition to it was bending up some 1/2 EMT to connect to the back of my sled. I had to drill two holes on the back lip of the sled and than the rest sits/rest against the back wall. Really solid, super light, holds a ton more gear but a bit bulkier to pack. I added a couple rod holders also to it.



What are the white rod holders made out of? I use PVC schedule 40, but it is thicker and heavier than I would like.

Offline sparksNfishing

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1998 on: Feb 25, 2021, 06:05 PM »
What are the white rod holders made out of? I use PVC schedule 40, but it is thicker and heavier than I would like.

It's just some 2" central vacuum pipe. Had some left over so I figured it'd be worth a try.

Offline badger132

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #1999 on: Feb 25, 2021, 10:49 PM »
It's just some 2" central vacuum pipe. Had some left over so I figured it'd be worth a try.

Looks like just the thing! Thanks!
I realize it does not make much difference for short ones like you made, but I put the rods in them tip first, so they are like 30-36 inches long. If you have 5 of them, it starts to add up.

Offline mugsy

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2000 on: Feb 26, 2021, 12:19 PM »








made this up outta scrap wood i had in my garage.
the emt frame is a shelter,  goes into 4 fitting at front of sled and secures w/ hitch pins
tarp and bungees covers it, its made with maker pipe fittings. shelter bench also serves as rear footrest for smitty rider.
the buckets are cat litter buckets,  4 cats generate 2 every 2 weeks.  ive used all i can
ive given them to neighbors and i HATE throwin them out.  Found a new use for them
if anyone would like any lemme know
 







Offline mugsy

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2001 on: Feb 26, 2021, 03:47 PM »
What are the white rod holders made out of? I use PVC schedule 40, but it is thicker and heavier than I would like.
try dwv pvc, its thinner

Offline badger132

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2002 on: Feb 27, 2021, 11:16 AM »
try dwv pvc, its thinner

Does that come in 1-1/2 inch? I could not find it locally.

Offline ICEHOLE

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2003 on: Feb 27, 2021, 12:40 PM »
Decided to do the "smitty" thing
Had a kid fabricate me up a frame to hold my jet sled l, now I just got to attach skis
Lightweight aluminum, I hope this is the ticket!


Offline badger132

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2004 on: Feb 27, 2021, 05:28 PM »
Decided to do the "smitty" thing
Had a kid fabricate me up a frame to hold my jet sled l, now I just got to attach skis
Lightweight aluminum, I hope this is the ticket!

Nice build! Does it come apart for transport?
Be sure to move the rope down and attach to the ski tips for pulling.

Offline mugsy

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2005 on: Mar 01, 2021, 02:51 PM »
Does that come in 1-1/2 inch? I could not find it locally.
check with a real plumbing supply,  homedepot/lowes dont carry
you can also use the plastic drain pipe for under counter connections
that comes in 1-1/4 & 1-1/2 , a flanged tailpiece 6-8" long are only a couple bucks

Offline Extcat

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2006 on: Mar 27, 2021, 12:52 PM »
My buddy with MS with his version of the smitty. He gives it all he’s got to keep fishing.


Offline ICEHOLE

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2007 on: Mar 27, 2021, 01:30 PM »
My buddy with MS with his version of the smitty. He gives it all he’s got to keep fishing.

:clap: :clap: :bow:

Offline Junkie4Ice

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2008 on: Mar 31, 2021, 07:46 AM »
My buddy with MS with his version of the smitty. He gives it all he’s got to keep fishing.


One of the coolest things I've seen!
Da Pack!

Offline river_scum

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Re: My Homemade $15 Sled! AKA The "Smitty Sled"
« Reply #2009 on: Mar 31, 2021, 07:37 PM »
now thats a great version of a smitty sled extcat!  :clap: :clap:

make a shanty over the back and you could be the unknown ice fisherman.  just be a shanty moving around.  youd never have to get out. lmao
real fishermen don't ask "where you catch those"

OANN the real story

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