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Put your auger on the floor next to your sled, and make your smitty that wide, or a little wider. install some screw eyes into your risers for a place to hook ratchet straps to. I put screw eyes in the front risers facing the ski's and ran my ropes through the ski tips and tied them on there. I use it on the river here, walking. When out on the bay I have a clam 2 man and the smitty hooked to my snow machine.
I'm planning on building a smitty to be pulled by one of my machines....a snowmobile or rzr side by side. I can't see where pulling the sled by the tips of the skis does anything special. Ever watch people sking in deep powder snow? The tips of the skis will always rise up and break thru the snow....its why they are designed the way they are. Aint no one in front of the skier pulling him by the tips of his skies. My only concern is the length of the tow bar being too short causing the sled to perhaps hit the back of the snowmobile or the tires on the sxs. Modifying the tow bar with a suitable length of 1/2 inch conduit should take care of that though.
I read through your other post. Thank you. When you say use two bolts do you mean similar to the sled pictured a few posts above my questions post? Also forgive my ignorance but what is "counter sunk" exactly
I am with you on that. I already had plans to extend the tow bar. And I agree with your point on the ski tips. I only became concerned while reading through the thread about some issues with the front tips of skis digging. I was thinking if there is ever a concern for this I will be a prime candidate given the overall weight of the set up thats built in my mind
When I use the word bolt, I'm talking about a fastener that has machine threads and will accept a nut.. VS a screw that just makes its own threads..Counter sunk= not protruding, flush, or lower than the surface they are being driven into..Good luck!<°)))>{
IMO the point where people go wrong is placing cross member supports way to close to the tips of the skis. If there is too much weight forward, they can't do what they're supposed to properly. Look at the sled Ice Scratcher built and the way he centered his support on the skies. The bulk of the weight of the shanty will be over the center allowing the skis to flex, never bogging down. I know people think my shanty base is long and heavy so I have to spread the supports out but they don't as long as they don't make the spread too short. If you take the length of the base, divide it in half then divide that in half and center them over the middle of the skis (where the bindings would be), that is where you can put your supports. That should allow the skis to flex. Think of it as a really heavy person on the skis...they'll do what they are supposed to no matter his weight.
I have looked at every page of this thread. I have not read every post but I have looked at every photo and screen shoted several builds. Two buddies and I are meeting this weekend to make plans to build 3 smitty sleds. I have a few questions and hope I can get input on each. My sled is big! Its the otter XL pro (see photos of size you can see the 1 inch auger and fat fish inside the sled to give perspective). I have already built a rod rack on the back that is fairly light but the entire sled when packed down with hut, auger, and gear is too heavy to pull by myself. I basically take my wheeler every trip just to pull it. This is an ok situation but I suspect it is something I will need to consider when building a smitty. #1: Is there a reason (other than storage) that most guys have built the smitty with the plastic sled tied down to the smitty as opposed to bolted to the lumber? I am inclined to bolt mine as I already have holes in my sled from hyfax runners. I dont anticipate needing to take it off as long as it works well.#2 Concerning weight and the width of the skis, Ideally, I would like to build the smitty wider than my sled so that I can build an auger rack to the the side of the sled. For those of you with wide smitty sleds and or heavy sleds. Will this be an issue for pulling it? will my sled be a pain in the ass?#3 I see most guys have drilled holes in the tips of the ski for rope. Since my sled is wheeler only, I like to use a tow bar. Once the smitty is build, will I have issues attaching a tow bar to the sled itself rather than the front of the skis? I am wondering if I will have issues with he front of the skis digging in if I dont pull from the ski tips?
Most everyone has the base boards (attached to the skis) cut at and angle as opposed to a rectangle-esk shape. Any reason why?
prosty41, this isn't my smitty but a pic I took off another post someone else made, you can get an idea of how your sled would fit where the flipover is, and the auger next to it, hope it helps.(Image removed from quote.)
SUZIE'S SMITTY SLED...Well, today I helped my friend Suzie build her Smitty Sled. These aren't the greatest closeup photos; but it's made pretty much like Smitty's Original Sled on page 1 of this thread. If you're like us, you've looked at all the pictures for ideas. So there is nothing new here. I had a good day with an old friend doing this and she is thrilled to have her own Smitty Sled. I don't ice fish any more; but now I want to build one for myself...lmao, just because they're soo kool! Thanks Smitty for such a great and simple design! ><{{{{;>(Image removed from quote.)[/URL](Image removed from quote.)[/URL]
Just a detail question: how do you cut the vertical pieces so that the X-bars sit flush?
There are a dozen ways, the quick, easy way would be make two cuts and knock the chunk out with a hammer. Helps to score the break with a knife before knocking it out..<°)))>{
Thx---that's my level of wood butchery. I thought maybe there was a slicker way of doing it.
So, as I understand it you are saying to divide the ski length by 4 to determine how far apart the supports should be, then center the supports on the spot wher the bindings go?
Smitty, help these guys out, tell them is aint rocket science