Snowmobile Upgrades

[tswoboda]

I have a 97 Bearcat 340 that I want to do 1 of 2 upgrades on for this year, either the track or the skis.  I fish NW Ontario so deep snow plus slush is simply a part of life.

Last year was tough conditions and my biggest problems were the front end diving in deep snow and losing a lot of speed and barely making it through the bad slush pockets (plenty of power, just didn't have the traction with the short lugs).  My question is which upgrade will I see more of a benefit from:

Going from .75" lugs to 1.5" lugs.  The track is 136"x15".

Changing the stock steel skis to high flotation plastic skis.

Eventually I want to do both, but don't want to put all the money in right away.

[CMMahy]

Instead of swapping the entire ski, try throwing some wide ski skins over them. You can usually get them at most dealerships for under $100, and they only take a few minutes to install. I've got a set of 6" wide skins on my Tundra, and they make a big difference.

As far as swapping the track, take a look up inside your tunnel, and make sure you've got the clearance to go to a taller lug track. Most sleds of that era don't have much extra room, especially right up in the front where the track wraps around the cross-shaft.

Going to such a tall lug with a small engine like a 340cc fan, you may not have the power to spin that track in the deep snow or slush, making your problem even worse. You can gear down the chaincase to help, but that's extra $$ and you're going to loose top speed as well.

[tswoboda]

Instead of swapping the entire ski, try throwing some wide ski skins over them. You can usually get them at most dealerships for under $100, and they only take a few minutes to install. I've got a set of 6" wide skins on my Tundra, and they make a big difference.

As far as swapping the track, take a look up inside your tunnel, and make sure you've got the clearance to go to a taller lug track. Most sleds of that era don't have much extra room, especially right up in the front where the track wraps around the cross-shaft.

Going to such a tall lug with a small engine like a 340cc fan, you may not have the power to spin that track in the deep snow or slush, making your problem even worse. You can gear down the chaincase to help, but that's extra $$ and you're going to loose top speed as well.

Thanks for the advice and warning on track fitment.  I talked with someone with the exact snowmobile as mine who put a 1.5" paddle track and said it fit just fine. 

And as far as power goes it's a utility sled, so already geared low plus it has the wide ratio clutch.  What I'm trying to say is it has plenty of low end power, even with the small motor.  When i get into slush now the track just spins wildly and I don't move very fast, I need more traction, not power.

[CMMahy]

If you know someone who's already done the swap, and is happy with it, then you should be good to go.

As far as which is going to make the biggest difference in the slush, most likely the track. The ski's will hold the front end up, but you're still going to have the track drop down and get hung up on the running boards. 

Kinda like this:



With the more aggressive track, you'll hopefully maintain a bit more momentum, which will keep the back end from digging down so deep. My little tundra has neither the tunnel clearance, nor the power to try a similar upgrade. That's how I ended up like this.

[Traxion]

You are not going to gain much floatation from a ski swap.  Track swap will be the biggest gain, even with the lower utility gearing you still may have to go lower. 

Look around the swap boards for take off skis.  Everyone upgrades and you can pick them up dirt cheap.  Tracks are a little harder to come by but you should be able to a 1.5 x 136 pretty easily. 

Good luck.

[tswoboda]

Thanks for the replies guys!  Sounds like I'll see more improvement from the track swap so I think that's what I'll focus on first.  But as Traxion mentioned, I'm trying to pick this stuff up used so it may come down to whichever I find the right deal on first.

Not to hijack my own thread, but CMMahy how do you like the Tundra II for fishing?  My dad is thinking about picking up a long track Tundra or Bravo. 

[CMMahy]

Not to hijack my own thread, but CMMahy how do you like the Tundra II for fishing?  My dad is thinking about picking up a long track Tundra or Bravo. 

I love it! It's light, barely uses any fuel, handles the deep snow like a champ, and pulls all my gear with ease. The few times I have got it stuck (like the time above), it was pretty quick to get it back out by myself, because it's so light. I don't have long distances to travel across the lake, so the low speeds and rough ride aren't an issue for me. If I had to put some serious miles on to get to the good fishing areas, I'd be looking for something like a touring or cross over utility model with a bigger engine, wider ski stance and better suspension. I dont have much first hand experience with the Bravo, but there's got to be a reason Yamaha made it exactly the same for so many years. Either one should work just fine as a fishing machine.

[sbfPA_Mike]

Just a random observation..... I would look at moving some weight up front, i.e. putting an auger mount on the front rail. (I am going off the Tundra II picture CMMahy posted) I'm thinking you can get your rear end on top a bit more by lessening the load. I understand the logic of the taller lugs, but also think you could just be digging a deeper hole faster.

Mike

[tswoboda]

Just a random observation..... I would look at moving some weight up front, i.e. putting an auger mount on the front rail. (I am going off the Tundra II picture CMMahy posted) I'm thinking you can get your rear end on top a bit more by lessening the load. I understand the logic of the taller lugs, but also think you could just be digging a deeper hole faster.

Mike

My auger will be on the front bumper eventually, just don't have access to a welder right now.  The auger up front is going to hurt more than help though without adding flotation skis or at least ski skins.  The way my sled is now it dives in deep snow so adding the auger is only going to make that worse!

[Big Burk]

If your front end is digging into the snow more than you want get wider skis, I have wider aftermarket skis on two of my snowmobiles and one I have just the wide ski skins on the stock steel skis, the ski skins help but not as much as a wider & lighter plastic ski will.