Built myself a Smitty sled

[Zktaylor]

Cant wait for some snow to try it out!

[ValparaisoGirl]

Cool!  All ya need now are the team of reindeers!       I like how you added the chest, nice touch.

[Zktaylor]

I'll just use the 4 dogs I have lol. I was originally going to build a pvc type basket on the front but I figured I'd save myself the aggravation and buy that plastic box. It's very light weight and cost about the same as it would to buy all the pvc and fittings, plus it has a lid

[ice_mike]

You will be amazed!!
Nice looking rig

[ValparaisoGirl]

[Beets]

Nice job.I love mine,saves on the back and legs.
Thanxs again Smitty!

[Zktaylor]

Thanks guys, and thank you smitty! Very anxious to try it. Feels kind of heavy now but hopefully it'll help with 8"+ of snow.

[spring bobber]

Looks like all the wood you have on there weighs more than your shanty.

[fishingfreak]

The sled looks good.  I built one last year that looks very similar.  I made mine where the cross bars are removable so I can take it apart to fit in my SUV a little better.   I took a hex head bolt and removed the "hex" with a grinder.  I then put the bolt in my drill and drilled it into the cut out until it was flush with the top.  I drilled holes in the cross bars and it slides right over the bolts.  It goes together and apart fast. 

[Zktaylor]

The sled looks good.  I built one last year that looks very similar.  I made mine where the cross bars are removable so I can take it apart to fit in my SUV a little better.   I took a hex head bolt and removed the "hex" with a grinder.  I then put the bolt in my drill and drilled it into the cut out until it was flush with the top.  I drilled holes in the cross bars and it slides right over the bolts.  It goes together and apart fast.

All of my cross members are removable. The only difference is the bolts go into the 2x10s instead of the other way around. I was thinking of doing something like you said for the front cross member so when I take it apart it and put it in my suv, it wont sit sideways and everything wont move around inside the box because the bolts are sticking out on the bottom. thanks for the info, maybe I'll do that with all of the cross members.

[Zktaylor]

Looks like all the wood you have on there weighs more than your shanty.

I also thought it was kind of heavy, but I'm only going to be using this when the snow gets deep. So HOPEFULLY with deep snow and less surface contact it wont be so hard to pull, and that was the only reason I built this. Mostly an experimental project to see if it works or if I should just break down and buy a one man flip over which my girlfriend wont be so happy with. Just another excuse to go "fishing without her" lol. Plus the weight of the shanty doesnt mean much when you're plowing through 10" of snow. If all else fails I'll just have to convince her to let me buy a snowmobile lol.

[izzy65]

Awsome looking

[crappie66]

Design looks nice. 

I always see people use some pretty big pieces of lumber, makes me wonder if the bulk defeats the purpose.

Anybody ever consider using lightweight aluminum for the framing?

[spud bar]

Looks like all the wood you have on there weighs more than your shanty.

Lol. huh?

Nice job on the build man. You'll be amazed at how well it pulls in the snow. Mine looked real similar to yours in the beginning. Realized after a couple of trips you don't need that much height on the supports. Even in soft snow fully loaded it does a good job of staying up on top of the pow. Enjoy.

[step2jimi]

Im not sure why but my smitty sled doesn't pull nearly as easy as many say they do. I built mine almost to a t with what smitty himself had done and when im in snow over say 8 inches especially if its wet, im better off just pulling my jetsled over it. but I have talked to people on the ice and on here who say the smitty sled is a must have. Could it be that I don't have the right skis? I got them from a buddy and they're his old snow skis. they're kind of wide and pretty round front and back(some sort of trick skis?).

[Zktaylor]

Lol. huh?

Nice job on the build man. You'll be amazed at how well it pulls in the snow. Mine looked real similar to yours in the beginning. Realized after a couple of trips you don't need that much height on the supports. Even in soft snow fully loaded it does a good job of staying up on top of the pow. Enjoy.

Thanks for the info. I'll probably end up cutting them down a little bit. I didnt know how tall I should go just because of all the snow we got last year.

[tater140]

I have 2x6 stand on the skis and it does a great job with my shanty.  I did pull my buddy's frabill shanty one time loaded down and uphill in 18" of snow and it sucked.  I think the smitty works fine unless u overload it wih weight and then it can become a chore.  I have used my clam and a normal load and pulled thru 12" of snow with no problems, and glad i had the smitty sled at that point.

[Zktaylor]

swapped out my 2x10s with 2x6s. feels much better now.

[fishingfreak]

I agree the 2x6 looks better.   I built mine using 2x10 also to keep it out of the deep snow however unless its the real fluffy snow the sled rides on top of most of it.   I don't think the weight  of the 2x6 or 2x10 makes much of a difference.  I only got to use it last year.  everything I put in my sled {poles, lantern. 2 vexilars. camera. 2 person  flip over shanty etc) the extra weight of the wood is not that big of a deal.  However i did notice that keeping the weight off the front of the sled helped most and using a long rope to pull the sled was more important.  You will also find that it is very hard to turn the sled

[spring bobber]

That's more like it. You should be safe at that height I would think. Usually if we get any more than 6 inches of snow, alot of the lower layers are crusted up/frozen anyway, or its just slush which is pretty tough to traverse Smitty sled or not.

[Oldbear]

Nice.  It may be a little nose heavy with the box mounted on the front.

[river_scum]

very nice looking sled man you mite put diagonal braces from the cross bars down to the legs, for more strength there.

[Zktaylor]

If I put braces on the cross members that would defeat the purpose of having them be removable to fit in my vehicle. And I can move the box to any of the cross members since they are removable and interchangeable.

[river_scum]

oh, i didnt read all your posts. didnt realize it was a take apart sled. just in-visioned someone setting on it and it collapsing.

[Nightbird]

Nice.  It may be a little nose heavy with the box mounted on the front.

Good-looking and very functional sled, but I agree with Oldbear re box position. I'm going to build one with the box on back and see how it works. Who knows until actually tried?

[fishinpo1e1]

Im not sure why but my smitty sled doesn't pull nearly as easy as many say they do. I built mine almost to a t with what smitty himself had done and when im in snow over say 8 inches especially if its wet, im better off just pulling my jetsled over it. but I have talked to people on the ice and on here who say the smitty sled is a must have. Could it be that I don't have the right skis? I got them from a buddy and they're his old snow skis. they're kind of wide and pretty round front and back(some sort of trick skis?).

I built my "Smitty Sled a couple years ago using cross country ski's. It worked good until I bought some heavy plastic strips 3.4"X 3/4" to protect the ski bottom. First thing that resulted was that I couldn't turn it at all. Then the tapered front of the plastic strip dug into the snow and slush at the very front and tripled the resistance. So I decided to strip off the cross country ski's and add snow ski's. Snow ski's have a steel hard edge built into them.
When the snow and underlying slush with a ice crust in between made pulling and walking difficult, I found that the snow ski's caught snow at the edges and made it very hard to pull and even harder to start it moving from a dead stop as the slush froze to the hard edges. Also the cross bars catch snow underneath and you end up smoothing out the snow as you pull. Not good.
I like the snow ski's better for the heavy loads that I carry but that slushy snow like we had last year almost killed me.The sled skis are waxed or siliconed before going out. But the return trip becomes more difficult as the coating wears away.My pics are probably still on this site under smitty sled, I think.
If I had to do it all over again, I would move those cross bars on top of the platform and keep it from snagging snow. It pulls great and straight when friends offer me a ride on their 4 wheelers. My sled is longer and while set up to disassemble I have an old station wagon and fit it in the back with seat folded down. Pulling by hand on ice and light snow, 4" or less is a dream, using one finger. I carry a 200# TO 250# load including the sled weight. most time.

[Zktaylor]

Good-looking and very functional sled, but I agree with Oldbear re box position. I'm going to build one with the box on back and see how it works. Who knows until actually tried?

I'm gonna wait until we get some snow and load all my gear up and see how it pulls. If it wants to dig I'll just put the box on the rear and reposition my middle uprights. I'm not carrying much gear anyways so I really dont know if it'll make much of a difference or not. My auger and chairs will be strapped down in the rear on top of the shanty and all I'll have left is my poles, ice scoop and my flasher in the box. Plus the box is really light weight. Guess it just depends on how much crap you bring with you on the ice lol.

[Beets]

As a bonus to smaller sleds I use a retractable dog leash to pull mine.
 I can walk to the top of a small hill and pull it up or give the leash some slack and lower it down.
Leaves my other hand free for balance or to catch myself if I slip.
Tight lines!