MyFishFinder.com Just like iceshanty but warmer
I have been lamenting the demise of the small light utility machine. I have a '90s 1 cylinder Tundra that I love, but it is so old! It was run by Idaho F&G until it was shot, then my buddy bought a half dozen of them for cat hunting, and what remains is this collection of the surviving parts. If I want something new, it is going to be $10k and weigh 550lb at least and be 12 feet long. I have considered going to a Snowdog, but then I saw these Chinese snowmobiles for about half the price of a Snowdog. https://birdysscootersandatvs.com/product/taotao-snowleopard-200cc-snowmobile/I already know people hate Chinese stuff, but does anyone have first person experience using one of these for fishing?
For the price of them you could find a good used one.
I have been lamenting the demise of the small light utility machine. I have a '90s 1 cylinder Tundra that I love, but it is so old! It was run by Idaho F&G until it was shot, then my buddy bought a half dozen of them for cat hunting, and what remains is this collection of the surviving parts. If I want something new, it is going to be $10k and weigh 550lb at least and be 12 feet long. I have considered going to a Snowdog, but then I saw these Chinese snowmobiles for about half the price of a Snowdog.
Here some thoughts that fit the everybody has an opinion category. From conversations with a couple of people with the China 4-wheelers you get what you pay for and in the end are stuck with something nobody wants, would guess that holds true for China snowmobiles, I would steer clear. Would you would be happy with a Snowdog after being used to the flexibility of a snowmobile?For the heck of it I skimmed through the Craigs List for Idaho, you sure don't have a lot of good used snowmobile options out that way do you? If new parts are available, would it be feasible to rebuild whatever might be mechanically in question on your Tundra, put it in new condition? not a great resale investment, but would buy reliability. For new it looks like the Tundra LT is the closest thing to what you are looking for, not super heavy or long, just under $9000. Not knowing if your snow conditions warrant it, the Yamaha VK is a good value, its a workhorse, has two speed gearbox and will handle heavy snow conditions well, but with that comes length and weight. Keep us updated.
The Polaris Indy Evo?
Looks close, I like the weight. Do they make a high windshield option?
Ran across this intersting article a while back on the Tundra by Marty on that Alaska TV show...https://www.alaskatrappers.org/stories_thoughts_on_the_tundra_2.html
Can't speak to these. My friend had a side by side he bought that was Chinese made and some weird name. Thing ran great and preformed well....then a part broke. Took it to three or four different shops trying to get it fixed......nobody could get a part or find the part for it. He ended up having a friend rip into it and they jimmy rigged it somehow and got it working.....he sold it shortly after. The price tags are great on some of that stuff, but if a part breaks it can be almost impossible to find parts. I wouldn't worry so much about it running/working has I would be about finding parts for it.
I've been searching all over for "kids", "mini", "youth", "50cc", "120cc", snowmobiles. Nothing. Nothing on craigslist. It seems like there must be a large demand on them right now. Or very little inventory. Or both. It looks like Arctic Cat/Textron might have one: https://arcticcat.txtsv.com/snowmobile/youth/zr-120Not sure if it is actually available anywhere. If there's some hidden trove of mini snowmobiles out there, someone please tell us!
I have owned 4 old snowmobiles, and they are not trouble free either. There are certain problems that come with age, and sitting seems to be as hard on small engines as hours of operation. I am sure that if I could get 215 miles out of a snowmobile before it died, that would last me. That is not the only thing that interested me about the Chinese sleds. Modern snowmobiles have totally abandoned the market space taken by the '90s and before Tundra/Bravo machines. They are twice as heavy, 5 times as fast, but they don't have the small, light, slow, simple any more. Trappers took Tundras apart and flew them in Cessnas and put them back together in the bush. I would assume now they are trying snow dogs of something to get that same job done.
If you watch Mountain Men you'll see that Marty gave up on his old Tundras and switched to a new modern Skidoo Snowmobile(snowmachine here in Alaska).Had to ride it to the trapline cabin as it didn't fit in his Piper.I used to think my old 99 Tundra R was all I'd ever need in a machine.Since getting my newer machines I realize how wrong I was in my thinking.And how much better and more comfortable of a ride these newer machines really are.Plus it opened up so many other uses like trail riding with family etc.And when my machine needs a part they are available locally. Just replaced a rubber hood latch this year that my local dealer had in stock.