02Sled

Came across this and thought is the OFSC missing out on a source of revenue? https://www.hardwoodskiandbike.ca/home-page-winter/groomer-tours/ Hardwood Ski & Bike has a total 40 km of trails. They are marketing groomer tours for $100 per person and up to 10 people at a time. Imagine... retrofit the groomers with an extra cabin and pick up a $1000 per groomer run in revenue. Change grooming from an expense to an income. Come to a downed tree and give them the Tom Sawyer experience... for an extra $10 they can help with clearing the tree from the trail.

still dry just south of Pearson airport

Toronto was supposed to wake up to heavy rain that would start overnight. Near the airport at 8:00 there were bits of sun shining through here and there. 9:30 no rain yet but much more cloudy and F3F / 12 C. You get some good years, some not so good years and some bad years... not sure what this will end up as.

Welcome to the forum... you'll find the President of your local snowmobile club (Snowcrest) and some other active club members here.

Good point... Try to pack down a route through the snow at your cottage as early as you can then stay on top of it and keep running the same route. If you can run through a foot of snow and pack it down early in the season and keep packing it regularly you likely won't get stuck. Best to do a large circle on the property rather than a straight line and try to turn around.

Welcome to the forum, sledding and congrats on the cottage. I will reiterate what has been said and is the most critical... have floater suits for sure. I can recommend one of the people on here and his business for that. WildBill - Rosseau Rd. Powersports. Snowmobilers tend to support those that support our sport. Bill and the entire family are extremely active with their local snowmobile club. If the ice isn't staked by the club I wouldn't trust it myself. The clubs have local people knowledgeable with the currents and the lake do the staking and measure thickness for safety before they do. I have seen places where there has been 2 ft. of ice and a few feet away open water. Stick the stake lines. Don't assume that because there are sled tracks the ice is safe. Many people do. It could be that a 100 lb person on a 400 lb sled ran acroos at 80 kph and was fine. The next person at 220 lb on a 600 lb sled going 50 kph may find themselves going swimming. Get a sled with a real windshield or if it comes with a mini windshield swap it out for a taller one. The windshield can make a big difference in comfort. For me I find even the best gloves leave my hands cold. I don't have problems with mitts though. There are also claw mitts which are midway for warmth. They have one "finger" for each pair of fingers and one for the thumb. Having two fingers together helps.

I'm with you on the family aspect. My brother isn't quite as using my wife's word "anal" as I am when it comes to taking care of things but if he wanted to borrow anything he would bring it back as good as or better than when I loaned it to him.

I had the warning light come on for overheating with my old 4 stroke once. Twisting turning very hard packed bumpy trail where you had to go slow for a stretch. No snow for cooling and going that slow. Had to stop, let it cool down and continue until I got out of that section of trail.

Were the sleds you registered new or used. If you're transferring ownership of a used sled you won't get the government "plate" sticker, just a val tag. The registration stays with the sled for life. If you're registering a brand new "unplated" sled you will get the "plate" sticker. Our two sleds came from the dealer with the "plate stickers" but they weren't put on the sled.

Good to see... I like the ability to check the trail permit number matching the sled VIN. It will help with the guys who buy one pass and keep it in a pocket sharing it between friends. One of the benefits of the online permit system.

I'm of a similar mindset... if I borrow something I return it in as good a condition or better than it was when I borrowed it. While it may not be my fault the motor blew up it was in my care. I would be willing to and offer to pay for the repairs. If the owner accepts or doesn't is their decision but my conscience would be clear. If they accepted my offer to pay for it that's fine. Having said that I never borrow anything that pricey. Typically I borrow tools. The last thing I borrowed was a chainsaw. When I returned it the gas tank and chain oil was full, the air filter checked the bar and engine cleaned and the chain sharpened. It was in better condition than when I borrowed it.

I don't know about Quebec but my experience with the OPP has been that if you give them attitude they will often become much more diligent in their check of you and your sled. They have a job to do. If you make it harder for them to do their job, you may expect to show them license, and insurance when you would likely have been waved on otherwise. Attitude can make a difference between speeding and given a warning versus a ticket.

I got the impression talking to a farmer friend of mine that the new trespass regulations applied to all of his farm property and not just the barn. His cattle graze on almost all of the property with the exception of what he uses for hay that year.

anything like concerns over wording on an insurance policy or a legal agreement NEVER go quickly. Lawyers can pass a document back and forth many times, sometimes with nothing more than one word change each time.

You don't know how long the club(s) have been working on this. It could be a very long time that discussions have been underway. It just comes to light when there is an actual impact. I know dealing with those large government bodies and their legal is a very slow process at best.

The site wasn't accessible for most of the day and a couple of the posts I made before it went down were gone when it came back. I don't know what the problem was but when a system crashes often it is restored to a point in time backup.

Just curious but the province just toughened up the laws significantly around trespass on farm property primarily around livestock concerns. Perhaps the laws have enough latitude that they could apply to snowmobilers on farm property.

Thank you for not trespassing.... too many don't care and do trespass making us look bad. Good luck in finding access.

Only on a sled will you see places you couldn't otherwise. I don't recall which lake it was but it was heading home from Swift Rapids. As I rode down the long narrow lake I stopped and sat realizing there wasn't a single cottage on the shoreline on either side and when I shut the engine off it was complete silence. Not even a rustling tree.... Then there's the nature you see. Call me naïve but at one time I thought beavers hibernated. We're riding a twisting trail through the trees and up ahead here's a beaver about to cross the trail. It sees us coming, takes a few steps back and waits beside the trail for us to pass. Heading from Swift Rapids to C trail at the top end of Six Mile Lake and we take a bend in the trail. Ahead are 3 deer walking the trail.... they look back at us and keep walking. We follow slowly a good distance back. A while later they pause and look back as if "what you're still following us". This happens a couple more times then they head off the trail into the deeper snow. They stop about 75 ft from the trail and I presume waited for us to pass. For some it's about how fast they can get from point A to B. For me I like to think I strike a happy medium where I actually get to see the things around me rather than have it a passing blur.

Perhaps when the other people that use those snowmobile trails for cross country skiing, hiking and walking their dogs find the trails aren't groomed in the winter and they're slogging through knee deep snow, then they will become vocal about the situation. Then when the cyclists, hikers and dog walkers find the trails being reclaimed by nature since the snowmobilers aren't maintaining them they too will become vocal.

Last time we went there was sad... they told me they had an onsite restaurant. We got there on the Friday looking for dinner and the restaurant was closed. It was 6:30. No breakfast the next morning. Saturday was open for dinner but the menu was limited and the food was cold when it arrived. The remote for the TV didn't work and there was nothing they could do as maintenance was gone for the day. They would take care of it while we were out the next day... they didn't. That was the OLD Jolly Roger.... The location and trails were ideal so giving the new owner a chance is only fair. It's almost impossible to be any worse than it was. Fingers crossed for a positive experience upcomimg

It may be that both sides come to an agreement but as soon as the landowner is given a document where the wording has changed, especially a business or government body, they will send it off to their lawyers for review. The lawyers will dissect it and may accept it or ask for amendments and explain to their client in simple terms. It may be accepted or may go back to the OFSC lawyers who may or may not accept what it proposed. I have at times gone back and forth multiple times for a Non-disclosure Agreement where legal have requested what I thought were extremely minor things they had grave concerns over.

I would be willing to give the new owners a shot... One big consideration would be that the restaurant be open. Ideally for breakfast and dinner. It's a big negative to have to drive to Parry Sound at the start and end of the day hoping that when you get back someone hasn't parked in front of your trailer you left behind. It happened the last time I was there. Waited 2 1/2 hours beyond when we wanted to go home for the guy to come back and he was.... oh, did I block you in?

The potential problem is they could have a trail pass on the sled just not visible to the angle of the camera. With a person as a witness and picture of the sled plate number it would be different when they can say there definitely wasn't a permit on the sled.

X2... you say it was pretty good riding and someone else goes out then comes back and is upset because they didn't think it was good when they got there