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About time I bought a sled.


moll672

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Been in Canada nearly 40 years and am almost ashamed to admit I have never been on a snowmobile, so basically know very little about them. At our age we are not interested in speed just comfort, reliability and safety. We have been fortunate enough to acquire a cottage up north that is water access only and need a sled to get to it in the winter. Most likely buying a Polaris Indy 550. What advice do you knowledgeable folks out there have for my wife and I? Will have about a 2 mile run on the lake ( OFSC trail goes right by the place so if trail is open I assume it is safe to ride) pulling a sled. Not, at this time, planning on doing any trails, though that might change quickly if we find we really like snowmobiling. Thanks.

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Congratulations on your northern cottage purchase.

 

Staked trails are from OFSC " point A" to their " point B", often onto / off a lake. Make sure that the section of lake you launch from has safe ice ( you might even be fortunate enough to unload adjacent to the trail....I see that a lot). Lake freezing is affected by currents - if you stage near a river, etc., even a few hundred feet from the staked trail, be careful. 

 

Floatation suits are relatively inexpensive - if I had a lake access cottage, that would be a priority. Watch a video on how to get out of ice water - we seem to have one in the topiics/threads every autumn. Quite helpful. 

 

Lock the trailer ( and receiver / hitch & wheel lock) upon departure. Sadly, you never know. 

 

Many Polaris riders on this forum  - you're in good hands with sled selection.

 

 

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Welcome and congrats on the cottage purchase.

For what you say you’re looking for, I highly recommend the Polaris LTX 550 fan. If you can find what the dealers around Thunder Bay call the “International Edition”, I’d pick that up.  It’s got wider skis (“Pro-Float” I think they’re called), electric start, 2 up seat, and, a 144” track. Perfect for around the cottage, ice fishing, and it can be a suitable introduction to touring, if you’re so inclined.  

Good luck. Lots of good advise on here...

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Congratulations and welcome to OC!

If you are purchasing a 2 up sled and have any notion that you may do some riding more than 2 miles per trip with your significant other, I would suggest making sure the sled has heated hand grips for the passenger. 

I would also suggest that you have a seasoned rider with you for your first ride or to go over the does and don'ts beforehand. As well, the first time you ride into the cottage, don't ride 2up or tow the sled. If possible, walk in around the cottage and make sure there isn't to much chance of getting stuck before you ride in. Figure out your route into the cottage and back out (preferably a loop so you don't have to turn the sled around).

Check this Kijiji ad out    https://www.kijiji.ca/v-snowmobile/kawartha-lakes/2016-polaris-adventurer-550/1481717212

Edited by PISTON LAKE CRUISER
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Congrats on your purchase of your cottage and upcoming sled, the 550 Fan cooled Polaris engine has been around for a long time, I would suggest looking into Floation Suits for sure, there is a few brands out there at various price points.

Whereabouts is the cottage?

 

Let me know if you have any questions or need advice.

 

Nunz

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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.

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Your wife and possibly yourself will hate the stink of 2 stroke oil on your clothes and in your nose. Keep a lookout for a skidoo touring machine with a 600ace 4 stroke motor with fairly low kilometers, although well cared for, 13,000 or so would not be unreasonable. Bulletproof and low maintainance, 380 to 400 kilometers per tank of fuel.

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My parents had 550 Classics they were very reliable sleds.

 

Welcome to OC :wavey:

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Lots of good advise so far for you to consider. We used to use "trail" sleds to get to a friends cottage in the winter and I can still remember diggging and digging out sleds around the cottage to get right to the door until we realized that sleds don't go well in deep snow at slow speeds, Save yourself alot of hard word and try to stay on harder packed areas until you get the hang of driving a snowmobile off trail.

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A long track is ideal for towing and carrying stuff into a cottage. Handle slush better and less likely to get stuck near cottage as well. Polaris makes lots of reliable snowmobiles, so does skidoo and articat. If you don’t have power at cottage or generator, maybe better off with a 2 stroke, since you can start them with a recoil unlike four strokes. Fan sleds are good for riding lakes with less snow cover, since use air to cool engine, not snow like liquids.  Show a picture of what you get, thanks. Safe travels 

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1 hour ago, Muskoka Bill said:

Lots of good advise so far for you to consider. We used to use "trail" sleds to get to a friends cottage in the winter and I can still remember diggging and digging out sleds around the cottage to get right to the door until we realized that sleds don't go well in deep snow at slow speeds, Save yourself alot of hard word and try to stay on harder packed areas until you get the hang of driving a snowmobile off trail.

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.

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Mark your trail on the lake with tree branches so you can see it when it's snowing/night time. By using the same trail it will pound the frost in and stand up better to mild spells such as today!

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Terrific !   You will be thrilled with the new winter experience !  Congratulations!

Lots of good advice in the posts here.  

Where are you located ?  What lake? Which Trail? And how far is your property from the OFSC trail ?

 

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18 hours ago, slomo said:

Your wife and possibly yourself will hate the stink of 2 stroke oil on your clothes and in your nose. Keep a lookout for a skidoo touring machine with a 600ace 4 stroke motor with fairly low kilometers, although well cared for, 13,000 or so would not be unreasonable. Bulletproof and low maintainance, 380 to 400 kilometers per tank of fuel.

Some of us like that smell. Welcome to the sport lots of good advice here maybe find a local that can break the trail and check the ice for you. Often a couple of bucks to the right local means a set off eyes that you trust watching your cottage. Floater suits on sale from 229.95 taxes in btw 

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On 1/10/2020 at 8:54 AM, moll672 said:

Been in Canada nearly 40 years and am almost ashamed to admit I have never been on a snowmobile, so basically know very little about them. At our age we are not interested in speed just comfort, reliability and safety.

Not sure what your budget is but this sled would do you quite handily - happened to see it on kijjiji :

2016 Renegade Adrenaline 900 Ace 4 stroke- $9,500.00

137 inch track would probably suit your off trail situation

Kilometers 1,968

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-snowmobile/kitchener-waterloo/2016-skidoo-renegade-adrenaline-900-ace/1481948942

 

 

Edited by slomo
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https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/485057312408209/

 

That is a super reliable long track grand touring with bullet proof 580 cc motor. A little on old side but they were reliable but not best suspension for trail riding today.  Be ok for your lake access though. They are a fairly rare find. Good luck! 

Edited by Strong Farmer
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Thank you everyone, lots of advice here that I never even considered and that is what I was after. Put my money down and bought a Polaris Indy 550 LXT. Have a sled too but will take all advice into consideration for using it. Cottage is on Lake Nepewassi near Sudbury and OFSC trail runs within 300 yards of cottage. Can access trail at government dock at what used to be Vacationland ( long gone, though sign advertising it is still up on 69). Now looking for a trailer for snowmobile. Hope to get up there early Feb as neighbor tells me things are looking good. Will be waiting until trails are open though. Again, thank you for the comments.

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39 minutes ago, moll672 said:

Thank you everyone, lots of advice here that I never even considered and that is what I was after. Put my money down and bought a Polaris Indy 550 LXT. Have a sled too but will take all advice into consideration for using it. Cottage is on Lake Nepewassi near Sudbury and OFSC trail runs within 300 yards of cottage. Can access trail at government dock at what used to be Vacationland ( long gone, though sign advertising it is still up on 69). Now looking for a trailer for snowmobile. Hope to get up there early Feb as neighbor tells me things are looking good. Will be waiting until trails are open though. Again, thank you for the comments.

Should be able to head up anytime now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Made first trip into cottage at the weekend. Neighbour had been out weekend before and confirmed ice was safe. Lots of tracks out there including a truck. Snow was slushy with the warmer temps but sled had no problems. Ice was 12" in front of cottage. Trail was not officially open and only 6-8" of snow. Forecast predicts lots of cold this week so should be good by next weekend. What should I expect from a tank of gas? Realise that is a hard question because of condition variables but a ballpark would at least be a start for me. Other problem we are having is visors fogging up. Any suggestions to deal with this would be welcome. Thanks and stay safe.

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2 hours ago, moll672 said:

Made first trip into cottage at the weekend. Neighbour had been out weekend before and confirmed ice was safe. Lots of tracks out there including a truck. Snow was slushy with the warmer temps but sled had no problems. Ice was 12" in front of cottage. Trail was not officially open and only 6-8" of snow. Forecast predicts lots of cold this week so should be good by next weekend. What should I expect from a tank of gas? Realise that is a hard question because of condition variables but a ballpark would at least be a start for me. Other problem we are having is visors fogging up. Any suggestions to deal with this would be welcome. Thanks and stay safe.

Most sleds will do at least 150 km safely on a tank of fuel but if you are puttering around off trail back and forth to the car you safe distance may vary for the poorer. Fill it when it gets to 1/4 tank and you'll be OK. If the shields you have are a single thickness they are not for snowmobiling. If you have dual thickness shields then really all you can do is try cracking them open a bit to get rid of the hot moist air in the helmet. If that doesn't work you can buy heated shields for many styles of helmets. They have to be used with a wiring harness that runs from the helmet to a plugin on the dash of the sled. If your sled doesn't have the dash plug Wild Bill at Rosseau Road Powersports can wire one in for you if you don't feel confident doing it yourself. Hope this helps.

Edited by PISTON LAKE CRUISER
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On 1/12/2020 at 8:31 AM, moll672 said:

Thank you everyone, lots of advice here that I never even considered and that is what I was after. Put my money down and bought a Polaris Indy 550 LXT. Have a sled too but will take all advice into consideration for using it. Cottage is on Lake Nepewassi near Sudbury and OFSC trail runs within 300 yards of cottage. Can access trail at government dock at what used to be Vacationland ( long gone, though sign advertising it is still up on 69). Now looking for a trailer for snowmobile. Hope to get up there early Feb as neighbor tells me things are looking good. Will be waiting until trails are open though. Again, thank you for the comments.

Triton is the name in trailers-a bit pricey but good quality!

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49 minutes ago, Strong Farmer said:

I have had great luck with this product on glasses, snowmobile shields. Seems to eliminate fogging, related to heavy breathing.

7784A188-5B46-4DB7-9FFD-A9697B221B2A.jpeg

Where do U buy it?

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