CjGaughan Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I'm speaking of your own trails on private property, non-OFSC of course.... any experiences / tips... I've got a trail I use to get to the groomed trail, its coming along nicely now. A friend and I whipped up a quick homemade drag and tried it out, works fairly decent. The first time up the trail was ridiculous though...there are a few hills, one bad one in particular, and it was still quite wet (maybe too early in the season?), not sure if waiting longer would have meant better conditions or is it just a given for a first time trip up a trail in the winter? This is a fairly chewed up/wet 4-wheeler trail from summer time. My other main question would be does anyone have some tips on a good home-made groomer/drag? Something a sled can tow around without damaging anything but also something that smooths things out. The one we have was something already somewhat sled shaped, but I have a feeling longer would be better (its only 24 or 30 inches long right now)... is this the case? Another guy I know makes trails all over his bush-lot but is only using older sleds, and he uses an old steel sled to pack the trails. It works awesome for packing but I wanted something that would "groom"... a sled would just ride over the bumps and pack them down - kinda not my intention of going to all the trouble haha. Any tips / experiences / stories appreciated, I'm just curious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildbill Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thats how it all started . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossy Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I've seen a modified bed frame with some weight on top. Seemed to work ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cehyoopers Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I used to groom 10 miles of private trails,,, ,,I have made a few drags,,if I find a picture I will post it.You need to have a good base before you start to groom,,,,then take advantage of the weather,,,,light fluffy snow is the easiest on the equipment,just need to stay of till the snow till it sets up,,,,warm weather is your friend also,but not to warm or the drag gets hard to pull.I found 8 feet long works well and 4 feet wide(fits in pickup bed), had a lot of fun doing this!!!!Best equipment for pulling was a atv,,,used an Arctic Cat bear cat for 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyzer Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 When I was 11, my uncle had a camp on the Quintet, Spruce Lake area and he had cut a old spring matress in half and added a bit of weight to it hooked it up to his Tundra and I drove around all day and half the night with it, campers would call me in for snacks and hot choclate. They were so happy to have smooth trails and I was just happy to be driving a snowmobile !!!!!The matress worked really well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Quimby Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I too have seen an old mattress frame hitched up to a sled, added was a couple patio stones on top for weight. Did an okay job. Seemed pretty effective for a tight backwoods trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cehyoopers Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 the trail from Raven lake to Baysville was done with a 2x4 framed drag,,,it was there for whom ever wanted to pull it through,and that is how that trail was done 20 yrs ago,,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CjGaughan Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 the trail from Raven lake to Baysville was done with a 2x4 framed drag,,,it was there for whom ever wanted to pull it through,and that is how that trail was done 20 yrs ago,,, Thats awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskoka Man Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I seen a few good videos of guys dragging different types around on You Tube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doonut Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Take two 8 foot long 2" diameter steel fence poles with the leading 6 inches bent up at a 45* angle. Betweem then you mount several 2 x 2 x 1/8 angle irons ( mounted with the open side facing forward ) as long as you want to groom wide. (ie 48" angles to groom a 4 foot wide trail ) Weld a couple big EYE bolts into the bent up ends of the pipes. Fab up a v shaped tongue with a hitch at the V end and two more EYE bolts on the ends. Bolt them loosely to the EYE bolts on the drag and your all set. The weight is enough to hold the drag down and the length keeps it fairly level. The angle irons cut the tops off the bumps and forces the snow forward. I have even seen one with a 1/4 steel plate welded on at the back as a packing plate. It definately helps if you have access to a welder to put it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Louis Dave Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 The best grooming message board and info is found here. Lots of homeade stuff and a great network of folks who can help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Quimby Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Found this on the net..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CjGaughan Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Holy jumpin!! That's quite the groomer. I do have access to plenty of scrap and a welder and such, actually even some fence posts! That aluminum drag is quite a piece of equipment, a little out of my league though haha. And as for the video's on youtube, one that caught my eye in particular was the guy who home-built an entire groomer (as in the machine pulling) and drag. Very impressive. Check it out here if interested: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowTouringGuy Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Holy jumpin!! That's quite the groomer.I do have access to plenty of scrap and a welder and such, actually even some fence posts! That aluminum drag is quite a piece of equipment, a little out of my league though haha. And as for the video's on youtube, one that caught my eye in particular was the guy who home-built an entire groomer (as in the machine pulling) and drag. Very impressive. Check it out here if interested: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 I have one that was built at a fab shop, but it could have been built in any garage equipped with a welder etc... It is quite heavy, but it is very rugged. I pull it with a Scandik SWT and have also pulled it using an Alpine. It is 4ft wide and about 8ft long including the tounge. I also put a 2" ball coupler on it and strongly recommed this type of hitch. Of all the hitches I have used this was the most dependable and easiest to use. It works very well. In fact some people have mistaken the trail it leaves for a trail made by an industrial groomer. It is burried in snow right now but I will look around, I may have some pictures of it.. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cehyoopers Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 this one was being used at severn bridge, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cehyoopers Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 dug out my groomer last week and took some pics,I only groomed one pass,and used it upside down to just drag the snow,as that is all it needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndySKS Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Easy pull Some idea's for you maybe ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MXZoom Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I have a nice section I would like to groom to get to the trails too. Thanks to those who have posted, gives me some good Ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CjGaughan Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 I ended up making one, has a split \ / in the front that brings the snow in, and a V in the middle to split it wide again. Used a plastic 45 gallon barrel cut out to make somewhat of a packer plate / smoother thing. Works nicely however i think we need to make it longer to work on the bumps better. I don't want too much mroe of a pull on my machine though...using a long track fan cooled but I want to be able to put a few hundred miles on it the day after I groom a few passes :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill rider Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 dug out my groomer last week and took some pics,I only groomed one pass,and used it upside down to just drag the snow,as that is all it needed. thanks cehyoopers for the pics, just what i've needed to make to groom my trail into the cabin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rampman Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 dug out my groomer last week and took some pics,I only groomed one pass,and used it upside down to just drag the snow,as that is all it needed. thanks cehyoopers for the pics, just what i've needed to make to groom my trail into the cabin Hi All We used to build our own years ago when we used Alpines to groom with, very easy to build. Alot the same as the Pics but not welded together, just bolted together. We used a length of chain to pull it with. We found that the drag would follow the gound level better & bounce off rocks & stumps less. 8 ft long runners with 2, 4ft crossers made out of 2" or 1.5" angle iron bolted together with 1\2" bolts. the crossers are in the centre about 2' to 2 1\2' apart.I hope this helps, very easy to pull. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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