Snowmobile basic trail and maintenance tips?

[Dand]

That thread I started on my new Bravo turned into a very interesting and helpful (for me) maintenance discussion. I thought I'd start a new one just for tricks and tips in case folks want to share. There is a lot more I need to learn. One trick a neighbor has used and I don't know the details: he has some how winched himself out of holes by tying a rope to a tree, tying the other end to his track and gently pulling himself out by driving forward winding the rope onto the track.

Kotz has been a wealth of tips. I'm eager to hear more.

[Rex in OTZ]

Your friend probibly attended a NACE siminar they were pretty active a three years back teaching all sorts of snowmobile related stuff, they traveld from Fairbanks out to the coast at Nome and wanted to travel up to Barrow useing 3 Snowmobiles traveling the Northwest Alaska staked trails holding ther siminars at each village they went through.

[Dand]

could be but what is NACE?

My neighbor is part of a big commercial fishing family, pilot, big game guide, grew up here in the bush on a homestead. Pretty quiet but like another guy said:  "He's he's handier than a pocket on a shirt". Good neighbor, nice family.

[Rex in OTZ]

N.A.C.E. was the Northwest Alaska Circuimpolar Expidition, was headed up by a fella named Mike Buck outta Valdez

[Rex in OTZ]

Fuel, lubrication, shocks, moisture all key concerins

Water in the gas is bad, for boats water in your under water gearbox on your outboard is just as bad, imagine the next time you want to put your boat in the water and finding that the fall befor ther had been water in the gear box and froze and burst the whole thing so you have to replace it. so each time before you put your boat up for the winter while its still warm change out the gear lube with new.
also drain the carburatoir bowl's, the next time you dont you will discover all sorts of white nasty stuff in ther, I like Polaris because they have gereasable drive bearings, dead shocks are bad as well keep them in good shape and wipe down the shafts with a good oil, for coastal guy's was a water clean, get the salts off
dont be afraid to pull an engine or undercarrage, I use a electric impact driver to pull the tunnel bolts when by myself, I use a cargo strap and a 1/2"pipe to lever in alingment the undercarrage when remounting.
I find that when traveling on the trail Ive seen that basket sleds fish tail really bad especially at high speeds, Ive even seen them turn turtle and drug  for 400 yds before they righted them selves the driver never once looked back during this, this breaks stanchons and runners, its key to have a properly mounted brush hoop up front this acts as a skid when they are drug a little ways if the front end the runner diggs in to a frozzen tussok it breaks the front the runner.
I like Sigland sleds with runners and the skag this pretty much keeps them traking well, they seem to travel well with a little bit of weight in them, Ive never seen one float up(Kite)or turn turtle.
I fuel my fuel jugs 1.5" from toped off and use plastic bread bag under the cap.
if you leave allot of air space in the top the jug this allows the fuel to slosh the colder it is the more dense the fuel is,  dense fuel moleicules rubbing against each other builds static charge, gassing right out of a freshly shook jug spout into a plastic gas tank is asking for a static electric discharge and in some cases leads to a gasoline explosion/ fire on the trail, Ive seen one Guy from up river that was badly burned beacuse this.

House heating oil tanks its futile to install Goldenrod filter vessals they require pressure to feed through them, I use mine as a mud leg and leave the filter out, if you gravity feed your monitor/toyo stove with a goldenrod filter you wont get enough fuel to flow through the filter to keep the heater running much above medium, blow out your fuel lines and replace the felt filter every fall, block your fuel tank so it's water sumps away from the the fuel feed end, never tip the tank to the feed end for that last dregs of fuel (you dont want the contamination problems involved) I try to keep at least 1/2 tank during the winter never less than 1/3'd that fuel reserve may be the differnce,think if your called away unexpectedly for a week. replace the burner nozzle each year, keep a spare nozzle close buy, replace the drive coupler as well, the igniter electrodes should be sharp, not burnt off blunted stubs, clean out the exchanger's too, use a good brush and a shop vac it out so its all nice and clean so the boiler can breath, I find that a good old fashoned boiler is expensive to feed but then again they are simple to fix, if you heat with modern technology you have to keep a extra heater, least a circuit board, if you live in a village you may want to get a surgesuppressor for it,
 

[Rex in OTZ]

here's how I have my sigland set up.



 

[Dand]

Thanks Rex. Yep I have my fuel tanks tipped and a drain installed so I can tap off water in the summer.

You jogged me on the outboard lower unit. I just realized I forgot to do it. But I have it stored inside my heated garage. Still, I don't need the corrosion. Its on a dolly so I might pull it out of its corner and check it out. Durn!, gettin sloppy. I really like my Honda 40 and don't want to trash it.

Oh and so far I have been ok with a Golden Rod, outside on my garage furnace. I know I'm lucky it hasn't broken. I usually tend to it in the fall - fresh element and all.

My boiler is an early 80's vintage Danish Tarm combo wood and oil boiler. I have never burned wood in it but it is a real comfort to know that I can. I have wondered if I would reduce my fuel bill to get a more modern one but this one keeps chunking along and doesn't carbon up. Real ease to access the boiler area and scrape off with a provided scraper. I even took a burner maintenance class last fall. Used to be able to hire a guy to tune my burner every fall but not now. Gotta do it myself - and folks complain there are no jobs in town! But I guess we have so many different burners in town that chasing parts causes lots and lots of unbillable hours - that's what one former repair guy told me.

Thanks for the other tips.

Well gotta snow blow the drive way after dinner. March and we finally have some winter.

[Rex in OTZ]

Where I live we use Sled hitches - allot of folks use the flat hitch & flapper with clevis this leads to allot of jerking and will lead to allot of wear.
As opposed to pulling the sled by a length of rope used mainly by whale/seal hunters on the sea ice.

The better choice is the pintle hitch, Dennis Kirk sells a really beefy one that is better than some the OEM pintles.

Sled hitch tounges on Siglands they are made of the same but thicker material it flexes and soaks up some the jerking.

Wood flat sleds and basket sleds are useally of  steel black pipe and have a jerk damper affair (spings) on a eye bolt.

Sled runners have gone to totally synthetic runners, real good thing over the old steel runners of the past
I useally put a channel-type snowmobile track cleat on the bottom of the RH runner (ditch side) this helps prevent my sled from fishtailing especially on ice and hardpacked snow.

I encounter deep snow is some the places I travel, I use ski-skinz the ones I use now are the 8.5" Kimpex
I used to use 12" cut from 12"x10' length the hardware store here sold, I used a jig saw and cut the center out so the ski chine would pass through for directional control, Ive seen some made from cutting the side from a poly 50Gal drum and fastened with machine screws and fiber lock nuts.

Some the places here the ice is bare and pulling a sled on bare ice you can lose traction, some but not all either do the full stud track or not at all, I like enought studs to keep going without overdoing it.

Its very windy here so I added 7" to the top the winshield (used a old chunk of winshield) most folks just overlap another attop the one on the sno-go the height is judged by your height while rideing
sit in the posture most comfortable for you and adjust the height so the top of the extension is even with your eyebrows, if it wants to fold at high speeds some guys use cord and stick to draw the sides in to keep it ridged.
Handlebar Guantlets are very nice in windy places.

I useally carry what I need in a back pack and anything else is inside the sled tarp.

I carry a extra belt, 2-3 sets of sparkplugs, some bailing wire and vice grips and phillips screwdriver, cresent wrench, extra coolant if Im rideing a liquid cooled rig, I add a good snort of mix oil to the gas as a contingency in case of a oil pump mishap.
Extra face mask/goggle's incase the winshield goes, nothing worse than rideing 18 miles back home into a 15mph wind off sea ice.

[Dand]

Yep I like those plastic ski skins. Helps keep the skis from freezing down in warmish weather, reduces drag, and when wide enough helps float the front in powder snow. I'm waiting on an 8.5 in pair from Big Lake House of Yamaha right now. I'm sold on some sort of carbide ski runner (wear bars) for steerage on ice. Some of us put a tough screw or make a small steel skeg for the right rear of our sleds to reduce fishtailing and jackknifing on icy hills - saw that once - a bit scary. Yep always carry a belt over the handle bars, and a little tool kit, baling wire, 12' zip ties, small bottle of oil. Zip ties can be real handy but some brands shatter in the cold while others hold well. I too have gone to the pintle hook. Much easier to hitch and unhitch. I had a local guy weld my tow hitch. It has a big wide bow to knock down brush and such. It has a 1 or 1.25 inch square steel tube at the hitch point. Run a 12" steel bolt thru then washers and heavy spring and constant torque nut for shock gear. I had enough space I drilled out an old rubber block from a pick up truck stake hole ring, I use that as a forward bumper on the hitch shaft.  Soaks up some of the forward bumps when I brake. I should take a photo and post. Any little cushioning eases the shock to rider and equipment. Some guys make much bigger hitch rigs with bigger springs that are probably even nicer.

Good point on the windshields. So many of these new machines don't have a real wind shield. It really makes me wonder how they are used. I see the windshield as an essential frostbite / hypothermia preventer.  Critical up here in windy country - especially up your way Rex.

Hey I thought I read somewhere that if you start running straight synthetic 2 cycle mix in your engine, you should never go back to syn blend or regular 2 cycle. Now maybe for some of the high end performance engines that use that new stuff - I'd understand that. But what about my old 91 Arctic cat that was built before the synthetics were on the market?

Can you shed any light on that?

thank you Rex.

Dan

[Rex in OTZ]

Older rigs can gain some advantage from synthetic 2 cycle mix oil ,if you feel you gain a distinct advantage running it I'd say give it a try, Im not so shure about reverting back to a oil based mix oil instead of synthetic, that sounds like a good question for (snowmobileworld.com forums) my guess if you dont run the propriatary mix oil outlined in the owners handbook it would negate the warrenty and one would eat the cost of a engine overhaul if it munched itself, thats a definate possibility if you were out rideing and the engine swallowed a slug of water in the gas and toasted a jug and you took it back to the dealership for warrenty work and they saw blue/green castrol in ther instead of there company synthetic brand they will not touch the machine, Ive learned this on the bigger machines, I think that running synthetics in very cold temps is a plus, and if you have a new snowmobile with a RAVE valve system the old style mineral oil based mix oils could carbon up these valves rendering them inoprative, possibly damageing the engine on a newer rig.
For a early 1990's rig Id say switching back and forth shouldent be a problem as long as one dident have 1/2 a oil tank of one type and run another in ther? shouldent make a difference, I like the mineral oil smell better than the synthetic which can have a rather sharp unpleasant smell.
its finding what's a good condition for your rig, if it burns clean with what ever you choose, I like a little carbon inside the heads and a nice tan color on the sparkplug ceramics, if its running hot and clean thats bad, meaning more metal to metal contact is takeing place, running rich for me is a good thing it fouls plugs but if Im pulling a sled, remember the snowmobile company dident set up to work that hard pulling a load like that so the oil system will be for a single rider not pulling a loaded sled or two riders, so running fat on the carb and adding a snort of mix oil to the gas tank is what I do, I pull a load five days a week.
I had a old maintenance manual, they went into detail how to premix the gasoline for some the very old models, in the 1960's they actually had formula's useing 20wt and 30wt mineral oil.

[Rex in OTZ]

I remember on a old  Polaris XLT that there was a coolent line that passes just behind the pull starter houseing which is a aluminum casting that there is sometimes a sharp edge that will chaffe into the coolent line that passes underneath the engine to the left side intercooler, I find that having a aftermarket gage installed one can see the engine coolent temp while rideing, sometimes a weeping leak will leach out coolent low enough that a hour or two into a trip you have the overtemp light come on.
always check the coolent resivour that should give you a idea somethings amiss. Liquid cooled machines its best to get the melt and dust snow off the rails after a ride, over night Ive seen boogie wheels seize up with ice & froze snow, this leads to moisture getting in places you wouldent think to check, one is the chain case, pull the dipstick before each ride look for white froth (water in through a bearing seal) might be a indication its time to change the chain case bearings, every 300 miles I give the bearings on the cross shaft a squirt of grease as well as the jack shaft bearings, over tightening the track is hard on bearings and will cause them to go out prematurely, too loose a track will be hard on the sprockets and railsand track clips, when on a trail and I let off the gas the sno-go should coast quite a way's it you lose speed immediately after letting off the gas you have something dragging or a misalighned, too tight a track.
I take extra gas all the time, even if I dont need it, if you run into somebody out of gas the extra bit might be enough to get them back home.

[Dand]

All good stuff Rex.  I don't pay near as much attention to my machines as you and I'm learning lots. When its real cold, say -15 or colder I like to pour a little 2 cycle oil into the gas tank, do it on my auto mix 2 cycle outboard in the summer too. Like you say, a little fouling with plenty of lubrication is better than burned up engines for lack of lube.  Right now the new bravo is still running 50:1 mix gas as well as what ever the auto lube is pumping in. Seems to be settling nicely. Appreciate the track tension info.  I think I was running much too tight on my Arctic cat. But I tightened it after a shop (good wrench really) had it so loose sprockets were slipping on moderate hills and all I was pulling was my wood sled. If I'd gotten a moose that trip I don't know how I would have made it home. No doubt my mileage would be better with a loose track. I may get out tomorrow for rabbits - first time out since I fixed the rear gear on it. I'll have to try out your advice on track tension.

Interesting your view of the synthetics. I use a little hoping it might be good for my machines but mainly use Castrol and Arctic Cat as I got good deals on both.  Helps to understand about those new engines. I 've had guys blow by me and I swear they smelled like peppermint or something cinnamom? - I thought it smelled good compared to mine.

And I don't fool with my jets. Finally found a size that seemed to work for the temps I'm in and leave it alone. The manual says to change it for nearly every 10-15 degree difference. Shoot I'd be fooling with it every 25 miles around here. I ran the same jet in -40 as +30 and it seems to work ok. I probably should have run a bigger one in that real cold - but we were traveling slow and light so it worked fine.

I'm open to advice on jets tho if you have some thoughts. At least I seem to have hit a balance between performance and gas consumption. When I first got the thing it had a much bigger jet and it REALLY gobbled gas. Still isn't great at about 9-11 mpg but ok.

I am hearing these new Etech Skidoos are doing 20 mpg - that's worth paying attention to. Etech outboards haven't impressed me but I'm hearing good stuff on two new Skidoo 550 Tundra fans from 2 trappers that really use their equipment - chasing wolves some days.

So far I have stayed away from liquid cooled machines. I don't want the weight or extra complications. When its warm around here I see guys stopping and packing their running boards, opening hoods, fooling around trying to keep things cool while I toddle along with my fan.

thanks again man!

[Rex in OTZ]

Snowmobile theft

Ive had my rig stolen more than once, seems Polaris is easy they pop the hood and pull loose the spade connector to the back the key switch (hot wire) and off you go.

Last week my work had two sno-go's stolen outta a warehouse, thieves jimmied the door and drove them out the walk thru door.
We recoverd them two days later after a public announement on the local radio a tipster called in that both were sitting across town behind a old abandoned house.

Stealing to joy ride or for parts seems to be the main reasons, some just the undercarrage is gone (4 bolts) or the whole thing ends a up stripped carcass laying out back in the hills, the other is its wrecked mess laying just out the town limits and the odd case it is drove to another village and adopted out to a new family. Nothing like finding your ride is gone and wondering is it out of gas somewhere or a stripped frame on the ice down the coast.

When home I useally chain mine up, run the chain right through the track & undercarrage that way you dont have your undercarrage stolen (happened before) as my main transpo is a 94 340 arctic cat Puma its not one the most desireable to steal as the ignition switch is buried in the console so hotwireing not easy.
Some folk install a sneaky kill switch a hidden ignition cut-out switch so they cannot get it started which is kinda nice two Polaris sno-go's were stolen from in front the grocery store over the last three weeks.

One fella related a tale of when he lived in a small village that he used a nylon zip tie and secured the float to show empty on the gascapgage thay way saved having stolen gas all the time.
Throttle lock is a good idea.

[Dand]

Yep having an old snogo is a way to reduce theft. Sure hate thieves. Some got into a new dealership/ shop here and stole 3 a couple weeks ago. One was nearly brand new was just in for some adjustments and checkup. I used to chain mine and should again. They are parked very close to the house and out of sight of the road. But that doesn't bother some folks. One friend lost his right from under his bedroom window. He heard the commotion but the window was froze shut. By the time he got to the door they were gone. Rascals!

Where would one find a throttle lock?

BTW Rex you say you haul a load daily - what you're hauling? Just curious.

Got my boys to haul a couple sled loads of kindling branches from our other lot to the house this evening. It was so nice out and they loved the excuse to do a little driving.

[Rex in OTZ]

Old fashoned throttle locks I know of were Polaris the Master lock padlock type they had a odd shaped hardened steel shackle painted red that hooked on a bracket next to the throttle, the shackle slipped in place covering the handle bar kill switch and had a aluminum wedge shaped piece that slid in behind the throttle so the throttle couldent be squeezed the master padlock body behind that locking the throttle in a idle position even if they did hot wire it.
My wife once lost the keys to the throttle lock once and had to cut it off "what a booger"
I once lived in a appartment building for 4 years had a 84 yamaha 340 ET that was hotwired and never locked was reliable and never any real problems with it that couldent be fixed cheap never once did anybody mess with it, had a 93 Polaris 340 indy sport that was stolen 3 times (mostly by drunks or high school kids) drunks will hotwire it and ride to find ther next jug, Highschool kids will rape it and when it quits working is where you will find it.
Had a co-worker that parked his polaris 600XP race rig parked just under his bed room window the theves picked up the back end and drug the sno-go out the yard and stole the undercarrage from it from across the road (race week in land of OTZ)

My day load hauling is 3 kids to school in my tub sled before work, I used to let em walk but I ended up with too many tardys and lates on ther reportcards if '15 minuets late they count the kid absent for the day', now no excuse to not have perfect attendence.
I do haul stove oil , in OTZ they fill 55gal drums at the Crowley dock tank farm $20 cheaper than from the truck delivery. I had a leak in my drum, I priced a sealed drum of heating oil($385.45,+6%tax), they chargeing $140 of it for the new steel drum.
I find that tub sleds pull better if they have nice thick runners underneath cuts the amount of drag considerble kinda like them chines under a boat cuts surface adhesion.
I have a old dog training sled made from boards that works pretty good but needs a sled hitch, pulling it with a rope it darts too much causeing a bit more drag than I like, when pulling a sled it should track nice and smooth like a single axel trailer, no skidding out to the side on a turn and shouldent load down the engine when pulling empty, I used to work a job we had to use a badly put together basket sled, its hard on the sled and the snowmobile and hitch.
if it rolls down the trail nice and smooth you shouldent really need to touch the brake and shouldent really need to ride the throttle that much to maintain trail speed, so if the power train is balanced and smooth, clean & lubed primary clutch and clean and maintained secondary clutch, drop case chain tension is set right, the adiquate weight lube is used(once had yamalube chain case oil set up and drag real bad at -20F) , the track tension and the rails and HiFaxs are straight & slick the rig should roll great.
the only place I really use the brakes is going down hill with a load.

[Rex in OTZ]

Weekend, warm temps (+17F), hard snow, sled pulling = Hot belts and clutches.
I had a extra belt (used) was worse than the one I had on, I kicked myself cause I had a new one hanging on a nail on the front porch back home (7 miles away), i walked right past it on the way out the door that morning.
Remember when your pulling a sled to keep and eye on your engine temp, ended up pulling both the side covers off the ole Puma, she was getting hot, after pulling off the sides the clutches ran cooler the hard snow and rough conditions I didn't have enough speed to ram  cool air through the cowling & carry off the heat, it built up heating the belt, causeing slippage/soft belt, clutch's both were hot & crackleing, kinda brought back bad memories (Big $$), remember to keep an eye on that, a badly worn belt will slip in your primary clutch, causeing lots of friction It'll get so hot it will cook the clutch side rubber crankshaft seal, Hot seals can easily blow or leak causeing a lean condition on the clutch side and will fry the piston on that side.
Make shure your rubber grommets are on the sparkplug's, you need all the cooling air on them cylinders as you can, make stops and check your engine temp, flip open the cowel, let it idle so your fan can cool down the cylinders before shut down.
That insulation they addedd for cold temps is now kinda working again ya trapping in heat in the engine compartment, the engine will bogg terrabily.
It was a good thing I premix the gas before starting out, helps in addition to the injection oil it gets already.

[Dand]

thanks for that one Rex. On warm days around here I see quite a few folks with cowls up and I've done it some. I didn't know what could happen in the extreme cases to the crank seal - good info. When done towing a load home I usually let the engine run a while, with or without the cowl open to let it cool down. Just a habit from the days I rode big fishing boats where we'd let the main run quite a while after a busy day. Some friends around here say their liquid cooled snogos need to get up to full temps before the ride them, unlike some of the old fan engines that can take off fairly quick from cold. Even then, I like to let mine idle and warm up and then I never just punch it like the kids do. Partly want the engine compartment to warm, warm the oil reservoir so the automix system works better.

[Rex in OTZ]

I could have got more miles out that worn belt in town but threw it away, I try to weed that junk out before it gets me stranded.

[Dand]

Speaking of sleds and tracking behind a snogo:  We have an elder's section on our radio sometimes. They had some older guy talking about building dog sleds recently. He mentioned that you want to have the front end of the sled just a bit more narrow than the rear so it will track straight.  I never knew that. The snogo sled I built, I took real care to make the runners parallel. It doesn't dart too bad and I mostly blame it on the bumps and ruts in the trail, but that radio program has got me to wondering. Another friend had a sled that would swing all over for no clear reason. Maybe that dog sled trick is the key - kind like the toe-in on snogo skis.

[Rex in OTZ]

I guess I took it for granted that folks knew that about setting up sleds for pulling.
Im always open for good ideas for setting up a good sled.
As I remember as I was told a on building a flat sled the runners are 2-3degree taper at the front on a 8' flat sled some guys just say 3/4" narrower at the front the sled.
The runners have a 2 degree slant (bottom out/top in) as opposed to perfictly vertical as I remember, Helps in turning so the runner isant prone to folding in, they handle a side ways skid into a tussock better than a verticle one the bottoms are planed so they sit flat on the ground.
Under the bottom of one runner at the aft 1/3 is a skag useally a old snowmobile cleat bolted on so the sled dosent dart or skid wide on turns (I think I mentioned this above)
Some say not notch the top cross pieces into the runners, the side rails are held down by allthread down through the runner, runners most oftin are a 2x12 sandwiched between 3/8" plywood, most guy's attach the hitch to the front cross member useing old snowmobile drive belt looped round the front and attached with bolts and washers,  some the hitches Ive seen are attached with rope wrapped to the front cross member, the thing to remember is if the hitch is attached to the deck the sled the hitch high up as opposed to low as you power into the load it does collapses the suspension some while  towing, while traveling if the hitch is too low the shock is bottomed out constantly and no room for handling tussock impacts at trail speed (15-60mph) depending on trail conditions.

[Dand]

Decided to take my boys and the neighbor kid out on the tundra this afternoon for a short ride. Got on a really bumpy roller coaster trail thru the woods. Was bouncing along slowly when all of a sudden I quit going forward. Goosed it and no track movement. The rear of the track had jumped off the bogies and was jammed to the left. After some fooling I tipped the snogo on its side. Lightened the suspension adjustment as far as possible and fully undid the track tension adjstments. Rolled it upright and tried driving it 60 yds to a road. In about 30 yds the track lined up right again so I tipped it up again and retightened the tension adjustment much tighter and in very rough fashion. Limped home (1/4 mile) with no trouble.  I had loosened the track to get a freer run, better mileage but I guess I overdid it. A few pieces of the metal track broke off and the stubs appear to have been gouging the hyfax.  I must have a bent suspension or something.
Oh well. Grabbed the little Bravo and we went riding for a couple hours. Have a couple no work days this week. Guess I'll spend them fooling with the Arctic Cat suspension instead of target shooting. drat.

[Rex in OTZ]

The Ski-Doo had a problem with track clips, my nextdoor neighbor has all Ski-Doos from a early model TundraII to a '93, 503 skandic, and a '05, 600 Summit, seems the old stuff was munching track clips if you dont keep track tension correctly tensioned, the free rolling track is nice in falt trails, too loose on rough ground in my neighbors case pack Ice can lead to munching the track drive sprockets and derailments, too tight can lead to premature bearing failure's.

[Dand]

Finally got my Arctic Cat back in the garage and tried to align the track and get better tension. I think I've got it about right but it looks like my new hifax is already pretty chewed. Heck only a month or so of moderate use.  I've had some hifax last several  years. I'm wondering if I should take it in and have a shop look at it. I wonder if something is bent.  Also found my rear bumper is badly cracked - probably from towing big loads of wood over rough trails - my hitch also is connected to the tunnel by a heavy steel strap. I hope I haven't tweaked or twisted my tunnel with the towing. But I don't recall hitting any thing real hard. I guess I also have to face the fact its a 1991, only about 4,000 miles on it tho. Don't want to spend the bucks for a new machine.

 I have ordered new bumper and windshield from Babbits - ever dealt with them? They had all the parts I wanted so I emailed an order.
 
Ordered new Hifax and suspension rail nose pieces as well. I know you recommended those graphite slides from Dennis Kirk but these others were handy to order.

Heck our spring melt has gotten serious the last couple days so my traveling days are over. 'Bout time to fog the engines and get them put to bed for the spring.  I'm running out of snow in the yard to get them to a parking spot.

[Rex in OTZ]

Yes Ive done business through BABBITS they have good prices, least have the parts
For bumper hitches I'd say the OEM stuff is geard for lite use (300#) Ive seen guy's rip off brand new hitches the first trip out, Ive seen the hitch come off a Polaris widetrack it pulled all ther pop rivets loose
I make my own hitches with angle iron and a stick welder, hot dipped galvanized bolts and fiberlock nuts.
Might check your suspension geometry, definately somethings outta whack
My 1994 Puma needed work and had to spring for parts, you should invest about $50-$100 to ready the rig for a season, if you think its saving money going into the season you may have a rude awakeining later on.
I had a slow season with the Puma this year, only had the undercarrage out one time (R2 the shock and front springs)
I attached a couple pic's of a good example of a trail towing rig, winshield, gantlets,8.5" ski skinz, angaleiron hitch bolted to the frame (Dennis Kirk enduro motor bike tail light).
I was thinking of mounting a different type rack than the one I have now (I love the Saw-Z-All)

[Dand]

Thanks for the word on Babbitts.

I think I get the picture on your hitch. One of my "Parts Elans" has a hitch rigged up like that.  I too customized my rear rack on the Panther to make it deeper. I got an LED tail light off ebay and made an aluminum frame for it. I did rivets and stainless cap screws since I don't have a welder. I should get one but I'm a terrible welder - took a class last fall.

I use a heavy aftermarket pintle hook that has a heavy steel strap running from the hitch base onto the center of the tunnel so I'm not putting the whole load on the bumper. Taking so hard sharp turns is probably what got the bumper as it still takes some of the load. Your system looks better. I'll have to look over my machine to see what might work. My neighbor has a welder and can actually weld. Maybe I can talk him into helping.

You're right about trying to save a few bucks now could cost lots later. Will have to consider this while we're in the no snow no boating period. But dang, I gotta get my the Keel on my Lund welded when the snow melts enough to find it. Might be a few weeks or more for that.

I think I'm beginning to pay the price for using my equipment hard. For a long time it was new or newish and in good condition. Now its well used and showing wear and tear.  Got a 93 115 Yamaha jet that never wanted to run last summer - gotta fix it or dump it. Now the Arctic cat showing troubles and the Lund keel cracked (its an 83 hull ) and some rivets are leaking.

Shoot for years all that stuff just ran fine. Oh well we all get old.

[Rex in OTZ]

The hitch is angle iron with the top lip pointing out my hitch is modeld after one Id seen so I wouldent have to mess with the seat, Ive another rig where the angleiron lip is pointing inside so the lip doubles over the top edge of the tunnel this distributes the load to the frame better and lends support the tunnel on a twisting rolling trail where the aluminum tunnel does flex doing it like that one has to loosen the back end the seat to slip the hitch under and since its 1/4" thick I chose to do the rest like in the picture, I used a saw-z-all and cut all the polaris junk off the back, had a nice flat surface to mount the hitch to then useing the saw I cut off the mount bracket's of a old snow-go rack and mounted it flat to the angleiron with big fender washers and #10 machine screws and fiberlock nuts.
I used high temp paint from the auto parts store the type used on exhaust headers, takes 3 days for the stuff to set up but is really durable.
My co-worker likes a lighter tow frame instead of useing 2.5" x 1/4" angle iron that Ive been useing he used 1.5"x1/8" and welded the pintle directly to it (light weight), for a rack he used a couple of conneabear 330 trap springs welded apex of the spring is up the ends welded to the angle iron, a long Bunjee cord runs through the top of the pintle handle so its bunjee loaded closed all the time, He threw away the lock pin, this guy traps up north of town,  rides as much of 290 to 320 miles roundtrip depending which trail he uses to check traps.
Lund boat hulls if the skin is cracked the structure is probibly also cracked and flexing (oil canning??) how old is the Lund?
if a high time hull it could be shot even though it looks good the skin of the hull is aluminum and like all aluminum if you bend it enough times it cristalizes the metal grain (work fatigue) then you have a crumbling ball of dung on your hands, working rivets ya should just replace instead of reshooting them, #6 size soft aluminum rivets are availabe through Stoddards avaiation supply or Reeves air motive in Anchorage they can mail them to you (be shure to order ythe soft ones not the alloy aircraft ones because there a booger to shoot then I will mail you my rivet gun and rivet set and bucking bars, as with aircraft its best to take another piece of aluminum and do a overlap patch and rivet them useing boathull sealant to cement the patch on the skin and seal the edges of the patch (water proof) I use 3-M 5200 boat hull sealant takes 7 days to cure, You have a greater chance of a rivet repair that welding as allot of skin's that are welded will crack next to the weld seam.
I have a friend that has allot of experence with Yamaha outboards, he works on during the summer, PM me for his contact info. otherwise Id suggest pulling off one carb and opening it up My guess is its full of water corrosion and needs cleaning, the 115hp would have 3 dual carbs dont mix em up the are jetted differently and swapping a top to bottom spells trouble.
like anything it will only last so long, you dont maintain with regular serviceing you get into a maintenance deficit thats when stuff breaks on you.
Hope this helps some.
I did have a welder guestion in the Graybeard tools section addressing bush repair of alum boats.
Migs weld structure
Tig welds thin materials like skins, just remember welding aluminum requires lots of Amperage.

[Dand]

Still a fountain of advice! Thanks!  That snogo rack out of conibear springs must be mighty tough - great idea.  Wow 2.5 x 1/4 is stout stuff - no wonder you can tow giant tanks!

I sent a PM on the Lund work and copied your whole post to my Boat & snogo repair files. Lots of good stuff there. I've wondered where to get the right rivets. I was getting concerned about oil canning. Of course I'll have to pull out the middle seat 'cause the problem is under there. But I sure didn't find any cracking when I looked last fall. Looked pretty close but with that heavy keel right there it might not be easy to see.

I have used 5200 too - wondered about the cure time. People use it a lot around here in the commercial fishery but I thought it worked quicker. Sure hope I can keep that Lund working - love it way more than my Sea Runner.

I suppose if any others are reading our posts, they are getting a glimpse of bush life.
Shoot, 300  mile trap line loops. I don't think anybody down here is doing that big. But we have a couple pilot trappers and they may be making bigger loops, just by air in their supercubs.

thanks again. Jees I gotta get off this computer and back in the shop or to the reloading bench. Stuff is falling behind.

[Rex in OTZ]

You may have working rivets, in that case the holes may be oversize already and the only choice is to drill out the worn rivet and replace as the rivet shank will have been batterd and undersize allowing the rivet to leak water, in the past Ive tried to reflatten the rivet but this rarely is satisfactory.
Id suggest buying a General Avaiation Maintenance handbook. this book will contain the basic riveting process, how to determine patch thickness stop drilling cracks (stop crack progression) and chooseing proper rivet size and length and hole spaceing.
Id suggest buying long rivets and trim them to length useing a rivet trimmer that way you only have to stock one size rivet, riveting of solid shank aluminum rivets requires 2 people one to operate the rivet gun and one to buck the rivet shoptail to get proper shop tail the protrudeing rivet must be swelled and flattened to proper height and diameter you can hold the rivet gun rivet and bucking bar and rivet it all by yourself in some areas but on the keel if you dont have seven foot long arms bet a riveting partner (I have my 13yro daughter both shoot and buck), if you do this incorrectly one can damage the boat skin leaving rivet set smiley faces across the metal, My rivet gun is a cheap muffler gun not a $200 Aviation gun, if you turn down your air pressure abd put a couple drops of oil in the air nipple every couple rivets and use short bursts on the trigger you get a most satisfactory result.
I am a avaiation mechanic and have some the basic tools needed, since I worked in the commercial avaiation industry my employer useally furnished the equipment so I never really bought the high dollar equipment as I always knew who and where I could borrow the equipment from.

Like I said I have bucking bars, #6 rivet set (mounts in the rivet gun to drive the rivet head)a old muffler gun and a rivet cutter.  One could buy sheetmetal clamps er refer to as Cleco Clamps that are poked through the rivet hole to hold patch/rib/skin all together in alignment during riveting so everything stays in the proper orentation they are spring loaded to swell out and hold the metal tightly together, they dont cost a whole lot and available through Stoddards or Reeves I have some these but they are in poor shape, Id suggest buying ones made in the USA these last for years instaead of the very inexpensive asian ones that are kinda a "use em onece" then they get streched outta shape and throw em away item.

[Dand]

Thanks.  the hull is sticking out of the snow but there is a snow bank about 8 ft long and 4 ft deep blocking access to the boat.  Melting has speeded up tho so maybe next week I can get a better look. In the mean time its time to put the snowmachines to bed, change oil in the cars etc etc etc. Got the studs off this weekend but realized I hadn't stocked up on filters. Sure glad we have a Napa here now - well stocked too. 

[Rex in OTZ]

I pump out the gas tank with a hand pump then swab it dry, remove any forien objects like sticks/rocks/gas jug rings & spouts (interesting but true)I have a couple suspects who (neighbors 3yro) how that stuff gets there. treat gas with sta-bul and put it back in tank through a MrFunnel (water trap funnel) change the chaincase lube, before storage get track & ski's off the dirt, drain the carb water traps and afterwards run engine so treated gas sits in the carb, this is handy as I do start up the sno-go once each month during the summer for 3-5 minuets spin the track some too, then put the cover back on, store in a shaded area, direct sunlight will rott that $130 cover right off a snowmobile.
You can use old motor oil, oily rag wipe down the shock struts and shafts (ski's on leaf spring rigs) and if you operate in a brakish environment helps if you wipe down steel parts like swing arms/ski's/tunnel/gussets with warm soapy dish water & a sponge.
Grease the zerks and ride a mile before parking, pull out your stuff from the seat pouch and store or can oil them down so wont rust during the summer, useing a suction gun I drain the oil tank, then replace the oil line filter.
throw away the old belts and keep a eye on clearance sale table for drive belts they are moving off the shelves for boating / summer stuff.