Have You Ever Had To Tow A Sled Up A Hill??

cat girl

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I can't believe those tunnels support all that weight!! We have seen guys with little 120's strapped on so when they stop the kids can ride too but I wouldn't even have put that on mine! lol Guess next year maybe I will chance it ;)
 

sumx54

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I can't believe those tunnels support all that weight!! We have seen guys with little 120's strapped on so when they stop the kids can ride too but I wouldn't even have put that on mine! lol Guess next year maybe I will chance it ;)

The trick is to not put the towee's tunnel up too high on the pull sled. The further you put it up the more weight the tow sled gets. I wouldn't put a passenger on the tow sled either. With the skis turned backwards there is enough room for a guy to stand on the back of the skis and reach over the hood and steer the broken sled.Works good. Been there and done this :D:D
 

boondockin

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We had a bit of an eye opener last weekend. We were over in the back side of Renshaw (over the switchback) and we had a sled breakdown. After much effort was made, it was obvious we were going to have to tow it out of there.

Sound easy right?..........WRONG !!!!!

Even with perfect snow conditions for towing, we were not able to get the thing halfway up the backside of the switchback. We had the belt off, and our smallest guy on the sled, and we could not get up that hill, we even tried towing with two 800 long track machines, and NO GO !!!!

I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with a system of towing a dead sled that actually works on the hills. We've heard about the crazy carpet idea, and the flipping the skiis and putting the ass end up on the tow sled idea, does it really work?

Any comments would be appeciated.


i have seen in some magazines (shade tree powersports?) they have a sheet of about eight inch thick plastic, a couple feet long, little wider than the track, has holes drilled on the edges every so often and you lay the track on it, tie the holes together, and it makes towing alot easier because you dont have to spin the track ( works good for pulling elk out of the mountains to!)
 

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I have heard of some guys carrying a crazy carpet with them in case they have to pull a sled out.

also a crazy carpet is useful for polaris riders, they need to experience the steep hills somehow :rollinglaugh::rollinglaugh::rollinglaugh::rolling::rolling:
 

imdoo'n

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Definitely no brakes on the way down, Although you could take it off if you don't tie it down to much, seems to work much better that way. We've been using tarps for under the track, serves more than one purpose, overnight shelter, wind break, and such. There cheap, easy to stow, or tow a broken sled, and when trashed they are thrown away.
 

CR500R

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We had a bit of an eye opener last weekend. We were over in the back side of Renshaw (over the switchback) and we had a sled breakdown. After much effort was made, it was obvious we were going to have to tow it out of there.

Sound easy right?..........WRONG !!!!!

Even with perfect snow conditions for towing, we were not able to get the thing halfway up the backside of the switchback. We had the belt off, and our smallest guy on the sled, and we could not get up that hill, we even tried towing with two 800 long track machines, and NO GO !!!!

I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with a system of towing a dead sled that actually works on the hills. We've heard about the crazy carpet idea, and the flipping the skiis and putting the ass end up on the tow sled idea, does it really work?

Any comments would be appeciated.


Should've just hauled it down the chalco trail, all down hill from there. Would've been alot easier. Send 2 guys to the truck at renshaw to bring it around and meet the rest at the chalco. That's what we done several times over the years.
 

highlandrider

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One oldtimer that lives in Valemont suggested this one.

First you need a long rope (climbing ropes work) and a pulley.(This stuff can stay in the truck until needed, someone can ride back and get it)
If there is no trees, you need two working sleds
Attach rope to dead sled and thru pulley; then tie knot in rope about 10 ft from end big enough that the knot does not slip thru the pulley. Attach the pulley to the back of the tow sled and tow up the hill until anchored (anotherwords STUCK). Now with the second working sled go up to where the tow sled is stuck and anchored and attach the end of the rope to the back of the sled and point it downhill.(remember if the hill is really steep the guy driving the anchor sled can help turn the other sled around). If you are following this, now you realize that the tow sled is now towing downhill while the pulley system gets the dead sled up the hill.

You can do this as many times as needed to get up the hill, remember that the guy who's riding the dead sled will gladly help get the anchor sled unstuck once he realizes his sled is getting out.

Note: Do not tow a Rev by the front bumper(they tend to break) skis only. Use the short tow rope that everybody carries to attach the single rope to the two skis.
 

boondockin

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We had a bit of an eye opener last weekend. We were over in the back side of Renshaw (over the switchback) and we had a sled breakdown. After much effort was made, it was obvious we were going to have to tow it out of there.

Sound easy right?..........WRONG !!!!!

Even with perfect snow conditions for towing, we were not able to get the thing halfway up the backside of the switchback. We had the belt off, and our smallest guy on the sled, and we could not get up that hill, we even tried towing with two 800 long track machines, and NO GO !!!!

I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with a system of towing a dead sled that actually works on the hills. We've heard about the crazy carpet idea, and the flipping the skiis and putting the ass end up on the tow sled idea, does it really work?

Any comments would be appeciated.

Buddy Tow: Snowmobile tow system
 

HagmanMod1

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we were in allen creek last year and just before dark on the way out our rt 1000 droped a piston and we hooked 3 sleds to the rt and towed it out worked pretty good until all got stuck on hill but we got out needless to say
 

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I bought a new ZRT600 and while breaking it in the XCR650 we were riding with quit. (electonic issues). The XLT600 couldn't get even half way up the hill to exit the valley in the Rainbows. Sooo ... I had to tie it onto mine. 3/4 way up the Hill and I was gonna turn out but the XLT rammed the XCR in the rear and that's how we got it out of the valleys. During that 40 mile tow I towed him down trails with a 25' nylon rope. The nylon rope stretched and that saved us in one or two spots. I towed him down a river that suddenly had No ice with that ZRT 600. I towed him across a 1 mile wide lake that had ice on it in the morning but no ice in the afternoon.

I don't recommend anyone try it as sinking would be deadly. The XLT guy ran down the trails in front of me and when open water was around a corner - he would wave his arms so that I could be going 25mph when I hit the water so that I could 'skip' it.

I won't do that again. Buddy towed a water skier with his Polaris and :) my M1000 was the "fastest boat" at Lac LeHache a couple years ago. Here we have a waterskipping contest up the Dean River a couple miles every summer.

Another way to tow ... (broke the driveshaft smashing a stump)

http://img808.imageshack.us/i/sboiledengine.jpg/

And another way to get the sled home would be to use a "skimmer" tied to the back of the wife's excape because the Polaris toasted the Dshaft bearings towing the busted dshaft M1 600 home. The skimmer holds the rear skid frame and track and the skis just follow along beside the skimmer.

Ted
 

RTTTTed

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The biggest sled should always be used for towing. Since I have the M1000 I get to do all the towing. I carry a 20' nylon rope for this reason.

Towing is hard on smaller sleds.

Ted
 

sledslut

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i what we have done. is anker a sled up this hill from the broken down sled. have a snatch block and tie it to the bumber of the sled u put on the hill for an anker. now tie a roap to the front of the busted sled. and go up through the snatch block and tie it to a sled that will be going down hill.. we did that a few years back in 2ft of pow with a nytro and was the cats a$$. we also tied a snow bung to the one sled to just to give it some more help.
 

Edge Welding

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buy a low profile plastic calf sled from ufa about 100$ to put under the track. doesnt take much room in the trailer. only solution i have used works great when u snap the drive axle in half:beer:
 

imdoo'n

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buy a low profile plastic calf sled from ufa about 100$ to put under the track. doesnt take much room in the trailer. only solution i have used works great when u snap the drive axle in half:beer:

should work if you already have one, otherwise just use a $10 crazy carpet. works the same and easier to carry. although the sled would be able to haul extra gas. if it works good on ya. ingenuity.
 

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I have 1200 feet of rope (I carry 400 feet in truck all the time), snatch block, honda winch that will pull the 1200 feet of rope.......tow sled has 300 hp and weights a ton lol. Im making a skimmer to put track on and tow sled backwards with skies reversed. I pulled a summit out of blue lake last year and yes the hood did fill up with alot of snow......cover hood with a tarp if you can...... snow bungie or lots of rope to help the shock when towing......."Cheaper than a Chopper"
 

imdoo'n

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wow 1200 ft of rope, thats a long way over the edge. you'd almost need a skimmer you could throw the whole sled on in case of major carnage.
 

overkill131313

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that is why I only carry 400 feet in the truck lol.......Building a 2 ski skimmer that connects to my sled......then I turn the broken sled around with track on the skimmer and skies turned around! just havent had time yet to build.....but I can usually winch a sled out of anywhere. and since I use a captains head winch it will pull endless amounts of rope unlike a spool winch.........and it is fast well 50 feet min aprox.
 
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