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

[Dean10]

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.

 

[Superford]

Re: Have You Ever Had To Two A Sled Up A Hill??

Last trip to Allen Creek we helped a couple guys get a turbo'd apex out from way in the back. The only way we were able to do it was to spin the skiis and tow truck it out. Luckily it was his buddies sled that did the towing....another turbo'd apex set at just shy of 355hp with 16lbs boost. It was pretty impressive to see him ride that sled with 700lbs strapped to the tunnel. Just imagine how hard it was for him to keep the skiis on the snow. I wanted to take some pictures but out of respect I kept the camera tucked away.

 

[KORE]

Re: Have You Ever Had To Two A Sled Up A Hill??

What about loosening the track? Might help. I know my sled with a 151"x2 and 8" big wheels will roll backwards on sloped hardpack. Just a thought.

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Re: Have You Ever Had To Two A Sled Up A Hill??

Barry (Bbtoys) and Rod (Adrenaline Tours) have a rescue service (Cheaper than a Heli) and they use a skid system shown on the photos below. Darn slick too.

 

[Dean10]

Re: Have You Ever Had To Two A Sled Up A Hill??

Great info on Barry's little rig, that looks like it would work.

 

[doostylz]

Re: Have You Ever Had To Two A Sled Up A Hill??

DOO like I had to. Tow it with no rider. An older 580 powder special behind my 06 800 summit up through the trees on Corbin pipeline a couple weeks ago.
Had a pilot sled out front and letting me know when to giver or slow abit. Just had to make sure it was ALL up hill. Used the split rope from the ski tips to the back of my sled worked ok. Not that I didnt ch!t all the way up hoping I didnt wreck myself our my sled.

 

[BIGFOOT]

Changed thread title.... (Tow A Sled UP A Hill)... Think that what's she was meant to be.

 

[glengine]

Have seen sleds get towed up hills where you tied one sled to each side.. That is a task to try and climb a hill towing a sled and keep even with another sled when 1 is a 800 nad 1 is a 900.. But they got her out.. Other times we just took out the motor and took it home and rebuilt it and then briught it back out to the sled and then rode her for a coupleof days before headed home.. I cant beleive that you aren't supposed to stay the niught at any of the cabins in like mcbride area.. Back home in BC i knoe of several mountains that have cabins where you take enough stuff to last a few days cause you stay the cabin on the mountain, they have propane heat and stoves and all that stuff. It rocks to get up at the crack of dawn and walk out of the cabin and pull the cord on your sled and within like 5min of riding ytou are in the alpine.. That is the best.. Burn alot of gas...

 

[imdoo'n]

Have seen guys try turning skies around and putting broken sled on the seat of towing sled. Not very good, no steering control, big waste of time. Snobunji has a nice system, costs $, check over at ski-doo snowmobile forums - DOOTalk.com, ttabs site on rev mtn sleds has a copy of the snobunji you can make dirt cheap, and with a cheap tarp tied under your track you can slide the stuck sled out real easy. Tarp will wear if you run over rocks etc, but it is cheap and dispensable, the whole setup folds easily into a pack. Towed sled rides real tight to towing sled so up and down hills are no problem. You can ride 2 up if you need to. Take tarp off if you want, going down steep hills for extra breaking.
Tried it on flat ground , seems to work, for the size and price it's a must have item in my pack

 

[2003Summit]

Not that I'm an expert, but here is what I know. Maybe it will help someone some day

First: Make good tracks up the hill you want to tow up, they will set in after a few minutes if it is cool, it will be much easier to pull up in the set in tracks. As long as the snow is cool (below freezing) the snow will set up a minute or two after you pass over it (even if air temp is above freezing). If it is warm and slushy and will not set up, you most likely will not get it out. Might have to come back when it is cooler like late in the day or early morning. Leave some good tracks so when you come back they are there for you.

We have always pulled them up hills frontwards, no rider, no belt, track on the ground. I haven't had to do anything else. If you wreaked the sled, you need to get more creative. I have seen shovels used as skis and crazy carpets under tracks, sleds tied on backwards and probably other stuff too.

If you got to leave a guy to get the sled up the hill, just go back down after and go get him. We always go in groups of 4-5 people so usually having sleds to pull and one more to double with has not been a problem.

Use either a real long rope or a real short one. Problem is snow can pile up on the hood and weight the sled down. If you use short ropes, I have seen the snow bungy thing, or you can just use two starter ropes and tie each ski tip to each side of the bumper real short like so when you break the sled does not hit the front sled, I have also seen one ski tip tied up right to the bumper with a starter rope.

If you want to pull with two sleds, you can do it two ways:

If you have good set up snow and can run the two sleds side by side: take a 75-100 foot rope and tie to the rear bumper of one, through both ski loops (but not tied) of the sled to be towed, to the rear bumper of the other puller. This way the rope can slide back and forth (see-saw) through the ski loopes on the towed sled. This is necessary since the two pulling sleds will never be matched in traction/power anyway, this allows both guys to go hard on it and not worry about slack etc, the slip in the rope gives them enough time to adjust as they climb and they can be more agressive. You can also tie two ropes together to get a long enough rope, the knot does not seem to interfear with slipping back and forth through the loops when we have done it.

If you have only a single track to climb, set it in good as I suggest, then, use long ropes in between the sleds, bumper to bumper linking sleds in series; as many sleds as you have/need to get up the hill. The towed sled with no rider gets rope to ski tips of course. Again, reason for long ropes here is for snow build up on the hoods, it takes a good 50-75 feet of rope between each sled. Always put the strongest sled with a good rider in front, then weaker and weaker till the worst is at the back, this will help avoid the very dangerous situation with slack in the links. This can get hairy; over turned sleds, people getting jerked off sleds, people getting caught in the rope, rope snapping and hitting people. Slack and tracking are the problems here - if everone can manage both well enough you can do it. If one can not, it can be bad. Have a good plan if you try this one and keep it strait and steady. Use it as a last resort. By the way, I don't worry about ripping sleds in two or ripping bumpers off with this, usually if you have to do this it is because traction is very poor, you will likely not pull hard enough to damange a sled as long as you don't get jerking, unless the front sled is a real hot mod, then he should back off and pull less hard.

Towing the sled with one sled and a rider on the towed sled for breaking is the easiest, and pretty safe. The sled tied as short as can be is also safe. The other advantage of the short hook up is the snow build up inside the engine bay. When distance towing fine powder will find its way in trough the smallest thing and pack he whole engine bay full of rock hard snow. Believe it. When hooked short less gets in. Linking sleds in series is the most risky thing you can try (short of overnighting in the back country!!). Often we toe with one sled till we get to the hill, then use the side by side method if we can get up the hill that way; then switch back to towing with one sled.

Always lots of fun.

 

[rknight111]

Remove your back light, turn the tow sleds ski's around, place up on the back end of your sled good. I towed a sled last weekend at renshaw from km 17. It works great. And in December I towed one from the anthills that way in deep powder, you must tie a sled in front of you as well to keep control as you cant steer to well and that sled will give you extra pull when you need it too. Trust me that works well but you must have experienced riders doing the towing, and be ready for anything, very tough to side hill. We towed that sled from the anthills and the powder was about 1 1/2 - 2' deep.

 

[Summitric]

Remove your back light, turn the tow sleds ski's around, place up on the back end of your sled good. I towed a sled last weekend at renshaw from km 17. It works great. And in December I towed one from the anthills that way in deep powder, you must tie a sled in front of you as well to keep control as you cant steer to well and that sled will give you extra pull when you need it too. Trust me that works well but you must have experienced riders doing the towing, and be ready for anything, very tough to side hill. We towed that sled from the anthills and the powder was about 1 1/2 - 2' deep.

HOW WAS YOUR TUNNEL AFTER TOWIN' THE BIG KAT, RON??? THAT IS VERY HARD ON THE TUNNELS AND SLIDERS AND SUSPENSION COMPONENTS, BUT IT WORKS, AND THAT IS WHAT COUNTS.

 

[sumx54]

That was my sled that we pulled out of the anthills and yes it was a cluster muck but we got it out thanks to Ron and the boys. We all learned valuable information that day/night.

 

[CdnWrangler]

Thanks Ron; great info to know and great picture too...

Remove your back light, turn the tow sleds ski's around, place up on the back end of your sled good. I towed a sled last weekend at renshaw from km 17. It works great. And in December I towed one from the anthills that way in deep powder, you must tie a sled in front of you as well to keep control as you cant steer to well and that sled will give you extra pull when you need it too. Trust me that works well but you must have experienced riders doing the towing, and be ready for anything, very tough to side hill. We towed that sled from the anthills and the powder was about 1 1/2 - 2' deep.

 

[TrailCrusader]

The tunnels of the Ski Doo's are very strong because they have full length heat exhangers under the seats.

 

[catmando]

You had to post that one,You should have posted the one where you were in the trees,Big kitty want to give you a push LOL!
catmando!

 

[chadwik74]

I heard about this method, but never saw it until a couple weeks ago, It took these guy's a while....but they got it out. On of the guy's in our group burnt a hole in his piston and was down to 1/2 power. I had to hook on and tow up one hill while he kept on the gas. it was still a good pull for mine!

 

[imdoo'n]

Looks like you do what you have to do, but it sure looks like a rodeo act, excellent chance to get hurt bad if towing sled hits a hole or bump, guy on back will sure wish he was somewhere else. Just can't understand some guy's thought process, Common sense not very common. Will definitely get a laugh and a lot of " Take a look at that Stupid a--" comments. could be the beginning of a Hillbilly sledding Video.

 

[Washy]

That was my sled that we pulled out of the anthills and yes it was a cluster muck but we got it out thanks to Ron and the boys. We all learned valuable information that day/night.

And what happened to the sled that pulled you out like that?

 

[sumx54]

And what happened to the sled that pulled you out like that?

Nothing that I'm aware of other than a broken taillight and a belt which I replaced.