T3s in heavy or low snow

[deaner]

Just wondering how the T3s are working in lower snow conditions or heavy wet snow. Do they still have the advantage? Sounds like they rock in light fluffy snow, which I think we expected. How about other snow conditions?

Have heard nothing but amazing feedback on them so far, but that has all been from super deep fluffy riding conditions.

 

[Keith Brown]

Hey Deaner Just took the AST1 course on T3 174 in Golden on the 9th it was practically raining all day. Havèn`t been out in years can`t ride worth a ****. It bailed me out lots. Its great at plowing thru deep wet snow at slow speeds.

 

[maxwell]

Nope. Just been riding waist deep pow all season sorry lol.one thing I did notice is that it does push in the corners which I expected. You need to get used to putting it on its edge to turn rather than steering to turn. When it's on edge it burns a **** hook really tight

 

[ferniesnow]

On the first ride, the snow was very wet and heavy right to the ground. The T3 174 got furthest up the trial but it sure wasn't easy. Lots of stucks pushing the heavy snow and when going over a log (even with power and a little lift) the sled just sank on the uphill side with WOT. There wasn't a sled in the group on that day that could get up on top and go for any distance. Now, that snow was the worst I have ever seen other than acres of over flow on a lake. It sort of reminded me of that time.

I'm not selling it nor sending it back just because of one bad day....:d

 

[deaner]

On the first ride, the snow was very wet and heavy right to the ground. The T3 174 got furthest up the trial but it sure wasn't easy. Lots of stucks pushing the heavy snow and when going over a log (even with power and a little lift) the sled just sank on the uphill side with WOT. There wasn't a sled in the group on that day that could get up on top and go for any distance. Now, that snow was the worst I have ever seen other than acres of over flow on a lake. It sort of reminded me of that time.

I'm not selling it nor sending it back just because of one bad day....:d

I found the exact same thing on my sled when I broke up and over char a couple of weeks ago. It was frustrating. The snow was so weird. My sled seemed like it would just trench and not get up on top of the snow. Actually got stuck going down hill a couple of times.

Main thing Im wondering with thread is if the T3s are as good, better, or worse as xms when the snow is low. Im guessing they are a little worse, but maybe they nailed that new track?

 

[lilduke]

Been riding pretty good snow here in Revy so far this season, and some pretty brutal trails in. The T3 is a pretty wicked sled. I didnt have a X I had a Freeride, honestly over all
I think the Freeride is the sickest stock sled a guy can get. The T3 is way better at some things, very forgiving in Deep pow forsure, not near as durable or versatile IMO though....
Still love this sled though and will pull some lines the Freeride wouldn't, Rode with a bunch of 174 T3's and wouldnt trade one for the 163... this is all just my opinion.

 

[Arma-Coat Finishes]

Was in valemount and Mcbride with the T3 174. Heavy wet snow in mcbride, sled worked awesome. Did very well for a stock sled. The nice thing I notice riding on next to no snow that the sled keeps good temps even without the scratchers down ( I was expecting it to be very tempermental). I gotta say even riding around home in this hard crusty snow, the sled pulls very,very hard and gets up to great speeds. I have found going to a 174 I would not ride anything smaller as there are way more advantages than disadvantages for my riding style.The sled handles and turns very well in all conditions. Give one a try....

 

[ferniesnow]

I found the exact same thing on my sled when I broke up and over char a couple of weeks ago. It was frustrating. The snow was so weird. My sled seemed like it would just trench and not get up on top of the snow. Actually got stuck going down hill a couple of times.

Main thing Im wondering with thread is if the T3s are as good, better, or worse as xms when the snow is low. Im guessing they are a little worse, but maybe they nailed that new track?

By low snow, doo you mean like not very much. I rode miles of 30 cm crusted snow on some logging roads in the valley bottom. I didn't notice much difference from the 2014 XMX 163 but I'm thinking it hooks up better and the bottom end has more torque. The 3' track is nice. I have run a little hot but really not much different than the 2014. I noticed from yesterday, on the hard crust we rode, that the 174 was a little harder to get onto edge. It wasn't ideal riding conditions and a hard crust like the picture below is brutal at 2200m Not supposed to be that way!

 

[team dirt]

Finally put some miles on my 174 in the worst December conditions I have ever seen. Dust on crust kind of day. I did notice that the long track with the 3" paddle sure hooks up and twice I used the bumper as a wheelie bar. Really had to watch the throttle or I believ I could have easily flipped over backwards with the super hero snow. Did find some nice pockets and got a few turns in uphill and down and to be honest it seems to react and ride the same as my 13 163 did. No complaints so far. I even rode icy plowed road for 5km from my cabin to where the loggers quit plowing and no heating or sticky sliders. The scratchers seemed to work nice. Sure hope it snows a ton soon as it is very low snowpack for this time of year. Stupid rain

 

[Mtdgt]

Iv got 8 rides and 400 clicks 1% away from break in on my 174. In the South we are low on snow I've ridden it in slushy rotten snow and 18" of pow. It took 4 rides to dial it in for these conditions, limiters, shocks, and springs all needed to be tuned and retuned. This sled can be a handful in tight trees but also a dream! It doesn't stop climbing in steep long ravines wind loaded with snow.(soft pow not set up) the only major drawback I've experienced so far is coming down steep tightly treed runs where there is no turning and the guys in front have scraped the snow Down to hard pack. You are then on a luge run with the 3" paddles cause it doesn't want to slow down when the paddles fold over.

 

[sledneckx69]

Here's my take, and this is coming from some one who owned or still owns; summit 99/600 & 02/700 05RT/1000 09/800, Cat 08/TM8 09/m1000, and now, you guessed it 15 174"T3/800. Again, this was on some weird snow, 1-2' of heavy wet on 6' of soft fluffy bottomless stuff. I found the easiest way to control and have the sled respond well, was to burry the front end. That unfortunately caused the sled to trench, obviously, but with 174" 3" track, not really an issue. I hate to agree with maxwell, but when transitioning from down hill to side hill, it was all I could do to keep if from spinning right around and going back up hill. Of coarse if that was your goal, it would do it for you flawlessly. Once you gave it a little throttle after having the front buried (again I found that the easiest way to manoeuvre the sled ) look out, cause she was all willy nilly and hard to predict! Never road a better sled on the trails though! I rode many miles and many different types of snow, and never had these issues with my cats. Those old M series IMO, were the most predictable and responsive sleds I've ever ridden, they did what you wanted when you wanted to and to the extent you wanted, almost telepathic! However, they were getting old and every one was bragging about the new doo's, I think some of them there doo riders need to spend some time on other sleds! Having said all this, hopefully next trip we have some "normal snow" so I can give the sled a fair assessment.

 

[Caper11]

Iv got 8 rides and 400 clicks 1% away from break in on my 174. In the South we are low on snow I've ridden it in slushy rotten snow and 18" of pow. It took 4 rides to dial it in for these conditions, limiters, shocks, and springs all needed to be tuned and retuned. This sled can be a handful in tight trees but also a dream! It doesn't stop climbing in steep long ravines wind loaded with snow.(soft pow not set up) the only major drawback I've experienced so far is coming down steep tightly treed runs where there is no turning and the guys in front have scraped the snow Down to hard pack. You are then on a luge run with the 3" paddles cause it doesn't want to slow down when the paddles fold over.

That's what I thought, noticed the same with the 3" I installed, crappy thing is the same applies when climbing.


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[GregW]

Had been a Cat guy for the past several years, made the leap to the 174 T3 this year, just before Christmas I spent a week on my Doo around Revy and never failed to find 2 feet of fresh snow every day, have nothing but good to say about the T3, dropped this sled into the deepest and sickest snow out there and it just doesn't quit, while getting used to the sleds manners I made all sorts of mistakes and thinking I was headed for some kind of big stuck, forget it, the T3 just kept on going, miss your line in the trees, pick a new one and just pin it and it just keeps going. I found the sled was most happy out in its own fresh, it's what's built for! In stock trim it would make short work of my modded M1!

 

[CUSO]

I rode with 3 T3's on the thanksgiving weekend in Revy. There was 1.4m mashed potatoes on a crusty layer. Everything was getting stuck. The T3 did outperform the rest, but everyone was stuck stuck stuck. That was thursday. Friday was a bit better ,then Saturday it finally set up.

they were 163's Compared to my XM 2.5 side by side, it was a big improvement. I was even surprised to see them stuck, because when I got on the T3, I sure didn't have to poach tracks as much thats for sure.

 

[maxwell]

I rode with 3 T3's on the thanksgiving weekend in Revy. There was 1.4m mashed potatoes on a crusty layer. Everything was getting stuck. The T3 did outperform the rest, but everyone was stuck stuck stuck. That was thursday. Friday was a bit better ,then Saturday it finally set up.

they were 163's Compared to my XM 2.5 side by side, it was a big improvement. I was even surprised to see them stuck, because when I got on the T3, I sure didn't have to poach tracks as much thats for sure.

did you try a 174? completely different animal in a big way

 

[CUSO]

Oh there were plenty of 174's there also. They all were just as stuck that day. They just trenched even deeper.

 

[sledneckx69]

Had been a Cat guy for the past several years, made the leap to the 174 T3 this year, just before Christmas I spent a week on my Doo around Revy and never failed to find 2 feet of fresh snow every day, have nothing but good to say about the T3, dropped this sled into the deepest and sickest snow out there and it just doesn't quit, while getting used to the sleds manners I made all sorts of mistakes and thinking I was headed for some kind of big stuck, forget it, the T3 just kept on going, miss your line in the trees, pick a new one and just pin it and it just keeps going. I found the sled was most happy out in its own fresh, it's what's built for! In stock trim it would make short work of my modded M1!

trip 2 went a lot better, but this just about sums it up. It will do whatever you want it to, in untouched 20" plus snow. Try to ride the tracked up with a little crustyness to it, and you than become nothing more than a passenger the controls the speed!