Help mounting "High Jacker Jack" on 2018 Summit SP 850 - 175" Gen4 sled?

turboless terry · Oct 23, 2021

They work awesome and have a place . I've been stuck between 2 trees and would have killed for one. My bet is they are fine on any terrain. I wouldn't want one on a polaris with narrow boards but i bet do is fine. I will admit that i thought they were the dumbest thing in the world when they first come out and then a buddy used one to get me out when 4 of us were struggling with the sled. 60 inch dump.

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

would these work as well on short tunnel sleds since the bumper is forward of the rear of the track?

turboless terry · Oct 24, 2021

You can still be on the side. Just pick which way you might push it and put it on the other side.

TreewellDweller · Oct 24, 2021

jcjc1 said:
would these work as well on short tunnel sleds since the bumper is forward of the rear of the track?

I had mine on a 151” Rev chassis for several years before I got a 163” Xp. They both had the brake rotor on the jack-shaft which meant I could mount the jack a little further forward on the tunnel. The old Rev chassis had the jack’s shaft sticking out past the rear bumper a couple of inches, maybe. Was never a problem.
The newer chassis with the rotor on the drive shaft will cause the front u-bolt mount to be shifted back, so a 154” tunnel might have the jack sticking out the back 4”-6”. You would have to determine if that is a problem, or not. I wouldn’t think so if you still have your snowflap on the rear of the tunnel. If you have removed it, there might be an issue.
In the picture, I am digging down to undo my tether on the jack. Going to slow and to close to a tree-well while looking for a riding buddy created the stuck. He found me and watched me get out. He offered to help but I told him “No thanks “. Jacked up the sled and pushed it sideways onto fresh snow and drove away. Pretty simple and pretty easy. Oh, this is a 165” Gen-4 sled. Love it!

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

@TreewellDweller
thanks for the reply, i was referring to actually using it as opposed to how it mounts regarding the short tunnel, i'm the least experienced of the group so i get stuck the most and this would be great to self-recover and not waste riding time for others.

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

i like the snojack "ultimate takedown" as it is only 14" long when stowed.

turboless terry · Oct 24, 2021

jcjc1 said:
i like the snojack "ultimate takedown" as it is only 14" long when stowed.

Have you used it? I bouhht one too get myself out of any pickle by myself. Liked how it was compact because i was only using it if i couldn't roll the sled. It was garbage comparrd to bill's jack. Threw it in the garbage

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

turboless terry said:
Have you used it? I bouhht one too get myself out of any pickle by myself. Liked how it was compact because i was only using it if i couldn't roll the sled. It was garbage comparrd to bill's jack. Threw it in the garbage

to me the portability of the collapsible snojack makes the choice a no-brainer as they're similar in price but you're saying the snojack is very inferior. how so?

turboless terry · Oct 24, 2021

Built too cheesy or light. Bends easy and was slipping and wouldn't jack.

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

i'm gonna ask about those concerns and see what snojack says. i can't see carrying a 6 foot pole on the sled.

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

turboless terry said:
Built too cheesy or light. Bends easy and was slipping and wouldn't jack.

was this the Powderjack or Snowjack? i have seen complaints regarding the Powderjack. I wonder if the Snowjack is an improvement by the same company or if they were from two different companies.

turboless terry · Oct 24, 2021

Don't remember. Bought at the utah snow show a bunch of years ago. Wouldn't lift one sled. Take that back. Got a buddies kid out barely. Then it was stripped. Complete garbage. The original highkacker or whatever it is called works stellar.

jcjc1 · Oct 24, 2021

ok, here's the reply i got from SnowJack:

"Thank you for you question.
I don't know who you talked to but let me help you out.
The Ultimate SnowJack is just as strong if not stronger than my competitors.
The rod is made up of solid 7075 aircraft aluminium and us held together with steel inserts. I am the inventor and manufacturer of the SnowJacks.
I also make this guarentee if you break the SnowJack I will fix or replace free for one year. Only question I will ask is how, so if there is a problem I can fix it.
So far in over 10 years no one has sent one back.
There was a 3rd company that did use a tube and cheaper material but they have gone out of business 3 years ago.
Rest a sure I'm positive you will be happy with my craftsmanship and neediness of them.
If you have any other question please feel free to ask"

sounds good enough for me. i like the highjacker but the 6ft rod is no-go criteria.

turboless terry · Oct 24, 2021

jcjc1 said:
was this the Powderjack or Snowjack? i have seen complaints regarding the Powderjack. I wonder if the Snowjack is an improvement by the same company or if they were from two different companies.

After some snooping it was a powder jack i believe

TreewellDweller · Oct 25, 2021

jcjc1 said:
i'm gonna ask about those concerns and see what snojack says. i can't see carrying a 6 foot pole on the sled.

Hard to believe, but I actually found one of those break-down PowderJack jacks this fall while hunting. Brought it home and discovered that it would not release and slide down the shaft. No wonder it was left leaning against a tree. It seems that it was a bit offset at each joint, thus would not slide past it. I took a file to it and trued things up at each joint, then painted each joint a different color so that it could be put together in the same configuration each time. Putting it on my snowbike. Who knows, someone else might find it leaning against a tree.?

jcjc1 · Oct 25, 2021

i'm gonna get a Snowjack and we have a couple of newer riders this year so it'll be getting some use. i'll report back on it as the season progresses.

showtz · Oct 28, 2021

They work well for certain situations. Jack up the back and just push it over away from the trench.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ox · Nov 4, 2021

Teth-Air said:
Sorry didn't mean to offend. What I meant about it not working where we ride is the terrain is too difiicult to have anything strapped on to the running boards and there would be a lot of ice and snow built up on it when trying to use it. If you want to carry it for me then I definately will use it.

Everybody thinks that they are always the most extreme riders eh?
Shirley anyone that can dance with the sled with a Jacker on board must be in lesser terrain.

Under full transparency, I ride with the MFGer of this unit, and I actually source some of the materials for it.
Not that I profit from it. But I have used them for 2 decades.

Bill makes a model that comes apart. Only 2 pcs I think.
I have zero experience with that.

I will see if I can get a pic of mine mounted, but it is 12' up on top of the pallet racking right now.
I'll try to git up there with a camera. I think mine is about flush on the back of a 165.

OK, I found a pic from our last ride that shows how far back it rides, but I will try to git some pics of the mounting later.

Teth-Air · Nov 4, 2021

Ox said:
Everybody thinks that they are always the most extreme riders eh?
Shirley anyone that can dance with the sled with a Jacker on board must be in lesser terrain.

Under full transparency, I ride with the MFGer of this unit, and I actually source some of the materials for it.
Not that I profit from it. But I have used them for 2 decades.

Bill makes a model that comes apart. Only 2 pcs I think.
I have zero experience with that.

I will see if I can get a pic of mine mounted, but it is 12' up on top of the pallet racking right now.
I'll try to git up there with a camera. I think mine is about flush on the back of a 165.

OK, I found a pic from our last ride that shows how far back it rides, but I will try to git some pics of the mounting later.

The picture we really wanted to see was of Shirely.

Ox · Nov 4, 2021

Shirley is like any other broad, a little left to the imagination is usually a good thing eh?

But I will disclose pics of the sled.
2018 G4 165

Front mount sticks out even with, or slightly less than the chaincase.
The tunnel is dbl thick here, and I have it dbl nutted like came in the kit.
(Today's kit may be slightly different than the last jack that I got as I know the mount kits vary sometimes.)

I didn't like his bracket for the back end, and I rolled (turned?) my own out of a slug of buffer tube material, with the tang towards the rear to add support.
A cpl worshers with a sleeve/bushing would be the same.
I put this through the rear suspension mount bracket, so again - it's dbl thick here.

I have the whole thing [almost] tight up agginst the tunnel.

And per an earlier statement about it being too heavy:
Bill has one on each side of his machine(s) and he has discarded the seat from every sled that he has had in the 20 yrs that I have known him.
"It weighs too much!"
The jack is 7075 alum with a plastic body.
So, I don't think it gobbles up too much running board room or weighs too much for him.

Just to keep things clear as there have been several brands tossed about in this thread, I am talking about the "Harmon High Jacker".
(the subject of the thread)
He builds them himself in Colorado, but his daughter handles the shipping out of Tulsa sometimes.
So if you see that at some point, don't get cornfused, it's the same doohicky.