Snow flap test?

Oregonsledder · Nov 29, 2011

I have had my 12 PRO out 4 times far. The snow has varied from deep new snow to some extended trails with hard and soft pack. I have noticed the heating issue that has been discussed here many times. I have read that going to a solid longer snow flap helps on the harder packed trails. My question is this. Has any one put some duck tape over the stock flap holes and then watched to see any measurable difference? I’m not one of those guys who just goes out and buys something just because someone says it’s the thing to do. I’m thinking of trying this experiment to see if it really makes a noticeable difference. If anyone has tried this, please chime in.

MCIVER · Nov 29, 2011

took my 2012 assault out for a break in ride this weekend. I didn't have any cooling problems even while running down the road (150 degrees was as high as I saw), but if I had to go any further on the hard pack I would have put my scratchers down.

however when I decided to nail a jump, the landing in powder forced the snow flap up hard enough to break the rear bumper into 2.

Pro-8250 · Nov 29, 2011

I believe the Assault has more cooling capacity than the PRO. After riding one season on the 2011 PRO RMK I can tell you this from my own experience. Use the factory ice scratchers on hard pack snow, they do the job! Here is a test I have done on a hard pack trail in MN,ID,MT many times over. After the sled is up to temp I will ride down the trail with the scratchers up for about two to three miles. The temp will get up to 180- 190 degrees real quick. I stop and put the scratchers down and continue down the trail and in one minute the temp drops about 40 degrees. A short time after that with the scratchers down my temp is a pretty steady 125 degrees. This has worked 100% of the time for me anyway. I have also read here on Snowest that the other snow flaps you are talking about do work, but I can't say that myself. I do like your experiment idea with the duck tape though. I am going to try that one. One more tid bit is we tried the cable scratchers.
I don't favor those.

t stone · Nov 29, 2011

Larry, Stay off the trail. LOL

Oregonsledder · Nov 29, 2011

t stone said:
Larry, Stay off the trail. LOL

Just following you! :face-icon-small-sho

Zrider · Nov 29, 2011

OS:

I covered the holes on the stock flap on mine last year. It helps a little. Then I tested one of the prototype flaps that Matt at Proven Design Products sent out to a few folks to try out. That helped even more. My assessment was that the flap needed to be a little wider and a few inches longer. I still have snow kicking out underneath the flap.

If you go to their site www.provendesignproducts.com they have the standard flap(17" long) and the longer one(24" long). Personally, I feel that 20-21" would be long enough. If I do go for the longer one, I will cut it down.

Last Spring when things got real hard, I would stop and pack snow on top of the tunnel between my shovel bag and the back of the underseat bag. That helped with cooling. Even thought about rigging up a little tray and packing that with snow on the hardpack days. Even with the scratchers down, my Pro would still get hot, especially when speeds slow down. Just have to keep an eye on things

Bottom line, it would be nice to have a front cooler on these rigs, like I had on my '09 RMK. If it started to get warm, dropped the scratchers and it cooled down, even on the hardpack.

Oregonsledder · Nov 29, 2011

Zrider said:
OS:

I covered the holes on the stock flap on mine last year. It helps a little. Then I tested one of the prototype flaps that Matt at Proven Design Products sent out to a few folks to try out. That helped even more. My assessment was that the flap needed to be a little wider and a few inches longer. I still have snow kicking out underneath the flap.

If you go to their site www.provendesignproducts.com they have the standard flap(17" long) and the longer one(24" long). Personally, I feel that 20-21" would be long enough. If I do go for the longer one, I will cut it down.

Last Spring when things got real hard, I would stop and pack snow on top of the tunnel between my shovel bag and the back of the underseat bag. That helped with cooling. Even thought about rigging up a little tray and packing that with snow on the hardpack days. Even with the scratchers down, my Pro would still get hot, especially when speeds slow down. Just have to keep an eye on things

Bottom line, it would be nice to have a front cooler on these rigs, like I had on my '09 RMK. If it started to get warm, dropped the scratchers and it cooled down, even on the hardpack.

Hey Z, thanks for the input. Your info is supporting my thoughts on this issue. I may also end up with a different flap. Bring on the deep snow!!

tyb57 · Nov 29, 2011

to get even more cooling out of your scratchers try welding a washeror two at the end of the scratcher. Throws up alot more snow, thus, more cooling.

KAWGRN · Nov 29, 2011

I put a powerclaw track under mine and flex scratchers on the skis and wheel kits like the rmk and the Pd longer flap, last year just couldnt keep mine below 180 during spring riding was tired of stopping all the time! I know the pc track throws a ton of chit so with the wider and longer flap that it will cure the prob, And yes I have been told its only me and I dont ride fast enough or Im not in the powder or etc etc BS!!! They just dont have enpugh cooling in some conditions ,,,and my turbo dragon NEVER runs hot under the same conditions ,nor does My M-8 ,,,I will see,,, but not till spring

2XM3 · Nov 29, 2011

Chucked the stocl flap and put a regular 09 dragon flap on it..works well. After riding with my friend and his 2011 rmk I really wish polaris would have put the front cooler on the pro as well..his stayed at 115-120 no matter what

KAWGRN · Nov 29, 2011

tyb57 said:
to get even more cooling out of your scratchers try welding a washeror two at the end of the scratcher. Throws up alot more snow, thus, more cooling.

Im going out to do that tonight!!! Thanks for that idea!!!Between the PC and 4 scratchers NOOOO one will be able to ride behind Me!

HOTRODREDNECK · Nov 29, 2011

2XM3 said:
Chucked the stocl flap and put a regular 09 dragon flap on it..works well. After riding with my friend and his 2011 rmk I really wish polaris would have put the front cooler on the pro as well..his stayed at 115-120 no matter what

you can get that .... just buy the standard rmk:face-icon-small-sho sorry i like the weight savings although i do have to search for more fresh snow to dive in:face-icon-small-ton

High Velocity · Nov 29, 2011

2XM3 said:
Chucked the stocl flap and put a regular 09 dragon flap on it..works well.

Just did this on my '12 Pro.

Sent from my iPhone when I should be sledding.

jdtech65 · Nov 29, 2011

170 miles so far on mine and so far I've only seen it above 135 once. That was when I was going real slow. The rest of the time it was always between 125-135. Also when restarting it after sitting I never saw it drop below 95 degrees. If it did start to climb stratchers have worked for me so far. I do plan on swapping out my snowflap later in the season when the snow conditions change.

The one occassion the temp climbed up towards 150+ before I stopped and threw some snow on the tunnel. The snow was pretty decent but my speed was very slow. Heres why---
You can see in the pic I piled the snow on top of my tunnel pretty good to keep it cool.

barry1me · Nov 29, 2011

jdtech65 said:
170 miles so far on mine and so far I've only seen it above 135 once. That was when I was going real slow. The rest of the time it was always between 125-135. Also when restarting it after sitting I never saw it drop below 95 degrees. If it did start to climb stratchers have worked for me so far. I do plan on swapping out my snowflap later in the season when the snow conditions change.

The one occassion the temp climbed up towards 150+ before I stopped and threw some snow on the tunnel. The snow was pretty decent but my speed was very slow. Heres why---

How did your sled do towing another sled? Did you attach tow rope to rear bumper? Im sorta worried about hooking a tow rope up to the carbon fiber bumper as im afraid it might snap it.

jdtech65 · Nov 29, 2011

barry1me said:
How did your sled do towing another sled? Did you attach tow rope to rear bumper? Im sorta worried about hooking a tow rope up to the carbon fiber bumper as im afraid it might snap it.

One sled wasn't able to pull the dead turbo 4 stroke sled up through the trees to get to the trail with the snow conditions so I hooked mine up to the other one to have two sleds to pull the dead one. First I will say that I had allready replaced the rear bumper with an Edgeworks rear bumper. I was a little worried at first so I ended up hooking the straps around the running board bars where they attach to the tunnel and then wrapped it around the bumper before tieing it to the spindles of the other sled. I did this on both sides. (the one rope came untied in the pic) I figured this way it would give it more support and help spread the load better. Didn't have any problems doing it this way.

glassman · Nov 29, 2011

I though 4 strokers didnt break down? That picture is awesome, you should post it on the yamaha forums.

flying frenchman · Nov 29, 2011

Looks more like he's pulling both sleds. lol. They say the Polaris is underpowered, yet it has enough torque to pull out two Yamahas.

jdtech65 · Nov 29, 2011

glassman said:
I though 4 strokers didnt break down? That picture is awesome, you should post it on the yamaha forums.

If you look close there is no track or suspension on it. Hit a sharp stump under full boost and stabbed the track and put a 6" bend into the rails. So we cut the track off and removed the suspension otherwise the first yahama wasn't able to turn at all with all the weight.

flying frenchman said:
Looks more like he's pulling both sleds. lol. They say the Polaris is underpowered, yet it has enough torque to pull out two Yamahas.

We had to hook my sled to the first yahama to help get through the trees we were in. The snow was too soft that even with making a path it didn't get enough traction to keep from getting stuck with just 1 tow sled. So we hooked the pro to the first yahama and then we were able to work our way through the trees to the trail. So I was really only doing half the work but the pro is still up front.

gman086 · Nov 30, 2011

Zrider said:
OS:

I covered the holes on the stock flap on mine last year. It helps a little. Then I tested one of the prototype flaps that Matt at Proven Design Products sent out to a few folks to try out. That helped even more. My assessment was that the flap needed to be a little wider and a few inches longer. I still have snow kicking out underneath the flap.

If you go to their site www.provendesignproducts.com they have the standard flap(17" long) and the longer one(24" long). Personally, I feel that 20-21" would be long enough. If I do go for the longer one, I will cut it down.

Last Spring when things got real hard, I would stop and pack snow on top of the tunnel between my shovel bag and the back of the underseat bag. That helped with cooling. Even thought about rigging up a little tray and packing that with snow on the hardpack days. Even with the scratchers down, my Pro would still get hot, especially when speeds slow down. Just have to keep an eye on things

Bottom line, it would be nice to have a front cooler on these rigs, like I had on my '09 RMK. If it started to get warm, dropped the scratchers and it cooled down, even on the hardpack.

THIS. I was a test rider for PDP too and couldn't have said it better myself. Something in between their short and long flaps would be ideal for the Pro but, all in all, more cooling is needed for crusty spring conditions.

Have FUN!

G MAN

Snow flap test?

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