Push starting a snowmobile....

[SRXSRULE]

Just as the tite states, Have you ever push (or tow) started a sled?

I was looking at some pics from last year and it reminded me of when we did this on an epic snow day. It was a bluebird day with around 30-40" of fresh snow, we are about 10 miles from the trucks tearing up the powder. We are back in a little honey hole and the oldest sled in the group (12 cat 800) cracks the spider in the primary clutch. Its stuck engage about 1/2 way through its range of travel. We really dont want to tow it out 10 miles in these conditions so we decide to push start it and ride it out
We packed a trail going down hill with several other sleds, and then dragged the cat over into that track, got the rider all set to go and 4 of us pushed the sled as fast as we could and sure enough it fires up. A long boooog later and the rpms and speed come up and off he goes.

He ended up not making it out due to some climbs involved but he made it a whole lot closer. Ended swapping out the clutch a few hours later to ride it out.

Anyone else ever been in a similar situation? Eric

 

[Mafesto]

Imagine that.
A cat primary failing in the backcountry.


Sorry, had to, too easy!

 

[SRXSRULE]

You wouldnt believe how many times that sled has been either towed out or fixed on the mountain in its short hard life! Eric

 

[89sandman]

Lucky it wasn't a Poo and it snapped right off the crank!

 

[SRXSRULE]

Lucky it wasn't a Poo and it snapped right off the crank!

Im lucky enough to have been involved in that situation as well

2005, new 800 poo, even deeper snow conditions and much farther from the truck with a big climb out. Broke the crank on a hill climb right when he hit the little red "go button".
That was a BIOTCH to get out! Eric

 

[vincebarnett]

I had a mds clutch kit get installed from a shop in town last year and the new guy must have been smoking too much pot and forgot to loctite the set screws on the weights.
We got 10+ mikes back into our ride and I was turning out of a climb when she bogged hard and died. Primary was stuck 3/4 shut so I beat on it till the weights released and started to ride out. Stuck 1/2 way shut for the next 8 miles then almost all the way. Had to push start it about 3 times. Worked like a charm but it was a wild ride back to the truck being as I was never below 1/2 throttle. . I had some choice words for the shop when I returned to town. BUT the owner did make it right for me.

 

[shelbwyo]

Sounds better than towing a sled out with the track on the tunnel hope I never have to do that again

 

[POLZIN]

Lucky it wasn't a Poo and it snapped right off the crank!

Yeah my 06 900 did that in a creek bottom with 48+" of new snow. It sure was fun up till that point. Not so much after took 2 days to get it out.

 

[Scott]

I've never push started a sled, but I have wrapped a strap around the primary and pull started it that way many times because of a broken recoil.

 

[WingNutRacing]

Haha

Sounds better than towing a sled out with the track on the tunnel hope I never have to do that again

We did that once, to make one pull, just to keep the skis down we had a guy stand on each ski..

So... One sled forwards, one sled backwards with skis turned around and track on tunnel of forward sled, one guy riding, one guy standing on left ski, and another standing on right ski.....

It was glorious........

 

[SRXSRULE]

We did that once, to make one pull, just to keep the skis down we had a guy stand on each ski..

So... One sled forwards, one sled backwards with skis turned around and track on tunnel of forward sled, one guy riding, one guy standing on left ski, and another standing on right ski.....

It was glorious........

I have a similar "glorious" story. The above mentioned 05 rmk that broke the crank..... We had to hook 4 sleds up to it to tow it out one big climb. It took about 4 hours of getting stuck and resetting the tow lines. In the end it was two sleds hooked together tied to each ski, all 4 tow sleds were 159 800's on N2O. By the time the sled got out it had no rider and was sliding on its hood. Talk about a **** Show!!! Eric

 

[WingNutRacing]

Haha

Those are the best..

 

[mtncat1]

Lucky it wasn't a Poo and it snapped right off the crank!

yeah he sure was lucky that imaginary polaris with the broken crank wasn't there he would have had to make another imaginary trip in to get it , i've been let down buy cat so many times and had to pull them out for real due to broken chains and steering posts clutches etc. that my friends didn't want to ride with me any more , since going to a unreliable pro i have never had to tow since,

 

[89sandman]

I have owned all 4 brands and towed all four for one reason or another. Had 2 Pro's that never had to be towed out but have towed out my buddies Pro's. They all break. Sorry Cat has left such a bad taste in your mouth, can honestly say I'd buy any brand right now except for a Yami But I'm riding a Cat this year so for now they are the best!!!

 

[Thistledoo]

Had a M8 once way in the back back in T!T deep snow break the spider in the primary...I had my turbo nitro and we got the sled running and got him moving in 5th gear....He made it over one big climb but the next no way. I hooked onto it with my boosted nitro and tried a few times at the next hill but no way in hel! could we make it...so we called the chopper...thank god the third guy had a sat phone...buddy and I doubled out on the nitro...oh joy LOL...when we rolled into town the chopper had just dropped it....dragged it in and headed for home....was still a killer day but the famous cat broke the clutch!! wasn't the last one either.

 

[mtncat1]

I have owned all 4 brands and towed all four for one reason or another. Had 2 Pro's that never had to be towed out but have towed out my buddies Pro's. They all break. Sorry Cat has left such a bad taste in your mouth, can honestly say I'd buy any brand right now except for a Yami But I'm riding a Cat this year so for now they are the best!!!

don't get me wrong id ride a new cat if i had one but i went thru a lot of chains and gears over the years over the years due to that lousy silent chain , i finally got smart and went with a team chain and had no more issues,
what frustrates me with cat is they went for years ignoring the problem , never fixed it and went to a diamond drive to solve it, then went back to a chain case and went back to the same weak chain in 12. then what do you know more broken chains . waited 3 more years and finally went with a team chain . so it basically took 20 years to fix a problem that should have been fixed in a couple. p/s i rode cats from 91 to 2011