Towing another sled question

[joel97mustang]

We bought a snobunje's tow kit and ended up breaking one of the metal pieces that tighten and loosen the strap. Needless to say we don't have one to use anymore. I have two ratchet straps in my backpack that I use instead. one end attaches onto the spindle of the other snowmobile, the other to the corners of the towing sleds bumper. And you can have the rider steer his or her sled that's being towed as well as slow it down.As stated above, pull the belt to allow the track to run freely. I do however like the idea mentioned about putting a tree branch in between the ski hoops to allow it to steer itself. Only reason I say this is because if you're in a tough spot and you need less weight to tow the sled out the sled can for the most part steer itself.

I haven't had any broken straps but the method of towing a dead sled is sound while the equipment may be faulty. That said I am going to upgrade to a stronger CAM buckle strap (which is what Snobunje uses)

Here's one rate to 1200 lbs breaking strength, 400 lb load limit

http://www.tiegrrr.com/TiegrrrStrap.html

Here's a video of snowbunje towing method. No rider needed on towed sled to steer or brake. It's awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsocIEiLFgg

Always good ideas on this forum

 

[sledheadjake]

I do the same as Hardass, I have towed out alot of sleds out of alot of bad places this way with out a single problem.

 

[vdo1948]

For the second time in life I had to tow out a sled with a locked up track. Both times used a modification of the Hardass method. Tie one or more kids flat plastic roll up sleds under the track, then tie both ski loops up fairly tight to the towing sled's bumper. Both times towed out through powder 3 - 4 miles from a trail and then down the trail. You can pull at 30 - 40 MPH on decent trails. With the skis tied pretty tight to the bumper the sled behind can't run into the towing sled when the brakes are applied. I firmly believe the sled pulls easier riding on the plastic sleds than it does when pulling with the belt off and the track turning.

 

[Jeff C]

we usaly tie through the back holes on the boards over the tunnel and under the bumper that is the best towing point we have found. the equal length on both sides from spindle through ski loop to center of the line tied on the towing sled works great

We have a winner!!

Bumper=NO!!!

Tie off on the rear of the boards on each side = YES

 

[rwelch5745]

What hardass said... But I'll be a little more specific. You want to tie the dead sled's left ski loop to the very far left of the bumper of the tow sled,,, bumper to loop, tight.THEN, tie a section of rope from the far right side of the bumper to the dead sled's right ski, as tight as you can. This will prevent the sled from sliding back & forth on the bumper if the rope loosens up, which it will. Trust me on the last bit of advice, I worked for the Arctic Cat store in West, & the owners had a rental fleet totalling close to 250-300 sleds, & I was CONSTANTLY retrieving sleds.( Especially in the mid to late 90's when Cat had chit for sleds!).
I've literrally put thousands of miles on machines just towing broken sleds, so I'm talking from experience.


& don't forget to take the belt off!!!

 

[revrider07]

I'm with hardass in his method I bought one of plastic sleds that attach to the track and it was like 60$. After using it in nasty ravine I would pay 200$ for it works very well. The broken sled in tow pulls very easy there wouldn't be many spots you couldn't pull it out with a 163 and a good rider.

 

[Team Pigeon]

Here's another post
http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=206293

I gave my opinion in post #14, parallel 3 sled towing.



Locked track tow jobs are totally situational. I've opted more often than not to remove the skis and install them backwards and to hoist the dead sled's track onto my rear VAN AMBURG non bending bumper, tie it down with like 18 tie downs and get the eff out.

Don't directly tie to ski loops, unless you're using skis made in the 80's that are indestructible. Don't tie two ski loops together in a triangle either. It pulls both ski loops in towards themselves and you risk breaking steering components that you would otherwise require to keep the sled following you wherever you go. Tie off to the frame work, as close to the center as possible.

You guys in whistler have got some huge wide open climbs. Read my post in the link above about tandem towing. One day I'll take some pictures. But I'm usually not in picture taking mood when I tow though. I'm just all business. Anyhow the method is a bit weird at first but once you get used to it, she's killer. Every advanced group out there should try practice it. I've watched a bunch of old men trying to get their crap out and they won't take your advice, then they ask you for it and you get it out first pull.
Me and my buddy, m1000 and rev 800 respectively, pulled our other buddy out from the dead snowcat behind brandywine- his was a doo1000. We had the skis in the air the whole climb out. Many critics that day went away not so critical...

Don't pull in series. XXDeadsledXX----tow sled----tow sled. Guy in the middle will hate life and you have no control. Some meathead insisted this one day with me, he happened to have a turbo and shot peened my face, goggles, chest, hood, hood vents, intake vents, hands, and did I already say my face. I hated life at the top of that climb, and the meathead just drove off, no beer, no beef jerky, no smokes no efff all.



Get a snobunje sled to sled version. All you need is one for the group. If it doesn't get you out, at least you'll all be laughing your asses off.

Get some climbing slings like buddy said, some short ones, some long ones. It's amazing what a little dinky 1/2" dyneema kevlar sling can handle. In four years of towing people's crap out of the bush, not one has broken.