Reliable sled for Ice fishing ?
 

Hi all. I've never owned a sled. I'm curious to know what is a reliable sled for ice fishing. Good cold starting and to keep the equipment on the sled. More power than speed. I'm thinking of trading an 03 Honda 350 rancher 4x4, direct drive, Air cooled,for a sled. Thanks in advance for your input on this

Skidoo tundra is pretty tough to beat but tire chains on your quad and it’s usable all year! You will miss it


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If you don’t want to sink too much money into it, it’s hard to beat a Polaris Indy Deluxe, they are tanks.


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Lots of good utility sleds out there all depends on budget, looking new or used ?

Sleds depreciate pretty quickly. Much faster than your quad which at it's age will hold value pretty well. Trading at this time, will likely mean taking a hit on it as well, due to the season. I'd consider hanging onto the quad, and buying a sled.

The way this year is, there isn't very good sledding, and some places it would be better quading in.

I picked this one up about a month ago strictly for ice fishing took it out on its first trip last weekend to Cold Lake very happyhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7dcfc1c573.jpg

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I am in a similar situation as you only I will be buying with no trade in. I have been considering a quad or SxS with track options. One machine but dual purpose I am hoping. Where I live now the snow can be 2-3 feet on the lakes now.

I tried for 2 months to trade my quad same one you had a 03 Honda for a sled not much interest eventually just sold it

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^^^^

Nice sled

Thing I learned is that reverse on a sled is very valuable, particularly if you unload by yourself. If there is no reverse, an air cooled sled is lighter and easier to unload solo.

I haven't used that quad in 4 years as I'm not hunting anymore for various reasons. I'm thinking of a used one. By looking at the ones on Kijiji I see the deprecation value is down considerably. Skidoo tundra with reverse looks like one I'd be into.

Find a 550f , its a great sled, even if you can find an 08 summit with a 550f, was the last year they made them. You will be very happy

Couple yamaha bravo’s on kijiji, great fishing sled but not as comfy if your doing some trail riding

Beauty sled 35, A buddy of mine growing up had what looks like that exact same sled color and everything. Last time I rode it was over twenty years ago and as far as I know it's still going strong today.

I had an 89 arctic cat cheetah 500 to bomb around on and let's just say that if a kid who hasn't even reached his teens yet can wreck a snowmobile over and over it's probably not built very well lol. I'm in the market right now as well and am going to stay away from the older Cat's but not sure how the newer ones are these days.

The newer Arctic Cat Bearcat's look ideal for ice fishing as well as the Yamaha's VK's but from what I can can gather it's really old technology. Over seas they are pretty much a staple it seems though.

One thing that bothers me is manufacturers selling utility snowmobiles without a pull start. Growing up when it was -40 and school was out that meant pond hockey and snowmobiling, only way to get a machine going was pull start.

Only the 4 strokes don’t have pull starts. If you opt for fan cooled 2 stroke it will come with it. As far as a good sled hard to beat a utility. A tundra vk50 a bravo etc... a mid 2000s arctic cat m6 or a Polaris RMK vertical edge or escape. (Cat has A arms Polaris has trailing arms) With a 144ish track. That will get you around on the ice as they were really more of a trail sled than mountain sled(compared to mountain sleds of today). Either way there are Plenty of those around. If you want new look at a Skidoo Expedition Sport. If I was getting a sled specifically for ice fishing trapping and some trail riding that’s what I would do. Those 600 and 900 ace engines are proving extremely reliable with many well over 10000miles over on the Dootalk forums. If you find a 90s Polaris Indy that would work well too if you don’t mind something a bit older. As long as it’s in good shape there’s no bent trailing arms torn seats missing lugs and the hifax is good. You may need to do a top end depending on miles but that’s just normal sled maintenance.

i have a 06 Yamaha venture that i use. air cooled so i dont have to worry about having enough snow on the lakes for cooling. has reverse. electric start. it got the 2 up seat so i can pile myself and the 2 kid onto it. i picked it up for 2000 last year. great sled.

I would keep the quad....90 percent of the time you will do fine ice fishing with the quad plus the rest of the year for other activities.

I too have hymned and hawed about a sled but always fell short logically thinking but to keep harmony and to enjoy the winter months I would go with a touring type sled....I like the Yamaha venture models....if your by yourself ample space to put all your gear on.

My father-in-law has a ‘93 Tundra 280cc, he bought it for going into his cabin, it’s really good in tight timber and swamps. But if a lake has 3” of slush? It’s turn around and drive 3 hours home, it quickly turns into a nightmare.
I’ve thought of on years like this with little snow that a quad would be an option for going to the cabin, but it scares me that if I’m on a creek and the ice gets thin a quad doesn’t glide over, it plows it[emoji1785]


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mud lites 1 1/4" lugs lean back and pin it...plus what an outing without an adventure:)

Keep the quad, there are very affordable sled on the market today. Any of the Polaris indy’s in the 550 fan cooled are very reliable. I bought a used sled years ago and it was a nightmare for me so I decided to get the Polaris Indy 550 LXT and it was $8,200 out the door with tax. Pretty reasonable price and it’s been great since and who knows how long this sled will last me.

https://i.postimg.cc/hG3zv4jD/22568-...B9-AA98-A9.jpg

You will definitely get beat up on a trade in for that quad. What are you looking to spend? There are a lot of great used sleds out there if you know what to look for

My 2 cents...

Tracks on a quad pale in comparison to the effectiveness of an actual snowmobile in snow. Quad provides very little flotation with tracks, has to work way harder than expected to turn the tracks, and on top of all that a set of good tracks is far from cheap.

Enough other responses are bang-on with the recommendations of great sled alternatives. I would highly recommend the Polaris Indy line of sleds -- we've had them for years growing up. My uncle still has a '94 Trail Deluxe that runs like a Swiss watch.

Id like a sled like that next year. Inwould never give up my Honda Rubicon for a sled though. Its served me well ice fishing and hunting seasons

Find a Yamaha VK540. North West and I both have these machines.

20 inch track, 153" so floats great in deep snow. Unique rear connector that tilts up the track in reverse, essentially backing UP a ramp, that most do not. Trust me this is a life saver when stuck.

Then it has a 2 speed transmission, so if you are pulling something heavy, its got the low end power.

Finally, very tough engine and fan cooled so no problems on warm days or hard pack snow.

A very popular sled in Alaska, as it is easy to work on and very durable.

Most will have to be rebuilt to be brought up to standard, but it is worth it.

Yamaha re launched these sleds a couple years ago with mods to the engine to make it better for emissions, but still the same basic design. For a 4 stroke sled company to do that says something about the demand for that platform.

Drewski

Valuable point Drewski on the tilt up on reverse.Thank for the input Bush,Sled,liketoshot and everyone. Something a guy can fix by himself. Don't need the bells and whistles. Looks like I have some searching to do.looking for a used one. $ depends on what I can find.

Both Skidoo and Polaris have the tilting rail on their 550 utility sleds.

Fordtruckin,

Does either the Skidoo 550 or the Polaris version have a 2 speed transmission so you can go to low range when you need to pull something heavy?

How is the track system set up. Is it sliders or boggie wheels?

It was Yamaha that started the cantilever rear rail system back in the early 90's with the VK540. It is Boogie wheels, which is superior for track suspension over simply static sliders.

Having wrestled with too many stuck sleds in deep snow where the rear just digs deeper instead of backs out at an angle, any utility sled has to have this system. Most big paddle mountain machines do not have this feature, and you really can only go forward because of it.

I don't own Yamaha shares, and make no money on the endorsement. I'm just saying look real hard at this machine as a choice.

Few guys part with them, which is the problem.

Drewski

Arctic Cat Bearcat is another option worth considering. Wide track models, reverse etc etc.

I know Polaris and Skidoo both have models that have two speed transmissions.
Skidoo does have the articulating rear skid for reverse on the more utility models.

They also have 20”x154” tracks.

Take a look at the Skidoo expedition, that sled is an all star at every sport.


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Skidoo expedition skandik and tundra all have the SC-5U articulated rail that pivots on or around a bogie wheel. You can lock the rail flat as well when needed. The 550f is only available in certain models and not with the 2 speed transmission. For that option you need the etech or ACE engine models.

The Polaris voyager and titan have the articulated rail which looks a similar design to the Skidoo. The 550 fan is only available in the voyager and I don’t think they have a 2 speed transmission option but I’m not as familiar with the Titan.

I agree with the articulated rail. I’ve never used one but I’ve ridden enough mountain sleds without it that I know reverse is good on trail or for unloading. If you get stuck in the powder and try to reverse you get about 8” and it starts to dig. Pretty much your better off lifting the tunnel over to a side and then roll the sled on one ski and crawl it out of your able too. If not you can roll the sled over to fresh snow or pack it down around the tunnel in front of the sled and either have someone pull on a ski to walk it out or stand at the back of the running boards, pin it and rock the sled back and forth. You’ll know pretty quick if the last method will work.

I have no experience with the VK and the only issue I take with it is they need an update on the seat.

From my sled experience there is always a ton of mountain sleds for sale, a few trail sleds and pretty much never any utility sleds. Again I agree people buy them and keep them. Amazing that they are still the top selling segment of snowmobiles.

If going new for my needs, would buy a new or a hold over expedition sport gen 4 900 ACE. I have no real need for a 2 speed transmission as the only thing I would tow is a medium size otter sled for ice fishing hunting or firewood.