What snowmobile to look for?

[Tracker0721]

For my trapping and coyote hunting I’d really like to get a sled to take into some of the great areas I find in the summer/fall. Most of the riding would be forest circus roads and old logging roads but none get plowed so I’m wanting a sled that can haul some gear, maybe tow the little trailers, can break trail, fan cooled(right?) and would be nice if I could fit it into the back of my truck. The early 2000s ski doo tundra looks perfect!

My price range is low so I’m looking used and older but I’m just looking for suggestions on what I should be looking to get.

[KFhunter]

those older utility sleds are hard to come by in decent shape, so I use my Arctic Cat M8 and make do but it's not optimal.   Tons of power, but not much tow.  Its still fun though 


one thing I've found is that in a good snow year on these FS roads can require a lot of floatation breaking trail,  I've even gotten my mountain sled stuck on FS roads that has no base so you sink especially when manuvering around downed brush, logs and junk in your way, you can't always pin the throttle to get out. 


Its a good idea to get a fan cooled sled, that would open up more riding opportunity where a liquid cooled sled could overheat because lack of snow and iced up roads.   I do run scratchers, but on super skinny snow there isn't much to scratch up to cool it. 

might be worth a look, got time to fix it up before next season.
https://lewiston.craigslist.org/snw/d/juliaetta-ski-doo-snowmobile/6913675557.html

If it were me I'd cut the back half of the seat off, make it almost a shorty then you'd have room for a lot more stuff on the rear rack.  I'd also do a complete tear down and rebuild, new windscreen, and I'd put in a scabbard through the hood into the engine bay to keep your rifle sorta warm. 

[KFhunter]

another thing, riding by yourself can be a bit sketchy.   I got 20 miles back in snow that went almost to my nipples when I got off the sled and broke down back there.  Now what?

can't walk out!


luckly I was able to cobble up a fix and rode out with a messed up steering shaft, but got me to thinking...


now I use a garmin inreach GPS thing and do a better job communicating where I'm riding, good thing is there's usually only one set of snowmobile tracks leaving the pickup and it goes right to me 

[Norman89]

I picked up a 1989 articat 440 fan to try out for trapping I paid 75$ for it not running brought it home and found the kill switch shorted out had it running in 10 minutes. New carb is on the way and new choke cable and I plan to shorten the seat as well and make room for a rack and try some Martin trapping this year

[bearpaw]

I used to have mostly Polaris and hardly ever made it through a winter without an engine going out. We started buying 4 stroke skidoo tundras and have one 2 stroke etec tundra extreme and haven't had any problems with them, collectively we've put about 12,000 miles on them in the last three winters. We also have an old carborated skidoo with well over 10k miles, rebuilt the motor around 10k before it blew up just to feel safe when we have to use it.

I'm 10 to 30 miles from my truck pretty often in the early am in very remote country alone, so I don't need a breakdown, skidoos utility sleds are very reliable machines. We also have a half dozen Yamaha Phazer newer 4 stroke and older 2 stroke, they are good machines but not quite as reliable nor will they follow the skidoos. The skidoos even pulling a heavy dog sled will go further and not get stuck.

Might get a skidoo expedition next, I've been investigating them and like what I see, very similar to the tundra but a little better trail sled due to a wider ski stance. If you look on the trapper forums a lot of guys are using expeditions up north rather than tundras now.

There are some used 550 expeditions for sale in Utah, they were fleet sleds, pricing isn't too bad. The 550 is jetted and carborated, so you would probably need to have new jets put in for WA elevations, it's easy and cheap to do. https://classifieds.ksl.com/search/?keyword=expedition&category%5B%5D=Winter+Sports&subCategory%5B%5D=Snowmobiles+Used&zip=&miles=25&priceFrom=&priceTo=&city=&state=&sort=

Sometimes you can find a good deal on a new last year model machine off snowmobile trader or other online classifieds. I can usually save $500 to $1000 doing that. My extreme was on sale late in the season for $3000 off. There was a similar deal in Woodinville this spring but I was about an hour too late calling, someone beat me to it.

[bearpaw]

If you watch for those 4 stroke phazers sometimes they are pretty cheap and low mileage, we have added trailer hitches to two of ours and they pull sleds fine at slow to medium speeds. I've also run them on very bare ground in warm weather to the point that we ruined skis, they have a good radiator for cooling. You should be able to find one for $2000 to $2500, hold out for one with under 2k miles and it will last a long time. Several of ours have 4k to 5k miles, we did have a couple wiring issues that we had to take to get repaired, that's why I say they aren't quite as reliable as skidoo utility sleds.

[KFhunter]

phazers have narrow tracks, like a chainsaw, they cut right through and high center


good little thumpers though, too bad Yamaha didn't make a wide track phazer for backcountry utility sleds.

[Dadofive]

Skidoo Tundra is the way to go. Super light and reliable. Super slow compared to a Summit 1000 but will go anywhere and it's light enough to pull out of just about any hole you might fall in. If it's for trapping, you'll have snowshoes with you anyway for checking your lines. Just imagine a Tundra is like a motorized set of snowshoes. Utilitarian without many bells and whistles.

[Tracker0721]

Yeah the tundra and scandic were what I was seeing recommended. I’ll need to call that guy KFhunter! Doesn’t look bad. But those are awesome deals being offered in Utah! 2100 for an expedition seems like a great deal! Saw a guy with a 2002(?) tundra trapper edition on YouTube, looked sweet!

[Machias]

I'm going to try and get a new Skandic before this winter, hopefully the last one I'll ever need.

[bearpaw]

Which track width are you thinking Fred?

[Machias]

For my trapping and coyote hunting I’d really like to get a sled to take into some of the great areas I find in the summer/fall. Most of the riding would be forest circus roads and old logging roads but none get plowed so I’m wanting a sled that can haul some gear, maybe tow the little trailers, can break trail, fan cooled(right?) and would be nice if I could fit it into the back of my truck. The early 2000s ski doo tundra looks perfect!

My price range is low so I’m looking used and older but I’m just looking for suggestions on what I should be looking to get.

https://lewiston.craigslist.org/snw/d/grangeville-skidoo-tundra/6910904075.html

[Machias]

Which track width are you thinking Fred?

I'll go with the WT

Which engine do you all recommend:
ROTAX 550F
ROTAX 600 H.O. E-TEC
ROTAX 600 ACE

[KFhunter]

The 550f would be lighter weight and good for breaking in trail that hasnt ever been ran on yet, cutting limbs and trees out the way and getting stuck a lot.  I'd get that if I were always cutting in new trail, which you wouldnt be since you should have established line going by the time deep snows start.

600 ace is a great engine. I'd get that if I had a long trapline that you run every few days or so, economic on fuel and reliable. Quieter that a fan engine and just nice all around. Your trapline wull have a base from previous runs so just new snows to worry about, but where you live those fresh snows can be deep. The ace engine is what most the AK trappers use.

600 ho etec more money, more power, slightly more noise, more exhaust stink, more fuel burn,  makes your clothing smell like exhaust oil but a nice engine too. You'd like it on fresh deep snow but otherwise you probably dont need the extra power all the time. I have a 600 etec ho in a summit xp and have clutch issue with broken rollers, I put in the newer hard ones but still getting a hard engagement when I prefer softer starts. Love my arctic cat clutch on the m8 its butter smooth...i do my own clutch work and got all the special tools. Skidoo clutches over complicate things.


IMO the 600 ace would top my list.

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[bearpaw]

For my trapping and coyote hunting I’d really like to get a sled to take into some of the great areas I find in the summer/fall. Most of the riding would be forest circus roads and old logging roads but none get plowed so I’m wanting a sled that can haul some gear, maybe tow the little trailers, can break trail, fan cooled(right?) and would be nice if I could fit it into the back of my truck. The early 2000s ski doo tundra looks perfect!

My price range is low so I’m looking used and older but I’m just looking for suggestions on what I should be looking to get.

https://lewiston.craigslist.org/snw/d/grangeville-skidoo-tundra/6910904075.html

That looks identical to the old tundra my son has, at about 10k miles we overhauled the engine just to keep it reliable.

Which track width are you thinking Fred?

I'll go with the WT

Which engine do you all recommend:
ROTAX 550F
ROTAX 600 H.O. E-TEC
ROTAX 600 ACE

If you want to play some of the time running fast the 600 etec is awesome, I've got about 4k miles on my tundra exteme with that engine, uses hardly any oil, don't smoke, gets almost twice the fuel mileage as the carborated 2 strokes, I had them turn down the adjustable clutch so it engages at low rpm, I can drive along at slow walking speed and it still gets up over 60 mph in about 3 seconds. Love that sled.

If you want a very quiet running and long lasting engine, and don't need to play hard, the 600 Ace is awesome. You can see a lot of game riding one that you wouldn't see on any other snowmobile. Gets excellent fuel mileage, goes further in deep snow because it doesn't have the torque that causes spinouts like more powerful engines, yet has enough power to pull a sled in deep snow just fine. Doen't need oil in the fuel, and I've read about trappers up north putting over 15k on an engine. The only thing that I notice, there is a lag when you push the throttle before the engine kicks in, my son is used to that, but I'm used to the quick power on the 600 etec.

The 550 is going to be just as powerful as the 600 ace and maybe a little more powerful, but not as powerful as the 600 etec. It needs oil in the fuel, don't get as good of mileage, and won't last as long as the other two engines, but if you plan on getting another new sled after 4k or 5k it might be the way to go, it's one of the better 2 stroke carborated engines out there.

I think you can get the 900 ace in that machine too, will cost a little more but I've heard mostly good things and that engine would be quiet and have a ton of pulling power.