Snowmachines

[MountainWalk]

 Living the life in Alaska. Running a wolf and coyote trap line this winter. Getting a machine. Don't know much about them. Looking for something in the 90's. What brands you guys like? Things to remember? What's fuel consumption like compared to 4wheeler? I figure 500-700 is big enough for what I need to do. Thanks

[bhawley76]

I would hate to get in a bind and be underpowered! Getting stuck SUCKS, I just sold my sled and wish I hadn't. I just hate having yard art for 6 months out of the year. I had a Polaris Dragon 700 and was tons of fun and always ran. My wife has a Artic cat and just seems something about it always needs wrenching. Just from my experience I wouldn't buy anything other than a Polaris. But I can see this becoming a Ford Chevy Dodge debate

[Angry Perch]

I would think a fan cooled sled would be the ticket. Would be easy to overheat a liquid cooled sled working a line, especially when it's slow going, or there is little to no snow in areas.

[JH]

I would agree with fan cooled so you can operate in low snow conditions. They do make some utility snowmobiles such as the Ski Doo Tundra and Arctic Cat BearCat. Those would be ideal as they are meant to work, they come with wider tracks for more flotation and lower clutching for more torque. If you can't find one of those I would search for a double up trail sled, I would stay away from the mountain sleds as they are performance focused. Each manufacturer makes a something in the 500-550cc range fan cooled trail sled.


Good Luck!

[huntandjeep]

Asking about brands is like a Ford vs Dodge vs Chevy argument  .  I have a 2013  Ski Doo 800, 2 Polaris RMKs , ( a 2005 and 2003 ) and a 96 Yamaha 340 . The 2003 Polaris is a 600 and the 2005 is a 550 fan cooled . You want a fan cooled  . They are almost designed to putt down the trail . My 13yo rides the Polaris 550 fan , she's not real into blasting up the trails so the fan works perfectly.  The 340 is also a fan cooled sled we picked up this spring,  for my 9yo .
Obviously the bigger the CC the more gas consumption.  We leave in the morning with full tanks , ride all day and when we get back to the trailer my 800 might use 1/2 a tank . The 550 and 600 maybe 1/4 tank. Granted I'm little more liberal with the throttle then wife and daughter,  but I'm sure if they rode like me they would use a little less fuel then me. 
I would honestly look for 2000 or newer sleds . The price point from late 90s to early/mid/late 2000s is not that different.

[CP]

2005 - 550 Skidoo 2up.  This thing is a workhorse - pulled sleds, carried loads, pulled other machines out of snow banks ...

[Rainier10]

@bearpaw uses sleds for his hound cougar hunts and has some good insight.

[bearpaw]

Living the life in Alaska. Running a wolf and coyote trap line this winter. Getting a machine. Don't know much about them. Looking for something in the 90's. What brands you guys like? Things to remember? What's fuel consumption like compared to 4wheeler? I figure 500-700 is big enough for what I need to do. Thanks

I've sold most of the other brands we've had and settled on Skidoos, mostly Tundras, but also have a couple skandics, going to try an Expedition the next one I buy. We have the least amount of breakdowns with Skidoos. For what you do you might want a 4 stroke, they get twice as good of fuel mileage and the engine lasts longer. The 550 fan is the best two stroke for utility use, I also have a 600 etec, it's powerful and fun but I got it to hot on a warm day and burned it up, had to rebuild it prematurely. Fan cooled engines have better cooling on warmer days or when slow going.

If you check out the trapper forums you will see that most of the trappers are using skidoos.

[KFhunter]

Living the life in Alaska. Running a wolf and coyote trap line this winter. Getting a machine. Don't know much about them. Looking for something in the 90's. What brands you guys like? Things to remember? What's fuel consumption like compared to 4wheeler? I figure 500-700 is big enough for what I need to do. Thanks

What part of Alaska?  That would dictate my response more than anything else.

For example, if you're way up in the middle of nowhere and the closest place is a village of 500 people, then I'd get something the village has spare parts for.  Prolly an old bravo 250 single lung or such

If you're down by Anchorage and trailering 2h to get off and ride then get the best you can afford and have a good dealer support

If you're running big miles pulling a sledge up a river for days with drums of fuel.. get a comfy, economical 4 stroke

[Boss .300 winmag]

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