Any snowmobilers, ex snowmobilers here?

I am in state of , I have sleds and the last couple of years have been on the fence on getting rid of them, wife and the kids dont have alot of interest, plus the maintanence and the cost of running them has me really thinking of dumping the whole package.

The cost of taking 3 sleds and and everything else if you make a trip up north, down here in the cities snow just stinks.

Any sledders sell off there stuff and are you glad you did.

Ps, I have been riding since I was 8 I wont tell how old I am now

Its probably the most expensive sport per mile. My wife and I spend $600 for a three day and night weekend for all expenses. We leave Friday after work, drive five hours, ride Saturday to Monday afternoon and back home Monday night. I really enjoy riding but am tired of traveling that far to ride. New machines are $10k and depreciate rather fast. I’ll burn up more money in gas in a weekend of snowmobiling than I will all summer fishing. I currently have three sleds and an enclosed trailer, I will probably sell them. I have a business to run now, my focus is on that. In fact, the fishing boat and gear may be up for sale as well.

Sold the sleds in the late 90’s, very hard thing to do. Good thing for us because there just has not been much snow down here since then. Always trailered them north which would be expensive these days. It was a hard choice to make. Good luck!
BCLII

If you do end up selling them keep in mind, there are a lot of reasonable priced rentals in the north woods.
No it’s not having one, but it is a quick fix

Since we don’t get any snow in MN anymore I have been riding in the mountains for the last 10 years. I finally sold mine last winter and have debated on buying a new one to replace. So I look at it this way, Spend 10 grand on a new one ride it five years and sell it for 3-4 grand plus the cost of running it which amounts to over $2000 a year with fuel, oil and all the fixings or go out west rent one for $1000 for the year they take care of all the up keep and every year I get to ride a brand new one!

I think I’ll rent one each year, and save myself some money. If we would ever get snow aroung here where I didn’t have to trailer it 500 miles every weekend then it would be worth it to buy one. Until then the only thing in my garage is the ATV’s and the boat.

I was in the same boat as you last year. My wife and I love snowmobiling. We sold everything last fall. In all honesty I miss it, but at the same time there was not good riding at all up by our cabin over the winter. So I think we chose wise. I think you will miss it, but all the cost for the little use just is not worth it to me anymore. I actually got into ice fishing alot more and had a blast. Not to mention it gave me another reason to keep the ATV. My advice would be to sell, as hard as it is!!! We plan to buy again if the winters ever start getting better, and I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon. Until then when we need to ride we plan to rent, and again this last winter it wasn’t even good enough to do that. Good luck with your decision

Kirt,

Remind me, we’ll talk sledding in a couple weeks…

Kirt. Please sell your sled so it will be a guaranteed huge snow year!

That way I can get some use out of mine.

Ex snowmobiler here also. Even though I can ride out of the garage and onto west metro trails, it is still very difficult to validate the costs associated. A boat purchase was a much wiser one.

It does hurt to see guys riding. But then when it is has not snowed in Decemeber and March the pain is eased greatly. Seems like a month tops of decent riding around the Metro.

Quote:

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Kirt. Please sell your sled so it will be a guaranteed huge snow year!

That way I can get some use out of mine.

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Chris

As discouraging as several of these winters have been there is nothing like setting first tracks on a freshly groomed trail or finding a stash of waist deep powder to carve up.

Its a great way out in the middle of the winter and a family sport. Good luck with your decision and think snow, this sport needs some help from Mother Nature right now.

Sold both sleds and trailer winter before last. Don’t really regret it at all. My wifes back was starting to bother her and sleding didn’t help it. Lack of snow for so many years also helped make it an easy decision. Got a bigger, nicer boat instead.

Bristow, what do you know??

I keep waiting for that maigical snow year and that CAT 52 storm.

SOMEDAY, so your saying there is a chance?????

Chris is right. Nothing like carving through untouched powder. Actually did that last year right here in MN north side of the cities. Waiting for Round 2 or another trip to PASHA LAKE

Very spendy but for me I say it is worth it.

BRING ON SNOW BABY

My wife and I are still hanging in there. Havent gotten a new sled in a while but our older sleds are in great condition. We are going to hang on and keep our fingers crossed. Still worth it to us to get out 2-3 times a season. Its the one major hobby we share together.

I sold my ZR 700 a couple years ago and I am really happy that I did! I still miss it once it in a while when it is really cold out with a full moon and no wind on a perfectly groomed trail around midnight but, until we get back into a snow pattern (Which will happen again) I have settled for a wheeler. I still got the green suit and a bunch of other Artic Kitty stuff.

The good thing about the wheeler is they can be used all year round. And they haul deer and decoys way, way better!

I dont blame you one bit for wanting out. Not worth the headaches of heading to the U.P. and up nort. Needless to say when you run a supped up sled the wonderful prices at the pump are really not missed!

i but 4,000 miles on my sled last year in the twin cities

I grew up on sleds. Every winter the whole family was eagerly anticipating snow! By the time I was 14, our family of 5 each had our own sled. We didn’t have our own cabin yet but we rented from a friend of my father’s. We had access to a field across the road, some “play hills” at the end of a 1 mile dead end road, we often carved and groomed our own trails, and rode like there was no tomorrow!

Snowmobiling hardly represents this picture these days. State trails, over sized motors, heavy machinery………

When’s the last time you saw a sled that weighed around 300 pounds that didn’t need a 20″ long track to blaze new trails in powder snow? PARK in powdered snow and still resume forward momentum without sinking???

Sledding is made for mileage and touring these days. Nothing wrong with that but you can’t put kids on the trails and just let them go at it. Too many speed freaks and chemically aided adrenaline junkies. We made trails because we had sleds that could do it. Narrower, more manueverable, lighter, more controllable power………. and you could sled a whole weekend on these trails and only put on 100-125 miles! You HAD to go slow because you were carving your way through woods.

In our “hayday”, nobody got hurt. Nobody got threatened by the thoughtless morons we all know are out there. We could pull sleds, inner-tubes, skis, taboggans…… and nobody got hurt.

Today, the modern trail systems are boring. Riders are stupid regarding trail use and maintenence. Trails are ruined before they can properly set up and every corner becomes dirt because people are stupid. New machines are too expensive, too heavy, and way overpowered for true recreational use.

Snow has been terrible…… consistantly for better than 10 years. If I have to ride trail systems, I’d much rather go ATV or motorcycle. Guaranteed seasons and you can still do “your own thing” in many, if not most cases. They’re cheaper to get into. There’s more models that make it family friendly.

If you’re on the fence, ditch the sleds. Renting in the mountains is probably as good as it will ever be and you’ll save money doing so. Locally, the snow’s been so crappy that the ATV’s are more fun than the sleds anyway! Go ATV, ditch the sleds.

My father has been in the snowmobile industry coming up on 27 years producing snowmobile trail grooming equipment. It is a shame that the sport is dwindling in the area because lack of snow, but that shouldn’t let us stop supporting the snowmobiling community. If you get rid of your sleds, remember to support the activity that you had enjoyed. As there are anti-hunting groups, there are also anti-snowmobiling/offroad groups out there that are working on shutting down opportunities. Snowmobiling is a great way to see some pretty incredible places during our winters and I am all for keeping the sleds in hopes for better winters.

It may be an expensive sport, but I gaurantee you are never thinking about the cost when you cruising down a freshly groomed trail in the middle of a snow covered pine forest with the wife and kids following behind.

Lots of good memories on sleds. It’s a Minnesota tradition.

I bought a new Polaris in 1997 and paid just over 6K for it. I was able to put about 3500 miles on it the first 3 years. From 2000 to last year, I don’t think I put on more than 1000 miles. It seems like when we did have enough snow around the Twin Cities, we would be out of town.

The last 2 winters, I haven’t bothered starting it until we have enough snow to use it. I’m fortunate to have space to store it. I’ve thought about getting rid of it, but realistically, would be lucky to get a grand for it. Its in great shape, so I plan to keep it and use it when time does permit. Are they expensive to maintain? Yep, but what isn’t? I agree with everyone else it is an awesome feeling to be flying down a smooth trail.

My biggest reason for keeping it is not knowing where all the mice that call my sled home would move to. They seem to really enjoy making nests in my air intake.

Thanks for the feedback, I might hang on to them for another winter, 2 things that are keeping me into it now are my 2 boys, they both have sleds, nothing fancy one is 92 another a 95, I have a 98, all of them are in mint condition, and run good. They enjoy the little time we get on them.

I use to by a new sled every 2 yrs.

Like someone mentioned, right now I would have the sled out of storage fired up enjoying the smoke . Now I dont do it untill the snow is ridable, other wise I have to summerize them again.

Geez. Tell us how you really feel Ken…

I dont see what you see. There are definitely dangers out there. Especielly other riders but I still enjoy the heck out of it. I’ll be getting mine ready in Nov. Same as always. Its a right of winter. Nothing like tipping a few after work in pulling out suspensions.