Help me buy my first snowmobile

I am looking to purchase a snowmobile in advance of this winters ice season. Unfortunately, I don’t have much knowledge of used sleds or what to look for so I thought I’d turn to the experts at IDO to help point me in the right direction. Below is a highlight of what I’m looking for:
-Price: $2,000 or under
-Reliable and starts in cold weather
-will work for metro area lakes but also can make longer runs (5-15 miles) a few times each winter at LOTW or Red Lake

That’s about it, but I’m sure I missed something important. I will also need a trailer so advice on that would be great too!

REVERSE! Fan cooled and long 136″+ track. 2 up seat and rear rack are nice options as well.

I’d look for an older fan cooled utility model from arctic cat or ski doo if you’re looking for ice fishing only. Bearcats, skandics, and tundras; the ski doo touring E/LE/SLE from 97-2000 are very comparable to the fan cooled skandics of that age.

I have a 97 Arctic Cat Bearcat 340 and my dad has a 97 Ski Doo Touring E. We use them up in Sioux Narrows in about the worst deep snow/slush conditions I can imagine. They also get used in MN when the snow is too deep for trucks or ice too thin.

They are both awesome for fishing, usually pulling a 1 man portable or nothing. If you are going to pull a bigger portable you may want a 440 or 500 fanner when dealing with deep snow/slush. The only negative is neither has reverse, but both were bought for around $1000

Reliability, easy starting, low price, and low fuel usage make these awesome fishing sleds IMO.

We each used to have Polaris Indy 500 liquid cooled sleds from the same era. Very popular and reliable sled but simply aren’t made for fishing.

Thanks tswoboda for the advice. I ended up getting a good deal on a 1997 a Polaris Indy Trail Touring 2up, it has all the characteristics you mentioned. No I am on to the task of getting it set up for fishing with an auger carrier and rear cargo rack. Oh, also need a trailer… This is costing more than I expected!

PS – that messy backyard is not mine!

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Good choice on the Indy Trail, should be a great fishing machine. I have a friend with that sled, he’s getting close to the 6K miles mark and still going strong.

I had a 97 Indy trail touring tell a few winters ago. Make sure you pay attention when it gets in the upper 30’s the 488 fan runs warm. It made a great fishing sled.

dbright wrote:

I had a 97 Indy trail touring tell a few winters ago. Make sure you pay attention when it gets in the upper 30′s the 488 fan runs warm. It made a great fishing sled.

Thanks for the insight. How do you tell when it’s overheating? (Newbie question…)