Smitty Sleds

Does anyone make and sell Smitty sleds ?

I have only seen 1 commercial model and it was heavy and expensive….
As far as making one…Ice shanty has a whole thread on them…looks simple enough that I am going to try to build one…..

I put this together last year. All I need in one small package.

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Bee…Could you share some close up shots of the mounts and such that you used….
That looks like a sweet set up

bee I like the tote makes it very simple and I am largely in favor of the KISS process (keep it simple stupid), It looks like you have very little clearence on your cross members, did this cause you any problems in deeper snow? I like the PVC tubing for the cross members save on weight there. Great ideas I am planning on building one this year to go behind my quad. Had to many problems packing and dumping my sled last year so I figured why not build a smitty with a wider base.

Thanks for sharing.

Mudshark wrote:

Bee…Could you share some close up shots of the mounts and such that you used….
That looks like a sweet set up

I will get some today. Only secret was to load it heavy in the rear.

My goal since I am almost 70 and do a lot of drilling and moving was to KIS and light. The tote is from Wally World. Like 20 bucks. The ski’s are child ski’s from a second hand shop. 5 bucks. The cross bar is an old 1 in. aluminum tube I had. I added some wood spacers for height. I made my own auger mounts to fit my Tanaka. The Mora bit is an old 7 in that I adapted to fit the Tanaka. I have a 6-7 and 8in Mora that I can swap out. This is by far the best drilling lightest set up there is. My bucket and rods and flasher fit in the tote. It is just so easy to load and get unloaded. It pulls nice and has good flotation. I load it heavy to the rear and that helps keep the front up. You could add a piece of ply to the top and use it as a seat. Not fancy but for me it fills my needs.

Google SMitty sled for 1000 variations of a smitty sled.

Where is a good place to get cheep skis ?

You can get the skis from Craigslist, Goodwill, or any of the resale/donation stores. Usually less than $20 You will want downhill skis since they are wider than cross country skis, also longer is better.

Thanks Bee… …I really like the idea of the 1 in. aluminum tube….I too have to keep it as light as possible…..
I’m doing a set-up for my 1 man plus a mount for my power auger…

The possibilities are endless

Mudshark wrote:

I’m doing a set-up for my 1 man plus a mount for my power auger…

The possibilities are endless

I have ski’s attached to my 1-man.
Pulls like a dream.
I should take some pics of that sometime.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I have ski’s attached to my 1-man.
Pulls like a dream.
I should take some pics of that sometime.

I did that with my old 1 man Fish Trap that I had years ago….put 3″ metal spacers in between the tub and the skis…worked great…
This time I want to make a breakdown unit that the tub sits on…,and I need a way to mount my power auger…..

I’m an old “custom cobbler” …I’m sure I’ll make some goofy looking thing like I usually do

It’s all about keeping it simple case in point : 2 downhill skis like 8$ at a second hand store some scrap 2X4s and a scrap 2X6 some good long bungee cords like $15 a nice tough rope and a box of screw in eye bolts like $6 and just a tip that I thought up well building it was to make the inside of the skis just wider than the bottom of my one man that way I can flip it upside down inside my truck bed and put my one-man between the skis and close my tailgate with my bed cover on

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I have an older two man…. that can be a bear to load in the truck by myself… loaded as it always is. Pulling sucks, and the bottom has been beaten up (enough already).

Anyone ever just mount the skis right to the bottom of the sled? Maybe with a small spacer, but either way, just bolt through? That was going to be my direction. Only concern is if will now be even harder to get into the truck. Not sure how bad (abuse wise) it would be dragging the skis around the garage, or in parking lots either.

I but those red kids snowboards from menards and use those as runners.

I mounted skis too the bottom of a Frabill 1.5 using wood blocks as spacers. Changed the seat height and angled it a bit. Took them off at end of season.

I pull my one man backwards.

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How do these sleds do in deep, untracked snow? Just looking at them I would say they would get pretty hard to pull as two skies doesn’t provide enough “floatation” for a load of any significant weight.

Has anyone attached a thin piece of plywood directly to the skies so that it forms a solid “pan” all the way between the tips and the tails of the skies? I’m wondering if this would increase floatation as in deep snow the whole “base” would essentially be one very wide ski?

Any thoughts on deep snow performance?

Grouse

They go over snow very well.

Since ski’s were so cheap @ $5 a pair last year, i took an extra set and made a stand-up sled to be towed behind a forewheeler. I put tracks on the forewheeler shortly after that picture so we could really go through the thick stuff.

Anyway, my daughter rode it just fine; then it was my turn.
I’m 300#, and i could ride that through the ditch just fine.
You’d be amazed at how much weight these will float.
Here’s also a picture of the other smitty sled i made last year. TOtal overkill in height above snow. I’ll be demolishing that one to use the ski’s for another fun kid sled project.

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My second edition. Raised this one up to clear snow drifts. HD pipe, rivited and glued using primer. 1/4 inch Baltic Birch ply top for light weight and very strong. 4 inches of foam under side with foam filled tubes for floatation and I stand it vertical to use a wind break if running and gunning and makes a great backrest(keep ski tails even with end of sled). I use mine early season on thin ice before I can get out with the sled and my 2 man inslulated Eskimo. They work great,pull light and even in works in deep soft snow. My first sled was two low and pushed snow and was heavy to pull. I carry about 100 lbs. of gear on it. Time to get going this morning again, Walleye and Perch are biting. Fish Safe

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Looks like Eskimo has one now, $899:
http://www.basspro.com/Eskimo-Lake-Runner-Sled/product/14041403013067/
Pivots down to ice level.
I wonder if some of the other manufacturers will start designing some variations as well. Maybe we’ll see at the Ice Show.

You can get make these as fancy or simple as you choose… This on was built in about an hour with spare parts I had laying around the garage. I store all my gear in my Otter and only use it as a platform for carrying my Otter Lodge during walking season. As soon as ice is thick enough for an ATV it stays in the garage.

Will

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a quick google search will give you about 1 million different options, i made mine for around 20 bucks, got the skis at goodwill and the lumber at HD in the throw away section, they call it “call lumber” sell it for pennies

Nice Fella wrote:

Looks like Eskimo has one now, $899:
Pivots down to ice level

For $899 it better be powered!and heated!

Put mine to the test yesterday, windy but fish were on the bite. Sure like my Smitty for early season.Added a slow fan in the popup to move air around and it sure helps with condensation and warmer. Fish safe

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Question for you guys that tie your rope directly to the ski tips.

Have you found any issues with this? It looks as though pulling the rope may force the ski tips together and possibly tweak the frame and maybe mess with the alignment of the skis.

biggill wrote:

Question for you guys that tie your rope directly to the ski tips.

Have you found any issues with this? It looks as though pulling the rope may force the ski tips together and possibly tweak the frame and maybe mess with the alignment of the skis.

I found it dose pull them together a bit if your close to them with the tie together point but if its just one big loop from one ski out around 15ft to the other its not to bad I have seen people tie to both and run a rope in both ends of a PVC pipe to each tip then drill a hole in the middle of the pipe and run a single rope out of the middle for the tow rope

Sidescan is that 1 1/2″ PVC ? And how did you mount couplers to the ski glue ? Nice looking set-up.

glenn-d wrote:

Sidescan is that 1 1/2″ PVC ? And how did you mount couplers to the ski glue ? Nice looking set-up.

Thanks,I use 60.m.m. heavy wall PVC (2 3/8″). Found using primer first makes the joints super strong. End caps j-b welded on with the binding screws drilled in and gluded with j-b.I also ground down the ski to be level for a base for the cap.I then pop rivit all joints for a stong joint.Fishing is great right now and I am sure glad for the sled now with thin ice on some of my spots. Fish safe.