Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

What is the best sled for ice fishing?


BigFish1

Recommended Posts

I am thinking about buying a new or slightly used sled for ice fishing. I go up to Canada a lot and I'm tired of getting stuck with my Polaris Indy. I would just be using the sled for ice fishing with portables. Also, next year I will be putting out a 6' x 10' permanent fish house with it possibly. Looking for opinions! Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 02 yammie venture 600 2-up. Great sled, power, comfort, starts/runs/pulls great (three portables all in line, and gear at times, with two guys on it). Trail riding is great with it. Can't say anything bad about it. BUT... it doesn't have a rear "rack" and that would be nice for ice fishing. If I was looking specifically for ice fishing, I would likely be in toughguys camp. Buddy has one, nice sled for what you will use it for. Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a Polaris 500 Fan 2-up with reverse, it works very well for me.

I built an auger rack and a steel tube rack for the back, am planning

a side mount for a bucket for minnows, lots of things a guy can do to

trick'em up. If you stay light with your perm you should manage with

a sled until the snow gets too deep.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, next year I will be putting out a 6' x 10' permanent fish house with it possibly. Looking for opinions! Thanks in advance.

Is that permanent on skids? Pulling a permanent can change the type of sled you could be looking at, quiet frankly, you probably won't pull it far if theres a lot of fresh snow on the lake no matter what sled you have.

I've got a 8x8 straight wall on skids, it pulls really easy as long as the snow is firm / hard or it's on ice BUT get some fresh snow and it piles up in front of the house and stops everything..... then the cus words start to fly! mad

If you're thinking about pulling a permanent, I would definitely look at a Arctic Cat Bearcat style of sled, 20" track would be a nice plus.

If you don't find a Bearcat style of sled to your liking, take a look at the touring style of sleds, most have a 136" track ( 2 ups ) and nice features. I'm always keeping an eye out for my ' fishing sled ' I want to put together one day. One thing I'm looking for is a Arctic Cat with this style of rack pictured below, my cousin has one on his Pantera and we can drop 2 Marcum LX5's side by side in there, nice way to carry them or other items. You could find this rack on the Pantera's, 2 up Touring 4 strokes and probably a few others.

full-623-29694-arcticcatrack.jpg

As far as a liquid compared to a fan cooled, I'm pretty sure my fishing sled will be fan cooled OR possibly a 4 stroke. In my experience in the past with a 2 stroke and pulling my permanent, I've had trouble building too much heat in the engine which eventually cost me a set of jugs and pistons. That sled was a 900 Mtn Cat, I would not look at a Mtn sled or any style of sporty trail sled ( unless it's fan cooled ), these sleds have been lightened up over the years and often one of the places they found their weight savings was bringing down the cooling system capacity. They work fine running on trails or off trail but you start to pull heavier loads with them, it doesn't take long to build heat and cook the engine.

Pulling portable fish houses won't be a problem with any sled but when you mention that permanent, that changes things.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would find a used skandic if I had the money.

Quote from ski-doo webpage-"Strength, comfort and the industry’s largest track (156 x 24 in.) ensure the Skandic SWT snowmobile gets the job done. No matter how demanding."

There are videos on the tube of a guy backing his sled into 5 feet of snow and driving right out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like Mike posted the pic of the T660 (exact sled as mine). Since my family loves to trail ride and I have to have a "fishing sled" I eventually ended up with a T660 Turbo Touring. The rear seat is removable and allows me to haul a fair amount of fishing gear in the rear rack. I found out the hard way that the turbo engine is a must for busting through the deep snow and slush.

As far as a 6x10 permanent skid shack, I would hope it's all aluminum. whistle That will take a heavy duty low/high range gear snowmobile to pull and with several inches of snow it would be very tough going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sweeeet! Kind of what I'm looking for except I would love to have that rack off of the Touring like in the picture above, some Panthers have them some don't, I have no idea why.

Been up to Buffalo minneman?

Mike

MN MIke, you could always order that rack and I am quite sure it could be adapted to fit other AC models. Might be something to check out.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now ↓↓↓ or ask your question and then register. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.