Hazzards when snowmobiling

[dcmusky]

Was wondering what are some of the biggest safety worrys for you guys/gals when on your sleds?

[hydro]

Drunken sledders racing around corners at me head on. A close second is sober "Trail Racers" who are running as fast as they can go. Both of these things can easily put you away.

[broken_line]

when theres no groomer and you are forced to ride on steep sided ditches, fence posts, ice heaves, where the snow plows push the snow, crossing roads and getting stuck, frost bite, falling through a lake, hitting something and flipping, crossing rail road tracks, fueling up and not being able to turn on the cement

[croixflats]

Biggest worry for me is the guy going balls to the wall specially them going into a corner and I'm coming into the corner from the other side. Dangerous!! Time and place for that. Over the years our group has lost countless hours of riding time because of those inconsiderate lot and a few smashed sleds and not to mention the broken bones.

I can control my sled but I cant control others.

These sledders take the fun out of snowmobiling for the rest of us.

[Scott Stein]

not to worried about the speeders,the trails I ride are out in fields. My biggest worry is like now when the snow is so deep those posts that are only 3 ft tall and theres 3.5 ft of snow. Can make for a bad day

[leech~~]

Biggest worry for me is the guy going balls to the wall specially them going into a corner and I'm coming into the corner from the other side. Dangerous!! Time and place for that. Over the years our group has lost countless hours of riding time because of those inconsiderate lot and a few smashed sleds and not to mention the broken bones.

I can control my sled but I cant control others.

These sledders take the fun out of snowmobiling for the rest of us.

croixflats, I'm with you. If you can't take a race car out on the streets why can you take a race sled on the trails? I was young and dumb once too, so I don't want to hold back any of the guys with Hot sleds from running acrossed a lake wide open. Just keep it at trail speed, when on the trails!

[stifler51]

theres sooooo many things out there that in our sport we have to watch out for, basically 50-60% of everything is out there to get u. culverts, fencepost, other racers, break downs, cars, getting bounced wrong at speed. wayyyyy too many things to list.

some of the things that have happen to me, besides the A-holes takin up the whole trail cuz theres "better snow" on one side. One time a buddy, his dad and me where going trail riding, trail came down and hopped onto a lake and burns across the lake. Well it was dark out and i was a little behind due to traffic on the road before, so i was clipping along at a good pace on their 6 and it rounds a corner so a kinda cut the corner a little to catch up, when all the sudden my headlights lit up a 2x3 foot chunk of ice from spear fisherman sitting on the ice, i leaned to the right the left ski just grazed it, and threw me off and the sled coasted to a stop. I wasnt over driving my headlight, its just impossible to see white ice against white snow.

next thing wasnt me but 2 of my buddies and me were getting in that last season ride, when me and 1 buddy crossed the road and the other 1 rode up and over the driveway, dropped in and and caught the rope in the pic, popped over the skis up the hood over the window and caught him in the throat. Threw him off the side, luckly he wasnt going that fast, but it still left a rope imprint on his neck and some cuts, all cuz the guy didnt want ppl riding on his side of the ditch

btw that green patch coming at the cam is his trail a few warm days later

[dcmusky]

not to worried about the speeders,the trails I ride are out in fields. My biggest worry is like now when the snow is so deep those posts that are only 3 ft tall and theres 3.5 ft of snow. Can make for a bad day

That would suck.

[gregg52]

thats actually against the law

although it does look like it might be behind the right away sign

but i think that still might need to be flaged or ribbon on it

[Scott Stein]

theres a guy around here that has a hayfield on a hill adjacent to the highway and ppl always have to go and climb it and what not. Well last year he decided to put logs 2-3ft in diameter and 8 ft long at the top side of the ditch,not on the highway side but his property side. I seen him putting them out this fall with his tractor and went by the other day and you cant see them with all this snow. I know it's his own property but dont you think he should put a post by it? I can just see it,some guy cookin down the ditch hangs a right to cruise through this guys field and BAM right into the log! I'd hate to be him if someone hits the logs,because they're very close to the right-of-way,he might be in for a lawsuit

[gregg52]

ya i dunno thats one for lawyers

[thedeadsea]

Drunk riders. Then you hear these idiots bragging about their escapades in the bars after the fact. Not just 21 year olds either, lots of violators of all ages.

Having a beer with lunch, fine. Being plastered and then riding, NOT COOL.

A bunch of us were riding in high school years back and one guy tangled up his sled with a dude in a group of adults that had been drinking. (Both were in the middle of the trail, both were at fault). Took the sheriff 4 hours to show and didn't bring a breathalyzer (AFTER WE CALLED 911 TO REPORT THE DRUNKEN RIDERS!!!!!!!) In the mean time, the group of adults hauled the majority of their drunk buddies to the nearest restaurant and only a few of the most sober ones stuck around (who ate every bit of food and drank all the NA beverages they had in their saddle bags as well as eating snow). Sheriff threw the book at the kid and said that there was no trace of alcohol on the adults. Sigh....

[dan z]

there are so many things out have to watch out for. always remember ride to were you feel that you have control of the machine. mayself if have had more then four drinks i dont ride.

what i hate the most when there is sign and says no snowmoblie and you see a lots of tracks going right through the sign. and there a trail right next by the sign some people have to repect other people property or we will lose them spots were the trail is.

[leech~~]

mayself if have had more then four drinks i dont ride.

Dan, 4 drinks and most people can't ride! Try drinking 4 Black Russians and see how the trails look! You maybe over the driving limit with 4 of any drinks!

[Esox_Magnum]

Everything for me LOL just getting back into sledding after a 20+ year rest. Having fun relearning everything though, and machines today are way nicer than I had many years ago.

[Macgyver55]

I've had my share of "close calls" with drunken riders and trail hogs in my 35 years of riding. I've also had 1 incident that was my own fault when I poked a ski into a snow covered culvert. I wasnt going too fast but there was still damage to the sled and my pride! (and a couple of sore wrists)

But to date, my biggest hazzard was a deer. We were trail riding up near Wright, on very nice wide flatlander trails running at a pretty good clip. I came out of a corner and cracked it when suddenly, something was in front of me. With no time to even brake, I did an instinctive duck and heard a BIG crunch, somehow stayed on the sled and came to a stop. I honestly never knew what I had hit until I stopped. For a moment I was kind of confused as to what happened. When I turned around and looked there was a good sized doe laying on the trail, wildly trying to get up, blood everywhere with the hind legs torn off. It was still very alive and needed to be put down. All we had was my Leatherman and it took all 3 of us to hold her down and cut her throat. My buddies behind me later told me they thought I was dead. They said it looked like an explosion and parts of my sled were several feet in the air.

After the adrenalin slowed, we started checking the sled. What a mess! Hit hard enough to smash the hood down and break off the spark plugs, busted the headlight loose etc. A couple new plugs and after about a half hour of bending, tweaking, tie wraps and duct taping I was able to ride it home. (about 50 miles).

Needless to say I have become a bit gun shy when leading, but now recently had one jump out between my buddy and me in a lrger group.

I swear they are out to get me.....

[pascooter94]

scott, they are they are nailed to the logs.but with the snow you cant see them.

[TopWalker]

When out on a lake, you need to be very wary of pressure ridges that and blocks of ice left on top by spearers. Either of these can ruin your day in a hurry if your are not careful.

[53orbigger]

Dan I couldn't agree more about the lack of respect that I see from many snowmobilers today. I have a walking path next to my house that has a no snowmobiling sign and people just drive right past the sign like it doesn't apply to them. It also amazes me that some people have so little respect for others property that they will knowingly drive right across their lawns. This is a constant battle at my house. I understand that you have the legal right to ride in the road right-of-way and I agree with that, but when the right of way is 10' from the curb and you are 25' into my newly sodded lawn it riles my feathers. And if I put up a rope or other barrier on my property, like earlier in this thread, then I open myself up to a lawsuit when the trespassing snowmobiler runs into it. I like snomobiling as much as the next person and try to get out a few times every year, but the fact is that these clowns that don't have any respect for laws or others property are going to eventually ruin it for the rest of us.

Now that I am off of my soapbox the biggest hazzard that I find, other than drunks, are ice ridges, which can form overnight on a path that you may have riden yesterday and can really wreak havoc.

53orbigger

[CRAZYEYES]

When I was little my grandpa was a scorpion and arctic cat dealer and I saw a lot of sleds that hit a lot of things. I'd have to say that fixed objects in general are the biggest hazzard and there are a lot of them unless you are on a lake and even then there are pressure ridges. I've personally destroyed 7 or 8 sleds that I can think of when I was a teenager and had a strong thumb. These days trail riding scares me becasue I cant count the number of close call where some one was coming the other way on a narrow trail and I almost get clipped. There are so many narrow trails in the northwoods where 50 plus mph is pushing it. You get 2 sleds meeting around an icy packed corner in the dark at that speed and those trails just are not wide enough to accomidate that. And I agree, ride at your comfort level and dont just keep up with you pals. I have a couple friends that really push it and I dont even bother to keep up on the trails with them at times. With the price of the sleds and parts nowdays its not worth putting one into a tree.