Ice fishing snowmobile

[gonehunting]

I need everyone's suggestion. I am in the hunt for an ice fishing snowmobile. I have narrowed down to a 2001 Polaris 500 XC or a 2001 Arctic Cat Panther 550 Touring. My question is the AC Touring too heavy of a sled for this application. Will I get stuck in slush more often with the heavier sled? Neither of the snowmobiles have studs.

[Esox_Magnum]

Touring would be my first choice, the track under it will dictate how much sno you can go through....I have a 3/4 lug on my 600 and great on hardpack, trails and bare ice, PITA for deep snow....

[CrewJones]

i have a AC pantera touring 1000cc heavy horse with studs, when it sinks in i grip the throttle and she powers out in deep snow i will run circles at speed where I want to fish then stop on my tracks. Its nice having a 2 up that way you can bring a friend and you have room for your minnow bucket in the back of the sled so it doesnt spill all over your fish house on the way out.

any snowmobile will work better than a 4 wheeler with tires, my grizzlys hate the cold so i pretty much only use the sled if i can

[chad austin]

I know a guy who used to fly a float plane up in Alaska and when ever he suspected slush he would land and keep the throttle up to "drag" the floats and then take off again, circle around and look for slush. Sometimes it was cold enough to freeze the slush and provide a runway so to speak and other times he would have to find a different place to land. This could also be done with a snowmobile, run circles around where you'd like to park like Crew Jones mentioned and you've created a path out in deep snow and you can also look for slush. Nothing worse than parking for 8-10 hours to come out to a frozen in track that will not come out no matter how much throttle you give it.

[efgh]

What ever one you buy, put carbite scags on the runners and studs in the track. It makes starting a load and turning awhole lot easier.

[redtrucks]

Go with the Arctic Cat - 550 is a good motor.

[hawgchaser]

gone hunting,

While I can't address the specifics of your sled choices, I can tell you that In soft snow or slush, my touring sled with the longer track far outperforms my buddies with the 121" track. As suggested, I've got the carbides and the studs. I bought a track with 1" lugs at Hay Days that really helps in slush and soft snow. Good advice to make a couple trips around to pack down your parking spot. Also, make sure to break the runners & track free before starting out as they often freeze down when parked. I don't think you can go wrong with the touring as a fishing sled. JMHO

[Wanderer]

I need everyone's suggestion. I am in the hunt for an ice fishing snowmobile. I have narrowed down to a 2001 Polaris 500 XC or a 2001 Arctic Cat Panther 550 Touring. My question is the AC Touring too heavy of a sled for this application. Will I get stuck in slush more often with the heavier sled? Neither of the snowmobiles have studs.

I'm a Polaris guy myself but if given the choice between these two sleds I would opt of the Artic Cat touring. The longer the track, the better. Plus the XC is designed for sporty trail riding. The touring sled is designed for slower speeds and hauling more weight.

Easy choice IMO.