Looking to buy....want input

[Hemlock]

I've never owned a snowmobile, but having a buddy that has always had an Arctic Cat for me to use has made me want to buy an A.C. I'd love to find a brand new carry over, are they out there? I don't care the year, just looking for a new sled at a good price. Which model would you guys reccomend for someone who is putting lots of miles on Lake of the Woods. Sometimes pulling an Otter, sometimes just riding.

[hanson]

Hemlock-

You're familiar with NW MN and the Crookston area. Head to Thief River Falls. The cat dealer is RV Sports on the west side of town. My guess is they have 2 & 3 year old in the crate carry overs still. You could check their HSOforum also- rvsports dot com.

They had my '02 ZR 600 EFI on the floor with no miles when I was in there around Thanksgiving. It was $2000 below what I paid for it new.

[hattrk4me]

here in MN you can still find 2002 Carry overs. The best thing to do is search the net, or call your local dealers and find out what they have. I know Polaris and Ski doo are listing them on the factory websites.

[Gus]

All manufactures make a decent machine now days. Since you are not too brand loyal yet, I would just shop for carryover's at any of your local dealers. If you get stuck trying to decide between two machines, pick the brand with the better dealer service dept. You may have to use it no matter what brand it is.

[rmh2o]

If your willing to put in some time looking around there are some nice low mileage sleds out there for 2-3 grand.Also if you are looking for a cat ask around I think Arctic Cat in TRF has an auction in the spring for all there demo sleds.The carry over sleds might be an option but if you figure in depreciation they still seem to want top dollar for them.

[mechanictim]

I think you might like one of the touring models (Pantera EFI,or Panther) with a two up seat. The extra seat length is a must for a fishing partner and mighty handy for saddle bags for carrying gear. If you are carrying any sonar or underwater cameras you will save them a lot of beating by putting them on the snowmobile and letting the suspension soak up the bumps. The touring models are still plenty of fun to ride and usually less money than one of the performance sleds(ZR or Firecat.) The utility and mountain sleds will get you through deeper snow, but usually the snow on a lake gets wind packed pretty quickly so that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

As has been stated before a good dealer can be just as important as the sled itself.

[GoodToGo]

I agree with Mechanictim, if you are looking mainly at fishing you may want to look at something with a longer track and room for carrying gear. I have ridden sleds with baskets/boxes/brackets that allow self contained travel, auger and all, without pulling a sled. If for fishing use, you should also look for a sled that will pull well through slush (long track or longer lugs, studs help too). Not having to pull a sled also helps with slush.

[Captain Ken]

If you're gonna be in a particular area alot, fisgure out what dealers are close by and maybe lean in that direction, assuming they are a decent dealer to begin with. That way when dump breaks you can go there and get fixed up and still continue having a good time on your vacation or whatever. Like by Tower, MN the local dealer is an Artic Cat guy. Now there seems to be one more. I have ACs in part for that reason.

Buy reverse. You'll never regret it. I have 1 carb and one EFI model. Same "snowmachine" otherwise. The EFI is lots less effort to pull and get started. EFI is almost always 2 pulls cold 1 pull warm. CARB can vary quite abit especially cold. Lots harder to pull the string too. Wife and kids can start EFI but not carb when cold.

Have fun.