Racks for Snowmobiles

[muskybuck]

I see that they make racks to go on the back of snowmobiles to carry fish traps and such. Is there an after market company that does this and who would that be. Thanks for any tips.

[hanson]

muskybuck-

The fishtrap carrier is made by Arctic Cat. Its a factory attachment that fits their Bearcat Snowmobiles. In fact, they have an entire system called MRP (Multirack Platform) that has interchangeable baskets, gun scabbard, tool holders, etc. that can be added or removed with a couple of pins.

The basic rack is a couple pieces of square steel tube welded together that bolts to the factory Bearcat rack. I could easily see this mounting bracket being attached to any rear cargo rack with some simple modifications. You'd then be able to add any of the other MRP accessories.

The basic rack/mounting bracket is MSRP $39.95 from Arctic Cat. I'll try to scan some photos of the various pieces and post them.

I've got a summer project of putting a rack onto my ZR but still allowing me to quickly remove it to trail ride the sled. I might have to take a look at adapting this MRP system to the back of my sled.

Now I wish I had some welding skills.

[muskybuck]

Thank you Hanson. I think I will run down to my Artic Cat dealer this morning and talk with them. My son just picked up an ZR a couple of weeks ago and would be interested in your results I'll bet.

[fisherking01]

One thing to consider when looking for racks for snowmobile is the fact of the weight they add and performance of your sled. I have ran for many years to Ontario on snowmobile fishing trips, and have been around many racks. Most of the racks that we have bought or built, put a lot of weight on the rear of the machine and cause excessive wear on the hi fax. The bearcat by artic cat is a utility snowmobile designed for hauling and transporting weight. It has been my experience that to utilize sport sleds for transport is hard on the machine, and if you are going to use it a lot, be prepared for the extra maintainance. I have settled for an auger rack on my machine and keep the rest in my trap,or otter.

Teamed up with a hitch, the otter type sleds we have these days pull great and can haul lots of gear. Just be sure to have your cover on well so it does not fill with snow!

[hanson]

fisherking01-

I tend to agree with you there. My problem is I have an 02 ZR600 EFI that I don't plan on parting with any time soon and I don't see a Bearcat ending up in my garage in the next year or two so I'm stuck with coming up with something for the ZR.

The only reason I want to add a rack is to get the auger and my flasher out of my Otter Sled. When I arrive at a spot, I don't like to dig out these 2 items to start searching structure. I wish they were out already. If I don't find what I'm looking for, I can just throw them back onto the rack. Of couse the flasher will be properly secured, I don't want to lose that.

I typically pull around my modified Otter Lodge with hyfax, tow hitch, cover and I already have a nice rigid hitch on the back of my ZR so this set up is been working very well.

I just see a little bit of room for improvement and I think the rack can provide me with that, along with some saddle bags.

Now if I could find a way to dash mount my LX-3 on the sled. Hmmm......

[fisherking01]

If you intend on hauling your auger on the back (cross ways), a yolk design works well. I have an aluminum yolk that mounts to the Two up hand, backrest mount. We designed one for a friend's ZR and found that attaching it was not difficult, the tunnel quickly gave way where the bolts were attached, and we needed to reinforce those locations. The aluminum in the tunnel is too light to support the weight. We also designed a couple of side racks and found that the weight when on one side of the sled, tended to wear that side of the hi fax at twice the rate of the other side. . If you do build, modify a rack, try to keep it as far forward as you can, as not to extend a lot of weight out the back. As far as a box for the marcum and rods, that could be built into the yolk system, This is however the roughest place for equipment to ride, so a padded bottom is a good idea.

I'm fortunate to have friends in the aluminum manufacturing business, they like research and development and we have tried many things. Have not however came up with a simple universal design that will hold up in the long run. If you come up with a design you think will fit the bill, I'd love to play with it.

Good luck with your project. Brent

Oh yeah, one more thing, you know when your in powder and you get a lot of snow circulating up from behind, on your back, This can be a problem in filling the carb intake with snow. In conditions like that you may want to cover the engine to keep the snow out.

[minneman]

One thing ive done to keep snow out of the carb while in transit is ive found some 1"thick neoprene at a surplus store and cut a 2x2" chunk and wedge it over the carb opening and under the gas tank, (jiffy 3hp) it works great, nothing gets in!

[dirtking]

Guys - old thread but I am looking for a way to haul my auger on a 02 Polaris Edge Model

[Paul Waldowski]

Dirtking,

I'm currently working on a design with a welder that would allow the auger to be mounted on the front of the sled to reduce the amount of snow that would be kicked up and forced on the auger. Take a few up close picture of the front of your sled and send them to me and I can see if our design would work on your sled Do you have the IFS suspension???

[MnIceman]

A rack for the auger on the front or the back is great if your access has the room to travel through when it is sitting cross ways. I've found that I prefer to haul the auger in the otter and carry some of my other stuff on the snowmobile. I have 3 different snowmobiles which 2 of them are 2-ups with backrests. I like to use an old backpack with a frame that I attach to the backrest with a couple of bungees. I can carry the rods,tackle boxes, depth finder and a few other things in the pack. The rods are in cases and stick up a little out of the pack but are covered and protected. The pack closes up to hold everything in for travel and is not adding as much weight to the snowmobile as an auger.The pack has to be mounted high enough to see the tail light on the machine . Another thing I like about hauling the auger in the sled is that when it's laying in the bottom, the sled has a lower center of gravity for stability when traveling off of the lake and down trails . The 2-up snomobiles have rear suspension springs that are quickly adjustable so I can set it up for 1 or 2 . Not to get off of subject but the only thing I have'nt solved yet is the minnow bucket and freezing . I'm still looking for ideas there .

[dirtking]

Thanks guys - I would love to have a couple of sleds - one for riding and one for fishing - but you know how it goes - everyone has their hand out!

[Paul Waldowski]

Here's what we have come up with so far:

[MnIceman]

By what I can see of the picture it looks like you want all the weight on the skis and not on the suspension. If thats the way its going to ride, in my opinion off of a picture, I think that augers in for a tough ride. I have a 94 indy SKS that has the same front suspension. I'll have to go look at that,but think it would be better to have it mounted above the suspension. Just my 2 cents .

[burl]

Paul,

The rack should be mounted to the bulkhead of the machine or the auger will take alot of extra abuse.Also any time you go over a unlevel surface,say a plowed road on the lake the auger will be tisted.If you look at the racks on the ice team sleds they are all mounted to the bulkhead of the sled.Burl.

[c cord]

Greetings all. Decided it was time to jump into the game. We have been useing a rack for years. The biggest draw back is that yes you do have to change your hifax every fall, depending on use. That said it is well worth the work to be able to shoot and run. We carry very little in our portables. I have a few pictures in case anyone is interested. Email me for these at [email protected]

Great site lots of info here thanks all

[Paul Waldowski]

Okay,

We have totally redesigned the rack. It is no longer mounted to the suspension system, but rather to the frame and the bumper. If you have a fairly straight bumper you can use this rack. If you would like more information and pictures, shoot me an e-mail.

[minneman]

million dollar idea..?..As a recent otter owner w/snowmobile I cant help but notice that as long as you have a solid hitch on the back of the sled to otter/clam/etc. you have the mounting area on top of the solid hitch between the snowmobile and sled, to bolt or weld a bracket to, to hold an auger, then make/buy, or use garbage bag w/sinch, to keep the snow off/out of the engine/carb.

Am I off here..?

[Paul Waldowski]

The only downfall of your idea is that your sled will kick up a ton of snow and will have a tendency to plug up the carb and other items on your auger. This was the whole point of getting the bracket mounted in front of the sled. I will say that the tongue of the hitch is great for mounting items such as your Marcum and/or camera

[hanson]

minneman-

Not sure if I'd mount my auger on the hitch, sounds like a little recipe for disaster.

However, I have considered bolting a Rubbermaid type container or a plastic milk crate to the drawbar to pack a few things into.

[minneman]

hanson, what kind of "disaster" is it that Im overlooking?

[hanson]

I haven't examined the relationship of an auger positioned on the hitch too closely. However...

My concern is that the auger handles or some part of the auger may catch on a drift, a chunk of ice, or whatever else you may come across. I could see crossing the drifts/banks alongside a plowed road being a problem. I guess worst case scenario is your going to cause a little damage to your auger if it did catch something.

If you weren't going too far and were traveling across a relatively flat surface, you'd probably be alright.

I would much rather have my auger up on a rear luggage rack or in the shack behind me.

Its all about piece of mind while traveling. I would rather not have to keep turning around to make sure I haven't lost anything.

[Paul Waldowski]

Chris,

Did that exact same thing with a Musky Spinner bait box and put some foam on the bottom of it. Works great for the flasher and camera. Minneman, I put it up front because I want to see what my auger is doing and it also is a bit more cushioned from bumps and such.

[Dennis Steele]

Not that you ever have lost anything going across LOTW in a white out!

I'm going with Pauls design.

My auger tends to leak a little gas from the cap and I hate having the thing in my Otter.

That and with the auger on a rack, you don't have to unpack the house to get a hole drilled.

[hanson]

Quote:

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Not that you ever have lost anything going across LOTW in a white out!

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Lost a shovel and broke a minnow bucket that day! I've learned and adapted.

[Paul Waldowski]

Racks are done and they have a few miles on them. So far they work AWESOME. Have rode at high speed and over some rugged terrain. So far so good