Light sled for Ice fishing

[Sonicrunch]

Ok Boys,

I am not a sled head, but I want to ge one for ice fishing.

I am NOT going the ATV route because I have no use for one in the spring/summer/fall and a sled is cheaper.

So could somebody tell me which specifc models are lightest?

[Eric Wettschreck]

If you're not worried about being a speed demon I highly recommed something along the lines of a 340 Puma or 340 Jag.

Reliable sleds for not a ton of $$$$ that will get the job done and are fairly lightweight.

[perchking]

I have a 1 cylinder 1986 250 Bravo and love it. I can load it in the back of my truck myself. I am 5" 10 and weigh about 180lbs and I can hit about 35mph on it. I bought mine for $75 buck and had NO troubles with it...

[Sonicrunch]

Thanks guys.

Keep the responses coming!

[deepportage01]

Polaris 488/500 fans are also good nice and lite ez to start good on gas, parts are ez to find, and I'm not a polaris fan at all but our's has been good to us over the years.

[Mark Gangl]

Ski doo Tundra!!! real light 260cc long tracks real nice machines. i seen one going for $800 at the fair in rapids from pokegama last summer so they arnt that spendy. it was like a 88 but was mint a really low miles.

another good one would be a ac bearcat. not too heavy but they got all the ice fishing stuff like 20"x156" track big luggage racks and rev. they come in 340 440 and 550. Not real easy to find used ones but worth it. I finally found one now at a time i got no money!

[Black_Bay]

I would suggest a fan cooled sled. Liquid cooled sleds have a greater tendancy to over heat in low snow conditions. The Polaris 488 cc sleds are darn near bullet proof.

[Random guy]

(Copied from a previous post)

This!

No more wading around a stuck machine in the slush!

This has been my little project for the last couple of weeks. I wanted the ultimate ice machine that could carry a train load of gear and yet get through the nasty slush, deep wet snow and have a chance of skipping open water if things got that bad. So I have a 81' Artic Cat Panther that came from the factory sporting a 17 1/2" wide track that has a foot print 52" long on a ultra light machine. Come to find out Artic only produced four or five machines with this oversized track as test units for deep snow, the problem was in those days they couldn't produce enough power to keep up with the rest of the sleds and still turn all that rubber. Not enough power? Well stuff in a 500cc motor and mods generating more power then this light weight machine needs, right.

Now build a auger rack off the front and a basket in back big enough to fit a five gallon bucket or propane tank in. Not to mention with the rack extending back and higher I can lift this machine up 3' with one arm if it does go down in the slush. Put a GPS mount on the handlbars and a mount that locks the flasher down behind the windshield. Now when I am looking for a specific spot on the spot I dont' even have to get off the sled. Squirt a little water on the ice, drop the transducer and take look then idle up to the next spot to check. BIG PLUS is the fricken huge windsheild and hood, nice and warm.

Now I had a machine that will chew up the nasty stuff but what to do to make the portable stay on top, pull smooth at high speeds, and take the wear of getting drug all over? The answer came as a product called UHMW polyethylene ( the stuff they make poly snowplows out of) This stuff is wicked slippery, very wear resistant and stays flexable without breaking in sub-zero temps. All I had to do was cut a 1/4" thick piece six feet long with a point in the front. The flexability allows the poly to bend upward creating the attack angle of the sled and making for a nice shock asorbing hitch when stopping. I then welded up two high carbon steel skegs or runners for crossing highways and tracking on bare ice. I ran those all the way back and formed them into another basket for gear and a hitch. Now I can pull a second portable off the back. Four bolts welded to this skeg system and the portable is mounted, take four nuts off and it is back to original size for hauling in the pickup.

I took it out today in the snow drifts and tried to get stuck or destroyed, no deal. Although I got some odd looks pulling a portable around a bean field crashing into snow drifts along the road miles from any lake.

[Blaze]

Now THAT is a sweet rig, Jon! Brings back a ton of memories growing up in TRF where the Arctic Cat beasts were made. I drooled over those Panthers for years, as well as the Panteras and el Tigres! They were the cat's meow back then (pardon the pun).

On one of the Ice Leaders videos, there's a Polaris rep talking about a sled they recently came out with. I looked it up, and it's called the Wide Trak, has a 488cc liquid motor, and sports a 20" wide track! That would be interesting to try out.

[hanson]

Pretty sweet little rig Jonny! Glad you went with a cat!

A couple sleds that I always wanted to pick up for no other reason than to just have them and putz around were the Ski-Doo Alpine (twin track, single ski) and the Polaris Voyageur. The Voyageurs from the early 70s were the ultimate widetrack, I'm betting 30". Did I just say I wanted to own a Polaris? Yikes!

[Reynolds]

I know that Polaris actually offered the widetrack in the 1990's also. I would love to be able to get a hold of one of those. I know they came came with high/low range, and if I am not mistaken, the seat also flipped up for storage.

[Reynolds]

Here are some pictures of a 1970 Polaris Widetrack with a 488cc Fuji with 803 original miles.

[Sergeant Slabber]

Looks just like that 80 Panther that I'm trying to get fired up. I'm going to make that into an icefishing rig as well, so thanks for the post and the ideas.

[Gus]

The closet Polaris fan in Hanson is starting to peak through. Its ok, you can tell us. We all know the truth now!

[hanson]

You gotta admit, that Voyageur is a pretty sweet rig. I would hate to get it stuck but with a track like that, it shouldn't be getting stuck.

I'll also admit that the RXL racers from the mid-70s sno pro days were pretty sweet as well!

[Blaze]

Quote:

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Did I just say I wanted to own a Polaris? Yikes!

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You're BUSTED, Hanson! Hah! Was that a Freudian slip there? I always knew you were a PoPo fan wearing Arctic-Kack clothing! It's OK, Chris - come to the "dark side" and feel "the force" underneath you!

[Random guy]

That machine has been in the family since it was new. If it could talk...no that would be bad.

The machine is now a cross of a Panther, Pantera, El Tigre and Cougar. Like one big cat inbreeding.

The guys at the the part house call it MUTT.

[iffwalleyes]

Quote:

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I know that Polaris actually offered the widetrack in the 1990's also. I would love to be able to get a hold of one of those. I know they came came with high/low range, and if I am not mistaken, the seat also flipped up for storage.

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I came across one of these last winter it was a 1990. High low range reverse 2 up seat. The thing was a tank though. But it only had a little over 1000 miles on it it was government sled for a wild life refuge. I probably should have bought it but oh well. It was at a Polaris dealer in Devils Lake.

[tonyjor]

Hey Jon, what are the specs on that auger rack and basket? Are they a homemade job or can you buy them somewhere? I have an old El Tigre' that I would like to do that too. Thanks!