snowmobile auger rack??

[krats]

I know that I should have done this months ago but...I want to make a rack to carry my auger on the front of my 1980 Yamaha 340 snowmobile. I am thinking about making something to go across the hood, above the ski's for easy access.

Can anyone help me out with any designs or pics of what they have made?

Thanks.

[Farley]

There arent many places to bolt an auger rack to on the front of a sled that I can think of off hand, so the first thing I would do is figure out where it will connect to the sled and then design it from there. Probably dont want to bolt through the hood, probably has been done before but you might be able to find a better option.

From there I would either bend my own or find some kind of "Y" looking brackets that you can set the auger on, and then rig up some kind of bungee system to hold it in place.

[krats]

I am looking at bolting a bracket through the sides of the belly pan right above the skis'. There is some bracing that is attached to the bulkhead now and I think that I can use that for support.

I am hoping that some other FMers' have already gone through this and I could see some of their finished racks.

[NELS-BELLS]

I made mine extend off the back. I angled it up so its high enough that it doesn't interfere with my hitch and its easier to reach. I made the supports out of square metal tubing that was predrilled with holes and the U-shaped cradles that the auger sits in are made out of wood. I hook a bungie strap over it to make sure the auger doesn't bounce off. Very simple, but it works great.

If you put it in front, then it blocks the light.

Nels

[Paul Waldowski]

After trying a ton of different different styles and designs. It became clear to me that the best, easiest, and cheapest way was to go off the back of the sled. You might need to add some kind of basket to do this. If you would like pictures of mine, shoot me an e-mail and I will send them to you.

[DEADhead]

Paul, can you shoot me some pics too? I've been thinking about putting a rack on my sled as well. thanks!

[Paul Waldowski]

On there way

[DEADhead]

thanks Paul!

[gvg_uwec]

Agreed Paul, with the addition of the Ready Rig bags there should be no real snow and slush build up from the trip across the lake anymore while being mounted on the rear of the sled. Just be sure to keep the motor head and the whole auger supported and tied down while going across lake as we all know it can be a rough ride at times.

[hanson]

Yeppers. Ready Rig bag on your auger powerhead is going to be the real deal this winter for coming snow off your auger.

[Paul Waldowski]

After receiving a lot of requests for pictures, I figured that I would just post them up again.

[Borch]

Paul,

Looking at your setup I'm guessing that the powerhead strap in may be to be modified a bit as the handles will be enclosed in the bag. Sweet looking setup!. What type of mount/straps are the ones you used for the powerhead?

[Paul Waldowski]

Jeff,

No modification required. I cut slits in the Auger cover, so when I'm using the bag (which isn't often) I feed the straps thru the bag. The auger mounts are the Mad Dog ones for an ATV. The Auger head just doesn't get slush or snow spraying up on it like I thought it would.

[Shawnny B]

Hey not that Im an expert on this but if you look at the latest Minnesota Sportsman, and open it up you will find an ICE pamplet, its about 20 pages long, it has several pictures of a snowmobile that has a Auger mount on the front. It appears as if they ran something that mounted to the bottom of the sled. Ill try and remember to bring it home from the work van tomorrow and scan them for you, its not the best. Maybe contact the ICE team and see if they could inform you of how/where they got the ideal?

ShawnnyB

[krats]

Thanks to everyone that has replied.

I am still thinking that I want to put the rack on the front. I have a 1982 Yamaha and it doesn't have anywhere near the amount of suspension travel that the new sleds have so I don't think that I should add anymore weight on the back.

Shawnny B...I would like to see those pics if you can get them, I will also check for the magazine next time I stop for gas.

[hanson]

The bottom line with any rack that mounts on the front of your snowmobile is you are going to have to custom make one. Nobody is selling anything that will make this easy.

The racks found on the Ice Team Bearcats are custom made as well. They pretty much have to redesign them every time they get new Bearcats because the design of the sled changes.

If you are good with a welder and steel, you can probably do something fairly easily.

[Paul Waldowski]

Two things to keep in mind when putting a rack on the front. Headlight visibility will probably be affected and you will not be able to use a travel cover.

[krats]

Thanks guys. I was planning on a custom job, my brother has the equipment and loves to fabricate things. I didn't think about the headlight though, but we will figure something out.

I was just hoping that someone else may have already attempted this and I could get some ideas.

[iffwalleyes]

I got mine done this weekend. It is pretty similar to Paul's at least the same idea. Thanks to Paul and Hanson I used a combination of their racks for mine. Hopefully I can get on the ice soon and try it out.

[Paul Waldowski]

Jason,

Got any pictures? We would love to see them.

[Jim Hudson]

Just got done fabricating my rack up here today.. Didnt have time to take any pictures yet.. but I will tomorrow and show them to you all... Custom built for the front of my BearCat.. and I still can even get my cover on..

[Jim Hudson]

Well here is the system a friend and I made up yesterday.. It is made in conjunction with the framework that Clam did for last years BearCats along with using Ryan's Yokes. We will see how it works this winter..

Framework is stainless steel that is pushed into an available hole that is on the framework of the sled and then bolted through. After finding the height needed to give enough light from the headlight and also not to make the system to top heavy, we angle cut the stainless to make a straight edge to weld on the yokes.. A stiff bungee is used to go across the system to firm it up, as I did not want to secure the tubing to the sled plastic, allowing me to still use my travel cover.. Took about 5 hours to build.

[krats]

Thanks for posting the pics' Jim, that was what I was looking for. Although my 1982 Enticer is alittle different, your pics' give me some new ideas'. One thing nice about my old sled is the headlight is located at the very front of the hood almost so I wont have to worry about blocking the light. Now I may also look at running a piece of square tubing all the way across the bottom of the belly pan instead of just mounting it to the sides of the pan. Anyways the creative juices are starting to flow.

Where can I get a set of those Ryan's Yokes? Does Reed's or Gander carry them or do I need to go to a ATV/Sled shop?

What do they cost?

[hanson]

Quote:

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Framework is stainless steel that is pushed into an available hole that is on the framework of the sled and then bolted through.

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This little photo shows what makes this type of rack work so easily on the Bearcats. The hole that Jim has his tube steel inserted into is actually where the swaybar passes through on the other Arctic Cat sleds. On my Cat, I have a swaybar there so it won't work for me. I could remove the swaybar but my trail handling will definitely suffer.

[Sandmannd]

Thought I would bring this up front as another FMr had a question. I also am looking at getting a sled in the next week or so. I see the pics, anyone have a parts list or what all you used to build these?