Slides for otter sleds

[Guest]

I remember the old otter sleds being made out of a little tougher material. The newer ones seem to be a little softer for some reason. Otter sells slides that you can put on the bottom of the sled to prevent wear for around 50 bucks I think. Any way, I always wanted a set for my sled because of the abuse it gets in the heaved up ice on mille lacs. I was wandering through the hardware store one day and saw aluminum strips that would fit perfect in the grooves for slides. I went home and did a little measuring and found that they were the exact fit. So i went back to the store and picked em up for 3 bucks a piece. I had to carefully bend them in a vice and rivet them to the bottom. It took me about a half hour to do and they look and work just as good as the ones otter is selling for 50 bucks or whatever. I have had them on for two years and they work great for protecting the sled and for keeping it going in a straight line when being towed through snow or glare ice. Just an idea for anybody who needs them, Its much cheaper.

[Dave]

If I remember, aren't the "grooves" kind of deep? How think are these aluminum strips if you fit them IN the grooves?

[Guest]

Alright this is kinda hard to explain. The grooves that I'm talking about are the ones in the front of the sled. Not the whole length of the sled. the slides attach to the part of the sled that touches the ground. Not in between them. If you go look at your otter sled you will see the slots (grooves) that the slides fit into that actually holds the slides in place. I measured my aluminum pieces and they are 1/4 inch thick by about(I think) 1 1/2 inch wide.

[Gissert]

I did something similar, except I used flat strips of UHMW (the same stuff that snomobile hyfax is made of).

I bought some thin strips from a machinists materials HSOforum that sells leftover materials. These strips were about 1 1/4 inches wide by 30 inches long and a quarter inch thick. The material cost me a few bucks plus shipping.

I put one strip on the bottom of each rib, covering the curve in the front. This keeps the tub from rubbing on the ground or glare ice. If they ever wear out, I can replace them.

I have a smaller Otter tub that I use for hauling wood, elk, and deer. I cracked the bottom last winter hauling wood. I ordered two larger pieces of UHMW from that HSOforum and will put a patch on it. Hopefully, I can test the repair out on an elk in about three weeks.

[Guest]

There.....theres a good description. I did the same thing only with aluminum strips and pop rivets.

[Guest]

I did the same thing as Gissert and took and ordered some of that plastic for the bottom of my FishTrap. That stuff wears like iron and slides like a dream. Two thumbs up !!!!
The Otters are next.

[Jig stick]

GEEMAN where did you order the plastic strips from? I'd like to do that to my otter sled.any help would be greatly app.

[Guest]

Try looking up "Plastic, Wholesale/Retail" or something like it in the yellow pages. You can get scrap pieces of UHMW that you can cut on a table saw, drill, etc. Probably cost just a fraction of ordering pieces from a supplier, and waaay less than buying Otters runners (which I unfortunately did before finding out about this).

[Guest]

Jig stick , go to machinist-materials.com and look around. They are out of Florida I think it is. Anyways , they have tons of scrap stuff ( metals/plastics ) that they sell on thier site and HSOList. If you have specific measurments your looking for just tell em and they will cut stuff to size.
They bent over backwards to help me out when I placed my order. 2 thumbs up these guys get from me !!!

[Guest]

Jig stick , get my E-addy from Tony and drop me a line. I'll send you a link to that site.
Forgot to ask if it was ok to post that sites addy on here so it might get deleted.
Sorry Rick

[Guest]

Gee, watch where you're sticking your thumbs

[Guest]

I DO have a way with words eh ? CRIPES ! LMAO

[Jig stick]

GEEMAN,Ijust orderd the otter II hitch so I got the otter II HYFAX kit to. That way its done, cost me , but less hasels. Sorry to put you through any trouble. Gonna try and make it to cny this year to meet the shanty gang.I met Kevin (reelemin) on the ice last year on Mongop pond in Sullivan Co.it was the last week in march. Its the last place to lose the ice down here.Cause its on top of a mountain. Caught my limit two weekends in a row up there on a Marmooska tip with spikes.All 7to 10 inch got alot of filets for the freezer. Still got some left. But they wont last. Thanks again! Tite lnes and (think ice) Ill try and see ya on the ice this year if you come to cyn later ><sUMo> Jig stick

[Guest]

NO SWEAT Jig stick. You should have asked about Otter hitches too. I made my own out of conduit and plastic coated steel cable.
Detatches in a heart beat and works good !
Only got about 8 bucks tied up in the thing/things. Made one for my Fish trap too.
I'm lookin forward to gettin out and travelin to other states this winter. HOPE to make it to CNY .... MN FOR SURE !!!!!!