Unfortunately, the rifles are getting lighter because we are getting heavier and more unfit as a society. This is the key to the mainstream acceptance of the short magnums. - Nathan Foster
When buying UHMW try to find the darkest colour, the pigment helps keep the damaging UV from going all the way through the plastic and turning it brittle.
I don't agree with this type of setup. The load bearing is too concentrated on the skis causing the skis to cut deeper into the snow. This system also appears to be quite weak. Each ski has an two upper and lower attachment points. While the bottom attachment point appears to be quite solid with a threaded pipe flange, the upper attachment point seems to be the weak point. There is no cross attachment between the skis and although it is unlikely that they would cave inward there is the potential for the skis to splay out like a new born foal. I don't know what you have for weight in the sled, but I know that the sled would not sink as deep as the skis.
IMHO, that is a lot of needless work. I would not want to hand haul that across an area knee deep in snow.
".....It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of a Trudeau government than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their prime minister......"
yes and no on those concerns....so yes, the obvious flaw, the legs have been cross braced since the photos, I just wanted to go fishing quickly that day I built and took those pics....but even still the sled itself is rigid enough that the 'splay out like a fawn' was very minimal before I braced the legs...I needed legs that removed quickly to fit under the tonneau cover, so yeah it could be built sturdier, but not really a problem as it sits now and much more convenient with disconnect pins
the sled on its own absolutely would not sink as low as the skis, but that's the problem, reducing the surface drag, ...I'd rather have skis pulling through the snow than dragging a 30" wide hunk of plastic on top......the uhmw only really protects from wearing out the bottom when pulling on hard ice surfaces imo...doesn't help too much with friction, all the extra ridges created by the uhmw strips just collect slush and snow and just creates more drag...I used to have to turn the sled over and chip the ice build up away
the snow in that pic is soft powder, they ride on top of harder snow no problem and the setup pulls straight, easy to steer
my power auger is 33 lbs, hut 34 lbs, fish finder is 10 lbs, big buddy heater, 10lb propane tank, rod case and tackle, camp chairs, beer, food....I'm close to 100 lbs for a full day
maybe my pics are deceiving until you actually pull it around, but I'd take a foot race across any lake with that sled for a case of beer
Unfortunately, the rifles are getting lighter because we are getting heavier and more unfit as a society. This is the key to the mainstream acceptance of the short magnums. - Nathan Foster
"reducing the surface drag"
Taking the co-efficient of friction between snow and plastic, into consideration. There is virtually none so surface drag is a moot point. It comes down to load bearing surface and the dispersal of the load on that area. The skis have a small load bearing area and are going to sink deeper into the snow. The only time that one would not have to consider the previous statement is when there is no snow, just a ice surface, then all things being equal.
Forget the foot race, you are younger than I. As for load, comparable, hand auger, buddy heater and single burner collapsible camp stove, 2 one pound propane bottles, couple of folding chairs, fishing gear, fishing hut, snow scoop, no beer or alcohol (I leave the boozing to home).
If for some reason I would find that I had to mount skis, I would mount them to the bottom of the sled with 2" spacer blocks between sled and ski.
You fishing 10 Mile?
".....It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of a Trudeau government than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their prime minister......"
"The skis have a small load bearing area and are going to sink deeper into the snow."
yes, that is true...but that is still much, much easier to pull vs dragging the sled around without skis, even though it doesn't sink as deep, there is still 10x the surface area dragging on the snow...not an engineer so won't pretend to have a technical understanding of the coefficient of friction between snow and plastic, I just know which setup pulls easier
I can't claim that design as my own, I just copied smitty sleds I've seen on iceshanty and other fishing forums, seems to be popular for a reason
yes, I fish 10mile fairly often, my hut should be easy to pick out with that sled lol
Unfortunately, the rifles are getting lighter because we are getting heavier and more unfit as a society. This is the key to the mainstream acceptance of the short magnums. - Nathan Foster
There is the real deal one of these on Kijiji cranbrook .... snowmobile skimmmer. It is bomb proof....a liittle too heavy for hand pulling in some cases. On the flat it is wide enough to float and pull easy....uphill it would be just extra weight. I hauled a 300 lb. wood stove through several feet of powder behind snowmachine with this one ...no problem.
Back from the ice fishing expedition and boy was it cold. Minus 29C at Monte lake. Here is the skinny on the set up I will use. I have elected not to put skis on my sled. I had my sled with no skis on it and my buddy had his with skis. On solid ice the ski has the advantage but we got on to a lake which had thick ice with water under a weak layer of frozen surface slush. My buddies sled kept breaking through the frozen slush, what a chore! My sled rode on top with no problem so based on that experience I will leave my sled unaltered. I will also install a couple of eye bolts on the lower attachment points and attach my rope to that. My son and his buddy devised a tow system for their sleds using a couple of fiberglass chimney cleaning rods which they attach to their packs. They utilize this system when they venture into the high country to do a few days of alpine skiing. Being fiberglass the rods will have less tendency to shatter in cold weather.