02-26-2021, 09:39 PM
Ever since I got my dog (that I have named Burley's Burro), I have wondered how far I can go on a tank of gas. The short trips Ice fishing have not supplied me with sufficient info.. Yesterday I filled the tank and took it to Hardware Ranch to find out. With only the dog sled and some emergency supplies I set out up Laketown road. The road was packed by all the snowmobile traffic this year. What I didn't expect was how terribly bumpy it was. The entire road was bumps and dips no matter which side of the trail I traveled. This slowed me down to about 8-10 mph. Seldom was there a place where I could open her up. It bounced the Burro and I around quiet a bit and my shoulders are paying for it today.
I was alone so I was a bit temid about going offroad. I finally made a short jaunt off into 2 1/2 feet of snow and did surprisingly well (the snow pictures). Farther up the road I thought that I would again go offroad to turn around. I was instantly in 3 feet of fluff and came to a halt about 60 feet from the road. I was unable to turn it while on the sled. As I stepped off the sled to get more leverage, I sank to my crouch, taking away any leverage that I had hoped for. A YouTube video had shown that stomping in front of the machine would allow you a way out, but here it looked like I would only get into deeper snow. What to do?
I stepped back onto the sled, put it into reverse and started to back up towards the road until the snow piled up against the back of the sled almost bringing me to a halt. I then moved more to the front of the sled lifting the back end. Giving the Burro a bit more persuasion I was able to back onto the road with amazing ease. Whew!! What a relief. At this point I decided to head back to the ranch.
This morning I checked the hour meter that I installed and I had 1.2 hours on the trail and used slightly less than 1/2 a tank (2 1/2 quarts of a 1 1/2 gallon tank). I got on google maps and saw that I had traveled a total of 11 miles on that 2 1/2 qts.. How this will compare to pulling 2-3 sleds and gear on the ice, who knows? But for what it's worth this is my FYI.
I didn't see any elk, but I did see deer, turkeys, a golden eagle, and a Bald Eagle.
![[Image: IMG-1336.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/MhNpVW0/IMG-1336.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-1337.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/091sHM0/IMG-1337.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-1338.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Jq5w817/IMG-1338.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-1339.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/SdGJkxj/IMG-1339.jpg)
I was alone so I was a bit temid about going offroad. I finally made a short jaunt off into 2 1/2 feet of snow and did surprisingly well (the snow pictures). Farther up the road I thought that I would again go offroad to turn around. I was instantly in 3 feet of fluff and came to a halt about 60 feet from the road. I was unable to turn it while on the sled. As I stepped off the sled to get more leverage, I sank to my crouch, taking away any leverage that I had hoped for. A YouTube video had shown that stomping in front of the machine would allow you a way out, but here it looked like I would only get into deeper snow. What to do?
I stepped back onto the sled, put it into reverse and started to back up towards the road until the snow piled up against the back of the sled almost bringing me to a halt. I then moved more to the front of the sled lifting the back end. Giving the Burro a bit more persuasion I was able to back onto the road with amazing ease. Whew!! What a relief. At this point I decided to head back to the ranch.
This morning I checked the hour meter that I installed and I had 1.2 hours on the trail and used slightly less than 1/2 a tank (2 1/2 quarts of a 1 1/2 gallon tank). I got on google maps and saw that I had traveled a total of 11 miles on that 2 1/2 qts.. How this will compare to pulling 2-3 sleds and gear on the ice, who knows? But for what it's worth this is my FYI.
I didn't see any elk, but I did see deer, turkeys, a golden eagle, and a Bald Eagle.