12-31-2014, 05:58 AM
[quote Old_Coot]Great thread Skunked. I too have often thought about changing from just a Jet Sled to a Smitty Sled. But I really struggle being convinced that it is easier pulling 60 lbs. of gear in a Smitty than it is pulling that same 60 lbs. of gear (minus the weight of Smitty’s building materials) in a Jet Sled. For that reason, I would strongly consider attaching the Jet Sled to the Smitty frame in a way that didn’t put holes in the bottom of the Jet Sled just in case I wanted to go back to using the Jet Sled alone.
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I used a Jet Sled (Jr) for about 7-8 years and it worked well enough. The one issue that I had though was during those days on the ice when afternoon temps were in the 30's and there was slushy snow (sloppy conditions) I would have these iceberg issues on the front as evening approached and it was a real pain. By comparison the ski's really glide effortlessly and I haven't had the problems in slushy conditions. Here's a shot of my old Jet Sled mod.
![[Image: sled_right.jpg]](http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/jdizz66/sled_right.jpg)
[quote Old_Coot]
Also, I don’t think I would attach my pull ropes to the tips of the skis. Pulling that heavy load from the tips of the skis would tend to pull the tips together causing the fastening hardware to eventually become loose. I would put eyebolts into the 2x4 cross members to pull on.
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I had those exact same questions and the responses were split... so I covered my bases by attaching eyelits to the uprights and the ski tips. On my first trip I found that the sled just doesn't want to track right when attaching the rope to the uprights, so I switched to the ski tips and haven't had any problems.
[quote Old_Coot]
Anyway, are Smitty sleds REALLY that much easier to pull through snow than Jet Sleds? I have just got to know.
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Yes. The difference is like night and day. I will say this though, the Smitty/ski design pulls a LOT easier, but the Jet Sled maneuvers better in tight turns. You can literally spin a Jet Sled on a dime, but the ski's in a Smitty tend to want to dig in and rattle.
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[/quote]
I used a Jet Sled (Jr) for about 7-8 years and it worked well enough. The one issue that I had though was during those days on the ice when afternoon temps were in the 30's and there was slushy snow (sloppy conditions) I would have these iceberg issues on the front as evening approached and it was a real pain. By comparison the ski's really glide effortlessly and I haven't had the problems in slushy conditions. Here's a shot of my old Jet Sled mod.
[quote Old_Coot]
Also, I don’t think I would attach my pull ropes to the tips of the skis. Pulling that heavy load from the tips of the skis would tend to pull the tips together causing the fastening hardware to eventually become loose. I would put eyebolts into the 2x4 cross members to pull on.
[/quote]
I had those exact same questions and the responses were split... so I covered my bases by attaching eyelits to the uprights and the ski tips. On my first trip I found that the sled just doesn't want to track right when attaching the rope to the uprights, so I switched to the ski tips and haven't had any problems.
[quote Old_Coot]
Anyway, are Smitty sleds REALLY that much easier to pull through snow than Jet Sleds? I have just got to know.
[/quote]
Yes. The difference is like night and day. I will say this though, the Smitty/ski design pulls a LOT easier, but the Jet Sled maneuvers better in tight turns. You can literally spin a Jet Sled on a dime, but the ski's in a Smitty tend to want to dig in and rattle.
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