Snowdog thoughts

[dubob]

I took possession of my Snowdog on Dec 19, 2020.  I doctored up the enclosed trailer with some E-Track strips for tie downs and loaded all me gear up.

First trip with the Dog is now history.  I took it to Smith & Morehouse the Wednesday before New Years day.  It pulled me (235), my Clam Nanook XL Thermal, and all my ice gear.  The steering is a learning curve for sure - not nearly as easy as steering a quad or snowmobile.  I had a chance to run some slush on the way out and back and did not get bogged down in it.  Burley wasn't so lucky with his machine on that day.  The story is that he did get stopped but was able to maneuver out of it by getting it back on top of the snow and walking beside it for a short bit.  I'll have to remember that just in case.

One of the things that became abundantly clear almost immediately was that the stand-in sled that you haul yourself in is very slick (slippery) when covered with snow dust.  After thinking about this for a short bit, I decided that a rubber mat of some sort should be found and placed on the inside floor of that sled.  I measured the bottom width and length inside the sled and came up with a 20" X 3' dimension requirement.  Lowes was my first stop and low and behold I found exactly what I was looking for in their flooring department on the door mat rack.  It is an all rubber mat made for indoor/outdoor mat that is 2' X 3' size for $20.



Placed it in the sled and the long edge (3') rolls up the sides a tad on both sides.  Ill try it this way for a trip or two and see how much, if any, it moves during use.  If it tends to move, I can always trim it to the exact width of 20".  My military style micky mouse boots should hold without slipping on the rubber surface with all the little nubbins built into the surface intended to act like scrapers.

My next mod will be some Kolpin single gun racks to hold the K-Drill auger.  On order from Amazon; be here Tuesday.



Next trip should be to Hyrum next week Wednesday now that it has finally capped with enough ice to make machine travel safe.  Reports are 5" ice and growing.

[Kent]

Bob, let me know when you are frustrated and ready to sell it (for a steep discount, of course) and I will be the nice guy and take it off of your hands.

[dubob]

Bob, let me know when you are frustrated and ready to sell it (for a steep discount, of course) and I will be the nice guy and take it off of your hands.

Will do Kent.

[BURLEY]

Bob, I wore cleats to prevent sliding,but the mat should work for you also. If it does slide you could screw it down into the thick wearbars of the sled perhaps. As for getting unstuck, watch the YouTube video called "how to unstuck your snowdog ". 

Kent, I'm surprised that you haven't ordered one yet. I don't think you will find a used one unless it is a widow selling her husband's stuff. I don't think that owners will ever sale one otherwise.

[Kent]

Kent, I'm surprised that you haven't ordered one yet. I don't think you will find a used one unless it is a widow selling her husband's stuff. I don't think that owners will ever sale one otherwise.

As they become more popular there will start being a few for sale.  The trick is to see the ad before someone else does, who is looking to buy a used one.  Just like my Skandic snowmobile, there are few used ones listed for sale, and when one is posted there is a feeding frenzy.  I posted mine for sale and received the first inquiry within 10 minutes of the ad going live and about 9 or 10 were interested, in less that 24 hours.  I ended up selling it, in less that 24 hours, for my asking price, to a guy who didn't even want to buy a snowmobile trailer (but I wouldn't sell them separately).

[Therapist]

Question !! Will these things tow 2 people, both about 250 and their gear ?? My buddy and I are not as young as Dubob, but we have decided to get back into ice fishing and walking is a real pain for both of us, plus pulling sleds and gear. I have seen videos of them pulling multiple sleds, but would like the input from an actual owner !!!

[knottyhookr]

Question !!  Will these things tow 2 people, both about 250 and their gear ?? My buddy and I are not as young as Dubob, but we have decided to get back into ice fishing and walking is a real pain for both of us, plus pulling sleds and gear.  I have seen videos of them pulling multiple sleds, but would like the input from an actual owner !!!

Yes they will pull that with ease.  I just got home from the berry pulled me my wife and all of our gear.  In fact I keep buying more gear for the ice because it pulls so good.  I use two snowdog sleds and a larger jet sled for the gear.  Wife sits in the second snowdog sled with the seat while I stand to drive the snowdog.  This is the second year with it and I still absolutely LOVE it!!!!!

[BURLEY]

I can't answer that question because I have only been out 2 times by myself. Like you, I saw the videos and it is said that they will pull 1100lb across the ice,but snow on the ice would most likely change that. Perhaps someone with more experience will chime in to answer your question.

[Lamb Chops]

I also bought a Snowdog last month. I haven't been out on the ice with it yet but it hauled my buddy and I around turkey hunting last week and it had plenty of power.  I love it but it's been hard to start. It usually takes me 3-4 tries or more when its cold before it starts.  I was wondering if that's normal for that 13.5 hp Brigs & Stratton?  How many ties does it take you guys to start your Snowdog? 

[deyoungfisher]

Question !!  Will these things tow 2 people, both about 250 and their gear ?? My buddy and I are not as young as Dubob, but we have decided to get back into ice fishing and walking is a real pain for both of us, plus pulling sleds and gear.  I have seen videos of them pulling multiple sleds, but would like the input from an actual owner !!!

This week I put mine to the test. I pulled 6 sleds with 2 adults, 4 kids, and two sleds full of gear up the boat ramp at Newton.

[MACMAN]

I also bought a Snowdog last month. I haven't been out on the ice with it yet but it hauled my buddy and I around turkey hunting last week and it had plenty of power.  I love it but it's been hard to start. It usually takes me 3-4 tries or more when its cold before it starts.  I was wondering if that's normal for that 13.5 hp Brigs & Stratton?  How many ties does it take you guys to start your Snowdog? 

It’s that junk OEM Russian spark plug. Replace it ASAP with the NGK. Helped mine a lot. I’ve also read replacing the oil with 5-30w synthetic helps too. I’m still on the factory oil. The machine really likes full choke. I also turn the fuel tank off when not in use.

[Lamb Chops]

I also bought a Snowdog last month. I haven't been out on the ice with it yet but it hauled my buddy and I around turkey hunting last week and it had plenty of power.  I love it but it's been hard to start. It usually takes me 3-4 tries or more when its cold before it starts.  I was wondering if that's normal for that 13.5 hp Brigs & Stratton?  How many ties does it take you guys to start your Snowdog? 

It’s that junk OEM Russian spark plug. Replace it ASAP with the NGK. Helped mine a lot. I’ve also read replacing the oil with 5-30w synthetic helps too. I’m still on the factory oil. The machine really likes full choke. I also turn the fuel tank off when not in use.

Thanks for the tips.  I'll give it a try!

[BURLEY]

Mackman, do you remember what NGK plug you used? Was it resister or not? Is gap still at .030?

Lambchops, I was told to carry a can of starter fluid by another dog owner for cold starts.

[MACMAN]

Mackman, do you remember what NGK plug you used? Was it resister or not? Is gap still at .030?

Lambchops,  I was told to carry a can of starter fluid by another dog owner for cold starts.

Snowdog plug
NGK
BPR6ES
This is what I used and I did not alter the gap. Helped a ton. It is still a little hard to get going the first time, but it always starts. The Facebook group swears by using the pull start the first time. I haven’t tried that yet.

[BURLEY]

Thanks Mackman.

[6x7]

Although I sold mine this year, I also ran into the same issues mentioned previously.  I placed a mat in my pull sled as well and it worked great.  Steering is definitely a learning curve.  They are a little “tippy” but it’s easy to adjust.  The biggest thing for me was to place runners on the pull sled so it tracks better and to stud the track.  Those two things made the biggest difference for me.  Fun little machines.

[JBSPARKIE]

I have learned a few things as well: The set up:

Snowdog with reverse-2 snowdog sleds with 1 seat in each sled-2 Otter sleds for gear all with rigid hitches. -5'X8' Northstar trailer with sides and attached folding rear ramp. I have owed this set up since December 16, 2020.

1st trip out 12-19-2020. Mill Hollow- Three sleds. Three people and all gear. This was a steep pull in places and I wondered if we were going to make it a few times as we were climbing. It did slow down to I am guessing about 5MPH pulling the steep parts but you have to realize we were pulling close to 1000 pounds. So not too bad in my opinion. Unhooked all but the driving sled at the dam. Made a test run down to the lake as I was breaking trail from all the fresh snow. Got on the lake and made a test run around the lake just to get the feel of things. found some slush, That was a very uneasy feeling for the first time as I felt like I was sinking and bogging down a bit. Machine did fine. Went back up and got the rest of the train. Fished all day with great success. all fish were 6 feet down in 12FOW. Caught mostly rainbows with a few skinny tigers and some pretty Brookies. At the end of the day with all the weight we had we had to walk along the side of the machine pulling back up to the dam. Lesson learned is that the factory seats can slide and fall off on hard stops and jerky take offs. But we did get a great feel for seat placement.

Seat fix--- In the driving sled I installed the factory swivel seat all the way to the back of the sled. I drilled down through the frame of the seat and right through the metal frame of the sled then attached with 1/4-20 hardware. This placement allows for either driving in the sitting position or the standing position. I would like to thank MACMAN for giving me a great deal on the factory swivel seat and sharing the rest of his knowledge. In the second factory sled, I placed the standard factory bench seat forward enough to place two 5 gallon buckets behind it. This allows for either the buckets or a passenger to stand behind the seat and hang on to the backrest comfortably. I drilled and installed with the same hardware.

2nd trip out 12-27-2020.ECHO-- Launched from the boat ramp with 5 sleds, 4 people and all gear. I guessing we were close to 1500 pounds. Pulled great straight across the lake to the West side. Sure was nice to get away from the City on the East side. Was able to get set up then fro back to pick up 4 more buddies and all of there stuff. There was a couple of inches of fresh snow when we got there on the ramp. When we left it was all melted. No trout for anybody but all the perch that you could stand. Very few nice ones but son caught a 13". fast all day. Lesson learned this day was going up the ice covered boat ramp was impossible with a load. Have studs, but have not installed yet.

3rd trip out 1-2-2021. Smith and Morehouse--3 sleds, 2 people and gear. Parked by dam. Road and launched from boat ramp. Pretty much 6 inches of slush with 5 inches of snow everywhere we went. Definitely bogged down unless you could stay on top. Pretty much had lake to ourselves all day except for maybe 4 other groups that set up near the dam and boat ramp. Fished on West side until noon with all rainbows. Moved east side in 20FOW for the afternoon picked up a few grayling and a bunch more rainbow. lost count on the day but Would guess it was 60ish each. Lesson learned this trip is that slush sucks. had to run beside machine to get it going then jump in and stay on top. Also when you get in snowmobile tracks it can turn you sideways and you can dump your passenger Did make it right up boat ramp with everything with no problem.

[Kent]

Although I sold mine this year,...

Don't tell Burley! 

[6x7]

Yeah, I d at that comment.

[BURLEY]

Well, I heard it anyway ?. What type of runners did you install? I just picked up a new spark plug and some cable/chain lubricant. I will have to check out the Facebook snowdog group and see what other mods I need to do.