minimum amount of snow to safely ride?

Y

yankeeslover

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I know this is probably gonna open up a big can of worms. And i know different answers as some riders live in the snow belt where they get lots of snow. but where im at in upstate ny we really dont get hit with tons of snow.. in fact still brown outside.... with that said... we are itching to ride... storm tomorrow has us forcast anywheres from 4-8 and 8-14 of snow..all last winter all our local trials got was 10 inches...what is the safe amount to ride on without ruining ones sled? I know alot can go into this... but if we get 8 inches, will you ride the local trails? once again, we dont get the 2-3 feet that others do, so the trails open up with less here where i live..i just dont want to ruin my sled...thanks
 

You want enough to lube your hyfax and keep sled running within operating temperature,,, also enough so that your carbides dont bit into the ground....... Other wise you are just causing premature equipment failure,,, definitely have to keep the engine running cool though.......
 
My pappy used to say" dont even think about gettin em out til theres at least 3 inches". Of course that was back in the early 70's and in mid michigan. A whole lot different than today, and with the sleds we now have!
 
I wouldnt ride on 3 inches

I would consider 6-8.. but if i get 10 inches tomorrow, im gone...
 
me and my roomate took our mountain sleds out when there was 2 inches on the ground, and dirt in a lot of places. nither of us overheated and it was a blast sprayin each other with dirt :) we rode for a good 6 hours on that.
 
yankeeslover said:
I know this is probably gonna open up a big can of worms. And i know different answers as some riders live in the snow belt where they get lots of snow. but where im at in upstate ny we really dont get hit with tons of snow.. in fact still brown outside.... with that said... we are itching to ride... storm tomorrow has us forcast anywheres from 4-8 and 8-14 of snow..all last winter all our local trials got was 10 inches...what is the safe amount to ride on without ruining ones sled? I know alot can go into this... but if we get 8 inches, will you ride the local trails? once again, we dont get the 2-3 feet that others do, so the trails open up with less here where i live..i just dont want to ruin my sled...thanks
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From my experiences and what I've seen, it depends on how old you are and how much money you have to spend on carbides, skies, hyfax and track clips ;>)

Seriously, without any type of base 10" doesn't last too long on a "groomed" trail. It may be okay on the way out but the return trip could prove ugly.

IMO - Aside from the wear items listed above, the biggest issue would be HX cooling. Dive into the deepest snow you can find as often as you can if your return trip turns into snirt.

I've putted around the yard for couple hours pulling jr. around on 3" of wet snow which seems to be enough to keep the front and rear HX in snow. Running board HXs would steam a bit so I threw some snow on top. Never did see the temp light come on and admittedly it was getting a little hot but since I don't have a temp gauge I can't say what the coolant temp was.

Just watch for the temp light and find the deepest snow you can. The lower the snow level, the more often I'd make trail-side stops to check things over.
 
1 inch here and I am gone riding..rocks or no rocks..proved it already this year..carbides ripped of,studs pulling out..lol but putting miles on....lol
we have a little more now,but trails are crappy.Lucky the river is frozen now with around 4 inches of snow on top..we can now pin it a little longer and zig zaging all the ice ridges and peaks that have developed on the corners of the river...crazy man..but we thread the sleds thru that without taking out the front ends......lol
 
I want a good base before I ride, it takes a lot of the fluffy stuff for me to get out (10"), if it is good packing snow (6")... Otherwise I am just ruining parts...

But I am also the son of a farmer, I see what guys riding on slim snow will do to a Winter Wheat or Hay lot all summer long, and corn stalks do not look good wrapped around my radius rods... so I wait.
 
I feel your pain. last year we didn't have squat for snow until March. My first ride of this season was November.
 
Michigan law requires 4" to ride on public lands. Personally I wont ride until there is at least 2 feet.
 
In hay fields, maybe 4". A lot more in plowed or corn fields.

Best thing is for some snow > 6" to fall, warm up enough to get soft, then freeze hard for a nice base. Then a little fluffy snow on top for the hyfax and cooling.

But I'd go for any snow at this point.
 
Truckkid42 said:
me and my roomate took our mountain sleds out when there was 2 inches on the ground, and dirt in a lot of places. nither of us overheated and it was a blast sprayin each other with dirt :) we rode for a good 6 hours on that.
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way to beat the ever living crap out of your SNOW mobile :o|
 
grapeape said:
Michigan law requires 4" to ride on public lands. Personally I wont ride until there is at least 2 feet.
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I would very much like to know where that law is writen, Its one that I have never heard of. much appreciated
yammy
 
My Viper don't move unless their's 4-6 inches on the Ice...Way too dangerous....
My V-max (beater sled) rides when I want it too..2 inches...
 
grapeape said:
Michigan law requires 4" to ride on public lands. Personally I wont ride until there is at least 2 feet.
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when is the last time you saw two feet of snow on the ground in Michigan? I want to ride there. We have been getting between 3 an and 6 inches each day for the last week and still only seem to have about 8-12 inches total on the ground some how.
 
once everything is well covered in a n ice base. here in central NH I want to avoid large rocks and stumps. but, thats also why some used sleds with 2k miles on them look a LOT worse than mine with 9k miles on it. I try very hard to take care of ALL the things I own, not worth ruining things or wearing them out faster than they already do!
 
nvr2fst said:
when is the last time you saw two feet of snow on the ground in Michigan? I want to ride there. We have been getting between 3 an and 6 inches each day for the last week and still only seem to have about 8-12 inches total on the ground some how.
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Grape rides in northern Ontario where 2 feet + is common. I need to get back in the habit of driving up there to ride. 9 hours drive and beautiful conditions.
 
Our rule of thumb? 4", GOOD TO GO. It is situational really. At the cottage or on lake Erie I would say at least 2"(after the forementioned 4 blows around), just for the fact that you can follow your tracks(for safety) w/o running over them again. But w/that being said there is only so much you can do in 3-4".......
 
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