four cycle snowmoble ?????

[whitepine]

Thinking about getting a snowmobile this year and interested in the 4 cycle motors. Who makes them in 4 cycle?  I had a tundra before and really liked it and most use would be off trail as in making my own trail  on my own ranch but may want to be able to go on state snowmobile trails to bar for a beer and burger. To old for pull starter so need electric start and reverse would be nice and a trialer hitch. Thanks Tom

[sawguy21]

I am not fond of the big sleds with electric start and reverse. Too DanG heavy. Once it is stuck a tow truck is required.

[Deadwood]

Now we have a great thread going! I have waited for two weeks for this one.

I just took possesion of a 4 stroke snowmobile last week. Just about all four makers of sleds offer 4 stroke machines, but of the four, Yamaha is the only one that is truly banking their future on them. My sled is a Vector RS, with a 120 hp 973 cc engine. I got mine as an 05 left over which saved me 1300 bucks over new. The thing is, it is still a grand cheaper than Arctic Cat's 107 hp 4 stroke machine!

In my honest opinion, and I live, breath and talk sledding 365 days a year, go with a Yamie of some sort. The new Apex is to die for, but so is the asking price...10,000 grand. The Vector is not bad. A nice trail riding machine with plenty of power, plenty of speed (122 mph) and darn good fuel economy. (20 mpg). The Camoplast Ripsaw Track is the best in the industry right now for both powder and hard pack. Throw in electric start, computer controlled engine diagnostics, and reverse (be in a mechnical reverse :'() and you have a machine that will last 20000 miles.

By the way, I owned a 1988 Ski Doo Tundra myself once. Nice machine for what it was designed for.

[sawguy21]

There might have been a time but right now I don't want to go 122 mph on a sled . And this out of the box??? Holy C**p!!!

[Deadwood]

Yeah I was not kidding...right out of the box. And then when you feel the machine s getting a bit stale, you can always throw a turbocharger on it, crank the horsepower up to 200 hp and hang on.

After rereading you post though, I realized you were not so much as interested in a 4 stroke trail sled as you were in a utility machine. Yamie might be your best chice if you are truly determined to buy a 4 stroke snowmobile. As Sawguy 21 mentioned weight is always an issue, and four stroke sleds are VERY heavy. They have so much cc's that electric start is not an option...its mandatory. Its just not possable to fire up a 973 cc machine when it is 20 below.

If I was in the utility market, I would proably buy another Ski Doo Tundra. They have redid their chasis and given the sled a whole new look. Some like it, some don't, but it will ride better with its new suspension.

One other question though. Have you ever considered buying an ATV and placing tracks on it? It is expensive, but I would think it would pull like crazy. I owned a Polaris 400 6 by 6 once with tilt up dump body and everything. It would go everywhere except in a tight turning radius.

[whitepine]

Hi Yes I have looked at tracked atv but they look like something that would be a mechanical nightmare to me and slow.  Thanks for the input I will take a look at the Yamaha and the others. I sure do not need 120 mph. I have heard they now have a starter available on the tundra.

[Jason_WI]

10k for a sled

The last sled I bought was $1700 and I thought that was expensive.  97 indy 500 with 5400 miles

I bought 2 sleds for $150 a while back.

Jason

[redpowerd]

why not one of these? i wouldnt drive one without a winch.

i think ski-doo is the only company now that makes air cooled utility sleds (high, low, reverse). id never get a liquid sled for work in the woods.

[Don_Papenburg]

Wow 10grand  .. And  I thought that 600 was a lot when I bought my Massey  Ferguson  back in the 70s

[moosehunter]

I rode a four stroke Yami for about four hours on our Maine trip two years ago. I am sold on four strokes! No smoke, excellent fuel milage, no extra oil to carry about. AND TORQUE! 8)
My next sled will be a four stroke Polaris Switchback or Yami's 3 cyl long track. Keep us posted on your new Yami deadwood.
mh

[Deadwood]

All right Moosehunter, I just put on my first 100 miles so I got a better feel for it.

As you mention the power is amazing on this 4 stroke. Squeeze the throttle and you are gone. Our largest field is only about a half mile long, but I was able to reach 93 mph and get it slowed down before the woods came up (very quickly mind you), and I did this several times, so it's quite nimble.

There is no sweet spot on the power curve like there is on two stokes. There is some engine braking as well, which takes some getting used to at first. You can't let off the throttle all the way in either coming into a sharp curve or off a jump. If you do so on a jump, you'll slam down pretty hard. Surprisngly though, this heavy 4 stroke is quite capable at launching itself. Now on a curve, I found you have to ease off the throttle, just not all the way. That keeps the outside ski firmly planted in the snow. As you exit the curve, you have to wait until the machine is pointed straight ahead, then you can clamp the throttle. If you do so to quick, the torque it has will kick the track out from under you and you go sideways. Clamp the throttle when you are pointed straight and you go straight ahead...very quickly so hang on.

I did have to do some suspension tweaking with it and have some more adjustments to go. I had to length the weight transfer bars in the rear of the sled by a quarter inch, and had to crank up the pressure on my center shock. This put more weight on the skis because the machine was rather light up front. This helped, but I might need a little more weight transfer. I am only riding in 3 inches of snow, so it's not the best conditions to be setting up a sleds suspension.

Thats about it for now, but I like my new sled. I really wanted Yamaha' new Apex (150 hp) machine, but I can see now this 120 hp machine (Yamaha Vector RS) is all the sled I need. Probably more so, I guess that is why insurance comapnies will not insure these sleds!

[redpowerd]

is it quieter?

[Deadwood]

It's kind of funny you ask that because my younger brother was driving my new sled out around the field the other day. He was supposed to make a trip or two and then come back so we could all have turns on it, but he kept going and going and going.

So finally I say "well where is he anyway" and my best friend who loves his Ski Doo 2 stroke to no end says "well if you had a 2 stroke you could hear him couldn't you?"

To answer your question though, yes this thing is a LOT quieter. You can have a normal conversation with it idling and in that field that is less than a half mile long, we could not hear my little brother running the engine wide open.

Here in Maine we have a lot of trails that run next to peoples houses. Having quieter machines will help this sport in my opinion and that was one of the reasons I bought this sled. The other reason is longevity. With 2 strokes you rebuild them at 8-9 thousand miles, they recommend this engine be rebuilt at the 26,000 mile marker. By that time, the chassis will be shot. With a new baby on the way, it will proably be awhile before I buy a new sled so longevity is a must.

[sawguy21]

I ran a Honda 8hp o/b and that puppy was really quiet. A real treat when trolling but too heavy for the 12' aluminum I had it on. Not enough freeboard for my liking.