Snowmobile ski strap help!!

skithe49th

skithe49th

Active member
Hey, How do you guys strap your skis to your sleds. I wanna put em right on the runningboard but I'm not sure what to use as a strap so that i can still ride it hard without worrying about them coming undone. right now im holding em in with my feet/legs but im not liking it.
 
I once saw Tim D posted something on his blog about a mount he made for his sled..

Search for mounts and make one..
 
cfr can get pretty pricy tho. the coolest/best i've seen is some guys cut up some old ski boots and attached them to the sled. you just click you skis into the boots and stay on that way. didn't describe it very well but hopefully you guys get the picture.
 
your looking at minimum 300 to atleast 400 for the cfr, i wouldnt say its worth it because they do sometimes bend/break if rolled on. get creative, i tie a strap around the front of my seat to my footholds run my tips through there right against the tunnel and strap the tails with a bungee to your bumber, easy as pie
 
if youre worried about the price of a cfr rack... then how did you buy your sled? how do you pay for gas? how do you pay for parts when you break your sled? i mean seriously, snowmobiling is one of the most expensive things you can do to go skiing other than heli
 
I'm super cheap so I didn't buy a cfr. What I did was get those old school black thick rubber bungee cords with te s hooks you cap remove, and basically made a loop around my bumper and put a nut and bolt through the two holes to connect them. You slip your tails through them, then slide your noses up tight to your toe kicks. Then you hook a bungee from your running board (near the noses) and go over your tank to the other running board. I spent $4 on my setup, fuck $300 haha.
 
I just ordered a gun rack set for my whip, I will post pictures when i finish mounting her up. Super simply design that a lot of people use.
 
Dude the other expenses of sledding do not change the fact that a cfr rack is $300-400 and you can build something almost identical and more specific to your needs for under $50 no problem. So if you are rich as fuck or have absolutely no handy-man skills then buy a rack. Otherwise make one.

The best and most simply way I've seen is to bolt something to your tunnel to hold the tips of your skis (one ski on each side) and near the back of your tunnel bolt on a snowboard binding strap to strap the skis down near the bindings. Easy to get the skis in and out, shouldn't take more than an afternoon to construct, and assuming you can track down some old snowboard straps (play it again sports) shouldn't cost much at all.

The cost of a cfr rack is a solid 6 days of truck and sled gas, or a year of sled insurance, or a maybe a used can, or boss seat, or half of a new track. Don't waste it on a damn rack.
 
if you snowmobile you are rich as fuck... sorry to burst your bubble.
like would you really but plastic hubcaps on a ferrari? no, you put on expensive ass rims.

 
..............

Uhh... what? I am a broke ass college student scraping my way through by doing photo jobs, working at a local restaurant, and busting my ass during the summers. I am NOT rich as fuck. And as someone else mentioned, why spend 400 dollars on a piece of equipment you can fabricate yourself for around 50 bucks?

This couldn't be further from the truth, and is probably one of the biggest hasty generalizations I have ever heard on NS.
 
I've seen others try to fabricate racks, unless you know what you're doing with tools it'll probably break after a few uses and leave holes in your tunnel. I know quite a few people that tried with their own set ups and eventually bought the cheetah rack as it was waaay superior, also its super convenient for stashing your boots in the rack to take up. (This is what I do, and Treadway, few others too. Sledding in ski boots is like bambi on ice)

http://www.cheetahfactoryracing.com/

It's pretty much the standard for use here in Whistler/Pemberton. Most of the skiers, boarders, photogs use it. Yeah its pricey, but it will also work and its super quick to put skis on/off your sled. Especially if you're learning to sled or aren't that comfortable the last thing you need to be doing is flailing around with skis on your running boards or on your pack.

Depends, if you can afford it, it'll last you a few years. Dave really improved the rack this past year, and its pretty damn bomber. I snowmobile professionally and have a dual ski rack on the back, it's still intact after my sled has flipped, rolled, smashed its way down the hill.

 
You couldn't burst my bubble if you tried, unlike you I actually sled and know what I'm talking about (and am not rich as fuck I'm in college). And guess what, all my friends who sled are just as broke as me.

Worked all summer, dropped $3k on a sled, and for $25-40 a day I get to do this:

1291233323-913172-588x353-1291233275sledpow.jpg


 
I also did not want to buy a cheetah factory racing one, so I ended up making mine. I am in a bit different situation because my dad has a machine shop. So I made mine by welding some tubing together and using snowboard straps.

I would suggest that you take a piece of plastic, cut a slot which you can do with a table saw or skil saw if your super careful, and make it wide enough that you can get the ski to slip into it. Then bolt that to the running board so that it will hold the tip of the ski. Then get a piece of angle that is like 3"by 3", steel or aluminum and bolt that behind the seat. You can make it like 4 inches long. Then mount a snowboard strap to the angle so you can hold the back of the ski. And your done.
 
And a side note, if you choose the gun rack setup, be extremely cautious of your coolant lines. I'm a fucking retard and just drilled through mine.
 
We've been building our own racks with square aluminum tubing for quite a while, and i have also considered using snowboard binding straps instead of bungy cords but im a little worried about rolling my sled and breaking my skis because they wont fall out of the rack. is there anything you did to prevent this?? or do the snowboard bindings snap off first? was thinking of attaching the bindings with something that will break before my skis. any ideas
 
Ahahaha that sucks bro. I can just imagine the moment when you first saw the blue/green/yellow/whatever color it is/ shit coming out of it.
 
What kind of super powered bungy cords do you use that hold up to whooped out trails????? In my experience the ONLY things that cut it are tie downs, snowboard straps, or anything else with zero elasticity. I hate having to worry about looking back to check on my skis so the most important thing to me is that they are strapped down and 100% secure. As for rolling onto them... I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
 
Cheetah factory racing rack is the way to go. Here is why.
1. If you are riding whoops for a long way, it is the only thing that will last any amount of time keeping your skis on.
2. It holds two pair of skis really well which is a really nice option.
3. There is room on it to hold an extra pack with your lunch, boots or anything but beers.
Cheetah factory racing has been around like 10 years and yes they cost a lot, but they have been tested harder than any bungee cord on the market. I know a lot of guys that do without a cfr rack and they spend a lot of time fiddle fucking with their rack.
Just do yourself a favor and buck up for the cfr
 
lots of ways work. some better, faster, cheaper and more durable than others. CFR work good but so do some home made mounts.
 
Uhhhhh no. You can pick up a very good good sled that has been well maintained and worked on for pretty cheap. 3 to 5k will get you a good sled with a couple engine modifications like custom pipes or turbo-charged engine. Atleast in utah you can. It beats dropping 10k on a brand new sled....
 
this is true even in Alaska. I bought my (now ex but i cant bring myself to say it... im still attached haha) sled for 4900 bucks last fall, rode it a lot for the time I had it until i had a season ending injury, then just resold it for 4700, so i really did lose that much in value. New sleds drop stupidly fast in value like anything else you buy new. My sled was(using past tense, this is a big step for me) an 06 Arctic Cat m7 EFI with a 153" track with the 2 1/4" paddles... Damn being a college freshmen and having to pay for it, this thread is making me miss ol' Patty(yes i actually named her)... Anyways I loved it and got lucky and didnt have to pay for any really costly repairs, but that was just really lucky, I would on occasion see a buddy do a couple grand in damage, and saw a few sleds get totaled, ect. But you are usually right, you dont have to be rich to own a sled, and you can get insurance for a few hundred dollars a year if you cant afford to total yours.
Anyways, I would strap them to my backpack when it was just me riding, was only a problem a few times going through trees, but I had them high enough that I could cross over without the tails hitting the seat.
A buddy of mind got creative and made a ski mount for his sled out of a 2X4 and some old ski boots he paid 5 bucks for at a ski swap.. and it worked really well. On the back rack, he somehow attached the 2X4 to stick out a foot or so, then he took the bottom of those boots that are the same size as his actual boots(he cut them off so its just the bottom if that makes sense), he had them angled perfect to hold his skis. Its also a good method because if he rolled his sled instead of breaking his skis the bindings would just release. Its hard to explain what he did unless you can see it, but I think if you are creative you can build off the idea if you want.

 
Your so fucking dumb it. Yea sledding is exspensive but so is DH mountain biking (my dh bike cost me more then my sled and countinues to do so every year with lift tickets and pricey parts) and skiing. If your one of those guys buying a new $15 000 sled every 2 years and moding the shit out of it, you do have to be loaded. If your a guy like me who worked hard one summer to save some money, and looked to buy a sled in the off season (when they are cheapest), you can get a sick sled for under 5 grand and there are so many good deals in the States. I got my 3 years ago for $3750, sluper low kms, some good mods (suspenion, track extention, can, and some other small thing). The guy lived in Minneasota, and would go to Utah with it for like 2-3 weeks a year, when I picked it up he also gave me a box with the stock parts he swapped and like 4 belts. After that it only cost me 206 bucks and gst to import it. (By DH bike cost me almost 6000, and doesn't have an engine and the suspension is no where near as good).

Gas: FIilling my sled up with premium cost $30 and that usually last me all day. 30 dollars in gas is way cheaper then a 70 plus dollar lift ticket at most resorts now a days, not to mention it's loads cheaper then a cat day which is the kind of skiing you get.

How do I pay for parts: I look for used parts or super cheap deals at trade shows and do the work myself, yea it can turn into alot of down time but that's the way it is. Also I trade to save up and look for deals ahead of time, aka If you know your going to need a new track the next season it gives you lots of time to find something good for cheap.
 
i was like oh man, this looks sick!

1291661392-914053-600x800-1291661257IMG_0739.JPG


then i was going fast and drilled this hole, instead of the other hole (underneath the brake light of course)

1291661388-914051-600x800-1291661278IMG_0740.JPG


and ended up with this:

1291661390-914052-600x800-1291661298IMG_0742.JPG


so now, i have waay way bigger problems than carrying my skis around. but i think eventually this system will be dope, and I have a snowboard ratchet strap and two small piece of angle to go from the front post, up around the ski, to the other post.
 
I used the gun rack method too. Just got my snowboard straps finally, and about to put the finishing touches on it.

I have a ZX chassis, so it's a little different, but the idea is exactly the same.
 
Jeez Logan, you gots to check before you start drilling through your cooler. That prob wont be cheap to fix. Looks like a good idea though.
 
No I just dont worry about it. It would be pretty damn tough to break your ski from rolling your sled. I havent rolled my sled so Im not sure what would happen, but if it did I would be more worried about my sled than my skis.
 
CFR racks are sick, but they are way over priced.
In terms of what you use to STRAP the skis, typically most people just use snowboard toe and ankle ratchet straps. Works great and they are pretty cheap. Go to a snowboard store and you should be able to buy a set for $25 or so.
My rack was made with cutting boards that I sliced up to size then put spacers (also made of cutting board) between in order to hold my skis. The have been pretty strong but they do break sometimes, especially when I have rolled my sled in the snow with skis strapped in. The ski pressing against the snow puts a lot of pressure on the cutting board and the cutting boards have broken. Good to keep some bungees. I do think the gun rack with the snowboard strap is a great combo too.
Here is a pic of my set up, I will try to put up better pics later. Super cheap ($50) to build and it took me only one hour to do with a drill and reciprocating saw. Holds two pairs of skis or up to four snowboards.
12916834072006_mxz.jpg

 
Funny you should say that, I've broken 2 pairs of skis rolling my sled, and never ever hurt my sled by rolling it.
 
of course rolling a sled can do a lot of damage if it rolls off a cliff or into a tree or rock or something, but as long as you have a 2 stroke your all good if that isnt the case. 4 strokes on the other hand... well 4 stroke sleds are pretty dumb IMO for that reason
 
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