I learned something today I was not expecting, the skis on a snowmobile are wider, and sharper, than I had thought. That sounds a bit like the start toa story of things gone horribly wrong. It is not. I bought my first snowmobile this week and a buddy who was borrowing a snowmobile trailer from another buddy helped me pick it up.
When I backed the snowmobile off the trailer into the garage, I noticed the marks it left on the concrete of my driveway and garage floor. The “runners” or carbides on the underside of the skis are quite sharp. A couple of “drag” marks on the concrete don’t have me at all concerned. I understand now the dual function of the “runners” on snowmobile trailers, provide grooves for the carbides and keep the flat surface of the skis from freezing to wood.
The next step in my adventure is to transport the snowmobile to our cabin where we will do 99% of our riding. My plan was, put down a sheet of OSB to protect the truck bed and load it into the back of our Chevy Colorado by driving it off our driveway snowbank, winch it tight, and away I go. I will find another snowbank or snow pile at the other end to unload. I measured the skis to see how wide I needed for the OSB, maybe something I have already will work. The skis, outside to outside are 46 inches. The wheel wells in the bed of the truck are 45 inches. Missed it by that much.
The fortunate news is I have my son’s truck for the week, a Chevy Silverado, with a full 48 inches between the wheelwells so I will use that, with a full sheet of OSB. I don’t care if the carbides damage the OSB. I’m willing to sacrifice the $15 for not scratching his truck. We don’t plan to be hauling the snowmobile around the countryside so this is a single trip requirement, until we buy another machine.
Without proper ramps, I needed a way to get the snowmobile high enough to drive onto the truck bed. With a Saskatchewan winter halfway behind us, the snow pile from clearing my driveway was more than high enough and firm enough. Drop the tailgate, place the OSB, back up to the snow pile and drive on.
Add some winch straps to secure the front and back and we are good to drive to the cabin.
Then just find a convenient snow pile on the road. Back off, and drive the snowmobile to it’s new home at the Cabin
