Make a sled?

[Jim in Delta]

Any of you guys have any pictures or plans of pull behind sleds you have made? I need one soooo bad but dont have a spare grand laying around to buy a trailboggin. I was going to build one out of 2X8s for sides with a plywood bottom. What do you think??

[MacGyver]

Making a sled

I've made several, do you have a welder?
How many $$ are you wanted to spend?
How big are you looking at?

[AKmud]

My brother in law has one about 6-8' long x 24" wide made out of corrigated steel like what they use for culverts. I'm not sure who he got to bend the ends up, but it is basically like a tobaggan. He put plywood sides on it and it works great! I don't think he has more than a couple of hundred bucks into it.

I don't think the plywood bottom you are thinking about would hold up unless you used 1" thick or better and covered it with a piece of heavy plastic like teflon or similar.

[northway]

sleds

My former trapping partner was great at making sleds, but I convinced him otherwise. I have an EQUINOX plastic sled that I have been trapping with since the mid 90's. We were both skeptical at best on how it would last and I am still using it today. I just bought an otter from Sportsman Warehouse for $90 bucks. I believe that if you put an extra layer of ptex on the bottom, this sled will for years. The otter has a 3 year warranty and if if breaks, cracks, etc. you can take it back and they will replace it. Plastic sleds are very light and made durable now day. The only thing I didn't buy was the Mickey Mouse hitch they had, that will be the only extra cost beside the extra layer of 1/4" ptex.

[NorthRick]

A bit unorthodox

But it works well. Cheap snowboards from the ski swap.

[kgrant]

Here are some pics of one I built. It has 1/4" UHMW on the bottom. One thing I have added is a cover on the tounge so the sled doesn't get filled with quite so much snow from the track. I don't know if I would mount the tounge piviot back where it is again. It works good, rides smoother through the bumps that pulling off the front, but you can't carry anything that is wider than the top of the sled.

I would take a good look at the Otter sleds at SW. But like northway mentioned the hitchs they sell aren't that great. I would build my own hitch or have one built.




Click on the pictures for fullsize

[spike]

2 x sleds

Jim....I spent some time out in Western Alaska around Bethel and all you see is homemade sleds. They have 2 x ? runners. plywood sides and bottoms, and a V-shaped round stock steel tongue. The fancy ones even had some old valve springs on the tongue for "easy towing." The most expensive part was the plastic runners for the bottom of the 2 x ?. When I got out there I saw those sleds and laughed. That was the wrong thing to do. I really felt like a stupid "gussik." Those sleds worked great and could haul a ton.

I like that sled of NorthRick's. Very creative

[bgreen]

Here is a picture of the sled my old man built a few years ago. You can tow it as fast as your sled will go. Sorry, no specific dimensions, but its an aluminum truck box with a bulkhead out of an Arctic Cat aws sled. Nice dry storage, light weight, and simple to build from junk parts people sell for very little money. The little racks on the side are custom fit for gas cans, the ones on top are for extra gear.

[NorthRick]

No bare wood

Jim,

However you build it, don't have bare wood sliding across the snow. I built a trail grooming drag to smooth the trail to our cabin and it has 2x6's for runners. Or I should say "had." They've lost almost 1/2" of wood in just 30 miles of dragging from the abrasiveness of snow on wood. Bought some HMWP plastic to place on the runner bottoms as soon as it snows enough to have a trail to groom.

[Adventure]

Nice sleds guys. I don't remember seeing a tote with remote resevoir shocks and a sway bar.

[AKDSLDOG]

But it works well. Cheap snowboards from the ski swap.

Yes id did work fine, was a good Idea. this is your neighbor just north of ya.

here's the sled I built. 8'L x 4'W, flip it over and it groomes like a dream, cheese grader style.

[AKBighorn]

I have noticed a few sleds with a hitch like FarmerGrant's and wondered why to attach it so far back on the sled? It just hit me, does this reduce the amount of jerking when traversing uneven terrain?

[Gulkana Rafting]

Basket Sled

I have built 2-basket sleds out of Hickory. The locals have perfected the design as they are light and flexible. They are also works of art and take a soft touch with bending wood and tying with Tuna line. Mine are 10 and 12 feet long and you can put a weeks worth of camping supplies in them and they are very durable. Takes a good 30 hours or so to build one though. They look like a very long dog sled and weigh between 60-75 pounds empty.

Walt

Northwest Alaska Back Countyr Rentals
www.northwestalaska.com

[Gulkana Rafting]

Basket Sled

I have built 2-basket sleds out of Hickory. The locals have perfected the design as they are light and flexible. They are also works of art and take a soft touch with bending wood and tying with Tuna line. Mine are 10 and 12 feet long and you can put a weeks worth of camping supplies in them and they are very durable. Takes a good 30 hours or so to build one though. They look like a very long dog sled and weigh between 60-75 pounds empty.

Walt

Northwest Alaska Back Countyr Rentals
www.northwestalaska.com

[Jim in Delta]

Cool ideas

Boys those are some cool sled ideas. That tool box sled is a rednecks dream. I dont know that its what I need but it sure would be cool to drag around.