snowmobile or quad for ice fishing

[Yak]

Ice-aholics--of the fishing type.

I did do a search for this topic and find some articles but not one or two full threads that discuss my ques.

I always used to say: "Ice was made for buiding a good drink—not for walking around on."

Now that I am retired and am dealing with long Wisconsin winters, I am going to get more serious about my ice fishing adventures and will probably buy a sled or quad.

I have talked to those who say the quad is the way to go because one can also use it for "non-snow" uses and recreation.

I do not hunt--don't haul "stuff"---don't need to go 5000mph. Just want to get out on the ice w/ot heart attack pulling a 2-3 man portable and all the other gear needed for ice fishing.

Others tell me that a quad is often useless if there is deeper snow on a lake. Even the the 4 wheel drive units?
I have read the recent thread about types of sleds to get for ice fishing so don't want to rehash that. Nor do I want to get into any brand bashing here of sleds or quads.

Joe Friday: Just the facts ma'am--nothin' but the facts!

Yak

[went522]

Had a sled, worked good but no place for storage, strapping stuff down. And, we didn't get snow for like ten years so I sold it and bought a ATV. The ATV has been good, I like the baskets, racks, etc. for strapping stuff down. But, now that we have snow I can't go where I want...it's to deep!! That suks.

My next recreational vehicle will be another ATV with a set of tracks. Tires for hunting, etc...Throw the tracks on for ice fishing. Best of both worlds and you get to keep the baskets/racks/storage a ATV offers.

BIRDDOG

[stinkycat]

birddog hit the nail on the head.

I have both, a ATV and snowmobile but I almost never trail ride with either machine. It would be nice to have just one that would work no matter how much snow you get. This year in N Mn it is almost exclusively snowmobile. Three to four years ago I never even had to plow my driveway all winter. Would be nice to know the price and how much time it takes to switch from wheels to tracks. I am sure a good dealer would be able to provide that kind of info.

[KHedquist]

http://www.mattracks.com/html/atv_tracks.htm

With these you just need a quad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDtmOy_1teo

[dewyg]

After years of owning only a quad and not being able to fish all the places or often unable to get to the places I wanted to go due to deep snow, I bought a sled and love it!. The sled gives me the freedom of going the places I want to go no matter the snow depth or slush. I have dug my 4 x4 quad out of alot of slush and snow over the years and it is not nice. I have both and would suggest the same to all, the quad would be my first purchase then I would wait until spring to pick up a cheap sled.

[Koldfront Kraig]

A few things to think about with the tracked 4 wheeler:

What happens when you hit a slush patch 300 yards long?

What about cracks and pressure ridges?



You can buy a good used long track fan cooled snowmobile for around $2000. A fan cooled sled can be driven on minimal snow with no overheating.

What do the ATV tracks cost?

Provided you already own an ATV.

[perchjerker]

I dont know why you have this in the boats forum....

I have a sled. It was much cheaper that an atv. I am like you, I did not need one for hunting, etc. Just ice fishing. I love it.

Mine is liquid cooler but a fan cooled is better. I have ice scratchers so keeping it cool on bare ice isnt an issue. And a studded track is a must. We have a lot of snow right now and ATVs have to follow someones tracks out expecially if they are loaded down which they usually are. They have a hard time of it blazing thier own trail from what I see.

As far as no storage, I have plenty. Racks can be bought or made. I also have a bucket holder that straddles the seat like a horse saddle and I can put a 5 gallon bucket on each side if I wanted. That cost $20. I dont really use it much since I have plenty of storage as is.

And an added bonus is trail riding. I never thought I would just go riding. Mine is a 2 up, and my wife wanted to go for a ride on it once. After that, she was hooked on it.

So we have been taking short trips to a cabin rental north of us for something to do in the winter together as she refuses to ice fish lol.

Its been great fun. If I had the room in the garage I would buy another sled in a heartbeat. Couple of things that were important to me was electric start, ability to carry 2 guys, and reverse.

[KHedquist]

Perchjerker nice sled BTW, I miss it:cry::cry:

[went522]

A few things to think about with the tracked 4 wheeler:

What happens when you hit a slush patch 300 yards long?

What about cracks and pressure ridges?

What do the ATV tracks cost?

.

Slush pocket...drive through it, same thing you do on a sled. Pressure ridge, find a decent spot and drive over it, same thing you do on a sled and wheeled atv.

I demo'd a Polaris 700 w/matracks, unbelievable. I took it places a snowmobile wasn't going to go(iron ore dump) without trashing it. We also took it in deep virgin snow, sled would have been fine but a wheeled atv wouldn't have made it 2'. My opinion was...what a great set up for the ice fishing, deer hunting, outdoorsman...best of both worlds.

Cost...here's a few used links. If you break it down VS. having both a decent2 up sled and decent ATV...cost is close.

Tracks only...http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/981823593.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/984979521.html


Tracked ATV...http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/975657547.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/991660822.html

BIRDDOG

[Yak]

Geeez

Sorry about posting this in the boats section. Operator error. When I was posting this I was dancin back n forth between forums and thought I was in the ice fishing or general discussion pg I guess. Couldn't even find it myself when I went looking for responses>

Thanks for the advice so far.

Anyone know how hard it is to change from wheels to that track system on a quad?
Right now I'm leaning toward a sled, somethng I'd use just for ice fishing.

Yak

[Koldfront Kraig]

Slush pocket...drive through it, same thing you do on a sled. Pressure ridge, find a decent spot and drive over it, same thing you do on a sled and wheeled atv.

I demo'd a Polaris 700 w/matracks, unbelievable. I took it places a snowmobile wasn't going to go(iron ore dump) without trashing it. We also took it in deep virgin snow, sled would have been fine but a wheeled atv wouldn't have made it 2'. My opinion was...what a great set up for the ice fishing, deer hunting, outdoorsman...best of both worlds.

Cost...here's a few used links. If you break it down VS. having both a decent2 up sled and decent ATV...cost is close.

Tracks only...http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/981823593.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/984979521.html


Tracked ATV...http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/975657547.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/991660822.html

BIRDDOG


So IF a guy had a 4 wheeler to start with this may be an option.

Otherwise your spending $6000.00 to $8000.00 to something a $2000.00 snowmobile will do.

[Greenacres]

I think the matt tracks slow the atv down to about half of the top speed.

At Big Iron I seen another brand of tracks (can't remember the name) and they claimed it only slowed the atv down about 5 mph from top speed. They also showed a video of an atv with their tracks in the mountain snow, the operator jumped off the atv and sunk in up to his head. It was quite impressive.

Do a google search on atv tracks.

[perchjerker]

I moved it for ya

no charge this time

:D

[went522]

Anyone know how hard it is to change from wheels to that track system on a quad?


Yak


I demo'd the Tatou tracks, when I got there the popo had tires on it. I pulled it in the shop, he jacked it up and we changed them out. Didn't take much longer than simply changing tires. Took the tire off, bolted a little bracket to the A arm, one bolt, this took 2 minutes. Then he simply bolted the track on just like a tire/rim. Once it was on he hooked up a linkage from the track to the bracket...done. To convert it took about 30 minutes total I suppose and we were BSing as much as working. The tech did say the first few times took longer but once you get it down it was quick. If I wasn't there bugging him and asking questions he probably could have had it done in 20 minutes. It was pretty simple. If you can change a tire, you can swap to tracks.

BIRDDOG

[stinkycat]

I Googled atv tracks and a couple of suppliers came up also a couple of YouTube videos. Should never of watched the videos...... now I have to find the money for a new machine with atv tracks. They look like the ultimate machine to get around.IMO

[MSUICEMAN]

if you want something for hunting and ice fishing.... quad, as it gives you that option, but if the snow is deep you can't really just go anywhere ya want on the ice. also, if you are fishing the big water, pressure cracks and heaves can be not good with a quad. Now, some fore-thought can go a long ways (bring ramps or 2x6s) for the pressure cracks and you're ok.

if for strictly ice fishing... a decent sled with studs is hard to beat as if all heck breaks loose, you can even go over some open water if you really had to (not recommended), but small pressure cracks that opened up a bit are no problem with a sled, where they can be a pain with a quad (once again, ramps would take care of that issue).

[perchjerker]

how are those atv tracks on glare ice? Can you stud them?

[tbomn]

Slush pocket...drive through it, same thing you do on a sled. Pressure ridge, find a decent spot and drive over it, same thing you do on a sled and wheeled atv.

I demo'd a Polaris 700 w/matracks, unbelievable. I took it places a snowmobile wasn't going to go(iron ore dump) without trashing it. We also took it in deep virgin snow, sled would have been fine but a wheeled atv wouldn't have made it 2'. My opinion was...what a great set up for the ice fishing, deer hunting, outdoorsman...best of both worlds.

Cost...here's a few used links. If you break it down VS. having both a decent2 up sled and decent ATV...cost is close.

Tracks only...http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/981823593.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/984979521.html


Tracked ATV...http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/975657547.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/rvs/991660822.html

BIRDDOG

The Suzuki with the tracks cost about what a new set of Mattrax Lite Foot cost. I called the Mattrax outfit last week. They are in Karlstad, Minnesota, ship free, and the standard set of tracks for my Honda TRX420ES cost $5095. I just went out and bought a $1900. 1999 Yamaha VMAX DLX 700 snowmobile with electric start, reverse, 3049 miles, in great shape, saddle bags, tank bag, cover, 4 quarts of synthetic Yamaha oil, new carbides, new hyfax for the track. I spent $52. to convert my ATV trailer to a snowmobile trailer, and now I am good to go. Of course, there will be some tweeking on the snomo, like a GPS mount, trailer hitch, etc, etc,........

I thought about the tracks.........I must think like Skindog, much cheaper to buy a good used sled, not only that, but now I have two toys..........:rock-on:

[went522 UL]

So IF a guy had a 4 wheeler to start with this may be an option.

Otherwise your spending $6000.00 to $8000.00 to something a $2000.00 snowmobile will do.

No, your spending 6-8K on something both a sled and ATV will do, and something neither of them can come close to doing. Even if you don't have a ATV it's still an option..you'll pay 6K-8K for that option.

If you buy that 2K sled, will it do things a atv will do? No, your restricted to 5 months a year at best. The other 7 months it sits. 2K for a decent sled and 4K for a decent ATV, what's the difference? To some it may be..."I have 2 toys instead of one". To the other guy..."I have one toy that will do everything 2 will, and more."
What flips your trigger?? How about getting a 6K sled...a 10K ATV/tracks...and a snowbear...and a motocross...and a harley..and a Argo...and a ...?? We aren't all "universal", what's good for me, might not be what's good for you and visa versa. Speaking of Argo...how about that for the purpose of ice fishing? Not for me, but to some it might be the ticket?? You could even fish out it in the summer! DOAH!


BIRDDOG

[pikeman007]

This is what you need to clear a path on the lake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HyZ-raQseg

[bolund]

Four wheelers are like wheeled fish houses, they are great untill you get snow which, lets face it, happens in the winter. The best option if would be to buy both used. You could pic up both for under 1000 each. If you have to choose one I would say snowmobile with out a doubt. The only time you are missing out is early when there is glare ice in which you can walk and pull protable easily. I wouldnt consider ATV tracks because for the same price of the tracks alone (probably much less) you can get a nice snowmobile and if you ever wanted to trail ride you have it.

[downriverbob]

I was able to get a 1997 Polaris Indy 500 Classic Touring off of ebay a couple of years ago for $1200 very low milage and not a dent or scratch on it. It is a 2 up sled, with front and back hand/thumb warmer and reverse. I bought a two place enclosed tilting Triton trailer (12') and can carry my Otter Sled, auger, portable ice shanty, and other items with no problem.

BOB