Snowmobiling



Matt and I by the welcome sign in Munising, Michigan


Steve (a guy who went in with me on the COOLBUS) and Matt (his brother) have owned snowmobiles since the mid 1990's. They each bought a 2001 ZR600EFI Arctic Cat sled in 2001. With that purchase, they had to get rid of the 1996 ZRT600 they owned. I bought it from them, and put a bunch of parts on it and gave it a good tune-up.

1996 zrt600
A picture of my 1996 zrt600 on the trailer.



On our first trip to Gaylord, MI, we were goofing off and I ended up crashing into a set of train tracks at about a 20 degree angle. With only 8-9 inches of snow on the ground, and a narrow angle of approach, the sled bounced to the right and I went left. Thank goodness I was wearing my full gear (Kevlar everything). Anyway, check out the damage that occurred! (The support that says Arctic Cat should be sloping forward at a 10 degree angle, the shock should not be bent, the forward lower support should not be broke, and the rear upper support should not be warped.)  Click on the picture for a close up.

What a POS!
Don't you hate when this happens?!?!?



After that accident, I made it out quite a few more times that year and put over 700 miles on the Sled in Michigan and Springville, New York.

On the last trip of the 2000-01 season, the engine locked up. The shop said the gasket broke allowing coolant into the engine. That was a costly repair because I fixed the engine and added 144 studs to the track. Unfortunately, I picked it up and took it on the first trip of the 2001-02 season to Buffalo, NY. (Hey - they received 82" of snow in 3 days, and I was there to see it!). Within 500 feet, the engine blew again. This time it was water in the fuel. Lets hope that doesn't happen again!

I ended up selling that sled back to Steve and bought a new Arctic Cat ZR800EFI-LE in 2002. At about 1000 miles, the speedometer quit working. The shop that I took it to for repair said I bent the bulkhead frame. The repair would be around $3,500. The insurance company gave me a choice of totaling it or fixing it. I opted for totaling it and used the money to buy a new 2003 ZR800EFI (not the LE), pictured below.


My ZR800 that was bought new in 2003

During the family trip in February 2007, the problems started early.  First, my trailer got stuck in the driveway when I was trying to leave.  Then, in the UP, my buddy Rich slid on ice and rather than hit my trailer with his truck, he opted for the snow bank.  We got him out, but then he lost his wallet on the trails.  The grand mistake, however, was mine.  Going to fast for conditions in the snow, I saw a turn to late on a trail I knew well.  After trying to slow as best as I could, I bailed off the sled just before impact into the tree.  (Click on the image to see a full sized image of the damage.)

 

 

The end result was a a busted bulkhead, shock, both A-arms, and the steering linkages. The shop guessed the repairs would be around $1,200, but that would just cover the bulkhead and associated labor.  It's not to hard to fix a busted bulkhead.  In takes the shop about 10 hours and took me 30.  You basically remove the track and suspension, hood, side panels, A-arms/skis/shocks, seat, engine, steering post, and any other little odds and ends that are still attached.  Using a Dremmel, air chisel, and drill, remove the 60+ rivets that hold the bulkhead to the tunnel.  Mount up the second bunkhead using any regular aluminum rivets (it doesn't have to be the special ones Arctic Cat uses).  Then mount everything back on in reverse order.  Take pictures along the way so you can use them for reference if you forget how a part goes.  In case you are wondering, I've put about 800 miles on the sled since the repair and I'm not having any problems with the bulkhead staying attached to the tunnel.

My favorite sled destination is Alger County (Munising, Michigan - the "Snowmobile Capital of the World"). After the first stay at a Days Inn cost us $120 a night (OUCH), we opted to stay at the Hillcrest Motel just outside of Munising at the cost of $65 a night. Being a roach motel and all, that didn't seem to be to bad of a deal. But, after buying the enclosed trailer and getting it properly set up in 2005, Matt and I started staying in the trailer when we went up. We found a campground (The Buckhorn on Otter Lake) that was open year around, had very little traffic, and included use of a decent shower house. At only $25 a night, this is the perfect deal.

The best part of the trailer camping is we're right by our sleds, have easy access to our "snow kitchen", and it's the same size as most hotel rooms and much nicer. It boasts 254 square feet, and included a fold out counter, table, removable carpeting, access to 30 Amps power at 110 and 50 Amps at 220, and has plenty of hooks on the wall for storing stuff.

   
 The removable kitchen which doubles as a workbench  A dark shot of the inside with carpeting and couch. It's much brighter than this. 


The outside cooking area for when the weather is nice

Unfortunately, in December of 2006, we went to the UP for the first trip of the year, fully intent on camping in the "Hillbilly RV".  Just before we left, we found the Buckhorn Campground decided to close in the winter, preventing us from staying there.  We found another campground (Gitchee-Gumie) near Marquette.  However, that adds 30 minutes drive time for us and isn't in an area where they receive lots of snow.  This limits the time of year that we can stay there.  In addition, it will cost a few more bucks to stay there since we use electric heat and the owner charges based on electric usage.  

On the lighter side, we received a little snow in Ohio in 2001 and I got creative. I made a life size snowmobile out of snow. It only took 45 minutes, so it is not super detailed.  But, since we don't receive snow in Ohio anymore because of GLOBAL WARMING, it was fun to get out a play.  (Hey - we use to get huge snows "when I was a kid", but not any more, so it's GOTTA be global warming, right?!)  :)

1996 zrt600