With most of the grooming equip. in the state never turning a track [or wheel] this season, i am looking for creative ways to use up our alotted $250/mi. and put it back in the club's accounts. Many have purchased new[er] machines and rely on grooming to pay for them. Not looking for fundraising ideas; we already have that covered. I realize this is a touchy subject so only POSITIVE Posts please.
Attn: WI CLUBS
- Thread starter RVR RNR
- Start date
the clubs could burn up a pile of cash building new led solar powerd map displays lots and lots of map displays one for every intersection.
and when building make room on side or under map to sell ad space should be able to get 15 to 20 hrs per box.not the whole nut but a start to burn time for a needed thing
more trail side warming/gathering huts never hurt.shoul get well in to 300hr or better if you bill in gov worker time per hut .
club made large trail safty 4x8 or better with laws of the trail to mount on huts and big intersections good for 20 hrs or better per.
few saftey classes over the summer good for some hrs
and when building make room on side or under map to sell ad space should be able to get 15 to 20 hrs per box.not the whole nut but a start to burn time for a needed thing
more trail side warming/gathering huts never hurt.shoul get well in to 300hr or better if you bill in gov worker time per hut .
club made large trail safty 4x8 or better with laws of the trail to mount on huts and big intersections good for 20 hrs or better per.
few saftey classes over the summer good for some hrs
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windingtrailgal
Active member
RVR - have you put the question to your club members? What would you like to see with our club/trail system NEXT season when we get 200' of snow...
Is there anything that you, as a groomer, would like to have that would make your life easier?
Can you save the money for next season or a 'snowy day' type fund? - for future mechanical/maintenance issues?
Safety classes - or classes to teach new groomers how to groom?
I like ezra's idea about the sign huts too! Love seeing those! Do you need any additional signage?
Trail clean up for the fall? Rental of a bobcat to smooth out sections that have been problem sections?
Is there anything that you, as a groomer, would like to have that would make your life easier?
Can you save the money for next season or a 'snowy day' type fund? - for future mechanical/maintenance issues?
Safety classes - or classes to teach new groomers how to groom?
I like ezra's idea about the sign huts too! Love seeing those! Do you need any additional signage?
Trail clean up for the fall? Rental of a bobcat to smooth out sections that have been problem sections?
sledboy482
Member
I would say check into your problem spots and see about possbily building a bridge. With the truck industry down, you may be able to buy an inexpensive used semi trailer (flatbed) to use as your bridge. A friend of mine bought one for his property a few years back and built a covered bridge over the semi bed. You wouldn't know you were on a trailer if he didn't tell you. I do like the better intersection/trail marker boxes suggestion too.
Thanks for the replies but, i guess i should have worded my post different. We have a long list of projects but, no $ to do them. In order to receive our maint. monies we must submit legitimate labor/equip. rental bills. Our Co.[Sauk] has 200mi. of trail @ $250/mi. = $50,000. Typically we would burn through a lrg. amount of that grooming. Obviously that has not happened this year. Whatever we don't use goes back to the general fund- it can't be carried over to next year. Also, we cannot purchase equip. w/this fund- we have to "earn it". See the problem? So i guess i'm looking for ways to recoup some of that before it is gone.
D
Deleted member 10829
Guest
Get groups out and brush and pick up the trail now from all the branches that have fallen from the heavy snow! 
Do you have any trails that need widening or excavating work? Hire a contractor to do that. You won't use it all up, but take care of things like that which have been put off due to lack of money. Re-route any trails you have been contemplating doing using labor from your club etc. Improve your signs, including those directing sleds to local businesses.
Do you have any trails that need widening or excavating work? Hire a contractor to do that. You won't use it all up, but take care of things like that which have been put off due to lack of money. Re-route any trails you have been contemplating doing using labor from your club etc. Improve your signs, including those directing sleds to local businesses.Hire a brush hog to brush the trail if you have problem areas, do you have any problem sections of trail that need cat work--trails widened, sharp corners changed, etc. The 250/mile can be used for signing (putting up & taking down),fill in problem areas, check with the snowmobile coordiantor.
F
fusion
Guest
Ezra, your 2nd post is a bad, bad idea. What you aren't understanding is, those funds if appropriated for those frivilous, limited needs applications have to be paid for in tax dollars. That means ME. It was a bad year, and if clubs gambled on the purchase of new equipment, they will need to find other means of financing the purchase besides standing with the proverbial "hand out" for state aid other than that for which it wasn't originally intended. (trail grooming)
Why don't we stick to funding for trail grooming and not invent more PORK to soak the state for dollars it does not need to spend? LED maps - you have got to be kidding me. Warm up huts - great idea. I've traveled many miles on northern WI trails and never seen an occupied warm up hut on the trail.
Why don't we stick to funding for trail grooming and not invent more PORK to soak the state for dollars it does not need to spend? LED maps - you have got to be kidding me. Warm up huts - great idea. I've traveled many miles on northern WI trails and never seen an occupied warm up hut on the trail.
It would appear to me that if you do not have the money for bulldozing the trails wider or something similar where you need to spend money to make money, that you are left with labor jobs. I don't know how much more you can do other than sticking a bunch of time into brushing the trails and repairing signs. It may be a good idea to order new signs. Depending on how your county does it, you may not actually have to spend the money, they can just take it out of the funds sent to the county.
The system needs a change to help out clubs/organizations that don't get the snow and have equipment sitting. Luckily, the groups I'm with made some decent moves in the last few years and we'll be alright into the fall but like Rvr Rnr I know some clubs in the area are trying to find ways to spend the 250. Making signs, purchasing gates, seed, posts all help along with trailwork, I don't like that we have to do that but to have funds for the following year some groups need to do that.
well I dont know about WI but in MN a % trail pass money and a % of the gas tax money goes to the snomobile clubs and if the club cant use it goes in to the genral fund for pork like wellfare.
and you never see the huts with people in them because the clubs now days are lame! and dont hang out with fires going waving people in to talk with them about joining a club sharring a 20 cent hot dog letting them know when the meatings are what time of yr they brush, when they talk with land ownwers, if they know any land owners are they land owners also billable hrs.to get the gas tax and trail sticker money back and out of the pockets of the people who did nothing for it.
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I agree with Rocky, the system in WI needs some changes. Clubs donate enough time, effort and much of their own cash to provide trails for those who give nothing back and shouldn't be thrust into 'gambling' as Fusion so lamely proclaimed,(because these are dedicated funds, not really his 'tax dollars') by poor snowfall. Think ahead. In these days of so-called global warming, these years could become common and we still want a complete trail system, don't we??
F
fusion
Guest
I would have let the "lamely" shot go, but it seems you have a tenuous grasp on the facts. (could be a liberal?)
If these are dedicated funds, as you say, I'm presuming you are referring to the DNR funds designated for trail maintenance? If so, guess where these funds come from?
The state. And as such, they are tax payer dollars.
Thanks for playing and have a nice day!
I am as far right as they get just ask moose lol
what I am saying is the money the clubs get is there money from trail passes and gas tax not from the genral fund! use it or loose it ok I would rather see the cash pissed away on led map boxes than back to the genral fund to be given to food stamps or state worker slush and day.
groomerdriver
New member
Kind of off topic but I've said for years that every trail north of Hwy 8 should be state funded. Many are not and the clubs that maintain them can't afford to do it as much as they could/should. Would this have helped 2 weekends ago?….maybe in some areas. But the larger point is that IMO…folks up in the tourist areas should be pushing real hard to get every trail state funded. Would this matter to a club like the St. Germain Bo Boens…probably not as they have some very wealthy benefactors who contribute to the clubs grooming operations. But there are lots of clubs where only 50% of their trails are funded (the Willow Sportmen's Club's trails used to be only 50% funded) and the $$ to groom comes out of their pockets.
CAP/STEP can only help and I am an advocate for paying groomerdrivers in tourist areas (Sawyer Cty?) where they have problems maintaining a large enough staff of volunteer drivers. There are plenty of heavy equipment operators who are laid off inthe winter that can use the $$.
CAP/STEP can only help and I am an advocate for paying groomerdrivers in tourist areas (Sawyer Cty?) where they have problems maintaining a large enough staff of volunteer drivers. There are plenty of heavy equipment operators who are laid off inthe winter that can use the $$.