Thawing out a sled?

hybrid

Active member
we keep several rubber mallets handy and tappy tap tap on the ice chunks on the inside of the tunnel...little vibration and they fall right off..pull out with hand and then put sled in reverse and gently spin out the rest...works perferctly.
THIS WORKS AWESOME (y)
 

marty700

Member
Carry a cheap steel hammer in your sled trunk or bag to tap the ice off if it forms at lunchtime. I tried the old "bounce and ride" trick last year and tore out a segment of track when a track stud got caught in frozen ice that had formed during a lunch break. Ruined the track and had to replace it. I have never had such a problem in 30 years of riding! Now I check to see if the ice is too heavy and, if so, I tap it off with the hammer (carefully).
 

dfattack

Well-known member
I do keep my sleds in a heated garage but I don't polish before every ride :)

We have a trip coming up in February where I have one of two options, load into trailer every night or leave outside. I was thinking that I would load into trailer and use my torpedo heater to melt everything...problem solved. However I was thinking that even though the skid would be melted and we can take a broom to push out snow and slush out the rear ramp, what about the wet (not perfectly dry) ramp door freezing over night? I've never done this before in all my years riding so I was curious how to deal with this. Lastly, we are renting a house literally on the trail so I don't want to leave the sleds outside overnight.
 

mezz

Well-known member
Just clean out the skid with a couple of drops & have a buddy hold up the rear end & spin the track over a bit. Personally, I would keep them outside merely to avoid the iced up trailer floor. When out west at a lodge, we kept our sleds outside, just covered them to keep the fresh snow off, they were fine. If your real concerned about theft, park close to the house & make sure you pull the keys & tether if so equipped. Just my .02.
 
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old abe

Well-known member
I do keep my sleds in a heated garage but I don't polish before every ride :)

We have a trip coming up in February where I have one of two options, load into trailer every night or leave outside. I was thinking that I would load into trailer and use my torpedo heater to melt everything...problem solved. However I was thinking that even though the skid would be melted and we can take a broom to push out snow and slush out the rear ramp, what about the wet (not perfectly dry) ramp door freezing over night? I've never done this before in all my years riding so I was curious how to deal with this. Lastly, we are renting a house literally on the trail so I don't want to leave the sleds outside overnight.
Yes dfattack, your trailer doors WILL be a frozen problem. However, if that's what you're going to do, wipe the trailer door seals down, when DRY, with Crisco, or some kind of grease. Silicone, or WD-40 will work, but gets to be messy to do everyday. Also, your torpedo heater will also cause a huge amount of condensation inside your trailer. Not at all good.
 

pclark

Well-known member
I do keep my sleds in a heated garage but I don't polish before every ride :)

We have a trip coming up in February where I have one of two options, load into trailer every night or leave outside. I was thinking that I would load into trailer and use my torpedo heater to melt everything...problem solved. However I was thinking that even though the skid would be melted and we can take a broom to push out snow and slush out the rear ramp, what about the wet (not perfectly dry) ramp door freezing over night? I've never done this before in all my years riding so I was curious how to deal with this. Lastly, we are renting a house literally on the trail so I don't want to leave the sleds outside overnight.
You are very nice to your sled! Mine stays out all winter under a tarp, I bang it up and down a few times and she is good to go.
 

snobuilder

Well-known member
At our cottage, the only access to a trail is across the lake and lately the lake is very slushy. When I come off the lake and put the lseds into the garge they are packed with slush and snow.

Since the garage is not heated the sleds never that out.

I was thinking about buying a torpedo type heater and just blowing hot air onto each sled.

What's the best way to thaw out the snowmobiles?
With warm air above 32 degrees however you can get there, bud....WTF... why is this so complicated?

IN BOLD,....YES
 

dfattack

Well-known member
Yes dfattack, your trailer doors WILL be a frozen problem. However, if that's what you're going to do, wipe the trailer door seals down, when DRY, with Crisco, or some kind of grease. Silicone, or WD-40 will work, but gets to be messy to do everyday. Also, your torpedo heater will also cause a huge amount of condensation inside your trailer. Not at all good.
Like snobuilder said this shouldn't be complicated but I don't want to make a mistake and walk out one morning and find all my trailer doors frozen shut! Meanwhile the rest of the group is now waiting on me. Since I typically leave from my house and sleds are all thawed out I haven't had to deal with this so yes there is inexperience at play.

Abe, maybe after using torpedo heater to thaw some things out I can open the doors (front and back) to let moisture out and wipe down with towels the edges of the doors where the weather stripping is. That's probable what I will do.
 

old abe

Well-known member
G
Like snobuilder said this shouldn't be complicated but I don't want to make a mistake and walk out one morning and find all my trailer doors frozen shut! Meanwhile the rest of the group is now waiting on me. Since I typically leave from my house and sleds are all thawed out I haven't had to deal with this so yes there is inexperience at play.

Abe, maybe after using torpedo heater to thaw some things out I can open the doors (front and back) to let moisture out and wipe down with towels the edges of the doors where the weather stripping is. That's probable what I will do.
Good luck with doing that. I wish you all the best, was just expressing my own encounters, and would suggest having the doors open as you're heating, and thawing.
 

katden4

Active member
This whole thread seems complicated. If its that bad of a problem, at the end of the day just take your hands and pull the snow out of the skid. Seriously how long could that take, 5 min tops? No heater, no trailer, no worries. Frozen ice build up, rubber mallet. Now maybe 7 min in it all?
 

whitedust

Well-known member
PcLARK....what is so complicated?:oops:
I think it’s what you’re used to dfattack thaws out sleds after every ride. Pclark and I keep covered sleds outside all season put on stand and warm up in reverse take off and ride. As SB said sun or above 32 completely melts them down. Rubber mallet takes care of any troublesome ice. It’s really not complicated at all.
 

x-ride

New member
this stuff works pretty good! sled needs to be dry before you put it on though.
 

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old abe

Well-known member
I
I think it’s what you’re used to dfattack thaws out sleds after every ride. Pclark and I keep covered sleds outside all season put on stand and warm up in reverse take off and ride. As SB said sun or above 32 completely melts them down. Rubber mallet takes care of any troublesome ice. It’s really not complicated at all.
I thought it was all about dfattack wanting to keep his sled protected, and inside his trailer at night out west?:unsure:
 

old abe

Well-known member
Why do side discussions bother you on the subject? Imo lots of good to thaw or not to thaw information.
No problem here with me whitedust? I thought perhaps I may have stepped on someones toes, being I was relating to dfattack, and not the thread starter.:unsure:
 
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