But first, it’s worth understanding what a motor sleigh is and what they are needed for. Motor sleighs are a means of transportation and cargo transportation in snowy conditions. They are basically a very small snowmobile with a wheel. The motor is used either from a scooter or a snowmobile.
For control, there is a handle on which the brake system and fuel supply lever are installed. The seat is small, designed for one person. It is driven by a small wheel with very spiky rubber or a small track. For comfortable movement on snow, skis are installed.
In general, making a snowmobile yourself is not as complicated a process as it might seem at first. Homemade products only seem complicated at first. It is enough to have basic knowledge of how motors work and learn (or ask someone) welding.
Speed and capacity
So, capacity. If you go fishing to catch bream or roach, then you will have more stationary fishing. Complementary feeding, 5-6 holes, and meditation on the nod most of the time. Your snowmobile carries tents, boxes, drills and 3-4 more fishermen. Of course, more than two comrades will not sit on the “snowball”. However, it seems to me that it was the bream fishing enthusiasts who came up with such a thing as a snowmobile sled.
We hitch the sled to the snowmobile, and now the machine, designed to carry 2 riders and small luggage, drags 4-6 adult men and a mountain of fishing belongings across the ice.
But there is one nuance here. You can forget about the mobility of a snowmobile in this version. It serves only to deliver a group of fishermen with gear from the parking lot to 1 or 2 fishing points. That’s it, then the “snowball” stands until the end of fishing, waiting for the entire “fishing gang” to be taken back to the cars.
Or 1-2 anglers ride on it for the purpose of reconnaissance, while the rest thoughtfully meditate over their bream fishing rods.
What you need to know about the design
- A motor sleigh consists of a running gear - a motor, a gas tank, wheels, skis, a fuel supply and ignition system. Control - steering wheel, much like a bicycle. There is also a frame and a seat. Let's take a closer look at each element of the chassis.
- Engine – for making a snowmobile with your own hands, a small engine from a scooter or moped is ideal. It is important that it withstands cold weather well and has the ability to be wound by lever or cable. It was also possible to use the oil-fuel mixture as fuel.
- Gas tank - any container that can withstand the presence of fuel inside will do. Therefore, plastic bottles are canceled - they can melt through. An excellent option would be to use a ready-made gas tank. But if you are itching to make a sled with your own hands inside and out, then you can make the tank yourself. This will be discussed later.
- Almost any wheel will do, but it is best to use a car wheel, as it is easier to find studded tires for it. An excellent option would be a wheel from an enduro motorcycle; even a porcupine might envy its needles.
- Skis – it’s better not to skimp here and use alpine skis. They are stronger and more flexible, so they can bear weight more easily. If they don't fit in length, we make them shorter.
- Fuel supply and ignition - everything will be together with the assembled engine, so there is no need to invent anything here.
Well, as for the rest of the elements, it’s already clear; we come up with everything ourselves and make it for ourselves.
It is also worth paying attention to motor sleighs with caterpillar tracks. Yes, this look is more difficult to do yourself. But at the same time, the motor sleigh will feel much better on ice and crust.
Load capacity
The same goes for carrying capacity. Of course, pike is a rather big fish. Specimens weighing 10-15 kg also feed in winter. And with a good bite from a decent pike, you can pick up 10-20 carcasses of 3-5 kg each during a fishing trip. And this, as arithmetic says, is from 30 to 100 kg of fish.
Another question is that a normal fisherman does not need such a quantity of fish. And the right pike people stop fishing when they have caught enough fish to feed themselves and their family.
In normal times, a pike snowmobile carries two riders and a load of gear. No tents, no food, no attributes of a permanent ice camp. However, if fishing is done with spoons and balancers, then the winter iron weighs no less than the summer one. This means that you can safely put 10 kg on each fishing box.
What can you take ready-made?
To make something like a motorbike, you don’t need to do everything from scratch. You can take some element, design, sold in the store.
In order not to buy a new scooter, you can take it from your own hands, it will be even cheaper. An even cheaper option is to look at the disassembly markets, where there is a lot of this extra stuff.
You can use a snow scooter for the base of a motorized sled, but you need to choose a completely metal one and additionally change the design with your own hands, otherwise this subtype of sled simply will not withstand the loads.
The wheel is also worth looking at in the store. In addition to the above-mentioned wheel from an enduro motorcycle, you can use standard wheels from a car, and for better grip on snow, simply add chains.
There is also an option using dutik – tubeless rubber wheels. But first you should strengthen them with a chain or strips of iron.
For wealthy citizens, an excellent option would be to introduce into the design the so-called VGD - off-road tracked propulsion units.
The seat can most often be taken from the same scooter, and if you want to make it yourself, you can use publicly available diagrams. Skis are bought in a store or kept in a garage.
It is best to use ultra-light alpine skis; with them, the motor sleigh will not fall into the snow. Some homemade products use now popular modules for motorized towing vehicles as a basis.
But if your task is a motor sleigh with minimal investment, then this option is not for you.
Read also: Stretch bars with lanyards for deflectors
Selected features
If you fish for pike in winter on small bodies of water separated by land, then you will need a snowmobile with a wide track and runners. Narrow skis and goosenecks are good for high-speed sports snowmobiling on the smooth snow of a large reservoir or a decent river.
And in the snowdrifts of copses and on the chubby snow of a small pond, they will play a cruel joke on you. You will be more engaged in winter “off-road” - pulling the snowmobile out of the snowdrifts and pushing it, than doing proper pike fishing.
What wheels to put on a snowmobile with a walk-behind tractor engine
When making a snowmobile with a walk-behind tractor engine, in most cases, hand-made low-pressure wheels are used. What is unusual about snowmobile tires? They have relatively light weight, high elasticity, and the pressure on the ground is within small limits. A large rolling radius and good characteristics give the snowmobile efficiency and excellent cross-country ability.
The large volume of chambers gives the structure greater maneuverability. And when the space inside the discs is filled with foam, the snowmobile will noticeably reduce the adhesion of dirt and snow. The simplicity of the chassis design and the availability of materials allows us to avoid difficulties in the manufacture of a snowmobile.
Four principles for making your own all-terrain vehicle tire
- 1. Two disks made of sheet metal bridge each other. Then they are attached to the sleeve and the camera is put on them. It is fixed with pieces of conveyor belt. For greater camera protection, a protector from another camera is sometimes used.
- 2. Attach one disk to the sleeve. After that, jumpers are attached to it, to which the side rings are riveted or welded.
- 3. The design is similar to the previous construction principle. In this case, when installing the central disk, a spoke made of pipe or sheet metal is required.
- 4. The fourth principle is to mount two discs on the hub, like a motor scooter wheel disc.
Let's finish here. Of all the options, you can use the one you like best. You just need to decide what the purpose of the machine is and get to work!
We assemble the sleigh with our own hands
First, you need to decide on the design; to do this, look for photos or videos of motor sleighs and copy them. If you intend to make motorfins yourself, then you should arm yourself with a pencil.
First, sketch out on paper what you want to see. After this, begin to sweep aside those parts without which the unit will not lose its qualities.
Add stiffeners and fastenings as necessary. Once you finally understand what you want, move on to the drawings.
At this stage, it will become clear which bolts and nuts are best to use, which elements will be homemade, as well as the main welding points.
Look for scooters at scrap yards or markets. Any will do, the main thing is that their engine volume is no more than 50 cubic centimeters (otherwise the sled will fall under the A1 license category).
Also take into account such a nuance as a stable injection and ignition system. Remaking it yourself and bringing it to mind is for those who want to do absolutely everything with their own hands.
A gas tank would be a good idea. But at the same time, you can use a can of gasoline, or make it yourself.
Important: do not solder the tank under any circumstances. Only welding. Otherwise, you can witness the “tin plague” - a process when tin becomes brittle in severe frost and breaks out of the seams.
Start assembling the frame following the drawings. At this stage, the ability to do your own welding will come in handy.
Use pipes for the frame. They are easier to bend than rolled profiles.
They can also be connected at sharp angles without loss of stability. This will make your sled more aesthetically pleasing.
Don't forget to also make a bushing for the snowmobile's steering wheel. Simply weld a piece of pipe larger than the handlebar post at a 90-degree angle to the frame.
Start putting all the parts together, from the engine and cables to the pipes. It is worth considering that skis are best secured on a low-moving basis. After you have installed everything yourself on the future motor sled, do not be lazy and test them. As soon as the shortcomings are corrected, install the seat.
Tip: use non-flammable insulation, such as glass wool, as seat padding. Then it can be mounted on the cylinder block, having previously strengthened it - this way you will get a motor sleigh with a heated seat.
Which chainsaw should you choose?
To create a snowmobile, you can use various chainsaws. The most suitable options would be the Druzhba, Ural and Shtil models. And which unit to choose - it all depends on your desire.
Friendship
The main positive side of using the Druzhba chainsaw as a starting material for making a snowmobile with your own hands is its simplicity of design. Here is an elementary assembly, where each part plays its role. No extras, just the essentials.
Technical certificate:
- power – 1 kW;
- weight - up to 12 kg;
- engine (two-stroke);
- tire length – 45 cm;
- fuel (gasoline).
The specialized professional chainsaw "Ural" was created specifically for felling tree trunks. This is a very convenient mechanism in operation, characterized by great power. This unit is an environmentally friendly device that can be used even in harsh winter conditions.
How to catch more fish?
Technical certificate:
- engine (gasoline, two-stroke, single-cylinder);
- power – 3.68 kW;
- weight – 11.7 kg;
- parameters – 46 x 88 x 46 cm.
Calm
The Shtil chainsaw is also suitable as the main mechanism for creating a snowmobile. It is made of environmentally friendly material, harmless to humans, has good power and operates silently. Therefore, your trip will be very comfortable.
Advantages and disadvantages of “motor dogs”
Experienced fishermen, who often go fishing in the winter, have long decided on the appropriate transport for their trips. And novice fishermen are just trying to decide which vehicle to choose.
For transportation, you can choose almost any equipment - from a snowmobile to the actual karkat assembled in the garage. But we would like to recommend a lighter, cheaper and more compact motorized towing vehicle, which is nicknamed the “motor dog”.
You can make money on a “motor dog” even if you make money on the Internet. The professional resource www.t2money.ru will help with this. The encyclopedia of home Internet business will help you promote your website, affiliate business and teach you how to make money on the Internet. “Motodog” is an ideal means of transportation over short distances, because... its speed is less than that of a snowmobile. But you will have to travel with a little discomfort - often standing or sitting on things.
However, a motorized towing vehicle also has its advantages.
The first is their cost. “Motodog” is several times cheaper than a snowmobile and is very economical. Some models of motorized towing vehicles, moving over rough terrain, consume approximately 2.5 liters of fuel per hour. Also, spare parts and consumables for motorized towing vehicles are very inexpensive.
Second, excellent cross-country ability. A motorized dog will easily take you to the most inaccessible places, not yielding to either a snowmobile or a caracat, and sometimes even surpassing them. Although it must be taken into account that different types of suspension for motorized towing vehicles work better under certain conditions.
For example, a slick design is an ideal option for driving through thick and loose snowdrifts. Snow will not get inside the caterpillar, so the cross-country ability and useful power of the “motor dog” are improved. But, moving on clean ice or a tightly packed track is fraught with vibrations and overheating of the sliding guides, which require snow for cooling. Motorized towing vehicles with roller suspension do not have these disadvantages. It has a soft ride and is great for driving on ice. But when moving through snowdrifts, a lot of snow gets inside the tracks. As a result, the load on the engine increases, and cross-country ability leaves much to be desired.
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Tips for use
- It is very important to draw your attention to the fact that a homemade snowmobile does not fall under the category of vehicles under the Law. Therefore, any movement through the snowy expanses in this case is carried out solely at your discretion and risk. There is no provision for motorway traffic.
- Do not confuse a snowmobile with a floating all-terrain vehicle. Although their appearance is somewhat similar, their overall weight ratio is different.
- Since the power of the chainsaw is small, transportation of heavy loads is not provided. Most often this is a car with one seat.
- If you want to move around at night, you can also provide lighting (headlights). This is very convenient and will greatly secure your movement.
How to fish with an elastic band correctly
I’ll tell you straight that even the mention of such gear as an elastic band, like a donkey with a rubber shock absorber, makes me smile nervously and have some semblance of micro-tremors. An experienced psychologist who can read gestures would clearly say that I don’t really like this tackle. And this is the honest truth.
