[Guest]

Hey guys,
I just finished my conversion of a 136 x 1.375 to a 144 x 2" track. The snow is melting petty fast out here so I don't have many days riding left. I rode about 50 miles today with the new track. It works great. I lost about 5 mph top end but other than that it works flawlessly.
I rode with a guy riding a 670 Summit 136 x 1.5 Guess who high marked who? All day. He kept asking me what I was riding. I told him a 550 fan "look at the hood". He thought I had put a 550 hood on a 700 or an 800. I wish I had a camera to capture the look on his face when I finally opened the hood for him.
I also ride a 700 with a 151 X 2 and by no means would this 550 come close to the performance of a 700 or and 800, but I would put it up against any factory fanner and even some 600's with a 136"
Any how, I had a grand time trading tracks and stuff. I have a set of side hiller 2 skis coming for it now but I don't think the snow is going to last long enough for me to try them out this season. Winter is just to short.

Dennis

 

[canadianguy]

Hey that sounds great but WHERE IN THE HELL do you live that you have snow???? I have been drag racing for almost a month or more now the sleds here in Niagara Falls Canada were put away in March. Man I'll bet there are a lot of guys envious of you

 

[Guest]

Canada Guy,
I live in Montana. We ride the Rocky Mountains. Ever here of Cook City Montana? The main highway between Cook and Billings is still not open because of snow. I have been riding around the local ski area in the Little Belts. We got a 12" dump on Monday. I went riding Tuesday. Excellent. There is still a pretty good base under the new snow but it got really warm this week and turned it into mashed potatoes. Try riding in 2-3 feet of 60 degree snow. MUSH. If you think powder is tough going you otta try this stuff.
Try looking up the snow cam for Showdown Ski area in Montana. They have a web site that you can look at the snow conditions before you leave the house. Pretty cool.

Dennis

 

[2000TCMC]

Did you do the conversion with rail extensions? I purchased longer rails 144 rails and am going to move the skid back to improve track angle of attack. Sounded like a good summer project. I don't have a spare sled to ride when mine is down so I try not to do those kind of projects in the winter.

 

[Guest]

2000 TCMC,
I used rail extensions. I bought the pair I used on e-bay. I see the same guy I bought mine from also has some artic cat ones for sale too. I left my skid frame in the stock position. The only change I did was to drill a new hole in the tunnel about 1" lower than the original on the front mount for the skid. I installed 8 tooth drivers instead of 9 tooth. I did this only for clearance, not to change track angle and stuff. It does ride better in the bumps with the longer track. With only a 550 fan, the track angle doesn't make much difference. I don't go fast enough to make much attack on the snow. It works kind of like a tractor. It pulls real well until the speed falls off to about 35 mph. Then it just digs a trench and keeps on climbing. SLOOOWLY. I kept thinking it was time to turn out but it just kept on climbing. Kind of a funny feeling compared to a heavy sled with lots of power. My 700 will out climb the 550 by a long margin but not without the speed. If I ever got that slow with the 700, I am stuck.
Anyhow, good luck with your project and let me know how it turns out.

 

[Revagade800x]

DNoel, what the web site for it? so I can check out web cam.

 

[RMK-KING]

Iv heard that if you jump your sled and kinda land on the back the rail extensions bend easy..iv only seen one skidoo do this..

 

[Guest]

The webcam for the area the we snowmobile is: www.showdownmontana.com

I looked today and it is looking pretty bad. This is on the south facing slope but the North slopes still have some pretty good snow.

I have never seen rail extension bend. There are some really high quality ones from a place called Tracks USA. Maybe a guy might have some problems if he was going from 121-144 or something big. I have only used them for 136-144 and from 144-151.

Dennis

 

[2000TCMC]

Unless your a big guy like me you shouldn't have any problems with rail ext. Doesn't sound like the machine was designed to you to bang on the jumps with anyway. I went with rails but I got them both for less than new rail extensions cost so cant complain.

 

[Guest]

2000 TCMC,
Changing the whole rail is probably the way to go if you can get some at a good price. I looked into longer rails but whahoo were they pricey at the dealer and I was not having any luck on e-bay. Top quality rail extensions go for around 60-90 bucks for the pair. I rode with a guy that extended a 141 Mountian Max to a 159. Pretty big extension. He also put a 1024 CC engine in it. He is a pretty tall guy at about 200lbs. He puts that sled though the ringer and has never bent the rails. I don't think I will have a problem with the short extension I am using. I am only adding 4" to the rail on both sleds I long tracked. I am only 160 lbs so I would have to land on something pretty hard to bend anything. Most everything I bend happens in the front end not the back end. Trees, rocks, stumps, other sleds, old ladys, ect.

Dennis

 

[2000TCMC]

You won't have any problems with the short extensions on the light sled and your weight. I picked up a pair of 01 MC 144 rails for 80 bucks so it made sense to go with rails instead of extensions. I did have the extra expense because they use the larger dia rear idlers but I was comptemplating a big wheel kit anyway. And this was considerably less expensive. You did yourself a favor when you dropped to 8 tooth drivers it geared your sled down so that you can turn that big track with the 550 fan. Man that thing has got to be a blast to ride.