ATV/UTV Pictures!

ArlyA · Aug 20, 2016

ski trail Pictures!

We do XC (ski) trails and we only do classic type of them. I'm afraid all the equipment is on the costly side. Whats the most you're willing to spend on a roller? Many more photos can be had here. Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids summer news & trail reports

motownbrowne said:
Sweet machines!!
I'd LOVE to have a tracked ATV or UTV, but I'll probably never be able to afford/justify it. In some of these photos it appears that you're packing trails. Are these ski trails, or for snowmobiles? I skate ski, and I'd really like to build something to pull around and make a halfway decent deck. Do you have any info on making a cheap roller that would do something like that? I have been turning my rear blade backwards and trying to use that to pack trails, but it's only so-so.

Thanks again for the pics.

RoyJackson · Aug 20, 2016

Re: ski trail Pictures!

ArlyA said:
We do XC (ski) trails and we only do classic type of them. I'm afraid all the equipment is on the costly side.

Yeah...tracks alone (for a UTV) are $3K to $5K

ArlyA · Aug 20, 2016

We paid 4K for Camoplast UTV pods some 6-7 years ago. Our latest pods came from BRP and ran about 5500.

motownbrowne · Aug 20, 2016

Re: ski trail Pictures!

ArlyA said:
We do XC (ski) trails and we only do classic type of them. I'm afraid all the equipment is on the costly side. Whats the most you're willing to spend on a roller? Many more photos can be had here. Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids summer news & trail reports

Looks awesome! Makes me really look forward to winter. Unfortunately, vegetable farming isn't a "get-rich-quick" type of business, so my recreational spending is very limited. I could reasonably spend $250 on it, but obviously that's not gonna get me far. I'm thinking about a piece of large corrugated pipe about 8'wide with a homemade spindle in the middle. I suppose you have to build it so it scrapes clean as it rolls. Really just pondering at this point.

We live in an area that gets snow every winter, and very cold temps, but some years there just isn't very much snow. If we could count on a little more each year, then things like tracked ATVs, cabbed tractors, snow mobiles, and 3 point snowblowers would move further up the priority list, but as it is currently, we can get by with a back blade on the tractor for plowing and chains on the Jeep for transportation around the farm.

Luckily, though we live very close to lots of great ski trails. It's always great to be the first guy out on the morning on a weekday and have the whole state park to yourself just after a nice snowfall. It'd still be nice to have a half mile loop at home, though.

ArlyA · Aug 20, 2016

Re: ski trail Pictures!

Are you heading up to the cities to ski? Or Kinnickinnic state park?? You may note, the world of XC trail grooming is quite small.

I'll attache one photo of a roller we built. Its made with 30" poly culvert but it didn't cost less, but does a better job for our conditions.

motownbrowne said:
Looks awesome! Makes me really look forward to winter. Unfortunately, vegetable farming isn't a "get-rich-quick" type of business, so my recreational spending is very limited. I could reasonably spend $250 on it, but obviously that's not gonna get me far. I'm thinking about a piece of large corrugated pipe about 8'wide with a homemade spindle in the middle. I suppose you have to build it so it scrapes clean as it rolls. Really just pondering at this point.

We live in an area that gets snow every winter, and very cold temps, but some years there just isn't very much snow. If we could count on a little more each year, then things like tracked ATVs, cabbed tractors, snow mobiles, and 3 point snowblowers would move further up the priority list, but as it is currently, we can get by with a back blade on the tractor for plowing and chains on the Jeep for transportation around the farm.

Luckily, though we live very close to lots of great ski trails. It's always great to be the first guy out on the morning on a weekday and have the whole state park to yourself just after a nice snowfall. It'd still be nice to have a half mile loop at home, though.

motownbrowne · Aug 20, 2016

Re: ski trail Pictures!

ArlyA said:
Are you heading up to the cities to ski? Or Kinnickinnic state park?? You may note, the world of XC trail grooming is quite small.

I'll attache one photo of a roller we built. Its made with 30" poly culvert but it didn't cost less, but does a better job for our conditions.

I ski mostly at Willow River state park, but I've gone to kinnikinnick a few times also. You might know better than me, but I think if they've been grooming skate deck, it's only been for a year or two. The last time i went it was only classic track. I also have a friend who lives on a property surrounded on all sides by William O'Brien state park. You can walk to the bottom of his driveway and step into your skis. Hard to complain about that.

. I don't make it into the cities too much, but I've only been back in this area for 3 winters.

Got any build shots of the roller? I think that's something I could take a stab at, though I'm sure it won't come off nearly as nice as that one. Obviously it's not as good as tracks, but my New Holland with industrial tires and no loader has the lowest ground pressure of anything in my fleet. I suppose another solution would be a snowmobile to pull a roller, but again the money thing. As you can see, I'm a total beginner to the idea of grooming trails. I really do appreciate you posting the pictures and giving me ideas, though. It might just inspire me to try to rig something up for this winter.

ArlyA · Aug 21, 2016

Re: ski trail Pictures!

A crony of ours grooms at Willow river and resides in Hudson. He works for the park system. This rollers construction was documented on a grooming forum with photos, which can be found at this address. You know you'd need a comb on it if you'd like to skate.

new deluxe roller build! (now repairs)