Jet Sled (yard barge)

[John Skull]

Picked up a nice tool, photo attached. It's the plastic Jet Sled, designed for hauling your gear to your ice fishing hole.. but good for dragging a deer out of the woods, or general yard work :dance1: I like it because on my hilly property it doesn't tip over like a Gorilla cart and hooking it up to my mower hitch is fast and low-tech (wrap the rope couple times). Found it on amazon; the one I got is the XL version.

 

[MossRoad]

Having owned one for several years for ice fishing, I'll tell you that bottom is gonna wear out pretty fast dragging on dirt and rocks, etc... they make some wear strips for the bottom runners. Well worth it.

They originated as calving sleds to drag newborn calves around the farm, usually in snow, mud and grass.

Also, with heavy loads, the ropes will pull out of the holes eventually. A lot of folks rig up a way to put the rope all the way around it under the lip, so that it distributes the load better than just those two holes.

 

[shovelmike]

I had to click just to see what the deal was: Jet sled, kick in the afterburner and you are in the back 40 in a half second...make sure you shut down quick or you make it into Darwin Awards.
Seriously though, I had never seen those. Handy for what you use it for.

 

[John Skull]

Having owned one for several years for ice fishing, I'll tell you that bottom is gonna wear out pretty fast dragging on dirt and rocks, etc... they make some wear strips for the bottom runners. Well worth it.

They originated as calving sleds to drag newborn calves around the farm, usually in snow, mud and grass.

Also, with heavy loads, the ropes will pull out of the holes eventually. A lot of folks rig up a way to put the rope all the way around it under the lip, so that it distributes the load better than just those two holes.

Thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:

 

[John Skull]

Mods complete! Trucker's rope from Lowe's threaded around the top edge. Wear bars by Shappell - size for the XL was hard to find in stock anywhere online but it turns out the best price was direct from the manufacurer, Eagle Claw (Shapppell) thru their factory store in Colorado (720-941-8723) must call, they don't sell this online
I added 2 small washers under the head of each screw provided with the wear bars to make them stick up less in the sled bed, without causing the heads to rub on the ground.

 

[PILOON]

To prolong wear on the sleds why not fasten steel strips onto the bottom outside ridges?
Stainless if available, would be nice. Another to consider would be strips of HDPVC .

Back when I had snow sleds I went to a commercial kitchen counter fabricator and had him weld me up a sled out of SS steel. He made it simply by forming a 4 ft X 8ft stainless sheet c/w curved front.
Used it for many years and now some 25 years later the present owner is still using it.
I wanted the SS as rusted metal would not slide well.

 

[MossRoad]

Mods complete! Trucker's rope from Lowe's threaded around the top edge. Wear bars by Shappell - size for the XL was hard to find in stock anywhere online but it turns out the best price was direct from the manufacurer, Eagle Claw (Shapppell) thru their factory store in Colorado (720-941-8723) must call, they don't sell this online
I added 2 small washers under the head of each screw provided with the wear bars to make them stick up less in the sled bed, without causing the heads to rub on the ground.
View attachment 661342View attachment 661343

Shappell has been good to deal with for me. When I wanted to buy one of their ice shanties from several local dealers, they either would not order me one, or would not sell me the floor model. So I called Shappell, and they said they'd rather me buy from a dealer. I explained what was going on, and they sold to me direct, price was exactly the same, and they shipped for free! :thumbsup:

 

[John Skull]

To prolong wear on the sleds why not fasten steel strips onto the bottom outside ridges?
Stainless if available, would be nice. Another to consider would be strips of HDPVC .

Convenience.. These from Shappell are ultra high density polyethylene. We run this thing across driveway as well as yard so I wouldn't want to worry about scratches/gouges in that. The strips come pre-drilled (countersunk) with SS bolts and locknuts.