ATV OR SLED

[impact]

Cold? A wind-shield, heated grips, heated jacket etc. on your ATV takes care of that problem. I have done poker runs in -20C and it was not that bad at all.

[Roe+]

Since I put tracks on my ATV, my sled has stayed in the garage. I have double the ground clearance, it will go through slush where my sled would get stuck and will go through snow you wouldn't dare to try with tires. The only drawback is that you need a large machine.

Roe+

[Pat32rf]

The new tracks come geared to the size of your engine. There is a trapper in our area who has tracks on his 300 (approx) Honda. My bike is 600cc but my next will only be 500 with tracks....

[seabast]

I was with the same dilemma three years ago, and I ended up buying a sled. It's made to work in cold winter days, faster and could get you out of open water if needed. Lots of ATVs couldn't go out last year because of the snow and slush.
What ever you buy make sure it's reliable, if you do a lot of fishing on your own you don't want to spend the night out on the ice.

[sickofitall]

I had both, and from my experience for ice fishing the sled reigns supreme. Yes the atv and sled are pretty evenly matched with their pros and cons when the snow isn't deep, but once you hit that threshold where the atv's flounder and fail, hung up and stuck, the sled just floats along on top of the deep stuff. All it took was a weekend of towing and digging myself and others out of deep snow last year, (not fishing), to get a sled. I got a 91 safari for $600 and had a great remainder of the season and got to back lakes I've never seen before that nobody had been to from what I saw because I broke the trail, nailed a pile of trout back there, it was awesome.
My sleds not going to win any beauty contests, but mechanically it's all in good shape and does what I want it to do, get me to and from the fish.

[Bear58]

Thanks again folks .... some interesting stories

[toddc]

I have a honda rubicon with tracks, its been my experience that they are more versatile then a sled. Ive gone places that sleds have not been able. i have a 3500 lb winch and can get myself out of most situations. It is harder on gas ,but I can get up to 60 km/hr on the flat.. I generally like to go slow anyway. to go all out you can get an atv with 1000 cc of power and a power steering package.. then you would have the ultimate all year machine in a nice 4 stroke pkg. This year Im putting a winch on the back too. I pull a homemade sled, gas auger, chainsaw and 3 kids to backwoods lakes with no problems at all.

[terrym]

I have a honda rubicon with tracks, its been my experience that they are more versatile then a sled. Ive gone places that sleds have not been able. i have a 3500 lb winch and can get myself out of most situations. It is harder on gas ,but I can get up to 60 km/hr on the flat.. I generally like to go slow anyway. to go all out you can get an atv with 1000 cc of power and a power steering package.. then you would have the ultimate all year machine in a nice 4 stroke pkg. This year Im putting a winch on the back too. I pull a homemade sled, gas auger, chainsaw and 3 kids to backwoods lakes with no problems at all.

Which is a great setup no doubt but how much do you have invested in that? $12-15K I would guess? You could buy a very reliable used snowmobile and a mid sized ATV for that and not have to mess with tracks.

[seabast]

I have a honda rubicon with tracks, its been my experience that they are more versatile then a sled. Ive gone places that sleds have not been able. i have a 3500 lb winch and can get myself out of most situations. It is harder on gas ,but I can get up to 60 km/hr on the flat.. I generally like to go slow anyway. to go all out you can get an atv with 1000 cc of power and a power steering package.. then you would have the ultimate all year machine in a nice 4 stroke pkg. This year Im putting a winch on the back too. I pull a homemade sled, gas auger, chainsaw and 3 kids to backwoods lakes with no problems at all.

Just curious, how long do you have the tracks for and what the maintenance on these things?
Thanks

[toddc]

Just curious, how long do you have the tracks for and what the maintenance on these things?
Thanks

i have had the tracks for 2 years,, and believe it or not there is no maint on these things, all sealed units,