New rack almost done

[rhalloran]

Last year, I built a rack for my RT1000; it keeps the skis on TOP of the tunnel, as opposed to taking up running board space.

Got a Skandic this year, just finished building the rack for that - same basic idea. It is so much wider than the RT tunnel, it'll hold 3-4 pairs of skis or 2 skis/2 boards easily.

Weighs about 7# without any straps on it.

All steel, no holes drilled in sled, lots of attachment points for snowboard binding straps (which make great ratchet straps for holding skis down).

We'll see how it works - possibly Sunday.

 

[Lushbomb]

looks like a good option if you are just riding roads for runs, but breaking trails in powder? i don't know?.. if you get stuck it looks like its just going to be in the way when trying to pick the back end up..
looks nice, but also looks like overkill to me..

 

[rhalloran]

looks like a good option if you are just riding roads for runs, but breaking trails in powder? i don't know?.. if you get stuck it looks like its just going to be in the way when trying to pick the back end up..
looks nice, but also looks like overkill to me..

Getting the skis off the rails and behind the seat was the single best thing I've done for breaking trails/more difficult riding.

I've used a CFR (good), gun racks (break), homemade CFR-style knockoffs (cheaper, quality directly proportional to how much effort I put into them), hell, I ran two rails waaaay off the back of my old S chassis and mounted a Thule ski/board rack.

IME, the skis are in the way when it is stuck no matter which rack. Kinda no two ways about it. I've yet to have a rack that keeps the skis OUT of the way.

The rack is strong enough to lift the sled with, and it connects to the sled at tiedown points (see the cleats?). IE, the rack is certainly in the way of the BUMPER, but the rack itself is more than strong enough to lift the sled.

If there's a rack out there that is NOT in the way when skis are on it, I'm all ears - both when stuck and when riding. I'd rather hang the skis off the back of the sled, have running boards free of ski tips.

My RT's rack is similar. Not as nice, but same concept - it is awesome. Skis sit behind the seat, strap down with snowboard binding straps, you can lay the sled over all you want without fear of hooking a tip and breaking a ski, it rides like a normal sled. Looks a little ridiculous, but it is light, should be effective.

Comes off with four bolts, too. 2 13mm, 2 10mm.

Gotta put rubber tubing on the uprights/horizontals where skis meet metal, install binding straps, but I'm pretty optimistic that this is the best I've had - zero interference while riding, huge capacity, minimal weight hit.

 

[rhalloran]

...and before you say "I mean the RACK is in the way, even with no skis on it," bear in mind that means you get stuck going downhill.

In that case, I'm envious, or, ummm, yeah.

 

[Lushbomb]

haha, yeah.. i have gotten stuck going downhill before.. its deep and sticky out here..

a good stuck usually means I take my board off to lift the sled up or roll it, etc...
with the CFR or my homemade racks (i have both now) they are not in the way.. just sayin.. looks like your racks would be in the way (without skis) more than it would help.. also, "just sayin" IMO..

 

[rhalloran]

New rack is done. 3prs of skis easily, no longer fear impalement, it is lovely.

Skied a little today, light flatter than Florida, no pics. Endoed in some bottomless snow (on skis), wound up augering in pretty hard, got pseudo-buried. I knew I was close to the surface, could hear my skiing partner, but yikes. I think the part that'd suck about getting buried in an avalanche the MOST, at least for me, is psychological. That was a stressful 5 minutes.

Need more snow in CO, but we had a fun day, had the place to ourselves, messed around with the new super widetrack, figured out what it is good at and what it is not. It is good at pretty much everything but blasting straight uphill in deep snow.

Run the RT1000 up said hill ONCE, though, I can drive the SWT up right behind it. The SWT is more capable than I'd thought it'd be, frankly - the hill we were messing around on was at the upper end of the RT1000's capabilities, the SWT would get about 2/3 up it before needing to turn out.

Additionally, anyone who says utility sleds can't sidehill needs to ride one. It is actually kinda fun....

 

[Bogus71]

Do you have a photo of the rack fully loaded? I would like to see how crowded the tunnel gets when loaded.

 

[rhalloran]

Here's a couple; in one of them, you can see the same-concept rack on the RT. Boards go in the middle; I have extra snowboard binding straps that ratchet in to make the straps long enough for boards.

Only real thing I need to fix is the left side (looker's right) straps - I used one point of attachment for BOTH straps, and the buckle for the middle board is kinda itchy to work with. Not bad for laps, just jam the buckle down on the ladder, one or two clicks and it is tight enough for the ride up, I think I'm just going to use a long spacer/bolt to get some distance between the two.

Beyond that, shrug, it works well. Have not tried 4 on it yet, but 2 skis/one board or 3 skis works well on either one. Two boards base to base in the middle will work pretty easily on the green rack, not enough width for that (easily) on the RT.

I like it. I've gotten it stuck a couple of times, rack is a good lifting point, shrug, yeah, it is ok. I've not rolled the SWT down any hills yet, so that's still unknown.

Works well. 95% of what we do is skiing; a little bit of screwing around here and there at the end of the day, and the rack does not interfere.