During the cold weather I finished my Smitty Sled… of course now the majority of the snow melted with two days in the upper forties- but it’s ready to go!

Looks great!
Nice work,good luck with it...

You're gonna need it in a day or two! Looks great !👍

That is a great looking sled and a lot better looking than mine. I built one years ago and has been a great sled. You can really load them up and are very easy to pull in rough and uneven ground. Mine I can tear it down to store sure you built yours that way also.

I built a Smitty...last year..pulls a lot of weight like Buttah ! People up here don’t know of them....Yours is hi tech !! I also use my trapping basket to hold tip ups...dual purpose basket !

Snowing now!
I always used an Otter sled and Polar sled but even with runners on those I was snowplowing last year when we had heavier snow totals. The skies on the new one are the same width as my ATV tracks, so I can pull by hand or use the ATV. The (4) upright aluminum angle iron supports also helps contain and lash all my winter rat poles for better organization. It pulled great in 12" of snow and right now we have so much freezing rain, I could probably pull my F-150 with a rope

looks great

Looks very light for pulling!

I have eye bolts going through the tips of my skis...and that where my pull rope attaches....”They say” ...that the best place ....and helps keeps the tips up...when pulling.

How is it in a foot+ of snow?

Looks like it would be great on glare ice or very little snow.

^ Mine seems to work fine in powder. Mine is set up off the ground with a 2x8 on the ski. Those ski's seem to keep mine afloat very well in heavy powder. Remember these ski's are 7 feet long and handle 200 lb. people on powder as well and work fine. IMO


I hope others comment also for you.

I had never heard tell of such a sled until reading this, what a great idea. I imagine it pulls a lot easier than a plastic sled. A pair of kids skis designed for powder would probably be just the ticket to keep one of these afloat in deep snow. Now you've got me thinking of building one.

There's not a ton of info online but from the forums I looked at (more ice fishing) when I was building mine - they highly recommend it for heavier snow totals. I constructed mine at the same height as Snowy, it seems 8" clears well and is not top heavy and skies displace a lot of weight. A key is to make sure your skies are perfectly parallel to each other when mounting.

And I thought they were only use for ice fishing... very cool!

I didn't see that when I posted. I have to travel some nasty tangles to get to some of the spots I trap beaver. Constant zigzagging and shorter skies would be a benefit. I'm wondering how shorter skies would handle a load.

Very true! If you look at the one I have built in front where the rope is attached I have a spreader (piece of wood) that keeps everything align.
Good point to bring up if building one.

maybe a couple matching snowboards would work, see them at the thrift store here all the time for next to nothing.

^ Exactly, I bet they would do a great job. Really not much into it if it doesn't work. Same principal the snowshoe has, width and length for the load it is carrying.

Some really good thoughts- also you do not have to go as wide as I did. The skies ride perfectly in my 4- wheeler tracks, if narrower the sled tips over in the tire rut. If you're only pulling the sled by hand, narrower would help maneuver between some of those tangles.

Did you use cross country or down hill skis. Wonder where a guy could buy some old junker skis? maybe call a ski shop or facebook sale.