I am thinking about picking up an otter sled (or lookalike) for use when trapping. About half or more of my trapping is in snow, along creeks or through cornfields and wood edges.

I am curious about input from those that have used them. Are they easy enough to pull when not on snow? Do they float when loaded?

I will be pulling by hand and don't carry more than a dozen or so traps at a time (raccoon, muskrat, mink).

The local Fleet store has the small sleds on sale for $35.

I am currently using a 40 year old yellow kid's sled that conforms to every terrain feature and only has 3 inch sides.

I have a otter and it's built tough if you need to move weight or volume the work.

They are excellent with snow or ice to pull them on - not good at all without. I would rather carry a bucket with no snow. With snow, I often load hundreds of pounds of firewood in mine or a deer or a calf and pull behind the atv. Trapping rats on solid ice as well they are very nice. But again for 10 traps, I'd carry a bucket.

I pull a large Otter sled behind my snowmobile and a narrower utility sled when walking. I got the utility sled from Menards and really like it.

mine isn't an otter but it will hold 3 18 gallon rubber made totes , this is what I carry firewood int the house in about 9 inch sides 25"x60" i think.
I load it full of fire wood all the time it was my primary way to get wood out for years. snow show in and it makes the perfect path for the sled to ride in , when it freeze thaws a bit it's like a paved road through the woods.

watch out on the down hill or it might run you over , I have actually through about putting a rigid handle on it but never got around to it.

we use it in deer season , even with no snow it drags easier than a deer over leaves and grass and such , we load the deer in it even if we can drive right to it and use it lie a stretcher and load it int he truck , this way we can still ride on the tail gate , no blood to clean and I don't get a wet butt from sitting on a tail gate that we had to clean blood off of.

when processing deer all the bones and such go in the sled and it gets loaded in the truck again like a stretcher and can be dumped at the carcass pile

I keep it in the back of my truck wit the topper I can load the groceries in it and slide it in and then when home slide it out and not have to go chasing bags that slid around

if I see a good price I am getting a second one for the back of the truck.

in the summer I use it also , when weeding the garden I pull and toss them in the sled and drag it along easy to dump on my compost pile.

the thing I have used it the least for is trapping other than to put catch in in the back of the van or truck most of my trapping now is a friends farm when I get there I can either drive to it or borrow the farms Yamaha mule and drive to it.


Farm and fleet has the large otter for 59 dollars on sale , mine is not an otter but still lasted 12 years already so a wise investment by the time you wear it out just pulling it on snow and ice it will have paid for it's self.


pulling it not on snow wouldn't be my first choice , better than dragging a deer without especially in tall grass. but not like the slide on snow , you don't need much snow to get a good slide if it covers the grass it slides.


I don't think you will regret spending the 60 dollars on a large otter

just so useful for so much and not the least of which is piling kids in for a drag or a shove down a hill. should probably hose the blood out before piling the kids in.

I have two Otter sleds. One is the magnum that I pull behind my snowmobile. The other is a smaller one that works good for trapping in snow or on ice.
On the Otter Magnum I recommend you install the wear runners so you don't wear out the bottom of the sled which can happen if you're putting a lot of weight in it.

I use a "look alike" sled.
Slides on grass fine, floats when loaded with muskrats and/or muskrat traps

I have use it several times to release non-targets from foot hold traps by tipping it upside down over the animal... works great

That's a great, out-of-the-box idea for sled usage.

I have a knock off I think It's called a jet sled works well for hauling coyotes out from the CR line. I even put some back pack shoulder straps on It so I can just use It like a back pack when I'm going In to check traps. Lots easier then dragging It some times.

That's the Fleet type brand. The otters are on sale for just about the same price. I'll check them out tomorrow night I think. I don't need the name brand, It'll come down to size, shape, etc for me.

I heard of guy using it as a shower stall, in his wall tent. put his cloths in the tub and rigged up a portable shower overhead , took shower and foot stomped his cloths in tub, with the wood stove going nice warm shower and cloths washed at same time. Brilliant. Bob

They work great for dragging otter or beaver across snow and ice.
I once hauled several beaver at a time over dry swamp grass and found it to be far less than easy.

Over the last few years, my kids have spent a fair amount of time in an otter sled. They float and make pulling weigh fairly easy on ice and snow. Careful on how much weight you put in one, especially if you have cargo that is prone to shift

I use 2 different size on the trap line if it will be water trapping I use the biggest one I pull through the water not much on land , then the next size down I use on dry land or through the grass.

I've done a whole lot of Floating out Beaver in the Spring with my Otter magnum. It lasted years, but now I need a new one.

Yes they float well if theres no holes in the bottom!

I bought my large one in 1993. I use it on land, in the snow and also to take sap buckets out when we tap 400-500 trees. My main use is I use it when I wade 5-6 miles of small rivers. I put enough rat, coon traps, gear and stakes to cover say a stretch which is about .5 to 1 mile. That could be 30 rat traps, 12 coon traps, drags, stakes etc. It is much handier than a canoe as I wade the whole stream. I also use it to check as well to put pistol, animals etc. in. No back pack and nothing to carry so hands free and no extra weight to carry. Mine is very large. I bought a smaller one to use when trapping rats on the ice. The first year of dragging a very large otter sled for 2-3 miles over 3-5 inches of snow convinced me to down size a bit.
The ones that were made earlier are of the more durable less brittle rubber then those of today so they don't crack as easily and when going over land seem to give a bit more as well. Our son has two of the more modern newer large ones and they wear out dragging wood out the woods a whole lot faster than those older models. do.

Bryce

I couldn’t beaver trap without one. Even without snow it slides very well. Only conditions that are tough is sticky mud. You willnwish you bought one years ago. Also my kids use mine as a sledding sled, go figure. That thing scoots going down hill with snow.

Nice deer. We haven't as many deer as we have in the past. IDK. Construction, coyotes, lack of food, we plant houses now not corn anymore. Sad times.

Love the otter sled. Great for kids sliding down hills, throwing decoys in and wading out to toss 'em in, loading a deer up when there's snow and pulling it out of the woods, loading with trapping gear and wading up a creek, and of course on top the ice for ice fishing and trapping. In between dogs I've used it as a small boat to get into and "row" my way out to retrieve a duck that was out too far instead of getting the boat out.

Before I had an otter sled when I was broke I built this sled and bungeed a tub in the middle of it. Used it for many years.



A few pics of the otter sled. Bought this back in the 80s if memory serves correctly. Wouldn't be without one.