You guys would know.In two years my truck will be paid off and I plan on buying a new snowsled.Which is better up there a tundra or Scandic?The weight of the scandics scare me a little but are they better?Thought I would find out straight from the horses mouth so to speak.You all would know.

Tundra takes more riding skill. Skandic is heavier, but either would work just fine. Expedition is easiest to ride and if you don’t have a lot of riding experience may be the way to go.

Thanks Have rode a snow sled my whole life beaver trapping and bobcat hunting.

If you have been riding your whole life, any of them will suit you just fine. The new Tundras are an amazing machine.

Better? That's subjective considering what you plan to do with the snogo and where you plan to do it at. Alaska is a big state and what someone uses for trapping in one part of the state may not always be the best choice somewhere else.

Snowsled that will go thru deep snow and break trail.Not looking for a trail sled.Not so heavy that you can't get it unstuck.Light enough to be able to move it around by hand.

Breaking trail in deep snow while pulling a loaded tobaggon? On trail or bushwhacking?

Unless you drop one thru the ice any snowmachine can be unstuck with a shovel,chainsaw and come along.
An old style bumper jack is handy also.
You can buy whats called a Powder jack for snowmachines-based on an old car bumper jack.
If you are going far best to go with someone with another machine,especially when we are older.

Break the trail first with just the sled would be my plan.Then keep it as packed down as much as possible after that.Then pull the tobaggon while trapping is the plan.I'm new to this up in Alaska as its still in the planning stages.Alot of learning to do.

The scandics they use in Baxter state park during the winter are so heavy they got to be hard to get unstuck.Alone that had got to be quite a job.

I have a Skandic SWT, and I haven't got it stuck often, but I've always been by myself and got it out. The biggest headache is when you roll one on its top, they aren't near as easy to flop back over as the old 300 Tundras, or even the newer bigger Tundras. I used a electric ATV winch on the Bearcat WT fourstroke I had before this (and I had that thing stuck a LOT!)and it actually weighed more than the SWT. I was going to use that on this sled also (I set it them both up with a reciever hitch front and back so I could switch the winch to either end, or hook it to a floorboard with a loop of cable if I wanted to pull straight sideways like rolling one back on its track) but I got a ropealong for Christmas just a week or two after my SWT arrived, and that is what I pack and use now. Works great and no worries about running your battery dead on these four strokes if you have to run a winch when it is on its top and isn't running. Always pack a shovel, with practically any good utility machine, if you are simply buried in deep snow you can generally always dig your way out. The only time I've needed a rope along or winch is either when I've had them on their top in the ditch, or slid them down over a bank.

I love my Skandic SWT, but you don't ride them the same as you do the old Tundras, they are like a truck, you can shove them in low and just idle and they will crawl up on top of the snow and go, and if you start to have problems just back up a few feet and then idle forward again. It is unbelievable where I have broken trail and taken this machine by doing that. It is when you pin the throttle that you can bury yourself in them. They are not a sidehill machine, however, they have so much track that you can hang as far off the side as you want, you're not leaning that machine and cutting a track into a sidehill, that track is going to follow the contour of the land.

I'm used to being up on my knees not sitting in deep snow and guiding the sled by leaning if that answers anything.Looking at the Tundra LE with the longer track.Going to have to try some sleds out before buying.

Might have to try a skandic out as I'm not much on pinning the trottle but easing into it.

Reverse would be a luxury to me.I'm used to getting off the sled and pulling sideways on one front ski while hitting the trottle to turn one around.But sleds I'm used to are much lighter then sleds now.

I'm running a 900 ace widetrack skandic with pogos and my wife has the same in 600. I've only had it stuck once and that's when I first got it. I always carry a rope-a-long, shovel, and chainsaw regardless of what machine I've used over the years. Like Bearcat said the widetracks don't sidehill well so a long track like the tundra would be better. I prefer pogos to A arms for off trail use however on trail you will have a better ride and they are a bit less tippy. The 900 has better cold starting ability than my wife's 600 and the 900 has plenty of power when you need it. Nice thing about the wide tracks is that you can breaktrail AND pull one heck of a load. The tundras would shine on skinny trails like a hand cut trapline and sidehilling. The are pretty nimble but also tippy. You can still break trail while pulling a reasonable load but not like a wide track those things are like tanks, just put it in first and go.

I bought a 2012 Tundra LT with the basic 550F. The reverse is awesome! You won’t be riding on your knees with these, it’s super comfortable to just stand up straight and drive when you want. I actually used the handle bar loop in the middle this morning breaking trail through a swamp. They can be quite tippy….lol.

I have a scandik 600 ace 4 stroke(2017) widetrack and a tundra scandik 550 2 stroke.(2008) 154 inch long track.
I use the Tundra scandik more than the skandik most years.
Only drawback to the 550 is its a gas guzzler.The big 4 stroke uses very little gas in comparison.

I keep them both maintained religiously.

Is that tundra Skandic a mix between the 2?
It is nice having the simplicity of old school tech like the 550 fan in a new platform with a few bells and whistles.

Much lighter weight than the scandik sort of a crossover with the long track and 550 engine.
They only made them for a year or two.Not tippy at all like the newer tundras.
Great machine for breaking trail for a 15 inch track.its got the inch and a half lugs on the track also.The extra wide ski skins really improve the performance in the deep powder.
There is another one in town but they are scarce.
It skips across open water real good,lol.

Thanks everyone.

2024 ski doo tundra long track

2024 scandic wide track

A friend of mine has one of those, and I've seen a couple others around. I bought an 08 300 (actually 277cc) new that was the same design, they made the 300 for three years and I think the 550 with that front end also those three years, then they went to a pogo front end and discontinued the 300. Those steer like a dream, the 300s are tippy, but not compared to the older Tundra Rs, and steer a hundred times better and are way more comfortable. I gave mine to my mom with over 30,000 miles on it about seven years ago and she is still riding it, although the oiler quit on it in 30 below weather just before I gave it to her and I seized it up and had to rebuild the engine, so it isn't original. The 300s came with a 138x16 track, which finally wore out on her and she replaced it with a 15 inch wide track (was a few hundred dollars cheaper for an aftermarket 15, could only find a skidoo 16 to fit, no aftermarkets) and claims little lose in performance out of the narrower track. They were a great machine, I don't know why they quit making them. I've heard numerous times how that A-arm front end isn't as tough as the pogo fronted, but I know I beat that thing off trees, stumps, gates, rocks and everything else and never broke a thing. I will say that when you are breaking trail with the throttle pinned going up through places overgrown with tag alders, those A-arms and coilsprings are real good at grabbing brush and coming to a sudden stop, I've had them switch ends on me and stop suddenly, while I kept going.

The 550 is a good reliable motor, but it will burn double the fuel the 300 will (makes sense, it is a two cylinder with the same piston and jugs as the 300, just two of them instead of one). The four stroke motors, both the 600 and 900 ACE are awesome on fuel mileage, getting better mileage than the old single cylinder Tundras.

I personally wouldn't go back to a 2 stroke for an every day sled, although they are simple to work on. The four strokes are quieter, way better on fuel mileage, and more reliable. But they have a bunch of electronic junk on them and if something does go wrong they are not as easy to work on. For what I do I love my SWT, but there are advantages and disadvantages of the wider tracks. If they made the Tundra with a high/low transmission like the Skandic and wide track Expeditions it would be much better for pulling loads on narrow trails. I've got 6000 on my SWT and am still on the original belt. While my Tundras were good on belts they never lasted that long and my Arctic Cat would go through at least half a dozen a year.

I want to second the expedition sport. I have a 600 ACE, often wish I had the 900 Ace although I pull a relatively heavy sled. I would never own another 2 stroke.
In short, the expy sport is a tundra with A arm suspension. I rode my 600 ace tundra several thousand miles, mostly in Montana, bust also on the north slope (miles of hard wind blown sastrugi mixed with bottomless power in willow bottoms). I have never ever wished I had a Tubdra again. When people say they are tippy, it is a vast understatement.
In my mind the Expy is much superior on any kind of trail and equal in the woods and brush. Best advice is ride one of each.

Are you moving up here, Bruce?

Another option would be to look at the Lynx Ranger 49 with the 2 stroke engine and manual start.
Or the lynx Brutal.

The 4 stroke sounds great, it’s just the fear of minor breakdowns that require a friggin mechanic. I’d have to ditch the sled, get home, haul the trail er out from the back and over to the shack, then get the sled back to a dealer to fix something that’s probably simple…lol.
The Expy has an adjustable 39” stance where my older tundra has 32. Yes, tippy but it sure can get through some tight spots when making new trails….if that’s even one of your requirements.

I've hem-hawed back and forth between the Skandic and Expedition models, and ended up with the Skandic for that very reason, the narrower stance (still wider than the old single cylinder Tundras) fits in tighter places. On the other hand, if I was buying a new sled for the wife I would buy the Expedition, hands down. Because a less experienced rider, who probably isn't going to go on so many "iffy" trails, for someone like her I would pick stability over slimness.

Going to start doing some trapping in Alaska.First goal is a wolverine.

Perhaps the first goal should be to acquire a useful snogo? You have a friend or relative up here? Next goal might be to find a place to trap? What about a truck and trailer? If you won't be here year round where will you keep the snogo?
Seems like a fair amount of preparation needed to get to the point of actually setting a trap. How old are you?

I am pretty happy with my Tundra 600 efi. Still have two stroke simplicity with a pull start and electric start. It is not as fuel efficient as a four stroke, but way better than my 550. It also has much more power than my 550 or my 600 ACE. The newest platform with wide ski skins is less tippy than the previous Tundras.