What do you you folks think of these....what I have gathered they are reliable but hard on gas....i had a (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) of a time with my 2021 skandic 600ace last year starting in real cold and in 2 feet of hard iced up snow breaking trail, (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) thing is so tippy....my idea is to use the 2010 to break trail and establish trail then use the fuel sipping 2021 for running checking traps hauling firewood etc...the 550f would also be my tow truck the next time the 600ace dies on me...any thoughts or comments appreciated

I looked up the model. Neighbor had two of that style. He never really left town with them. I think they are tippy. He used to roll them in his yard on a regular basis. The only time I used a 550f was in a skandic SUV around 2004 time frame and gas milage was terrible. The 2010 Skandic Spark plugs were unusually difficult to access, if I remember right. Had to take multiple panels off and the top one with the headlight on it.

Quite a few trappers here used the skandic widetrack 550 for trapping.Nowadays most have switched to 600 or 900 ace skandics with superwide or wide tracks.
The old 440 skandic wt were very popular machine with trappers but they are hard to find nowadays
Pretty reliable machine the 550 is a good engine but hard on gas.
I have a 08 550 tundra skandic that I still use.I also have a 2018 skandic 600 ace wt that i use to break trail in deeper snow.The tundra skandic is pretty good in deep snow if you adjust the suspension for weight reduction in front but the wide track 600 is much better machine in deep snow trailbreaking than the 154 x15.
I use the 55o to trap earlier in the season,it is good for skipping over any open water.
Both machines have the extra wide ski skins on them
Never had any trouble starting the 600 at 30 below.I dont go out on the line anymore when it gets colder.Stay home and catch up on the frostscraping hides.

The 550 is a good, reliable motor... but as everyone says, it guzzles gas like an alcoholic guzzles cheap beer. Be prepared to pack plenty of extra gas if you are going far. Not sure what track the machine you are looking at has on it, that will make a difference on how good it is a breaking trail. Different models of skandics are tippier than others, but all skandics are tippy compared to most snowmachines. -30 is the coldest I've used any snowmachines in. The 550f, 600 Ace and 900 Ace all started at that temp, but the 550f liked it better (600 Ace liked it the least of the three). Have started a couple pull start sleds at that temp, and when they are cold you'll about rip your arm off first pull.

I bought a 2012 Tundra LT with the 550 and 5500 miles. It was a trail maintenance machine for a local snowmobile club. At about 6500 miles the reverse stopped working unless I got the RPM up a bit…….low compression was the culprit. At this point, I thought it was the best machine ever. Was actually cheaper to order a new short block kit from BRP than it was to rebuild. Plus the kit replaced more parts and came with 1 year warranty. When I was deciding whether to rebuild or buy new, I priced out the same machine with the add ons I want at about $17000 CAD taxes in. That was with the 600 ACE.
Tippy with the pogo suspension, so I had to learn how to ride it. The narrow tippyness is kinda nice where I go as it keeps the ditch bangers from exploring with their wider machines. It always starts. Hard on fuel I guess but I don’t know what I’m missing with a 4 stroke. The only thing that scares me about them is they don’t have a rip cord if the battery dies.

Turns out this thing has 8000 miles on it