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Hello All,
With all the dry weather we’ve had the past month I was thinking of adding wheels (somehow) to my smithy sled. Has anyone on the forum done this? I would love some design ideas.
It would be nice to be able to; park/ unpack the car and then make my way down to the lake again like when we had snow on the ground instead of having to unpack at the shoreline and leave the sled and gear unattended while I park.
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I found this pic of one design on another forum, it’s pretty slick, but I’m assuming the builder must of had the brackets that hold the wheels on custom fabricated in order handle the weight when he has all of his gear on it.
I’m hoping to be able “MacGyver” something up with material I can find at the hardware store or princess auto etc.
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I added castors to the top sides of my cross members of my smitty. I just turn the smitty upside down (bottom of ski's up) when on the road, and once close to the ice, I turn it back around. No real engineering or custom work required.
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I built an ABS smitty sled and have plans to make a set of wheels for it. I have a couple of dead Power Wheels around the house, planning to take those tires and axels (they are large and light) and thread the axle through a couple of pieces of 2" ABS. The way may sled is built, the 1.5" ABS frame will slide into the 2" ABS wheel sockets and should give me what I need. I hope!
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QUOTE (thanh @ Mar 08, 2018 - 06:25 am)
I added castors to the top sides of my cross members of my smitty. I just turn the smitty upside down (bottom of ski's up) when on the road, and once close to the ice, I turn it back around. No real engineering or custom work required.
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QUOTE (thanh @ Mar 08, 2018 - 06:25 am)
I added castors to the top sides of my cross members of my smitty. I just turn the smitty upside down (bottom of ski's up) when on the road, and once close to the ice, I turn it back around. No real engineering or custom work required.
I'd love to see a picture, are they not in the way when you put your sled when you get to the ice? and what kind of casters are you using, I as worried the water, salt etc would kill them pretty quickly.
I was thinking of something like a door dolly or flat style roller skates that can go under one ski. Hardware costs are what keep preventing me from doing anything. Im only in $15 on the smitty, those big wheels are $10+ each! plus random hardware ends up $60+.
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@kingpohenix. Here is a pic of a vary similar smitty sled I have (not my actual smitty). I inserted the placement of my castors to give you an idea of how mine looks like. My one man fits in-between the castors.
two fixed and two swivel castors. wash them down once in a while and lube them up now and then.
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^Just to add, make sure your cross bars/braces are set wider than your tub. That way when the smitty is upside down, your tub/sled is sitting on cross bars and not the skis. it lowers your center point of gravity when pulling it on the road.
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QUOTE (thanh @ Mar 08, 2018 - 11:28 am)
^Just to add, make sure your cross bars/braces are set wider than your tub. That way when the smitty is upside down, your tub/sled is sitting on cross bars and not the skis. it lowers your center point of gravity when pulling it on the road.
LMAo love the pic, ok i see how that would work. My 2 man flip is too big for that.
Was thinking of a 2x4 with rollerblade wheels would probably work well, one under each ski and strap it on.
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QUOTE (kingphoenix @ Mar 08, 2018 - 12:44 pm)
QUOTE (thanh @ Mar 08, 2018 - 11:28 am)
^Just to add, make sure your cross bars/braces are set wider than your tub. That way when the smitty is upside down, your tub/sled is sitting on cross bars and not the skis. it lowers your center point of gravity when pulling it on the road.
LMAo love the pic, ok i see how that would work. My 2 man flip is too big for that.
Was thinking of a 2x4 with rollerblade wheels would probably work well, one under each ski and strap it on.
if it is something you just want to strap on the bottom of the skis, then just buy and use snowmobile dollys. a bit more bulk/weight, but should work.