Ski Doo really has no sleds that can groom the V800 overheats the 600 overheats the 550 is a pig why can't they use some of there profits from selling 12,000 dollar sleds to come out with a fuel injected fan?

This will be the next grooming best for us Kubota RTV 1100 Tatou Tracks and new AMFI groomer.

SWT V800 works fine as a groomer. Maybe you're doing something wrong.

I use a VK Pro with a MM604 and it works very well, however the SWT has also proven its worth with this same setup in several locations.

We're hearing the same thing from folks who groom with the V800, cooling issues are not really a big problem anymore.

Have they made improvements to the V800 cooling because all I have heard is at 6-10 mph all they do is overheat?

Sounds like you are getting confused between the Legend V800 in the RF platform vs. the Skandic SWT and Expedition V800. The early Legends with the V800 did not have the rad and fan set-up on them, just tunnel coolers which were dependent on snow; the rad & fan was added for later model years. All SWT's and Expeditions equipped with the V800 use the rad & fan set-up which can maintain the temperature of the engine alone if required. I can let my 2007 Skandic SWT V800 idle all day if I want.

The rad & fan allows the V800 to adequately cool at grooming speeds. Perhaps under extreme loads you may have to give the sled a break every now and then (not only the sled but belt and drivetrain too), but that is only speculation on my part.

That makes a huge difference in my grooming machine choice and a lot less out of my wallet. What king of hitch setup do the SWT's come with because I might have to make mods to our drag to accommodate the new machine. I just can't wait to get it in the garage and start getting it setup hydro's and what not.

SWT has a tongue style rear hitch which works well for regular towing, but for our groomer we have a trailer ball coupler on it, so we had to mount a 2" ball on a stem in the rear rack of the towing sled. Basically a vertical 2" x 2" HSS mounted on a 1/4" plate base with angle braces on all four sides. We then put another 1/4" plate below the tunnel and sandwiched it together with 8 thru bolts. We also mounted an auxiliary battery in the rear rack c/w all electrical connections to keep the system from relying on the sled's battery all the time, considering that you just can't pull the cord to start the sled anymore.

I have seen clubs modify a vehicle receiver hitch set-up to mount across the back of the tunnel with steel flatbar continuing up the sides of the tunnel to secure it solidly. They can then just slip in whichever 2" accessory they want to tow the drag. Looks OK, but it would have been too low for our application.

Good luck.

Any chance you could show some pictures, I am buying a 2010 Skandik Swt to groom with a Mogul Master drag and not sure how to mount the hitch. thanks for any help

Rough pics, but they should illustrate the way that we have done this.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Looks like a mess, but that's largely due to the fact that the steel battery tie-down system that we fabricated busted off on one side and I had to bungee/tie the secondary battery down to complete the season. I will be fixing that as soon as our bldg maintenance is complete.

I have only seen the receiver hitch style connection in Quebec, it is pretty simple actually, just has what appears to be a modified version of a small vehicle 2" receiver hitch, cut-down in width so that it spans the rear of the tunnel only (tight against the rear of the tunnel), with the female receiver box in the center and pointing rearward, of course. There were two flatbar extensions on each side of the receiver hitch that extended forward and were thru-bolted on the tunnel. It looked strong, but I wonder how they managed to get enough tongue height as the MM604 appears to need a "fifth wheel" sort of mount in order to work properly.

I know that our set-up works very well, so I went with that.

That is a good set up I was looking for a way to make goose neck hitch set up and bracing ideas angle iron but modding a suv hitch might work but more weight would be on the back then more centered over the track.

Ever seen a tractor trailer 5th wheel converter dolly? We use something like that for our club. Two leaf spring skis on a hitch type system that the drag connects to. I'll try to grab some pics to show.

Here's another "dolly" somebody put together.

Look's like air19's setup

I'm new to the forum but have been using the info on the different forums to make a decision on replacing our 1993 Alpine II. I finally decided on the Skandic SWT V800. The old Alpine is a great workhorse but as most people know it's a pig to turn and it reached an age where it wasn't as dependable.
We groom about 15km of cross country ski trails and it appears the Skandic swt is a close replacement for the Alpine.
One of my concerns is the Timing belt problems. I'll keep monitoring that topic for any new info. It appears the 2007 model had most of the trouble, is that the case?

I like the dolly idea, I may give that a try with some of our gear.

No snow here yet in NB.

Cheers

Timing chain, not belt.

The issues are present in many models, but the MY2010 units appear to have the new, stiffer chain guides. Only time will tell.

Will the 800 run cool enough on icy trail without snow at +10 C?

HA! when the fan start to blow on.... you will be more hot than your swt....i've tried mine in every sort of conditions (with 8 pers. on a sleight and 1 with me...european tourists every week...good and bad days...winter to spring...icy,rain...1.30hour run to the camp)and it's invincible compare to all other name it what the..snowmobile that exist now... RUN IN EVERY CONDITION...my gearcase overheat long before my v800..thinking about a cooling system for it... ?!

I'll echo ennrico on this one, BRP really kicked the pants off any previous cooling system design in my opinion, it's the same as an ATV.

some of older snowmobile like my kawasaki invader 79 have 2 cooling system (without the fan )..i once planning to fit the little radiator of an invader on my wt 600 2001 to improve cooling on icy situation...great project...but i'v buy a swt800...

Well, that's good to hear about it. I had a 500 fan cool before and the thing was good in any condition as well. Now for the very cold, minus 35, If there could be a way to pull start it., it would be great.

I was thinking of a crank you could turn the bolt of the clutch with, like they had with the old Ford T or tractor. You could have a hole on the side of the body, covered with a gromet, just like the one I have on my 380 touring to unscrew the clutch bolt.

Sorry, yes I meant timing chain. That appears to be the only real major weak spot when compared to other so called work sleds.

VK Pro - I think it still over heats badly at grooming speeds and load. Still using a carb vs efi. There's a good thread on the Yamaha 4stroke site following the adventures of a groomer in Vermont using the VK. He's really shown a lot of patience when dealing with the overheating issue.
Bearcat - Doesn't have a low range gear. Which really is a must for grooming.
Polaris IQ - I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a low range either.

So the Skandic SWT comes out ahead of all the other sleds.

I know grooming cross country ski trails would be a fairly small market for the snowmobile companies but it's too bad that they don't see the need for producing a true "work sled" and not just a "utility sled". We don't need all that speed but certainly need a sled that will purr along all day at slow speeds pulling big loads.

VK Pro works great for grooming snowmobile trails using the MM604, but don't put it in the woods opening trails in 12" of fresh pow, it's not going to to work. It is an excellent tool for smoothing out ice trails, however. air19 on ty4stroke.com has indeed outlined his successes/failures over there, I have also been active in that thread.

The Bearcat is not a good idea, but the Polaris WT does have low range... can't remember the cooling system on that one, have to go look again sometime.

In the meantme, the SWT V800 is your ticket. Brutal torque, stand-alone cooling... what do you mean "Too bad they don't see the need for producing a true work sled and not just a utility sled" ?? BRP already has it, just go make your purchase.

I have made the choice and the new(2009) SWT 800 was ordered 2 weeks ago and should be delivered within 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to getting on the trails with it. We'll still be running the old Alpine so it will be nice to compare the 2.

I guess what I was thinking re work sled would be more along the lines of some sort of groomers package that was an option. Including things like a pintle or gooseneck hitch, at least 2 outlets at the rear to run grooming gear + the switches/toggles on the dash, light at the rear, easily adjustable suspension. I'm sure there are other groomers out there that would have great suggestions as well. It's just sort of a selfish groomers wish list. It's getting close to Christmas you know.

Sad to say but the money is just not there right now for are club to be making a major purchase. Right now be have a Bearcat, VK540, a Polaris trail indy geared down and two Chevy Blazer's with tracks. I think we are going to be looking more for another Blazer they work great, can pull anything and are a lot cheaper then a new Skandic.

Go for the VK540 or a Skandic WT/SWT 500F or 550F. Polaris Widetrack is useless, the Bearcat has no low gear and they are both liquid cooled without a fan, which is not going to work.

The Blazers with tracks are indeed very effective as well in areas that groom often and do not receive ridiculous amounts of snow. Hard to beat the pulling power of an automobile and hard to beat the price of a used Blazer with a V6.

I did not know that they still made the 540 in Canada if only I knew that I might have put that into consideration but can they be shipped here?

Yes, that is air19's dolly, you can get more info at Koz's grooming talk.com web site. It's a great site for XC trail grooming info.