I am thinking about getting a second machine. Want something that either my wife or I can ride. I currently own a 09 tundra LT 550. Absolutely love it . I am still blown away at how maneuverable it is for such a large sled. Deep snow performance for the riding I do in Manitoba is all the sled I need. We do not get crazy levels of snow. Waist deep or a little deeper is the worst it gets. Not dealing with elevation as well. We get rough terrain and tight conditions but no huge elevations. So my thought are I need a second machine that doesen't need to perform at the same level as my Tundra but don't want dead weight either. Basically I can break trail with mine and my wife can follow. That being said I want something that can hold its own. My criteria that I am seeking are:

1. Fuel economy
2. ease of ride for a female
3.Respectable deep snow performance
4.ride comfort
5. light work

BTW, I love skidoo but would consider other brands nothing older than 10 years old but nothing brand spanking new either.


My choices are 2007/8/9 tundra 300f or tundra 2007/8/9 800LT (don't hear a lot about the tundra LT 800 would love some feedback), Skandic LT440, some of the bearcats are nice, not sure if the 570 2 stroke is as much of a pig on gas as my 550, Yamaha Venture multipurpose (I know very little about these machines other than this) http://www.yamaha-motor.ca/products/produc...=S|&LANG=en


Thought about the expedition, but dont want a 550 fan, want it to be fuel efficient, thinking the other models will be too heavy for my wife ( all over 600 lbs) any options within skidoo or other brands I should consider?

Sounds like the 07' Tundra 300F fits the bill. Thats what I would get.

What about finding a lightly used E-tec 'Gade? Fuel efficiency seems to be a top priority for you. They can definitely hold their own, too.

1. Fuel economy - YES
2. ease of ride for a female - Yes
3.Respectable deep snow performance - Yes
4.ride comfort - Yes
5. light work - Yes


It would also save $$$ in the 2-stroke oil category, and it's a SKI-DOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How about a step up and get a Freestyle Backwoods.

http://www.ski-doo.com/SkiDooPublic/_Stati...tyleBackCountry

It's an 2009 model so you could get one for a good price.

I wouldn't buy an 800 LT for my girlfriend. Maybe you could ride the 800 and give the 550 to your wife. I really like the machine but it's a handful. If the sled goes off-camber it's easy to get pitched. And it's a handful when buried. It does get 17mpg and it's quiet. I think of it as a modern day panther.

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These pictures all taken last February. I rolled the sled once and buried it one more time on a 60 mile ride over the mountains in a blizzard. There was a lot of snow. Yes, I'm inexperienced and I'm glad I brought my snowshoe and I was glad to get home.
I think I'm in the etec renegade camp, though they're pricey and you'll probably pay almost as much for a used one as a new one if you can find one.

Hi,

Do you generally ride on or off the trail with your wife and go for slow or fast rides? When my wife goes with me she always rides the 06 Tundra as she loves the comfort compared to the 94 Tundra. It might be hard to beat an 06-09 Tundra or Freestyle 300F. The Freestyle would even be easier to ride with the shorter track and would still follow you anywhere in your packed track. My wife loves to get out but does not enjoy excessive speed. She also likes warmth and appreciates the warm levers on the 06. And, with the low gearing she does not have any trouble going as slow as she wants to around obstacles.

Dan

Yeah, i think I am really leaning towards the 07-09 tundra 300f. Freestyle is nice too but there about the same price, and why not just get the tundra? The renegade is way more performance I or she needs. I don't like going much above 80kph. I never thought ridability would be that much different on the tundra LT 800 vs my 550. Anyone else own one of these machines? The one thing I didn't mention a small portion of driving will be with my young kids( 7 and 5) so two up is nice. I figure I can overcome that with the tundra 300 with the modular seat added. When we all four ride won't be intense at all. On a side note japyke, how did you ever get your machine out of there?

Mario- The first thing to do is take a deep breath. Then strap on the snowshoes. In this case I packed around the machine so I had a place to work, including a ramp to the back and a ramp to the front. Then I lifted the skid a little to the right, packed under the track,then a little to the left onto the newly packed snow, then more pack, then a little to the right....you catch my drift. Then back up a little, pack in the front, then forward a little, pack in the front..........
Fortunately I'm still able to heft the machine around although it is a back breaker. This was a day with heavy blowing snow and I couldn't tell a 2' drift from a 5' hole and in this case I was just trying to get back to the trail 'cause I had just rolled it off of 2 culverts and into a ditch. I had gone off 'cause I really didn't know where the trail was and I couldn't see where the culverts and ditches were. In hindsight it wasn't very smart to venture out by myself in a blizzard in falling temps. I guess I'm not quite ready for Cains Quest.

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I took this shot after I dug out of that hole. Believe it or not the sled is unstuck and I was psyched cause the trail was straight ahead and I knew I could get to it.

Hi Japyke,

That was deep and soft snow. Wow - I'm surprised you can lift that machine with the very long track. Your description of getting unstuck is great.

Dan

My vote goes to the 07-09 Tundra 300F with the 16" wide track as well.

I would recommend the Venture MP as well (great sled) but the price tag is rather hefty unless you can find a good used one. That thing has great fuel mileage, 80hp, full amenities, big windshield, huge rack, easy steering etc. but the price tag is rather high compared to a good used Tundra 300F!

If you're willing to spend the coin to net yourself a Venture MP, you would be just as well off to consider a 2010 Tundra Sport or an LT for yourself, handing down your own sled to the wife.

You know wives, they just love hand-me-downs

So... what have you seen? Options?

my lt i have had stuck in deep soft snow and you have to lift the back end up to you chest to move it over. the snow show packing is a good idea.

I found a way that works very good for my skinny cat frame morphology when I get my sleds unstuck.

First thing I do, when I see I won't get farther, I stop, get on one side of the sled in the snow, grab the handlebar strap with one foot on the board and the other as far as possible behind me and give it a good swing on the side 'til it lays 90 degrees of the ground. Then I go unpack the skid and I pack the snow under it with my boots or snowshoes, if necessary I pack a trail forward or reverse depending on what I'm planning to do next and get the sled back to it's riding position. The sled is then very light and easier to position if needed. I try to do it from the left side as I sometimes get leaks leaning on the right side (injection oil and/or gas overflow). Sometimes, when I'm in real deep soft snow, I have to pack the snow on the side first to help rolling the sled.

It works best with the 300. For the 800, I am very cautious doing it after I bent the handle bar. I could have avoided it, but I kinda got stupid that day. I had pulled way too much, the sled was deep burried and wouldn't have moved no matter what. If you want to try that technique and don't want to bend the handle bar, you have to stop the sled early before getting burried too deep. When you first pull lightly on the handle bar, you must feel it move a bit. If it feels like weighting a ton and don't even move a milimeter than go with other techniques.

I realy like that technique, it works very nice and is way softer for my body. Using the body balance instead of the back and arms force is way easier.

Oh, I'd like to correct myself,

I'm using that technique when I ride alone, when we are 2 sleds, I'd rather use the snobunjies. I have both models and they save lots of pains. They work faster as well.