I ride strictly trail and had the BRP Tunnel mounted scratchers installed on my 2016 Blizzard. They work Okay, but I agree they sit "Too far back" to really throw the snow. So, experiencing that, I made a mounting bracket and put the cable ones on my skis. Wow! Talk about throwing the snow! Skid gets loaded up with snow now, and I saw a 25 degree temp lowering one time while they were down. I still have the tunnel ones on too, in case I need to use both them, and the ski cables together.

 

I put the cable scratchers on my 2011 Backcountry X a few years back. I traded it in this fall for a new backcountry and the scratchers and sliders had about 3,500 miles on them. 70-80% trail riding. My first set of sliders lasted about 1,500 miles. One of them them did wear out at the end of last winter, but after 3,500 miles they didn't owe me anything. A new set will be going on my new backcountry as soon as I get my hands on it.

 

I vote for rail scratchers; I put them on my 137”, and didn’t have any of the problems you described.

 

Had a buddy use the BRP tunnel mounted ones.
They ripped off

Same buddy used the ones that mounted on the on the rear drop bracket..... ripped his drop bracket right off when he hit a rock

 

I recently purchased a set of doo's tunnel mounted scratchers and a set of the Ice Age scratchers to install on the skis. Both sets are the spring type and I'm not sure which one I am going to use yet. I had a set of the cable style that where bought and installed while on a trip and they sucked! Not to mention the marks they left all over my rails.

So I'm interested in hearing what everyone has to say as well.

 

My 18 sp came with the rails set. One side broke off and the other followed a few weeks later , they worked very good until they snapped. Seems like metal fatigue

 

My 18 sp came with the rails set. One side broke off and the other followed a few weeks later , they worked very good until they snapped. Seems like metal fatigue

Were they the updated design with the double spring?

 

I have the skidoo tunnel mounted r motion ones of my bc, worked great last winter when we got a lot of rain and froze the trails to a sheet of ice

Only problem I had was. The scratchers threw so much ice up at the rails that it beat the paint of the rails by the rear axle

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Ski mounted works well for me. I made them from scratch.

 

Ski mounted works well for me. I made them from scratch.

I only need then for on trail in the morning, icy days or late season in michigan to get to the offtrail areas. I am afraid of the ski mount spring ice mount for I don't want them to snag while off trail in the "raised" position. I agree they are the best as in cooling though. Obviously they don't need to be down or in operation while backwoods riding. Same with the rail mounts. Like the idea but If they are in the raised position do they snag? What do the mountain guys use? They are offtrail 90 percent of the time but need to run hard pack to get there?

 

I've had the rail mounted Skidoo scratchers on both my 15 Renegade 137, and 16 BCX 146 for the past 3 & 2 years respectively. Went through 2 complete sets on each sled. They work exceptionally well at cooling and lubricating the slides, however, I am finally giving up on them this year.

First of all, the bolts they supply for the stowed position bracket are way too weak. I've had 3 of them break off over the years, loosing the plastic bracket in the process. I bought some much harder 10.9 bolts that seems to have solved that issue.

Next, and more importantly, they wear down really fast and become too short to stow, or reach the ground eventually. Granted this is because of the crappy trail conditions in WI the past few seasons and getting ground down by so much bare/low trails, but it's pretty expensive to spend $85 for each sled every year to keep replacing them.

This year, I'm going to get some cable scratchers with replaceable carbide tips, and probably mount them on the skis like ultrarider did.

Mike

 

Whats the main purpose and need for scratchers?

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Whats the main purpose and need for scratchers?

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To scratch. Seriously though; they scratch the ice and crusty snow to provide cooling for the heat exchanger and lube for the hyfax in less than ideal conditions.

 

I have the tunnel mount Doo scratchers on both my Enduro and Expedition. Good results with both and they winning feature is that I can deploy them without getting off my sled. Just come to a stop, lean back and pop them out. Way more fun than on my knees trailside.

I have redundant ski scratchers on the Enduro. Logic being that if you're 100 miles from home and the primary scratchers fail, your day isn't ruined. Since I already have the heaviest skis this side of an Alpine (TS), the extra weight isn't an issue.

Rail mounts are on my Summit since they seem to be most out of the way if you're off the sled digging or goofing around.

I've tried cables with disappointing results, but I have buddies that seem to have some success with them.

There's a dramatic difference between any scratcher and none.

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Has anybody tried the ones that mount to the a arms? I've seen a company that makes them and they look like they work really well. I'm just concerned that if they snag or get hung up somehow, it might take out the a arm. I think I'm going with ski mounted cables on mine as well.

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Do studs assist with that at all

To scratch. Seriously though; they scratch the ice and crusty snow to provide cooling for the heat exchanger and lube for the hyfax in less than ideal conditions.

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Do studs assist with that at all
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Sure they do; however, there are a lot of people who don't want to or can't run studs. And I'd have a hard time believing that they worked as good as scratchers.

 

Sure they do; however, there are a lot of people who don't want to or can't run studs. And I'd have a hard time believing that they worked as good as scratchers.

Thanks for the advice! So trail riding in those crunchy conditions you reccomend them? On the tug hill id probably never need them with all the grooming but where i ride locally, Barneveld, Deerfield, boonville ect it gets groomed less what type do you recommend

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Do studs assist with that at all
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I don't care for studs. Had too many almost take out the heat exchanger. And one that took a track out on a sled I bought used, and for my backcountry. I'm not studding a 1.75" single ply... no thanks. Not happening

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Thanks for the advice! So trail riding in those crunchy conditions you reccomend them? On the tug hill id probably never need them with all the grooming but where i ride locally, Barneveld, Deerfield, boonville ect it gets groomed less what type do you recommend

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I ran the hill and surrounding areas back in February after it rained those two days like non-stop (mid feb) and it turned to ice. I have a backcountry with the 1.75. And had some cooling issues without my scratchers being down (5-6 bars on the temp gauge) soon as I put them down. I went down to 4 bars (normal for my sled and my dads gade x) and even 3 bars at times, no slider issues. And worst that happened was the paint got chipped at the end of the rails by where the outside rear wheels should be (bc don't have outside rear wheels) rode over 400 miles those following days. And everyone else without scratchers was on the side of the trail cooling off

You can see how hard packed the snow was

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Cable scratchers on the rail. Work fine for me.