Snowdog For Trail Grooming

A story from Thom one of the Snowdog owners from NY, USA. It is about a long road to effective trail grooming, and we are so glad Snowdog is one of its central figures, and helps Thom in his everyday activities.

“I`ve been trying to groom trails for the last 4 years. Tried with a regular snowmobile- couldn't keep up enough speed to keep it from bogging down and it was unable to reach even half the trails, used a Rokon 2 wheel drive off road utility bike, it had the power and maneuverability, but when trying to tow a drag and the small footprint of the tires, it was not worth the effort. Then I went back to a snowmobile: smaller, shorter, but still had trouble even reaching half the trails.

Last year, I received a grooming grant, and with the help of the dedicated riders we were able to raise about $2400 allowing me to buy a used Ski Doo Alpine and the necessary trailer. It worked, could reach about half of my trails, but still not good enough.

I had been looking at track sled videos in Russian for the last few years, even tried to get a local guy to rig one up for me, but no luck. Then I learnt about Snowdog and got a Compact B10ZE.

What I like about the Snowdog- it's simple, well thought out, the pull and electric start, the way the handlebars can be adjusted, it's weight allows for it to be moved easily either on the trail or in the garage.  I store it right in my truck bed, so when Winter drops another 4-5 inches I can hop on the grooming effort. It's nice that it's a tried and true engine, and the design is well thought out, I've been able to groom sideslope trails, and the learning curve for operation is rather short. After 20-30 minutes you can move about the trails quite well.

Only suggestions I can give is a higher setting for the handlebars, it would be more comfortable for myself if they were about 4 inches higher.

Everything else is great, it's stable, the center of gravity is what it is, i've tipped it a few times and the engine cuts out due to the oil, but that is planned safety, so no issues, once I get it upright, it starts within 5-10 seconds.”