Sled build

Well I finally made use of 3 of the 4 pieces of UHMW I purchased on the big UHMW steal of the century a few years ago. ;0)
Finally had reason for three sleds and we made good use of them. More on that in another post.

Thought I would put a little of the mods I made. No big secret on the basic build.
1. I had taken my sheets to a local welder and had him put them in his break. Be sure to over break them. They do tend to relax a bit for a few days. I actually leave ratchet straps on them to keep from bending back out too far. I had him do three brakes lines to develop the 90 degree finish. We broke more than 90 degrees hoping for a finished 90.


I suppose there is a multitude of different cuts and configurations you could make to piece up the front. I just chose one and went with it. They all work. Some I am sure better than I chose. But no complaints so far. I found the ratchet strap to really help to pull things into place.




Where I strayed from what seemed the conventional approaches to things was the front and rear hitch assembly.
Rear.
Since I wanted to be able to pull one to three sleds from one machine I did the following.
I inserted a piece of aluminum flat bar I bent by heating up with a torch. No problemo! I used clamps to place the aluminum and then heated the base of the sled as I sucked it up with ratchet straps. Really made for a nice secure rear end hitch.




The rear hitch was just a minimal cutting and welding project. The pivot was in the front hitch so nothing complicated in the rear.



I do hate loosing hitch pins so I welded on a nut to secure when not in use.







I used a piece of 20 inch long one inch angle iron for the skeg. I welded on hard surfacing rod on the bottom edge to hopefully keep the edge more robust. Then sharpened it to a pretty sharp point . Seemed to do okay. Your seeing an installed skeg from the top as well as a second set ready to go on sled two in this photo.


If I had had more time I would have liked to put some sacrificial uhmw runners on the bottom and put at least two skegs on each sled. You can't have too many. As you will see in an upcoming post on my trip.

I didn't want to use up any of my uhmw on hitches so I chose to weld my hitches together using 3/4 pipe. All went well. I did bend a hitch pin when we slid backwards on the ice and ended up in a train wreck.
Don't have any good photos of the finished hitch end attachments. Also I will be placing some kind of light plastic material over the large hitch opening to keep snow from coming in the sled. Perhaps putting apiece of conveyor belt like Howler as well.



So for what is worth maybe someone can benefit from my trials and errors. ;0)

Really like that rear hitch Len. The whole thing is built to last, very well done. Think the one northway built me was the first one in our neck of the woods, but a guy started making them in Whitehorse this year.....they dont go cheap! I heard he's getting around $1700 for them.

Holy Cow. I think we got the UHMW sheets delivered to us in Alaska for $198. Don't think I have more than $50 dollars more in hardware and pipe for mine. So around $250 for the sled. Happy Happy. Wish I had bought the whole darn pallet of uhmw when I had the option to buy it. haha. Could have went into the sled building business.
Hey and I didn't have to pay freight to get it to the bush! See my other bucket list post

As much fun as the construction project obviously entails.... I'm happy we have Dave Doudna and Northern Sled Works right here in the Greater Fairbanks Metropolitan Area!

Pete

Here is mine. Built last year. Amazing compared to my last one. Very similar to yours. Basically an alaskan seldworks crossfox clone. UHMW is very pricey even here, and I pick it up myself. Have made many toboggans, etc for hand hauling, but this was my first tow behind sled one. If you had a crack at that material for 50 bucks a sheet I would have indeed bought the entire skid!

Looks good! And i like the blue

Nice sled FT. Take a piece of unistrut and bolt to the inside rear of the sled. This will help keep the gas jugs from bouncing around and flipping over. I have one on my sled it really works. I can get a picture if you need it.

Y254:

If it's Yukon Yamaha in Whitehorse - he is a dealer for Northern sled works and is not making them - hence the high price.

Black UHMW is most often re processed and not UV protected. But if you build them yourself, guess it doesn't much matter in terms of savings.

My supplier carries only virgin and UV protected UHMW. the white he uses is not UV stabilized.

I like the blue tho

U can also buy it in a roll. Anyother place to check for use northern folks is dump trucks hauling snow. They will line the front, side cheeks and bottom to help snow release from the box. They may sell u a piece off the roll. Worth checking anyways!

Nice build Len!

I think Jr had eye loops in the bottom for tie down points. Was pretty slick! Maybe he will post some pics?

It would be nice to have some way to tie things down to the bottom.
One thing that I can't recommend enough on such a sled is the use of Heavy duty bungie material and carabiners to strap things down. I buy my bungie in bulk at the Gear Shed in Homer but sure AIH has it as well. About 5/8. Slipping it in and out carabiners is a real time saver and things are always tight.

No its another guy....Wicked Sleds I think is the name of his company.

Jason Bundt an RCMP in Dawson also makes them I have his number.

FT ,that is a lasting piece of equipment and you won't regret doing it your self .something special about your own dooins.

dooins :-)

Len, i believe it was a uhmw runner inside and on the bottom. With a eyebolt/ring setup bolting both together. Heads obviously recessed but i dont remeber the specs on it. Its been a few years since i saw Jr’s sled.

Those sleds are amazing. I can attest. Len's got it together on those.

Great build Len. Nice play by plays.
Here is a few of my modifications I done to my sled builds. What works for me may not work for others. Just some ideas. These 1" full length runners really make the sleds track well and also pick the sled up off the rocks. I also put skags on all my sleds to track on the ice or hardpack. For those of you that have never had a load pass you on glare ice, you won't understand the importance of the short little skags.


My rear hitch is pretty simple and has pulled many miles with a ton of weight. This UMHW is some amazing stuff.

I made these load bars to hold gear in place without having to use bungees or straps. They are moveable for different applications. They also hold the spread of the sled.

The last is and maybe the most important is the snow shield up front with does what the name suggests. It keeps the snow and overflow from you track from filing your sled and soaking your gear. It also is used to carry the load bars when not in use when I carrying firewood and other large gear.

Just a side note. ;0) The welder in the photo above won the Homer King salmon derby. $56,000 with side bets. OH MY!!

Jr I like those matts on the bottom. It would really keep the bolts from eating away at the totes on the bottom. I need to get some of that belting.

Thank you both for the information on building your sleds fella's !
Family Trapper I believe the rubber on the bottom of JR's sled is just work station matts the one's I've seen are 4'x 4'
I hope I can get a sled built before next winter thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
Allan