ski doo elan - Snowmobile Forum: Your #1 Snowmobile Forum

BUCAROO · 01-15-2013, 07:37 PM

My step-son swears by his vintage ski-doo elan for "bushwhacking". Are there modern sleds (late 90's to 02) that have the same abilities?? Lots of old woods roads here in Maine that I'd like to explore and I don't need speed.

**smallengineguy** · 01-16-2013, 06:05 AM

Any fan cooled sled is a good choice. VERY light if you need to get them unstuck. a Ski Doo Tundra is a wide track for just that purpose.

BUCAROO · 01-16-2013, 02:42 PM

Just how wide is that track??

SB49 · 01-16-2013, 08:41 PM

I have two Elans best part about them is if you get stuck you can just pick it up and go back to where you came.

**BC_Dan** · 01-16-2013, 08:50 PM

+1 on that! The first sled I ever rode was an Elan, and that's exactly what I did. Get stuck, pick the sled up, move to fresh snow, go. Froze to death, could not figure out why people thought this was fun

To load, two of us would grab a side and pick it up and put it in the bed of the truck. We put three sleds back there, two facing forwards, one sideways on the tailgate. Memories!

The 1990 AC Prowler kind of reminds me of those old elans. My Prowler was fun, nimble, not really heavy compared to most other sleds, and mine was very dependable.

Ultrafrozen · 01-17-2013, 05:46 AM

Have a look at the Yamaha Bravo long track (Trapper). It was still sold in Canada until 2011 but I'm not sure about the US. Very light and extremely reliable little sled.

**smallengineguy** · 01-17-2013, 05:51 AM

I think Tundra is 17".

SB49 · 01-17-2013, 06:17 AM

I have a Prowler too lot bigger than an Elan but hand warmers, big windshield and reverse make it a lot more comfortable if you are going to spend a lot of time riding it.

BUCAROO · 01-17-2013, 08:02 AM

Spoke with an "ol han' at snowsledding" at the local cafe. He told me to look into the Summit, said a mountain sled was better?? What your take on this idea??

**BC_Dan** · 01-17-2013, 08:45 AM

If you ride in a lot of powder or like to climb hills, longer tracks will keep you on top of the snow better. They are harder to turn and do not corner on the trails near as well as a short track. It's up to you to determine which is more important. Intermediate length tracks such as on the Polaris SKS or Switchback bridge the gap between the short 121" tracks and the long track mountain sleds.

**RJ Gleason** · 01-17-2013, 08:58 AM

Sleds with 128" up to 141" are the lengths you want for the off trail technical stuff.