SkippyDoo

Manawan this morning

Cmon man !! It’s not a Vactor ! And real men drive 18spd fullers. Just kidding. HXX’s are bad ass trucks. That’s got a ribbed tank so must have a 28” blower in it.

Ha, you must of passed us somewhere. I remember a group of 3 I think coming the other way on 63. One lagging behind a little ?? Can’t remember. We where ripping through there. We came across 63 from Rabaska to LeCabanon. Picked up the petit du nord at Mt Laurier. Passed the poker run crowd that where parked at the cafeteria. They must have came in a different way cause 33 south from there was flat as a board. Stopped in at LaGlacier around 2:30 or something. Back to lecabanon by 4:30. Was supposed to be our last ride but now we think we are gonna try a weekender

Nope. I’m out of that business now. I was a road mechanic for a dealer out of Rochester Ny then moved to Albany Ny. I worked on Elgin, Vactor, Labrie, Envirosight, Trackless products mainly. But also everything else related to municipal work,The company I worked for sold out to Federal Signal and then promptly closed the doors in Albany. I’m gainfully employed elsewhere now still in the Albany area. I rebuilt many a rodder pumps in parking lots across NY lol

You by chance run a Vactor ? Going to the pumper show ?

I agree. Great way to tow a sled. We did it this way many years ago from about 15 miles east of relay22 to Roberval. Works great

Km31 has a few things. Maybe they will have belts. I think I have seen them in the cabinet by the door. I don’t know if they are what you need. There is no way to cross the fiord via ice east of shipshaw. Those orange trails that go down by it off of Valin go to places. Maybe somebody will chime in with a better suggestion but you either gotta go back into town over shipshaw, get what you need and then backtrack to the pelchat trail or once in town continue on 83 383 to the boat in Tadoussac.

Saint Raymond to Saguenay is probablu your best bet and easiest to plan but LaCabanon is about 6 hrs from you.

Just saw some pics on fb from the area that where taken today. It looks way better than I thought it would.

I just got back from a 5 day trip in Saguenay. Trails where good everywhere. We rode down to the Manoir. 83 was great to you get to the end of where the Saguenay club grooms to. After that got thin and drifted in places due the wind. but after the 301 intersection its Great all the way down to 3. After you cross the bridge on 3 no grooming going on till you get to the local trails into Clermont. Thin through there but passable. We crossed the Saguenay River via the ice crossing. They literally just finished staking that. Ice on the south side shore broke through after the second sled had crossed. The other two sleds skipped it to get on. That wasnt cool but everybody made it. Valin has boat loads of snow and due to the lack of traffic trails where better than I usually get them. I do not know if the river crossings out by Mont Vilian are staked or not but did not appear many sleds where running out there. We did not after the previous ice crossing earlier that day. There is about a foot of snow in Saguenay. The fields east of there on 83 towards LaBaie where thin from the wind but passable. Had to cross about a 5 foot rock hard drift on the 383 just west of L’Anse St Jean. I can’t really tell ya where exactly that was except that there where 2 bridges just a few hundred yards apart. The bigger steel bridge is taped off and closed. Crossed the ice next to it. In my opinion the trails towards Valin west where the best in the area The only bad trail is the rerout on the orange trail that goes due north to 93 just after you cross at shipshaw. I was ready to hit the go button and head up what used to be the road when I saw the no snowmobile sign and the arrow pointing to the right. They rerouted that. It basically bypasses the road section by the cemetery ? You can tell they just cut it in. It’s a mess. All in all ended up with 900 good but cold miles in 5 days.

Thanks Jack and Sandy and the gutz Bros for letting me tag along today. The ride today finished up a great week of riding with just a little under 900 miles total.

I believe they do but way too easy to steal, damage and therefore have to replace those parts. There aren’t too many more options. As of yet nobody anywhere has said anything about them being on the tunnel. I’ll plead my case if they ever do.

Everything I was gonna add had been said already so x2 on the Skidoo Absolute 0 gear. I Rode through driving rain and -20 degree temps last year. The stuff is warm and waterproof. Wished I woulda got the Absolute 0 bibs. The klim bibs are not as warm and water leaked in during the rain. Still a nice set of bibs though. The newer sleds aren’t as warm as the older sleds so the tallest windshield you can get helps plus gauntlets. I love my Skidoo’s but that’s one downfall to them is poor windprotection even with the tall windshield.

I have been putting mine on the tunnel towards the rear, left side so me feet won’t hit them but can be seen while I’m sitting on the sled. Actually I have been putting all my permits, Vermont and Massachusetts on the tunnel towards rear. I’m afraid if putting on windshield or side panel as those parts are easily removed and then your screwed. I have been through checkpoints in both Quebec and Vermont and haven’t been told they where wrong

We put the tallest one you can get from Cat on the wife’s sled. She just got a new zr6000. You have to driil 2 holes to mount it. Be careful cause where the holes seem to want to be interferes with the headlight plastic in the back. You will see what I mean if you do it.

They announced it today looks like. Looks good for next year

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2017/12/18/la-saga-du-petit-train-du-nord-prend-fin-apres-13ans Here is the link. I had to translate it in google. Supposedly next year according to a local I know from around St Donat. Now if only the Park would reopen. Wishful thinking.

So here are the pics of my setup. First off the mount appears as it’s one piece but it’s not. The upper part detaches from the lower base. However. It isn’t strong enough latch to hold the gps on. First bump it falls off. I had to trim the glovebox lid underneath. If you look you can see what I cut out. It needs to be as close to the latch as you can get it. If it’s too far forward the gps hits the windshield. Also the upper portion of the mount had to be drilled to put the machine screws all the way through. Use the holes in the support plate as a guide. The holes go through the circuit board but they don’t interfere with anything. I put dialectic grease between the upper part and the base where the contact pins are. I bought a new glovebox lid for my sled to trade it in. They are 10 bucks. New sled is an XS also and I don’t know yet what I’m getting next maybe gen4 I don’t know yet. So at some point I will have to do this again. It seems like a lot but it took me about 2 hours to put it all together including running the wires to the battery. The only thing extra I did was add a 2 pin deutsch connecter to the wires to remove the hood easier. But it’s not necessary. You can unplug it from the glovebox lid. All in all I have less than 200 into the whole setup. Add the trak maps which are also not necessary and I’m at 300. I have not waterproofed it. I just put a zip lock bag over it. If it’s real bad I put it in my pocket. I don’t rely on the gps like I used too anyways.

You should have no problem. I have taken my road equipment service truck into Ontario many times. They want to know what your doing. If your not doing actual work for profit then it’s no issue. But they would ask the same question in different ways why I was coming in. Yes I was getting paid by my company, no I’m not working on actual equipment. I was always going to school up there for one of our suppliers. I was never asked to show insurance paperwork.

I thinks it’s a 2597. I will look tomorrow. As for the mount I found it on the garmin site https://www.gpsnation.com/garmin-nuvi-powered-mount.html?fee=14&fep=2041&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiOjB773q1wIVjbjACh2PpQ78EAQYByABEgIG3vD_BwE i had to drill 3 holes all the way through the base of the mount because the quick release catches won’t hold. I will try and get pictures tomorrow. The downside is you really can’t use the glove box cause the mount hits the windshield when you open it. If you have a low windshield it may not be an issue I don’t know.

I just use a cheap garmin nuvi. I bought a 30 dollar mount and screwed it the the glove box lid. The mount came with everything to hardwire straight to the battery. I run the freebie maps they talk about here. I did buy the trak maps but I end up using the freebies most of the time. They have the water crossings. I bought the northeast maps from gps trail masters. If it snows or rains I put a zip lock bag over it or put it in my pocket. It has not failed me yet. There are more expensive options but the cheap way works

https://sherbrooktimes.com/the-snow-in-the-middle-of-july-to-schefferville/12363

Yes I hope they succeed too. Opening that Tremblant parc 33 trail along with the connector between St Agathe and Tremblant town could have the potential to change snowmobiling in this area immensely. I know I for one, would be likely to start in this area more often as it is a shorter drive and with the short connector trail would give many options to day trip from as well as saddlebag out of. Years ago St Donat was a popular area for American snowmobiliers to start from. The Pot was a popular place. It has been slowly dying as a snowmobile haven though and now with the closure of the Tremblant Parc trail, will certainly put it under. That being said though, its a two way street. They have to get their act together at the Pot. The service is horrible. Food not really good, very dated rooms etc. We likely wont stay there again unless these issues are addressed. But the town of St Donat is still on my radar if the can at least get the connector trail open out of St Agathe and definately if they can reopen the parc trail. I did not know about the Le Suisse spa. I will check that out. Also the club in the area is notorious for inconstant grooming. Sometimes the trails are great, sometimes they rival tug hill for the size of the moguls. Not sure why that is. But I dont go to Quebec for bumpy trails. I wonder sometimes how much politics get involved with trail making decisions. The lanaudiere and laurentides regions are pretty much set with their hubs of operation, Mt Laurier and St Michele Des Saints being those. But I gotta think the town of Mt Tremblant has some pull in that arena and adding the connector trail plus the parc trail could potentially add a third "hub" centralized between the two areas, around St Agathe, St Donat or Mt Tremblant area for sure. I also know alot of Montreal locals have second homes or vacation property in this area and not sure how they feel about increased sled traffic in the area. Not sure if that comes into play or not. Anyway's it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I know i will be paying attention to all the latest developments the best I can

If your riding the trail from SMDS to LaCabanon, anytime after say noon, you might be standing the entire 12 miles

Easy to find well marked off of 83 just past the 383 split. When the trail ends at a road turn left. They didn't like that we parked by the door. They would rather you park in the lot in the front. Take your boots off at the door. Or she gets a little wound up. They have slippers in a basket by the door. The place is nice. But it was a 100 dollar lunch for the two of us. They where serving Buffalo steak when we where there. The food was excellent. Expect to pay outfitter prices for gas. They only want to sell you what you need to get you to next gas. We didn't buy any.