Gullyrider

You're probably right ... I forget when the Québec two-stroke ban was announced or when the provincial government was convinced to rescind the threat as the result of the development of cleaner two strokes. I think the U.S. EPA requirements probably had more to do with that development than the Québec legislation, but it all helped. It's a long way from cleaner two-strokes to 100% electrification though.

Exactly. Look at the famous "stud ban" ... or even that deadline for two-strokes (now passed ...). It's just fluff.

So true... if you look at Dufour's channel, he's got a few of a unit in the process of being installed in the shop, along with a few others where it's sitting outside and "flexing"! Anyway, I'll get back with a report once we get this baby rockin' ..

You're absolutely right. A 38 hp fuel injected Kohler with a remotely controlled solenoid to start and stop the blades. The positioning of the cutter is done using the hydraulics for the wings on the blade. They are sold by the Québec distributor for Pisten Bully, Mécanique J. Clair and they are super folks to deal with. I believe the unit itself is manufactured by one of J. Clair's local machine shops, Usinage JS. There are additional videos of the brusher on Louis Dufour's channel. P.S. I don't know what the hurry is ... are those guys not paid by the hour?? PP.S. If videos promoting non-members are frowned upon, feel free to delete the following:

You know ... the PB seems "brand new" to us too but, coincidentally, my five year facebook message today was us saying goodbye to our Gilbert/Valtra (it went to a club in the good ol' U S of A). The Pisten Bully arrived a few days later. Five years .... now where the hell did THEY go??!!

Thanks to the Langlois judgement, re-establishing it on the old Petit Train du Nord route is a complete impossibility. The more cancerous aspects of that judgement were the payouts she offered to those nearby neighbours who "had suffered", and the fact she left the door open for one landowner to sue his neighbour should said neighbour authorize a trail across his or her own property. We almost lost the entire network because of it, and only the periodically reinstated moratoriums on these sort of legal actions saved it. It was a very stressful time, let me tell you.

Hey .. our dozer was out yesterday (though not on a trail). We were trying out our new early Christmas present to ourselves .... !

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! And happy bargain hunting tomorrow! (that particular mania has migrated north, by the way. I'm not sure if we'll get to return the favour with Boxing Day madness... !).

Pardon me, Daryl, but I erred with respect to the péréquation, lumping it in with the annual trail grooming assistance doled out by the FCMQ. In fiscal year 2018-19 , in Region 13 (the Outaouais), only the Pontiac and Maniwaki clubs received Péréquation monies ($60,000 ea.). As the other five clubs have sufficient member/kilometre ratios, they didn't receive any of those funds. In our case (the Hill & Gully Riders), we received $12,850 as our annual operating grant. The Fonds de Neiges assistance for grooming after 15 March was $1152.92. In season 2019-20, no Fonds de Neige funds were disbursed in the Outaouais because of the COVID shutdown. All that to say that the FCMQ funding plays a smaller part of any club's budget as compared to membership/trail pass revenue.

The Federation doesn't save any money per se because it's not the Federation doing the spending. Under the current model, the Federation's main contribution to club funding is the "Perequetation" where, according to an agreed upon formula, clubs receive additional funding based on the kilometres and hours groomed vs what their level of membership is. High mileage clubs with low membership numbers receive more while low mileage clubs with many members receive less. Some clubs never receive a cent owing to their high rates of memberships and low hours spent grooming. Still, promoting increased membership is always more lucrative than relying on the additional Perequetation assistance. Besides, that money is better left for remote clubs who don't have the option of easily increasing their membership. The Federation also administers the "Fond de Neige" which subsidizes grooming early or late in the season. This is to help out clubs that have extended winters because of their locations. Still, with the snow seeming to hang around later these past few years, our club northeast of Ottawa has been able to avail itself of the Fonds de Neige funds a few times, but it amounts to just a very small portion of our funding. The main source of revenue is always the actual sale of memberships (aka trail passes).

I know .... a ridiculous characterization. And this from the political party (the CAQ) which was supposed to be "snowmobile club friendly". Anyway, what follows is a translation of a communiqué issued by the FCMQ to club executives yesterday. In the end, we don't foresee many negative consequences of this legislation when and if it is eventually adopted and if it ends the threat of lawsuits to landowners, or regional governments, for allowing off road vehicle right-of-ways, well, all the better. Good morning all, This communication aims to follow up on the announcement of the tabling of Bill 71 of 22 October 2020. The Fédération des clubs de motoneigistes du Québec (FCMQ) is currently working, together with legal authorities, as well as other stakeholders, to properly assess Bill 71 presented by the Ministry of Transport. Each section of the law will be carefully evaluated in order to recognize the changes made to the Act respecting off-highway vehicles. The FCMQ will express its point of view on the subject, via a brief, to the National Assembly. The author of the brief will be invited, during public hearings, to present the brief or the views of the FCMQ and answer questions from Members. This will take place at the Parliament Building at a later date which is not yet determined. We have been waiting for a long time for clarifications and revisions to certain points of the law, our job now is to ensure that this bill reflects our interests. Please accept my best regards,

The decision was taken to suspend the publication of the province-wide map and accompanying service guide as the two of them were expensive to produce and of questionable utility. When it comes to hard copy, most people prefer the regional maps anyway. Unfortunately, in the Outaouais region, we were also forced to suspend publication of this season's regional map because, with all the uncertainty, the sponsors just weren't interested in jumping on board. However, iMotoneige will be continually updated, and trail and equipment preparation is proceeding as per usual. The ability of those in the hospitality industry to accommodate us is still an open question. There might be a whole lot of trailside munching going on!

A few weeks ago Hogan Gidley said "“I’m not sure why you would want to go to Canada ...". Now there's a video to back him up:

Well this sucks .... the restaurant at Rapide-Sept has gone up in smoke.

So far, one of our groomer operators has seen it flash once .... when he met a neighbouring club's groomer at an intersection. Oh well .... at least we know it's hooked up right!