According to some of the people who live in places where "snow machines" are a necessity, they all use "sleds" as multiplier in terms of cargo and they say modern, entry-level machines are "more than plenty". My contacts thought the two-stroke, air-cooled engines with 400cc were the sweet-spot in terms of low-maintenance and plenty of low-end grunt. Of course, they were not trying to go 120mph on their sleds, so there is that.
Sadly, the air-cooled motors seem to be extinct although you can still find machines with two-stroke Rotax engines.
The new four strokes are the way to go. I love the old Bombardiers and grew up on them … but times have changed. There aren’t many dedicated work/casual trail machines anymore… everything is about speed. Yamaha used to have a little 250 that would have been perfect for the ice fishing stubfart… or for a slow poke down the trail or cut line. Given the price they’re asking for modern machines…it might make better sense (for rural work) to set up your 4 wheel ATV with snow treads…
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