Need help buying a snowmobile

Could you be more specific about what you are going to be using it for.

not arctic cat, id go with a 500 or above, anything below is no fun. year can vary depending on how much it is used and make/model. but id say keep it after '96. (example)i bought a 96' polaris 600 3 cyl 2 years ago for 300 bucks in non working order, spent 80 on parts, fixed it myself and sold it for 600. again prices can vary.

well the chair lift on the mountain where my cabin is at was destroyed last year in a mud slide so the mountain will not be operating this season because the resort was too lazy to fix the lift and its pretty much out there by itself and very secluded ... i was just planing on using it for transportation to sick lines and building huge booters out in the pow and once in awhile maybe tow a skier behind it

k definetly not an artic cat then. they are heavy as fuck and will get BURIED. go for a lighter sled, polaris is the name i trust and all my sleds have been polaris' but skidoo has some decent sleds and bombardier's are decent so i've heard.

sick man if i find some on craiglist can i PM you and tell me what you think and if they are legit from what you can tell???

sure go for it

ski doo and bombardier are the same

yea i thought of that after i posted but didnt see the need to fix it. most sleds dont have both names labeled on them though. so i guess you could almost think of them as 2 different brands but in the same company

i want rides alex!

u got you peter haha

I can see hiking at East being ok, but I am not too sure they will be too friendly to you using your snowmobile to access their terrain.

By the way, was there an official notice that they are not operating East this year or are you assuming? It's only August yet, still plenty of time to throw a lift in...

ski-doo 03 or newer (new chasis started in 03) 600 minimun, summit or renegade  would be primo (longer track for flotation in pow)

You're a dumbass. Arctic Cat makes some of the most powerful sleds on the market. As for OP I would recommend a Polaris 550 supersport. It's not too powerful and definitely not too fast, pretty good starter sled even if it's a bit underpowered.

I don't know a whole lot about sleds but I have always thought that Yamaha had the best.  If I'm not mistaken, they are the most expensive though.  I would look into Polaris too.  What do I know though, haha.

BAHAHA getting an arctic cat would be the worst decision of his live in buying a sled. they might have a powerful engine in it but have you ever had to pull one out of a snow drift? arctic cats are not reliable at all either, a friend of mines breaks down every other week. the 600 didnt weigh a shit ton either btw. im only 140lbs, 5'11" and can manage pulling it out of deep snow.

now back to OP, if your looking for a sled to get you through the powder and backcountry, off the trails. get a longer track like said above, dont get anything below a 600, 550 stated above would work as well. Yamaha, polaris, ski-doo/bombardier. those are the names to stick with. look forward to spending anywhere from 300(hard to find a decent sled for this but it can be done if you look around enough)-1500 bucks for a decent sled. My dad sold his polaris 700 for 1200$ 2 years ago and that was a pretty lowball deal (he just needed the money to buy his motorcycle)

o yea and if your snowmobiling up a mountain, you might wanna have some friends go with you on other sleds too because if you do bury one, you might be able to get it out the first couple times, but have fun when it keeps getting stuck or it doesnt start after lunch or something.

You obviously are some ignorant little kid who has listened to his Dad about sleds for his entire life. Arctic Cat's are good sleds. I always hear these "stories" about arctic cats breaking down. I've had a Mountain Cat 800 that my Dad bought brand new in 2004. It's been nothing but awesome for the past 5 hears, nothing aside from usual maintenance, oh no actually I blew a belt once.

i ve hiked up to the top and talked to some surveyors ad they have logged a new run on the backside behind the dino ... but they said nothing is happening this summer just filling the huge hole on the face... if the summit gets good money this season they plan on putting the old silver fir chair in next summer

ok, but did you read the OP's post. He wants a sled to travel up a mountain. ok i guess an arctic cat could serve as a good trail sled but really do you think its a smart idea buying a used older model arctic cat to make your way up a mountain where no groomers are going to be packing down a trail. arctic cats are known to be bulky and weigh a shitload, that is the point i am making. The other reason that you are wrong here is the fact that an older model polaris will have FAR less problems than the arctic cat. You are talking about a new 2004 sled, not even close to his price range, and yea you may not have any problems with it, but its only 5 years old. thats a pretty young age seeing that winter only comes once a year.

On another note, yes the 3 cylinders makes the thing really open up on the lake. only thing to watch out for is that having 3 cylinders = more to take care of and they are known to have misfiring issues/one cylinder not firing at all sometimes. pretty common so im told. thats why i sold mine, only 1 cylinder would fire towards the last days of winter and i wasnt going to put any more money on it than i needed. could of been a number of things, water in gas line, frozen gas line, carb issues, plugs. i dont know what im typing cause its 2 and i wanna go to bed