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Runners for sled


joshs

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Hi all,

 

I got a $15 kiddie sled from Wal-Mart I'm hoping to use for some ski touring trips in the next few months. Anyway, I've looked high and low at the hardware stores for any piece of metal or plastic with a T-shaped cross-section that I could attach to the bottom to keep it from sliding all over the place. I haven't found anything, so I'm thinking of just having someone custom-build them for me. Does anyone here know of a good place to get that done (I'd probably want them made from stainless steel, ideally, but PVC or something would do in a pinch), or perhaps have an idea for a pre-existing piece that could be used for this? Thanks.

 

-Josh

 

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don't spend lots of money because I guarantee you will

loathe the thing before too long.

 

if you cannot source aluminum angle stock you could

probably find a machine or mechanic shop to bend some

aluminum sheet for you - automotive type places should

have this sort of stuff.

 

another alternative is to look for metal shelving

angle - like those 1970s Meccano style utility shelves,

already has holes in it.

 

another sled design that doesn't require a keel is to make

hard traces - use some long lengths of pvc tubing, run a cord

from each of the front sled corners through the tubes, cross

them to make an X and tie the ends of the cord to the sides

of your hauling harness. There was a Tech-Tip a few years back

about building one of these - this design would truly suck on

side-hills, but might be ok for long flat trips (i.e. South Pole rolleyes.gif)

 

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Snoboy, an L-shaped piece would probably work OK, but the plastic sled material is not very strong and I suspect an L-shaped piece might put more twisting pressure on it than a T-shape in some situations.

 

I'd definitely settle for aluminum. I just mentioned SS because weight is not a huge issue (otherwise I wouldn't be using a sled at all) and I figured it would be stronger.

 

-Josh

 

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joshs said:

Snoboy, an L-shaped piece would probably work OK, but the plastic sled material is not very strong and I suspect an L-shaped piece might put more twisting pressure on it than a T-shape in some situations.

 

I thought about this, but never tried it yet. If you put the L-piece on the outside, and sandwiched it to a piece on the inside that connected the two runners, then you wuld probably have something pretty strong.

 

What I envisioned is a piece of thin plywood cut to fit the inside of the sled, and then bolt the two runners through the bottom of the sled and through the ply. Then most of the force is on the ply, and the plastic is there just to make it all slide nice. You might want the traces to pull on the plywood too.

 

I've heard good things about the crazy carpet system that fern described though. Cheap too, and easier to carry on the pack if there are sections where a sled is not appropriate.

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the problem with runners is they plow through which makes progress forward very difficult. What about making low amplitude/tapered fins with bondo or epoxy? You could also embed a small piece of metal on the ridge for very hard snow.

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joshs said:

AlpineK, how do you make a T- or L-shaped (cross-section) piece with flat sides and straight edges out of pipe and fittings???

 

 

 

-Josh

 

My mistake for missreading your question.

 

I do think you're putting way too much thought into this. I would go with Fern's Krazy Karpet. It's simple, cheap, and you can role it up and cary it on steep slopes where all sleds will suck.

 

Most of the folks who do long traverses use Krazy Karpet sleds.

 

That Jhammer guy won't agree, but he's a techno freak.

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Take 1" PVC schedule 40 pipe and rip it in half length ways. use each 1/2 with the U down and thru-bolt it to the bottom of the sled, using the plywood idea above for support. Angle cut the front of the runner. A couple of 1 foot sections in the rear should be enuff.

Edited by David_Parker
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take a real good look at dogsled runners- they are strips of lucite or some other high durometer plastic- you can but it by the foot from a musher supply house. Attach them to like sized pieces on the inside of the hull.

 

aluminum runners are ice grabbers. I had a sled with aluminium runners and these wera a down side to them. If you are dead set on metal runners, these were 1/4" square aluminum stock, NOT I-beam, and reinforced on the inside with 1"strip aluminum of maybe a 5 mil thickness.

 

If you want to take the extra time to make a sled you can have around for years, take TWO identical sleds and fuse the two togther with minimal amounts of strategic glue attachments and reinforce the sled's outside lip (where the handles would be) underneath with some more dogsled runner or bamboo (cheaper and just as suitable)

 

punch slots in the upper sled rails to run rope or webbing up through, for 2-5lash points for the sledbag, and knot this all togther in the best way you can figure. add a lash loop at the back of the sled as well.

 

This double sled construction also allows you to reinforce the trace attachments to the sled in whatever way you see fit, and still have a clean leading edge.

 

you can also have lash points in the bottom of the inside sled, knotted in loops underneath to let you make a kid seat or funky gear attachment system.

 

I've used rope and attachment points punched into the forward part of the inside sled for the traces. a good setup is a set of lash downs just aft of the start of the flat bottom of the sled. a second set is put in at the top of the angled lip of the sled, or at the forward corners. a good system for each individual lash for the traces would be a four hole square pattern. this allows you to create a square lashing (like you would learn in boy scouts) and REALLY draw the trace in tightly into the sled.

 

the best material for sled traces is either aluminum or bamboo, even a better choice perhaps. It's much easier to get suitable bamboo than the right kind of metal pipe cut to length. I've used some types of garden pipe with less success.

 

Long traces are nice if you want full kick and glide, but make the sled less manuverable. your ski length is usually right.

 

Designing the sled with crossed traces kind of lets you steer the sled better.

 

I made my first sledge two decades ago, have made a few, and wanted to chime in with some tried and true.

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