Anything deeper than the floorboards and it's nice to have a snowmobile instead. If you snowmobile across a field with deep snow you find out where the hay is still at when you suddenly drop 3 feet. That takes a bit of work to get out of.

 

That's why I like a long track. IMO, trail sleds are almost as useless as quads in deep powder

 

I have zero experience with sleds. Breaking a trail with a sled cant be to much different then breaking a trail with a quad?

 

Sled doesn't put down as many pounds per square inch on the snow, so they don't dig quite as deep as a quad. The tread also has a much greater surface area for traction while the front acts like a boat on water, with the skis acting like any ski in the snow. I'd rather break trail with a sled.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of not being able to stop or you get stuck.

 

If you're in deep snow and worried about getting a snowmobile stuck when you stop sometimes you can circle around and stop in your own tracks. Of course that only works in open spaces but you can get a running start when you take off again. If you're riding with someone else and the guy in the lead bogs down if there's room to pass you go by close to him so he can get in your tracks. One time when I was riding with my younger brother and dad we had to pass each other like that because we were bogging down. My brother's snowmobile had a dry weight of 329 pounds IIRC unlike the monsters they make now. He was just a kid and good at breaking trail because of his low weight.

 

Try this with a ATV. Comparing a sled's performance in snow vs a ATV is like comparing a Logging skidder,s, performance to a corvette on a muddy bush road.

Sleds are lighter , have much more flotation and 2 to 3 times the hp of ATVs.



Now that was a 155" long Track RMK here is a nothing special 136" track ski-doo Renegade and Polaris trail sleds.

 

Sleds stop very well. The braking is through the track, so plenty to grab with. Wish I could find a video. Guy on Lake Winnepasauki (not sure on spelling and I'm in a lazy mood) was out on the ice with an Arctic Cat race sled. There was no snow on the ice to cool the tread. He floored the thing and was doing over a hundred miles per hour before the track snapped. He coasted a long way. Good thing the lake is huge.