HI there, let me introduce myself. My name is Bill, married and two boys 5-8.I have grew up with sleds,quads and dirt bikes. I live in Manitoba Canada, and here is my dillema. I have a sled,my 8 year has a borrowed sled from a buddy that does not use it any more and my 5 year old is riding a kittycat that he is pretty much outgrown. The 8 year old likes sledding and the 5 will ride with me, but he is a warm weather boy, and showing little or no intrest in the kittytcat. I should also mention that i got them a mint 86 yammie moto 4 80, that the 8 year old loves to ride. So the prob is that i have a $5000+ sled sitting in the garage that i only use for 4 months of the year, and dont forget that every time i go out it is atleast $20 in fuel. I bought the new to me sled this fall and so far we had 8-10in of snow, and it is rock hard now.When i bought this sled the wife made the comment that i could keep my old sled and get a quad, or sell the sled and get a newer one, seeing that i can borrow my buddies quad that is on his ranch,but it is 20 mins away. I guess that i am having buyers remorse because this winter sucks for snow,and in hind sight i should have kept the old and bought a quad. I am going to sell the kittycat, but am still trying to convince myself to sell my sled, oh yea, just buying a quad for me is not a option because the wife is only working casual because she is in universtity and still has 3 years left. I thought that when i sell the kcat i would buy the 5 year old a little 50, but what if he shows little or no intrest in it? I would sell my sled and have found a 98 honda 300 sport that i like ,or a new thought is to keep my sled and sell the kcat and buy a 88 q sport that is local. I can get $1200 for the kitty and the guy wants $1500 for the quad sport. What to do, what to do. So who else has dumped the pricy sport of sledding, and went to quadding. Thanks to all that reply. Sorry for the long post.

 

Many people have dropped the sport of snowmobiling for quads. Much longer season 8 or 9 months vs 3 or 4 months for sleds and more enjoyable weather. I don,t find sledding a large expense because I,m lucky to get out 4 times a winter anyways and have long gave up on buying Ontario's $230 trail passes,I also sold my $5000 sled for a decent $1800 sled. You will notice that second hand sleds are much less expensive and available than used ATVs.

An example is I sold a rough looking 89 Yamaha Bigbear ATV for $1800(Canadian) while I bought a Mint shape 97 500 Ski-doo 500 2 up Touring with electric start and reverse for $1800.

Just because you live in Farm country would be enough reason to buy a ATV for me.

What I did was down gade the sled and bought a used ATV, I,m in both sports for the same price I payed for a new high powered sled.

 

if the guy want 1500 for an 88 q sport thats too much i wouldt but it for that much i think u should sell the sled and buy a used wheeler u can use them all year around and u could buy a cheap sled i got a warrior that i use all the time and i also got a sled cause i live up here in maine

 

Remember he is talking Canadian prices, a new 700 Grizzly sells for $9000 in Canada.

 

That price for the q sport is what they are going for, have found 3 sofar and that one is the cheapest. The 300 honda is a 98 and they want 2995 for it. Also found a 05 honda 400 for 5700. Both are sport models.

 

If those are the choices you have, and you do get a quad deffinately get the 05 400 it's newer so you'll probably have less problems with it and it has a good amount of power, also many people say they are good for beginners

 

Well sounds like my story!!...LOL......I still have my two older Yamaha sleds.........1994 V-Max 500cc and my wife's 1989 Yamaha Exciter 570cc.......I choose to keep them due to the fact I can't get very much for them(money) and there in very good shape!!!...There worth more to me then what the market is selling them for ...
As for the Quads........

Back in 2006 I bought two Sportsman 450's and we spend all our trail time now on them.

I do very much miss the fast 2-stroke sleds but here in Ontario before I hit the snowmobiling trails.....I need to dish out over $400.00 for insurance and $360.00 for two trail passes($180.00 each before Dec 01)
That is over $760.00 before we even get SNOW!!!!!.....They (OFSC) call it a Family sport...Yeh Right!!!!

If I were you I would take the Family including the Wife. And rent them(ATV's) for the day BEFORE you make your choice!!!.......My bet is you all will have a great time and this will give you your answer before you hand over all that CASH!!!!!....Hope that helps........Caper..........

 

I love snowmobiling, even more than quading. I like to ride off the trails in the powder. But in your situation I would say get some quads. Snowmobiling does not really work well with younger kids. I chose to have all olders machines so I could have both. I'd say sell the sled, you can get another decent one for $2,000. We sold my son's 1999 Skidoo Mini Z 120, and bought him a 2004 Polaris Predator 50 for the same price (BTW the 50cc quad goes faster than the 120cc sled). He gets a lot more use out of it and can ride a lot longer w/o having to worry about getting too cold. ATV's are much more family friendly in my opinion.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: caperinmuskoka

Well sounds like my story!!...LOL......I still have my two older Yamaha sleds.........1994 V-Max 500cc and my wife's 1989 Yamaha Exciter 570cc.......I choose to keep them due to the fact I can't get very much for them(money) and there in very good shape!!!...There worth more to me then what the market is selling them for ...

As for the Quads........



Back in 2006 I bought two Sportsman 450's and we spend all our trail time now on them.



I do very much miss the fast 2-stroke sleds but here in Ontario before I hit the snowmobiling trails.....I need to dish out over $400.00 for insurance and $360.00 for two trail passes($180.00 each before Dec 01)

That is over $760.00 before we even get SNOW!!!!!.....They (OFSC) call it a Family sport...Yeh Right!!!!


</end quote></div>

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>They (OFSC) call it a Family sport...Yeh Right!!!! </end quote></div>

OFSC better get its act together. I did alot of snowmobiling this year but I only needed my trail pass once,last Saturday.

I will not be getting a $180-$230 pass next year. I could not believe it was a weekend on a March break with mild sunny weather and I only seen 5 sleds on a 90 mile loop ride.

I think they should sell $30 day passes to get more members not just raise there prices.

 

I still will not put insurance on my sled for a $30.00 day pass every time I ride!!.........Caper.........

If your going to get insurance on the sled.......then really the sled should be used for the whole season!!!