can anyone give me pointers on skipping water. also, will my zl 440 be powerful enough to do it?

It should be fine, but if not, you'll know it in a hurry. I'd read the post on how to dry out a sled first, just in case it goes down. Try shallow water first, maybe close to shore. The first time across will freak you out, but after that it's easy.

I think a 440 left stock would not go very far....but you never know. I would find somewere not to deep and very wide 75ft at the most and just play around you should be able to find the sleds limit....as for tips ...don't let go the of the gas..lol. :)

now thats a good tip! :D

how fast should i be going when i hit the water?

i see some guys start at waters edge, but with a 440 that may be pushing it. i have crossed water before but only when i had too, want to get into some skipping this winter though. good luck

I usually hit the water at 50 and try to maintain that speed. Throttle more if you feel the sled slowing. Too much throttle tends to weigh you down from all the water in the tunnel,depending on the sled. The first time you do it will feel strange,almost like floating in powder. You can steer on water,but do it slowly. Good luck,see you on the trails. :thumbsup:

get ready to hit the kill switch on the way down because it is not just the water the sled is ingesting the water may shut the engine down with a big halt and bend a piston rod.

Paul, u sound as though this has happened to u before. lets here it all.

ahh a first timer!!!! we have another water event this weekend. during a regatta. we are going to skim the pond in between races. ... someone is gettin wet too cause the shoreline is not that good for landings. LOL

I agree a 440 won't get that far.

I can and have made AWSOME water skipping tracks.Pm me or email me at bentech@mts.net

Pay heed to Paul's advice- water does not compress well!

Dawg,
nope never done it ;) i just happen to know the scientifics of what can happen, like Damage said "water does not compress well" :0:

The 440 will do OK. I've taken mine across many times. Just stay on the gas.
Here's a good tip if you have a bigger sled, load 4 guys on it and go. heh heh We did this back in 94 on my buddy's ZR 700. Went over around 300 feet of water. We tried it again in the summer at a buddy's camp, but put 5 guys on it. Didn't go too far. heh heh :D

I have went just over 200 ft on my form s 280, in my dug out, if I get a bigger run I can probably do the full lenght, I want to try turning and stuff a bit more, the 440 should go at least 500 ft I would say. At least

Well i discovered that water does not compress the hard way...it was May 6/03 our last weekend of water skipping in Connaught, I`ve been playing in the water with my zrt for 6 season and never sank(yet)....well started to get a little brave following the channel and i could tell that i was not going to make it, i got within 5ft of shore the water was even with the base of the cab we pulled it out i was just about to pull the plugs and someone said "mabe she did not swallow any water" not thinking right, i pulled on the cord she started for about a second then a big loud TING..... :cussing: i new what i had just did....i felt so stupid i`ve probably pulled out 50 sleds over the years and we always got them going but when it came to mine i broke the rules. To bad that 96zrt was the best sled i ever had i put it in the back yard and mabe 1 day i will bring back to life, but for this season i got a new toy 98srx a smoking deal and i already know that the don't like water. :)

"mabe she did not swallow any water" so what did u do to the guy who said that, and gave u the brian wave that maybe it didnt get :cussing: any water

I drank all his beer...lol.

well if u call that payback and are satisfied. then good job. bet he felt pretty stupid too. and everytime u hung out with him sense, u probably wanted this sign and the arrow pointing right at him. :withstupid:

right on troy ...thats a bummer about your sled but that srx should be good. i think the 440 could go on water not bad. the thing that will help is to keep the revs up. you just need to shim the secondary.that will hold your secondary at a lower ratio. like taking out the over drive.

Ryan001 came out with us once with an F-5 and he could go as long as he wanted too... a 440 i`d say its a gamble.

Originally posted by piped bravo@Jul 22 2003, 05:37 PM
Ryan001 came out with us once with an F-5 and he could go as long as he wanted too... a 440 i`d say its a gamble.
ryan could go as long as he didnt let go off the gas. he had to ride wide open the whole time, thats when you need to trade the f5 for an f7 like mine and you wont need to worry about that problem :D

so i guess what u guys r saying is i'll have no problems with my 800, Goody :D

with an 800 usually only a tech prob will make ya sink. or real rough water.

see the water in this pic. don't try and skip into a lop like this . well for much distance that is. you will never be able to hold on long enough to make it across more that 1/4 mile.. LOL
the water was too rough this day..
http://www.sled-headz.com/dan26.jpg

dont worry, i ussually dont take my sled to the beach with me like that........although it would be a good idea :sarcasm:

Cats don't like water Dawg. ;)

I think the 440 would do just fine if you're doing a straight crossing. I first tried on a 583. Once I felt comfortable (cocky) I was taking off about 10 feet from shore.

I have to disagree with hittiing the water at 50MPH. Unless you have a perfectly flat entry, that's way too fast. And you certainly don't want to hit a tall bank at the other side doing 50. I speak from experience on that one. I hit a beaver hut while I was still pretty green going at least 40. OUCH!!! :nervous:

I agree with the shallow water though. Give it a try!! Have fun!!!

I cannot believe it took you this long to find this topic idooski, :p

LOL yeh i know they dont like it, but i do and my cat goes where i tell it too...............most of the time, with my splenny 150 pds of flesh sometimes i have no say in which way my cat goes. just look at this pic that i posted earlier

another

that was me in top left corner ringing the water out of my felts and boots in the previous pic

LOL nice pics that's the prob with water in the winter. it's damn cold....LOL

Originally posted by jawz@Jul 21 2003, 11:37 AM
It should be fine, but if not, you'll know it in a hurry.* I'd read the post on how to dry out a sled first, just in case it goes down.* Try shallow water first, maybe close to shore.* The first time across will freak you out, but after that it's easy.
Don't listen to this guy. The first and only time he tried, he went down. :0: Ever heard a Mach Z with Jaws pipes under water? :doh: It is pretty easy but don't do it if you don't feel confident. Good luck

:angry:

How do you think a 93 xlt sp would do? I did it a little bit last year but i never got much goin. Not a big enough hole to do much. About 2 feet deep and any bigger holes were about 12 feet deep. Not that brave. Would she have the torque to stay up for a while or would i be better off to just sit and watch??

who says a 440 wont do good?! i beg to differ :) on my 99' mxzx 440 that thing would go till it ran outta gas, but it had lower gearing, more hp, and a 1.25" track. keep up your speed and you'll be fine. i ran my 440 into the 600 mod class at the local watercross and came in third, but shoulda had second. :doh:


only tip i can give you, stay low on the sled because if you stand up high they have a tendency to wanna sway side to side. crouch down low, keep it to the bar, and give'r. :thumbsup:

i think the closest i started from was about half a ski length away from the water, which really isnt that far. I wasnt brave enough to go any closer tho. lol. i agree with idooski, dont hit it doin 50mph, maybe 50 kmh and you should be good. it's smart to have a bit of power left on your right finger to judge whether you need more or less speed, but personally i think it'll be fine. also, let your limiter straps out so u can get the skis off the water cuz that slows you down. use lots o' duck tape to cover up the cracks and holes in the bellypan on the clutch side cuz u dont wanna let those get wet. i had a problem with a ton of water coming up through the holes in the running boards so i taped them up underneath and kept completely dry. let us know how it works out.

yea the zl 440 shud do fine i had a big ditch in the back feild with about 2 feet of ater in i t and myne crossed the thing fant and it was prolly about 500 ft long but im not 2 sure if the track wats touching the ground but my feet werent wet so prolly not

we are havin a little water show at a REgatta this weekend and we will have a guy on an MXZ 500 Liquid joining in the fun. it's about a 1000 foot run. water depth ??


and Bauer don't be afrain of 12 feet man. here is a pic of the guy we call Mental Mike in aprox 250 feet deep 3 miles long all you can see is the white water coming from his track in this pic.
http://www.sled-headz.com/mike21.jpg

here he is coming back
http://www.sled-headz.com/mike25.jpg

Bauer,the xlt is a real good skimmer. I watched a guy go all day long on a 94. Never came close to sinking her.

Fuzzy,why do you call Mike Mental Mike LOL ;) :D

MXZ7
well Let me see 3 1/2 miles of open water depth ranges from 30-250 feet and as you can see in the pic he has no life jacket on. Oh and did I mention, He can't swim a stroke...

How will my F5 do? Oh, by the way, how the heck do you guy's turn the sleds around on water...........stand and lean into it?

liquid6, it's kinda like pow, turn your skis the opposite way u wanna go and lean into it. your f5 will do awesome, no shortage of power there.

Hey Bauer, the XLT should have no problem's at all. Here's me on my 95 XCR. The water is about 25' deep and the run was a good 100 meters at a minimum.

I don't know about about you guys saying to hit the water going slow though. I hit the water at speeds anywhere from 45mph to 80mph. On my Cougar I used to hit at 45, but that was pretty shallow water. This winter the water I was running was much deeper, so I kept the speeds around 75 to 80 mph.

Hey Newf

Isnt that the Hwy 11 bridge acutally crossing the mighty Marten River (at the turn off?) ???

You guys are crazy!! I crossed water once and I scared the heck out of me. And it was only about 3 1/2 feet deep. I couldn't imagine going 1000 ft in deep water.

with all these pionters we should be all pros at this water crossing thing by next spring. :D

here are some pics from today July 26th 03
I hate havin the camera I always leave it in the truck when I am skippimg. I have no pics of myself from today only my sled by itself. the guys have lots of video of me but i have no pics on my cam
here are some of the other guys


fitst one is of a 500 MXZ oh yes the 500 made it with ease.

this pic is what happens when you don't let your sled warm up. guy is standing on his seat 20 feet from shore after he sunk and Mental is coming by on the way back givin him a good swamping

another

drag

Originally posted by Fuzzy@Jul 25 2003, 03:59 PM
3 1/2 miles of open water depth ranges from 30-250 feet and as you can see in the pic he has no life jacket on. Oh and did I mention, He can't swim a stroke...
by the looks of the side there the edge has a steep drop into the water. now if this guy can't swim a stroke then i would say he is stupid just to stand along the waters edge.
can we hedge on how long he is going to stay above ground and perpendicular ? :devil:

NorthernDealerMan, yes that is the bridge on Highway 11 crossing the Marten River. I'm living about 500m from the bridge. You've got a good eye. I was out a couple of weeks later when things were starting to break up and was crossing a really good stretch just up river, but there was no one around to take any pics. I don't like running deep water, but when the river is open right in front of your door it's hard to resist.

Did Mike have to do anything to belly pan ect. on that rev or are they a natural sea-doo looks like a load of fun I am jelous

Originally posted by paul yarek@Jul 26 2003, 09:51 PM
by the looks of the side there the edge has a steep drop into the water. now if this guy can't swim a stroke then i would say he is stupid just to stand along the waters edge.
can we hedge on how long he is going to stay above ground and perpendicular ? :devil:
yeah paul we kept tellin him the same thing. and yesterday in the pics I posted above you can see that he has now started to wear a life jacket. and this pond was only about 1 mile .. well for most of us it was there was a small grass bank seperating two ponds and he jumped it a few times and skimmed the second pond too.
here is a pic of him when he jumped it on the way back . it's a bit far away but you can still see the grass bank..

nad Johnny8 he does nothink ot his Morgan. it has a MBRP can and a 1 1/2 track . he did tape up his front vent yesterday after the wind came up and the water got real rough . the water was coming up over the sleds and hittin us in the chest....

lookd like that rev wooped up on that sea doo :D

Originally posted by dawg@Jul 27 2003, 12:33 PM
lookd like that rev wooped up on that sea doo :D
yeah but it is hard to get a good race cause they can't start side by side in the water LOL

guess that would be true, even if the sea doo or the sled was ahead, did eather won catch or loss ground to the other

DAwg they were actually fairly even. the Doo might have gotten A little bit of ground.




and for all you non believers out there about small bore sleds skimming here are a few more of the 500 MXZ that skimmed the pond no problem. he even played around on his second trip bouncing and turning.

another on his return trip

now why cant i find any lake races like that around my place ???

Anyone from quebec ever been to one ?

Hey Spanky,,,,,,,,what you need is the deep water forging snorkel kit,,,then wala!!! your a captain of your own submarine. :D Me personaly I like the hard stuff,,,crossed open water once and not buy choice had to cruise on back home and clean out the pants,,,,,,, :D

Originally posted by DanR@Jul 29 2003, 09:08 PM
now why cant i find any lake races like that around my place ???

Anyone from quebec ever been to one ?
actually Dan there wa a guy from up your way a few months ago e mailed me asking what mods were done to the Rev that Mental uses . he was planing on skimming 6 miles up there somewhere.

haven't herd back to see if he made it.. LOL

Originally posted by Fuzzy+Jul 30 2003, 05:19 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Fuzzy @ Jul 30 2003, 05:19 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-DanR@Jul 29 2003, 09:08 PM
now why cant i find any lake races like that around my place* ???

Anyone from quebec ever been to one ?
actually Dan there wa a guy from up your way a few months ago e mailed me asking what mods were done to the Rev that Mental uses . he was planing on skimming 6 miles up there somewhere.

haven&#39;t herd back to see if he made it.. LOL [/b][/quote]
well if ever you tell him to contact me !

Maybe i should look into a trip down your way this winter

Hmmmmmmmmm, i think i will forget about my last post, unless i fly down, its 1500km plus i dont no how many hours it is to cross on the boat ? ...........

why use a boat ? just get Mental to pick you up on the REV..lol :)

Originally posted by piped bravo@Jul 30 2003, 02:01 PM
why use a boat ? just get Mental to pick you up on the REV..lol :)
LMFAO!!!!



Dan if you were to come to the Rock with your sled the west coast of the island out where J Wheeler Lives is the place to be. just pure hevan for a sledder. It&#39;s about a 6 hour drive for me...

as for the boat 6-10 hrs in the winter unless ya get cought in the ice. then it could be 3-4 days LOL

Hey
this mental guy should go for the world record.. look in the 2004 guiness book and the record is only 11. some odd miles... we were gonna try when we get the good ol&#39; rxl back together..

Ben

Originally posted by DanR@Jul 30 2003, 05:57 PM
Hmmmmmmmmm, i think i will forget about my last post, unless i fly down, its 1500km plus i dont no how many hours it is to cross on the boat ? ...........
Hey DanR, it&#39;s really not that bad. From Montreal it&#39;s 15hrs drive time to North Sydney, then you take the 11:30pm boat. At 6am you start driving again, and it&#39;s under 2 hours to Stephenville or Corner Brook. Hotels are cheap, restaurants are cheap and there&#39;s getting to be more and more outfitters who have cabins you can stay at for very reasonable prices.
And, if you&#39;re into off-trail riding, it&#39;s the expirience of a life-time.

Hey Fuzzy, what pond are you guys crossing in all those pics. And I&#39;m curious about you crossing water during the Regatta. Was that the St. John&#39;s Regatta? That would be pretty cool to be skimming Quidi Vidi on regatta day. You&#39;s have a few spectators, to say the least! :thumbsup:

Originally posted by NewfieBullet@Nov 29 2003, 10:09 PM
Hey Fuzzy, what pond are you guys crossing in all those pics. And I&#39;m curious about you crossing water during the Regatta. Was that the St. John&#39;s Regatta? That would be pretty cool to be skimming Quidi Vidi on regatta day. You&#39;s have a few spectators, to say the least! :thumbsup:
LOL we were ar Golden Bay Sands in some of the pics . early the summer. the reggata was Whitbourn regatta. they wouldn&#39;t let us anywhere near quidi Vidi Lake . you are not alowed to have motor powered boats in teh pond now.. LOL

the guys have done Paddys Pond and octagone pond and across dear Lake a few times.

i had a ditch around my house that wat about 2 feet deep and i went across the whole thing on my zl 440 with no problem it was probably about 500-700 feet long, it went down the whole feild, i havent tried deeper water yet tho cuz i dont want to lose a sled underneath the water

If you only want to skip go fast but your clutches will be overriden by the drag .If you want to ride watter tighten up the secondairy about 2 holles and you could drop 2 teeth on top sprocket and then be able to accelerate . be sure to sillecone all cracks as water seems to find ways in ,if it commes in you wont make it to shore even if your close.

all this and I would be the fool to sink it,,,,,, think I will stick to snow for now,,,,,or grass (tend to have more of that in Ohio)

you`ll tend too find a few open spots here at the lake but nothing major.

Originally posted by fix it@Nov 30 2003, 12:02 AM
If you only want to skip go fast but your clutches will be overriden by the drag .If you want to ride watter tighten up the secondairy about 2 holles and you could drop 2 teeth on top sprocket and then be able to accelerate . be sure to sillecone all cracks as water seems to find ways in ,if it commes in you wont make it to shore even if your close.
I do nothing to mine ... Rides her just like she came from teh shop. the only thing I do is turn the rear shock to soft. and all that takes is the turn of a dial.. I have done over a mile with ease. and some of the guys with me have done 7+ miles with 0 mods for the water..

Here&#39;s a picture of my buddy on his RMK about to go through the culvert.

Try this at Dorset Ontario

The itch was to big for me to wait for snow, had to give the sled a little squeeze. :D

now that&#39;s the spirit!!!! Might be doing some skipping this weekend. guys got a few new sleds and are sick of watin also..LOL

Nothing beats a Mach Z on water. We were up at New Liskerd in a few years ago and we had to cross the river to get to the trail, after a few crossings we were just going up the middle. The 1997 Mach Z I had at the time was like a Sea-Doo. You could let off the throttle almost come to a stop with water rising 3-4 inches over the running boards, then squeeze and get right back on plain and fast.

I miss my Mach Z.

OH boy I beg to differ here.. the Rev 800 (morgan) . it is unreal. we have so much water footage and everytime I see them it still blows my mind. .... nothing like it
http://www.sled-headz.com/mike23.jpg

you can stand it up like this at any time you like slow down and do it again. it is wild. if you follow the link below to the sled-headz page there are two video teasers there that have a fair bit of water footage and teh morgans rule .. hands down.
http://www.sled-headz.com/010_14.jpg

Does it matter if you have studs ? Do they slow you down ? I want to try my &#39;04 Adreneline with 144 studs, any special hints?

they are better without but you won&#39;t have any problem at all.