You’ve bought a new snowmobile, and now you are wondering how long you can expect it to last? The answer is forever if you take care of it and replace worn down parts; if you do not want to work on it all the time we are looking at between 10k and 15k miles. If you replace all the parts of your snowmobile over time though is it still the same snowmobile? That is a great philosophy question but let us look at how to keep your sled running for a long time, 20 years is not that hard a time to make your sled last.
How many miles?
There are a lot of stories of people having their snowmobiles last 20 years or more on the various snowmobile forums. If we assume 1000 miles per year that means we can see some snowmobiles lasting 20k miles. For many people, this is why 10k to 15k is regarded as the life expectancy of a snowmobile.
A lot can happen in a decade and to make our snowmobile last that long, we need to take care of it and replace wearable parts at the correct times. So let us have a look at some of the major components that will require work and care.
How long will my engine last?
You may consider the engine to be your snowmobile and wonder how long your engine will last? A pretty fair question, and if you want maximum engine life, you would want to be looking for a four-stroke engine
over a two-stroke engine. As with all things in life, there are pros and cons to this. With a two-stroke engine, most of us have the ability to rebuild it in our garage, a four stroke though and we may be looking for some help.
It does not matter if you buy a four-stroke or a two-stroke though if you do not take care and maintenance of your sled’s engine. Not taking care is the quickest way to have to go and buy a new engine, or get stranded in the middle of nowhere. You want to break a new snowmobile, or engine, in gently. I know you want to hit that throttle and get rad but don’t.
If you are running a two-stroke read your manufacturer’s instructions on fuel mixing, not all manufacturers are the same. It only takes two minutes and will save you a load of heartache. Use the manufacturer’s guide on oil; this applies to four-stroke engines as well. Your engine is optimized for certain oils, so use those and don’t buy whatever is on offer at the auto parts store. Never use motorcycle oil, it doesn’t like cold weather.
It is all a little foggy
To keep your engine in tip-top shape, you will want to be fogging your engine for offseason storage. Fogging is the process to cover your rods, pins, crankshaft bearings, and cylinder walls in a small layer of oil. The fogging of your engine is important as it will stop these parts from rusting if they rust we could be looking at a complete engine failure.
The steps you need to complete:
- Access your carburetor to fog your engine
- At this point, you need to remove your airbox in order to complete the operation
- Please be careful of wires and connections when doing this, otherwise, you can break something
Run the engine slightly above idle and start to spray the fogging oil into the engine, during intake. Keep changing cylinders and do this until you have white smoke coming out of the exhaust. Your engine will splutter here, let it do so and shut down. If your sled has a carburetor, turn off its fuel supply and remove the drain plug. Let the gas drain out.
Congratulations, your sled will now live longer. Some brands, Arctic Cat, have sleds you should not fog, so make sure and check your manufacturer’s guidelines before starting.
If you follow the correct maintenance schedule, your manufacturer will have a guide and do not cut any corners, and store your sled correctly during the summer you can easily get 10k miles out of your snowmobile’s engine.
Tracking down the answers
Your snowmobile’s tracks are a bit like your car tires and will need to be checked for wear and replaced when they start to wear down or degrade. You should not need to replace tracks every year unless you do a lot of time on the road and then the question is why are you riding on the road? In the forums, you will find tales of people with 20-year-old tracks so that they can last a long time.
The best time to check your sled’s tracks is in the offseason; this should give you the time to check properly and replace if needed. Slowly visually inspect your snowmobile’s tracks, look for cracks or signs the rubber might be wearing out. There is no way to prevent these cracks as this happens to all rubber, the best you can do to delay it is to store your sled away from sunlight and keep it somewhere dry.
The next thing to check is your track’s lugs. You might rip a few lugs off from mistakes riding, and you can get away with one or two missing from this. They will have a clean breakage point. If the breaking point 
looks fatigued or crumbling, then your track is getting old and is starting to degrade. Changing your track if this is happening is a priority.
Your tracks then can have a load of miles or not very many but can deteriorate. So keep your sled stored well and don’t ride on roads or the wrong snow conditions and your tracks will live long.
Belt up
Your drive belts are an integral part of your snowmobile, you are not going anywhere without them, but many people do not take care of them, do not be that person. Sure your belt may seem like a few fibers and a circle pattern, but they are made to work with high tolerances, so any mistreatment and you will be heading down the auto parts store to get new ones.
The professional answer is that belts should last around 1200- 1500 miles. If you are riding a big beast and are throttle-happy, you will be bringing that average down. If you are cruising trails with no powder, you will be pulling that average up.
Your belt will last longer if you correctly break it in. Fitting new belts and then just pulling the throttle is not going to do your bank account or your new belts that world of good. Please break them in gently. Run them through three heat cycles and at the same time not get more than half-throttle on them while you run through the cycles.
You will also want to remove your drive belts for the offseason if you are not planning on replacing them for the next season. You will want to store them somewhere cool and dry, and never fold them. Proper storage eliminates any chance of the belt molding into its installation shape, it will not be fun to start next season, or that moisture can build up between the belts and clutch sheaves.
Have a bath
You now have the idea of the importance of maintenance if you want to make your sled last as long as possible but have you thought about the ultimate pampering that will help? Bath your snowmobile. You can fill the water with lavender bubbles and have scented candles around your bathtub, but it is going to be a nightmare getting your sled into it.
So you probably want to use a hose and give it a good wash down, removing debris, grease, and mud. Then make sure you dry it properly, not doing this is going to shorten your sled’s life. Or you could be like Dustin Schwandt and use your dishwasher to do this.
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If you have any tips for maintenance leave them in the comments below, you will be rewarded with e-kudos.
