Snowmobiling Equipment

Reviews

Have rented snowmobiles before, but now am in the market for buying and wanted a reference book to understand what's involved in owning a sled. Folks who are aware of Chilton's reputation in automotive repair will be right at home in this manual. It's technically written and has lots of specifics for maintenance of sleds and all the other necessities of safe riding from proper helmets and apparel to 'must have' kits to bring along in an emergency out on the trail. Even if you have no plans to do your own servicing, after studying this manual you will be able to hold an intelligent conversation with your snowmobile shop mechanic. There's a section on towing a trailer for your sleds that helps in getting to the trails, too. Since we are interested in a used sled, the book has been very helpful. Using newspaper style paper, there are no glitzy color photos except the covers; the black & white prints are small but sharp and show lots of detail. If you are in the market for a new sled, it might be a bit of a disappointment with a 1999 copyright date, hence the 4-stars. It does need to be updated as there is little mention of 4-stroke engines and the newer features found on the latest snowmobiles. This is a good study reference book.

If you are new to snowmobiling and want to learn how to repair basic systems on your sled this is the book for you. Not advanced, but good quality maintenance and repair examples.

This is a Chilton's general snowmobile guide. I'm not usually impressed with manuals as they are usually vague and dry, but this isn't bad. It's actually alot of fun to leaf through if you're a new snowmobiler, or a veteran of sledding. It was issued in 1999 and has most (if not all) 1999 snowmobiles in it from the "big 4". The 1st chapter is an intro to setting up shop with tools, hardware and a conversion chart. (Metric to standard,etc.). Chapter 2 is how to chose a snowmachine. 3 has riding gear and 4 is general engine & drivetrain maintenance. Even though the manual is broad in scope, it's good at theory of operation & how things work. Chapter 5 is chassis maintenance, while 6 is riding preparation. 7 is all accessories for a snowmo and 8 is cleaning. Chapter 9 covers troubleshooting for all systems (engine, drive, electrical, etc.) and chapter 10 is storage. Although this manual/book is not model specific it does make a great supplement for a model specific manual. It's easy to read and the humor in it is the icing on the cake. A great deal on Amazon.com, I might add.

As I was new to the sport I wanted some background. I ordered the book not really knowing what to expect, it turned out to be a great source of information. Keeping it basic and interesting is a very difficult balance, the authors managed really well. Lots of pictures to illustrate a well written text is central to this large paperback. This is not a new book however, it is still relevent in 2003/4; it is well worth the money and I will keep my eyes open for a future rewrite.