# Smitty Sled Anyone Build One ?



## papaperch

Been doing a lot of reading on the " Smitty Sled ". So named after the guy that designed it. The original is based on downhill snow skis. I am thinking on doing one with conduit tubing.

Anyone venture down this road before ? Supposedly this sled really lightens the load for pulling vs the normal plastic sleds. Would like to know if anyone here felt it was well worth the effort in building one.

Long time ago I experimented with a plywood box with inserts mounted on snow skis. Worked beautiful until the first big snow hit. That trip there it felt like I was trying to drag an battle tank sideways across the ice.


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## FISHIN 2

Check out www.iceshanty.com , might find one there, Mke


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## Fish2Win

Papa I built one 2 yrs ago and highly recommend it. The sleds so easy to pull now with all my equipment loaded up. Just to give you an example... 1. 2 man otter shanty with 2 45lb kids sitting in it, power auger, marcum flasher, marcum 625 camera, all my fishing rods, tackle, heater, enough snacks to feed a elementary school!!! I pulled through a foot of snow with ease. Forget about the conduit!!!! It's not that good. I'll shoot you some pics and video later today or tomorrow 
F2W


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## Erieangler51

Fish2Win said:


> Papa I built one 2 yrs ago and highly recommend it. The sleds so easy to pull now with all my equipment loaded up. Just to give you an example... 1. 2 man otter shanty with 2 45lb kids sitting in it, power auger, marcum flasher, marcum 625 camera, all my fishing rods, tackle, heater, enough snacks to feed a elementary school!!! I pulled through a foot of snow with ease. Forget about the conduit!!!! It's not that good. I'll shoot you some pics and video later today or tomorrow
> F2W



How much u charging? Yes conduit ones are junk. Buddy made one and it was actually harder to pull.


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## nixmkt

Definitely worth building one. Built one with conduit then built one with skis because of difficulties in deep snow with the conduit one. Your plywood box on skis should have pulled relatively easy in any type of snow while riding on top of the snow. What made it difficult to pull in the snow? Were the skis mounted directly to the bottom of the box with little or no clearance so you ended up plowing snow when the skis sunk in slightly?


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## nixmkt

Erieangler51 said:


> How much u charging? ...



Young single guy like you should be rolling in money. For the right price can fix you up good.


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## Erieangler51

Haha Tom just givin him a hard time. I am planning on making one in the near future.


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## fishingful

Steelhead1 and I built 2 last year for our flip shanty's. Drug them out on mosquito and the worked really well in the snow. I used snow skis and he used cross country skis. Both worked well and could be pulled with 2 fingers. Mine was heavier and the cross country skis seemed to preform a little better. we made them so they always stayed together and didn't break down. One fits perfectly in a truck bed..


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## papaperch

Thanks guys. Guess I will have to scrounge some skis up somewhere.


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## Fish2Win

I bought mine for 5$ at goodwill in fairlawn. You should be able to find them at any thrift store cheap. I think smitty who designed the original sled said downhill skis worked better. I have the downhills and haven't tried the cross country's.


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## fishingful

papaperch said:


> Thanks guys. Guess I will have to scrounge some skis up somewhere.


I came across some cross country skis on the curb during trash night. I also picked up a 5.00 set at a thrift store. Look for them now they will be cheep. They put 10-15 bucks on them when the snow fly's.


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## RStock521

They are great! Check out iceshanty.com, that's where Smitty posted his original design and there's a thread with a hundred different iterations that people have come up with on there. I built one over the summer that breaks down for easy transportation and storage. Definitely makes hauling gear much easier. If you're looking for skis try calling a local ski shop or ski resort. They get trade-ins that they can't use or rentals that become junk and just throw them out. I called Geigers and they offered to give me a set for free, but right after that my uncle called and said he had a set for me.


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## Billfish

I built 2 of them in the last 2 years. One with downhill skis and one with cross country skis. One is a little longer for my 2-man and hub and the other is short enough to fit into my subaru for my one man flip. I'm 67 yrs old and don't have the oomph I used to have. Both have been life savers and make pulling much easier. I followed Fish-2-Win's plans and they worked perfectly.


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## FISHIN 2

I have 10 sets if anyone needs a pair or two, 5.00/ pr. located in Bucyrus but travel to erie frequently. Mike


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## papaperch

Wish you were closer to me Fishin 2. Went hunting for a pair today and came up empty. One Goodwill store did have a set but wanted close to 40.00 for them.


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## fishingful

papaperch said:


> Wish you were closer to me Fishin 2. Went hunting for a pair today and came up empty. One Goodwill store did have a set but wanted close to 40.00 for them.


I will keep my eyes out for you. There is a thrift store in the old Hartville hardwear location that has them pretty cheep. I go there quite a bit


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## Erieangler51

fishingful said:


> I will keep my eyes out for you. There is a thrift store in the old Hartville hardwear location that has them pretty cheep. I go there quite a bit


Shhhh I was going to stop there tomorrow right down the road I'll take a peek tomorrow and let u guys know


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## Erieangler51

I found a gott 80 qt cooler for $4 there the day after I spent $60 on a 120 qt Coleman,


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## fishingful

Erieangler51 said:


> I found a gott 80 qt cooler for $4 there the day after I spent $60 on a 120 qt Coleman,


Yea that place is hit or miss. I picked up a 1930s clam bake double steamer there 3 weeks ago for 8 bucks. They go online for 60 to 80.


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## Erieangler51

Very hit or miss. Alot of the time they don't have what your looking and you end up walking out with something totally different but the next time your in they have what you wanted last trip.


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## fishingful

I don't go looking for anything in particular. I think the most I spent was 15 bucks for the comphy chair I am sitting in now. But....back to the topic I will look for something skis there.


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## RStock521

I'm telling you guys, try calling a ski shop for their throw-aways. Might save you a lot of running around...The shop that I called said they normally give them to some guy who builds Adirondack chairs out of them, so they much get rid of a lot.


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## papaperch

You were right on there Rstock521. Called ski shop yesterday and got no answer. Today they called me to see why I called. Explained what I wanted and she offered a pair free of charge. Great Tip. 
A big THANK YOU


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## RStock521

Nice! Glad it worked


papaperch said:


> You were right on there Rstock521. Called ski shop yesterday and got no answer. Today they called me to see why I called. Explained what I wanted and she offered a pair free of charge. Great Tip.
> A big THANK YOU


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## kneedeep

OK i just found some skis on craigslist and picked up a set. She has three more sets and wants $5 a pair or $20 for all. I only needed two and she said it was ok to post the link.
http://cleveland.craigslist.org/spo/5254109030.html
PS. she may change the price,,lol


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## Lee in NEOH

I got mine at a ski shop also. They are always pitching rental skis. You won't regret it Papaperch. My Smitty glides right through the stuff. Going to give it a paint job before the weather gets too cold.


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## icebucketjohn

Here's some pics off the web:


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## Ernie #53

Fish2Win said:


> Papa I built one 2 yrs ago and highly recommend it. The sleds so easy to pull now with all my equipment loaded up. Just to give you an example... 1. 2 man otter shanty with 2 45lb kids sitting in it, power auger, marcum flasher, marcum 625 camera, all my fishing rods, tackle, heater, enough snacks to feed a elementary school!!! I pulled through a foot of snow with ease. Forget about the conduit!!!! It's not that good. I'll shoot you some pics and video later today or tomorrow
> F2W


I’m interested in your plans. Are you sharing?


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## fishwendel2

I have built close to a dozen of them over the years. Simple design the better and they can pull some serious weight if built properly. One key is too have enough clearance to pull through the snow. Another is to wax the skis - makes for one finger pulling on ice


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## mousejam515

I have some ski that ibj picked up for me a few years ago, and then we didnt have any ice, so I didnt build the sled yet. I went to home depot last night to get the remaining parts to assemble it. I am wondering how tall to make it? I am thinking 6 inches would be sufficient. I also read that it is better to not make it square? That it should be narrower in the front to help it track straight? How much narrower is needed? Or do I even need to worry about it since I am just pulling by hand?


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## RStock521

Here's a couple pics of mine and the measurements. Make sure you measure your sled for the distance between the front/back cross bars so that it fits nicely. I didn't measure mine, and just got lucky, but it's a little longer than it should be and if I did it again, I'd place them a little closer. If I don't strap my sled down, it'll slide forward or backwards between the bars sometimes.
















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## Evinrude58

x2 on making sure the cross bars are close enough together. Mine pulls fine and it is square. I used 2x8 for the risers and the cross bars rest on top so I have an 8 inch clearance. If you use 2x8 and sink your cross bars into the risers you will have about 6 inches clearance. Mine is about 42 inches wide so I can fit a jet sled beside my hub.


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## Ernie #53

Does it disassemble easily? I load my sled onto an SUV.


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## Evinrude58

I also drive a small SUV. Mine breaks down into four parts, the two skis and the two cross bars. Takes 30 seconds to disassemble and maybe 45 to assemble. To take apart you just pull the cross bars up. Takes longer to put together because I have to make sure I put the right cross bar in the right location.


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## Ernie #53

Evinrude58 said:


> I also drive a small SUV. Mine breaks down into four parts, the two skis and the two cross bars. Takes 30 seconds to disassemble and maybe 45 to assemble. To take apart you just pull the cross bars up. Takes longer to put together because I have to make sure I put the right cross bar in the right location.


Sweet! Thanks!


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## RStock521

Evinrude58 said:


> I also drive a small SUV. Mine breaks down into four parts, the two skis and the two cross bars. Takes 30 seconds to disassemble and maybe 45 to assemble. To take apart you just pull the cross bars up. Takes longer to put together because I have to make sure I put the right cross bar in the right location.


 Good point about making sure the cross bars are in the right spot. I numbered my cross bars and the bases (1,2,3,4) so that way I know where exactly where each one needs to go. You can see in my pics what I'm talking about.

I also attach my rope with caribiners and using a long rope helps with the drag. I use caribiners because I can quickly disconnect them in an emergency to throw the rope to someone if they fall through.


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## bustedrod

way ahead of you guys by years lol built mine from old lawn chairs and skis


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## Evinrude58

Rstock good idea about attaching rope that way. Not sure why I didn't do that as that is how my rope is attached to my flip. My ropes are twenty feet or so which puts me about ten feet from sled/smitty. The longer rope the better though too long and it can just get in the way. I just marked my cross bars front and back.


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## ironman172

I used a expandable plastic toboggan when I was going ice fishing , work great and pulled easy loaded..... never opened all the way (3 sections) and collapsed very compact for transport
Thought of making one with snow skies ,till I found the toboggan


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## Ernie #53

bustedrod said:


> way ahead of you guys by years lol built mine from old lawn chairs and skis
> View attachment 463793


great use of light-weight aluminum. Pretty sure its aluminum. I just bought my skis at a thrift store for $6. I did call some local ski shops but it was a no go.


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## TClark




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## fishwendel2

Ernie #53 said:


> Does it disassemble easily? I load my sled onto an SUV.











Yes it does


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