Kid Safe Snowmobile; Built Cheap!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ม.ค. 2025
- I broke my snowmobile and fixing it the right way didn't seem fun. I decided to turn this Ski-Doo Citation 300 into a kid-friendly training snowmobile. Using a cheap Predator type engine and some leftover parts, this sled has a new life.
Thanks for the comments looking out for our safety on the fuel leak issue. I never noticed it at the time, it's a good thing I put a camera under the hood! The problem is solved now.
If your child smiles this big, you know it's a success. Well done. 👍
The smile on your daughter's face...you're a good hack master, but a great dad!
best yet: he build that thing. he didnt just buy it off some shelf to sedate a spoiled brat.
he made something with his own hands.
Low buck garage : Man actually finds use for all the old stuff keeps in the garage!
That's why it's not hoarding.
@@kensherwin4544 exactly
That is where I'm at in life. If I need to accomplish a task I look around for the stuff to make the tools I need to get it done easier.
By sheer coincidence, Mustie1 did a snowmobile video today too. Yours was far more entertaining, by a factor of 5!
Dear talltom.
Unfortunately I simply had to stop watching Mustie1 (one of my previous favorite channels if not my favourite). And this although I definitely like him and his unique laughing very much. But I saw him disassemble, clean and assemble at least 100 small carburetors. I also saw him fixing a ton of snow plows, lawn mowers and similar things. I'm really tired of watching these things. Unfortunately he does not finish a lot of (old) projects. For instance I often asked him about his great 2stroke Jawa motorcycle (does not need much to be finished). Additionally a lot of people want to see the VW double cab finished at last. He also does not build really cool stuff anymore. The number of views are dropping since years. But, of course, it's his channel. And maybe it's enough for him just like it is. In any case I wish him well.
Best regards, luck and health in particular.
@@Chr.U.Cas1622 I'm with you, I loved watching Darren's videos and would never miss one. It really started to get stale when he moved into the bigger building ,
I don't fault him for it, everyone needs to grow. But, unfortunately, when he did move, the videos just started to feel less "personnel" like the ones in his home garage felt. It was just like hanging out with a buddy and tipping back a few cold ones. I loved his VW builds and was mostly there for those, but stayed for all his others. I just got bored of the whole routine and hated it when he started being super secretive about stuff. I haven't watched any of his videos in about 3 years even though I still subscribe to his channel, I feel I owe that to him for the hours of enjoyable content I got from him. -Jason
During the great depression your hoardings were called "resources." It saved lives. The King of Obsolete (youtube channel) calls it Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle. James, despite my life being a tale of woe with the inflation and political climate, you made me chuckle. Your wit and humor overcoming obstacles, or disregarding them, as you went about totally rebuilding that old ski-doo got me out of the blues. Thank you! and I am so glad you made it workout. A very well deserved Thumbs up. ben/ michigan
Sir, I love watching your videos. You are such a great dad. Always remember it’s not hoarding, it’s “collecting valuable components “. Keep up the good work.
The shop teacher every kid needs....!
The bearings sounds like a angle grinder when spinning most would replace so oil it and go on.😂😂😂
This is one of my favorite channels, so thanks for all the hard work and time you put into it!
Someone else probably commented already, I notice a dripping gas leak out of the bottom of the carb in the video. My sister and I used to ride around on a mini-bike at our uncle's house. One of those times, we started smelling gas, stopped and told our uncle. After looking, he told us we were lucky we didn't become char-broiled neice and nephew, then invited for dinner. Because I'd watched plenty of Bugs Bunny, I knew what he meant, so I replied, "No, we have the wrong kind of spices on us...gasoline is not going to taste good, Uncle!" He laughed then looked at us with a sinister look, "I'm not picky". We looked at each other and ran off yelling for our dad. When we found him, he was in the back yard getting the grill ready for dinner. My sis gasped, "They're both in on it...MOM!!!!!!!!"
Dang, that was 52 years ago. Time flies.
After dinner, he replaced a gasket and we were in business again. Sis held a flashlight so we could keep riding. We still laugh about all that.
You are a good dad, I know one when I see him in action...let your kids know not to grow up too fast, savor what's in front of them by just being a kid. I'll never forget the times learning from my dad, uncle and grandpa in the garage. That time helped me stay out of trouble when a lot of the other kids my age were trying to grow up too fast, trying drugs, joining gangs (Riverside, CA) and trying to out-do each other. My interests kept me out of that stuff, thank God!
"and if you're watching this channel, you probably have a lot of this stuff lying around too"
the man knows his audience LOL
Once again, taking junk from the scrap pile and turning it into something useful. And having fun doing it. And your kid having fun too. That's a big win!
Superb - and daughter approved too! That's even more win... The only thing you might want to do now is put mesh over the air intake and exhaust pipe, just so you don't end up "customizing" your engine airflow with small hairy home-making creatures during 'gravel season'. If wildlife gets under the hood, no real problem, but they may affect performance of your gubbins if they get inside the engine.
inhaling random junk into the cooling system is also generally not recommendable
The smile on her face says it all.
A day with your video to watch, is always a better day. Cheers mate
Fantastic!!..I did not know that solenoids could be repaired so easily...really awesome!!!..Again you make the high desert look really great...The smile on Your daughter's face was priceless...-John
You have an exceptional collection of good stuff. The part or piece you pull out of your stash without having to leave the house is WAY better than the one you have to go buy and spend time and money on.
What a neat modification for the kids to learn on.
Another great snowmobile mod I saw in Northern Quebec back in the early 1960s, was the owner adapted (what looked liked shopping cart) wheels to the front and rear of each ski, and used the machine all summer. I have never owned one, but have driven them often enough to know how much fun they are. I always enjoy your videos.
One point. If you have sled with slides for the track please do not drive it with out snow and i mean proper snow. If it has wheels on the bottom when its fine on little snow but still driving on sand etc will wreck the track and those can be hella expensive. Mines is almost more than the whole vehicle is worth. Also when bying look for cracks and rips etc any damage on the track will lead to issue ans should be noted when buying. Unless you plan on trashing and then swapping the engine into something else keep good care of the track. If you do swap the engine please do offer the rest around as spares. I would love if someone offered me spares for my skidoo MX formula, but most likely those are other side of the world, but hey might as well make someones day giving them spares they need to get another back on snow. Another thing is if you swap the engine into summer vehicle you need to swap in larger jet after testing everything works. Running bit rich will cool the engine and system was designed to colder temps so its designed to run bit leaner. If its aircooled you can use bit rich to keep engine cooled too. If its water cooled swap into larger maybe car radiator since mind the one in track well should be cooled by thrown snow rather constantly, so it needs to be larger than whats in the track well, might need to test different ones around to see whats working right.
Aww, as we see in its natural habitat, a well organized hoarder. lol love your show i always look forward to the next episode..
I'd call this one a win, too.
He'd hate me if I lived next door. I'd be unable to stop myself.... I've got this part, and I'm not sure how to fix it...
That's five or six of these videos I've just binge-watched.
And they're too interesting for me to work and watch at the same time.
28:54 - 30:55 Sums up the almost aggressive " This WILL be fixed" attitude I also try to live by. Good man, best channel.
I wounder what it would be like to put that engine and pulls into a go cart Sounds fun 😂😂
The smile on that kid's face!
Nice work.
Most electric start engines have generators under the flywheel. You should be able to charge that battery and use the lighting system on the sled.
It is nice to see when you fix something the way I would. Makes me feel smarter somehow
Very nice work and innovation! But try to remember, it’s for the kids. (Less testing for dad)
What you did with the starter solenoid I did years ago with the external fuel pump on my ‘82 Toyota Creseda. It stopped on my wife on the highway so I went out and found the wire broken where it went through the plastic end cap. Took it off went to the shop and did what you did only I sealed the cap with silicone, put it back on and that pump ran for 100,000 miles till some idiot smashed into the car totaling it. It’s a shame cause those were like the Cadillac of the Toyota’s in there day
That little metal cube in the ignition box you weren’t sure about is what makes the low oil shutdown work. On something kids will ride it’s smart to leave it on and working.
Could have swore i saw you and your daughter driving through Iowa this past week 😂
👍
It’s nice to see you having fun with your kids
It pays to be a hoarder! Someone once told me that it's not really hoarding if you are saving something for future use. That's called planning, apparently!
Hey it is yt's favorite shop teacher
Showin us how to have fun on a low budget/s
Finding those parts and the belt is the exact reason why we should NEVER tidy up in the shed. Everything is exactly where we left it 😂😂
It's not how well you get the stuff to work, it's that you get it to work at all. And you do!
You’re the best dad, those kids will remember that trip forever. We don’t get many snow mobiles here but I’ll keep my eyes pealed for one. Oh, then I have to find somewhere to use it. Cheers, Stuart. Australia 🇦🇺
Citation 300! Best sled ever made
You don't need a "kid safe" snowmobile, you need a snowmobile safe kid.
Cut my teeth on old yellow Ski Doos. Nice job! I mean, you could have just adjusted the throttle on the original mill to only give about 25% but what kind of video would that have been? I have a '68 black stripe with a ten horse 247 off a '66 I parted out when I was about 14. That thing tops out about 25 but will run all day on a gallon of premix. Might wiegh 250 lbs so it's easy to move. I like that little tilt bed trailer, looks handy!
4:15 Those bearings are noisy, but still turning. They seem fine to me! Just grease em up good!
it's really funny you taking the track off. Loosen the tensioner, remove 4 bolts and the whole skid assy comes out in one piece.
Replace any and bearings, they don't do so good in the cold.
Bad bearings have ruined tracks, but it's no big deal, they are cheap(500 to 1000)
Those frames had several different motors in them.
Most people(70's and 80's) got 12 Elan's for their kids, Small, light, reliable, good all round machines
The older machines are better, cheaper, easier to work on, light
She will never forget that day. There's a song "She thinks we're fishing " it's appropriate for this too.
That was a fine bunch of backyrard engineering! Seeing your kids having fun is the best part.
This is the Imagination garage channel. I pity the next solenoid I find ! Lol
Brilliant and very Smart.
Awesome video, that's very similar to one of my current projects: swapping out the 440cc engine from a 1991 artic cat Prowler to put in a golf cart, and replacing it with a 5hp 2stroke snowblower engine so my kiddo can ride full out. Very helpful, thanks man.
Wow My elan is going to be delivered tomorrow it's a 1971 be my like 8 the sled finely got a vintage rider
That was a lot of work to make a gutless sled more gutless, lol. Fun to watch either way. My brother and sister used love riding our 300 citation in our backyard. Still have it, runs great!
Nice video. I enjoy all of your videos and this was no exception.
On the cool air intake for the engine, if you don’t have a rivet gun and don’t want to mess with screwing it together, you can bend every other tab out slide the metal piece over the vent pipe, then bend the remaining tabs out. That way you have tabs on the inside, and the outside holding them together
I can finally add something to the discussion!
Yellow paint has low opacity and I always paint something white first, then yellow over the top.
I learned this painting a Suzuki RG250... I went back the the paint shop to get another litre of paint and the bloke running the shop told me this trick...
0:05 Sounds like a personal problem!
(Sorry, couldn't resist :P )
Your daughter smiling...worth a million low bucks.
Bro I loved your channel keep them coming ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊
I always take the seal out of the sealed bearings and pack them, then put the seal back on. There’s always minimal grease in those things from the manufacturer.
Great engineering like everything you build . Fatherhood extremely serious obligation !
Did you see that Mustie1 was working on a snowmobile today as well? Good motivation videos!!!!!!
2,5 hours well spend😁
Why not just limit the throttle cable distance?😊
Hi, what a dad! Many thanks from UK.
Those bearings are fine, they just need a handful of sand thrown in every now and then to grind the rust off.
Honestly that's about the right speed for me on a snowmobile lol. Good job man!
YEAH!, that was a great shot, lol.😆
Not trying to be nosey,,but what do you do or have you done for a living to make you so good at fabricating all of this stuff
Your a great dad,😉👍, and your janky, but good-enough repairs make sense on this project, if you're lucky that's a rig that may get rode 2 or 3 times there where you live, so it makes perfect sense,👍, awesome video, and thanks for sharing.
I see you are a Gerber man as well. I prefer the Gerber multi tool over the other brands. It's so nice to be able to open your tool with one hand. Can't say how many times the one hand opening has saved my butt not having to drop whatever is in my other hand.
This is the family dynamic we are supposed to have!!
For some people, a new video can be very hard to think up. For you, your brain never rests at all. Dreams, and other stuff that make a person lose just what they were thinking about for that moment and it turns into a project... and that is us. It was why I could diagnose a problem in a vehicle and fix it when others had failed. You see things working and so its just assemble the pieces. Maybe its not exactly like that always but I am sure that it contributes to your projects you start or never finish.... its always someday.... a good excuse to horde parts for a new idea
What a great little sled! Nice work, I might need to build one like it now...
Now you have a good engine for a go-kart!
Awsome! World class problemsolving . Well nothing seems to be a problem =Skill!!!👌👌👌
James, It would be great to see you venture into the foundry process. You could take those sprockets that drive the tracks and use them as a mold and make aluminum sprockets. It seems everybody on the internet is using a forge today. Great enjoyable videos, thanks.
What a nice Chanel…. Thanks from Black Forest Germany
"Cold Weather and batteries do not mix"...😎Another cool Video!
Love how the family benefit from your Projects and get involved!
Freaking amazing what you can do and a great dad too.
Thoroughly enjoying the content sir, keep'em coming, please!!
6:50 that Polaris 7:12 was so nice my word like a 1962 or so
Love the no helmets
Takes me back to my youth
That was a lot of work - done quite successfully! You are so good at adapting things! I think I did see a little fuel leakage from the carb on the underhood camera, though...
Cool video and such a beautiful small waterfall. I love your videos!
Awesome as always! Can’t wait to see you really challenged on a fix! 😂😂
I can't wait to see what you do with the old 294 rotax, I think those were rated at 22hp if I recall,kinda want one for my 77 elan replace the 248 and suspension and I have an elan SS.
I don't usually comment on videos, but I will always leave one on yours; you deserve all the attention you can get from the algorithm.
Seeing those Smiles makes it all worth it
Low buck you are unbelievable you can take a piece of s-- and do wonders. You are an artist.
Not to state the obvious but this was just superb. As usual.
Sure put a smile on this here Canadian Kid! Best video yet, Buddy. "Then I lost my Ride" - said every Father ever ;)
PS - 71 TNT with a 640 was a Beast but my favorite was an Ariens single-lunger I ran cowless for years... Respect eh, 'Dad'!
You are the coolest dad ever.
I like how you take forgotten things and bring them back to life
That’s a definite win. Your daughter is going to have a lot of fun. So that’s a win too. 😊
Excellent video Low Buck Garage :) also would hook up Headlights on switch also Back Red Light too sometimes when get to also ! Also nice repairs and testing out to on Super Win ! Also said on 1973 Bombardier Free Air TNT 399 my late Uncle had one and he updated 400 twin motor also carbs even sparkplugs to 440 size and was fast machine ! His was Orange, Yellow, White , Yellow Windshield plus Black too! He got it 1974 then sold in 2002 on farm plus rent farms he also my late dad had ran!
Nice job with that old sled.
Great work man! Little mesh on end of cooling pipe to keep bigger pieces out and it should be a runner for a long time. Just a heads up though, in all of your underhood shots at the end it looks like you have a fuel leak. Can really see it around 42:43 mark. I might be wrong but worth checking.
Good job. It seems that you have a lot of fun on that snowmobile.
👍5hp 'snowblower engines' are the bargain buy..
Great modification to the snow mobile, I did notice the carb leaking slightly though, it could be overflowing with the pressure of the fuel pump or just the float valve that isnt sealing.
Hope its an easy fix
Sunshine to a dreary day here in west Louisiana...what a build....amazing manufacturers don't have enuff intelligence to build such a machine for kids of all ages....
Great job dad
You are a genius and a great father !! I love your videos.
Nice, you cannot best contrasting colour schemes, good save.
Tons o fun had! Take care & stay safe James & family.
realy nice project bet the kids love it , prolly going to start pulling kids on sleds up the hill