1971 Skidoo Olympique

1971 Skidoo Olympique

Winter 2005/06

Well it's almost a year to the day (March 5th 2005) that I last posted anything about snow machines...

Pictured to the right is a Brand-New, right off the show-room floor in 1971 Skidoo Olympique!

No More peaky 294 twin Rotax, carburetor fiddlin', run-when-I-want-too Sleds for me.

I found this Sled in mint condition on the road out to Lake-X. When I say mint, I mean that the seat, tunnel, motor, boogies, track, torque converter, belt, plastic and original wind screen are completely intact!

The owner previous to me was Courtland Riopelle who had a reputation well known for building and maintaining machinery. The history on the sled from his son was that his father had purchased the sled three years prior and it was in essentially the same shape (Covered) and used very little during that period. Certainly I'd have to think Courtland followed the complete original english owners manual that in 1971 was written in such a fashion as to provide a complete diagram of the machine, all lubrication points and schedule of owner preformed maintenance. I think I remember 1 (one) instance where they suggested work that should be done by a dealer.

This winter has actually been quite livable, though we did seem to get a fair bit of snow.

These next few images were taken in early to Mid January of 2006.

Scouting out wood on a logging trail...

And what outing would be complete without a quick stop back at the Hunt Camp...

And to think that Pik-Nik table was heaping with cases of beer and a line of coolers was under the window for a grand week this past November.

The Olympique has a 335cc Single cylinder engine that appears to be a model of low speed torque.

Since the deer trails and logging roads that I follow don't really lend themselves to high speeds, this is an ideal machine.

This trail is part of a loop that snakes down into some of the dirtiest deer country imaginable...

A crescent shaped bog that lies between a terraced drop-off of more than 75ft and a steep hill being surrounded.

Although the open fields have less than 2 feet of snow, this is going to be deep.

I pounded the sled all the way down to one end until I ran out of trail.

Stopping in waist deep snow and having to hump the machine 180 degrees is the kind of work that takes another coffee.

The Olympique is somewhat less than stable at high speeds with less than a foot of snow on the ground. But in this crazy deep stuff, if there is enough contact with the track to lift the front-end you can pin the throttle and steer almost completely with your weight .

For an out of shape middle aged guy that's good exercise...

Wood Hauling Sled (or "Sled-Sled")

As soon as I heard that February is the worst month for snowmobile fatalities, I simply did not drive the sled once. Given that I'm prone to drive exclusively by myself, purposefully carry no cell phone and frequent spots that would make return in an injured state unlikely, I had to make at least one concession to common sense.

In the image (above Left) in the background is part of the on-going process of trying to stay warm. Firewood...

And we're almost out of it (I think that as of today (Mar 11th/06) there may be 3 weeks worth of wood. Since today is the first day since the first week of Dec that I haven't heated the work shop (Non-stop) I grossly under estimated my wood requirements.

Another drag on the wood supply has been running the foundry and molding shop before Christmas more than in last year.

To that end I started on a small sled to haul wood out of the bush.

Dead-fall that is clear of the snow will burn fine for the light heated need in early spring, especially in the morning.

And if there is a cold snap for any length of time Ironwood will burn green in a pinch.

Just to be clear, when I say that we heat exclusively with wood, I mean "Exclusively" if there is no wood, there is no heat.

These are a pair of Water-Skis that likely date from the late 60's or early 70's from my wife's family cottage.

After considering several options for a welded steel frame, I opted for the sensible recycling of the section of deck that I cut from the truck to make way for the Oil-tank box.

The second set of 4X4 supports were removed and cut into slanted Ski-blocks as pictured here, the blocks are held in place with 2 x 6" 5/8th" lag bolts that are counter sunk an inch each to ensure 3" of bite between the blocks and the main beams.

Notice the ratchet being used to drive these into place. Even with a 3/8th's pilot hole I had to use a pipe extension on the ratchet to get the last 2 inches secured.

The ski's are dead on the money, and held with 5 front and 4 back 2 1/2" counter sunk MDF screws.

There was considerable farting around to get the long oval skis as parallel as possible.

The sides will be made from recovered bed frames, and lined with 2" strapping.

I either forgot or didn't feel like taking anymore pictures until it was done, but here it is.

The hitch between the sled and the sled has a 3/8th" pin to the factory "Towing Package", to a 3/16" hardened stainless plate that bolts to tongue of 3/4" plywood that is hinged on the front decking with heavy cast gate hinges.

The sled tracks perfectly behind the skidoo, and given the low end torque of the 335, I will be doing my best to try and bog it down with weight.

And this shot is just the utter joy that it's warm enough to be out in just a tee-shirt and shirt (no jacket).

Although the thaw is most welcome, there is likely to be 1 if not 2 more last blasts of winter before the end of April.

I remember back in the spring of '98 or '99... we literally got 100cm of snow in a single day... For this area that's more than enough.

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