We have a sled ($1 at a garage sale) that looks kind of like this:
formatting link
Unfortunately, as someone who rode a lot of steel sleds when I was a kid, this is not too good when it comes to sledding downhill. The sliding parts are way too narrow and dig into snow. Plus it has some rust and pitting and does not slide as well.
I was thinking of enhancing it somehow, such as buying 304 stainless strips and welding them to the sliding things, to make it smoother riding.
I am sort of aware that there are many variables to a sled, interaction of snow and ice with a cold sled, possibly ice adhering to the slides etc.
So... What sort of material would be most suitable to weld on to a sled to make wide (1" or so), smooth sides?
By the way...
As a kid, I had something similar to this, but without the back support, which I removed:
formatting link
This was a totally kickass sled, smooth gliding, easily controlled, and light. It was also cheap.
The hill that we went to today, was full of remnants of cheap plastic sleds.
Not made for sliding on soft snow. Made for sliding on hard-packed snow or ice. If you make the runners wider, they won't flex for the steering. Which, I gather, you don't expect, based on the other sleds you show. But an American-pattern steel-runner sled that either is a flexible flyer or wants to be needs runners that will flex when the steering yoke is turned.
Polish and wax (don't sweat the pits). Or go sledding at a sandbank and wax, as the sand will take care of the polishing part.
Only really had success with a Flexible Flier sled on ice, like frozen ponds. A little water on the slope in the night before led to a long trip on the ice the next day. Otherwise the runners just dug into the snow and nobody went anywhere. Toboggans were more fun but harder to steer, worked on soft snow, though. I think you were supposed to tromp the snow down to use a Flexi Flier, kind of like prepping ski runs. Where I grew up you were lucky to get 50' on a hill to sled, what did we know about ski runs? Most popular were the aluminum and, later, fiberglass saucers. No steering those, either but were a lot of fun for kids that really didn't care where they ended up, just wanted the ride. Kind of a '60s metaphor there...
As far as mods, you could find some beat-up old skis and fasten those on or make a set of four short ones if you want better steering. Have actually seen a sled constructed that way with a steering bar for the front skis.
The iconic sled for American kids back in the day was the Flexible Flyer.
formatting link
They didn't cost anywhere near this much then.
On good "snowball-making" snow on a good hill with a running start then flop belly-down on the sled, these suckers would fly -- and they were surprisingly steerable for dodging trees and either missing or colliding with others at will.
The runners were nowhere near an inch wide. Maybe 1/2". Powder snow would need wider runners but your snow probably is quite similar to that found in Southern MI where I was a kid.
Only really had success with a Flexible Flier sled on ice, like frozen ponds. A little water on the slope in the night before led to a long trip on the ice the next day. Otherwise the runners just dug into the snow and nobody went anywhere. Toboggans were more fun but harder to steer, worked on soft snow, though. I think you were supposed to tromp the snow down to use a Flexi Flier, kind of like prepping ski runs. Where I grew up you were lucky to get 50' on a hill to sled, what did we know about ski runs? Most popular were the aluminum and, later, fiberglass saucers. No steering those, either but were a lot of fun for kids that really didn't care where they ended up, just wanted the ride. Kind of a '60s metaphor there...
As far as mods, you could find some beat-up old skis and fasten those on or make a set of four short ones if you want better steering. Have actually seen a sled constructed that way with a steering bar for the front skis.
Stan
In the Berkeley area where I grew up we had Flexible Flyers with wheels. About 8" sheet metal rims with a solid rubber tire. The steering handle rotated forwards to press a metal tab on the wheel for brakes. Loved that Flexi. Rare to have snow, and never enough to sled on.
If you want the lowest coef of friction, you would use teflon. But I would use UHMW polyethylene. The friction would be close to teflon and it would wear for a long time.
Skis use hdpe. According to the K2 guys I visited once, it works a lot better than teflon. I don't know how you'd fasten it to the runners, especially the flexing bits. Have fun.
OK, I have derusted the runners and will wax them with car wax. We'll try it out again in 10 minutes. Yes, I possibly tried to use it in a snow that was too fluffy and overreacted.
I derusted it, waxed and tried (with kids). It is OK, but still does not go as fast as I want. I will weld SS strips to it. As for maneuvering, one can always maneuver with feet.
The old 6061T6 aluminum flying saucer was almost indestructible - but dangerous when it got loose!! The PF Flier and other "skeleton" sleds were exxcellent on hard-pack - and a well waxed hardwood togoggan could give a lot of fun.
Up on my gtrandfather's farm we had a steel-runnered 8 man bobsled made out of a barn-floor plank. It likely weighed 100 lbs, but the long ride down the slope, arond the stone-pile and out along (or occaisionally off) the ridge that followed the creek was a thrill!!!!!
If you want the lowest coef of friction, you would use teflon. But I would use UHMW polyethylene. The friction would be close to teflon and it would wear for a long time.
The fastest sled on the hill, bar none, was the strip of FRP that I rigged up with handle, hole, and rope. I rounded the corners and gave the edges a quick file.
The home made FRP did better than saucers, sleds, toboggans, or inner tubes. The only thing close to the strips were some kids with sheets of cardboard, but the FRP beat them consistently.
I made about 10 of these from some left overs, The grandkids are heroes for sharing.
Stainless will not make much difference. What you want is the optimum amount of surface. The snow or ice will melt under pressure and the sled will be sliding on a very thin layer of water. Too much surface and no layer of water. Too little surface and the runner melts more ice than necessary and sinks so there is friction from the sides. Or maybe not.
We used to use scraps of birch veneer discarded by the local veneer production facility. I doubt that any wax was applied. Other kids used pieces of corrugated cardboard or a discarded license plate, although the latter tended to result in worn out trousers rather quickly. Gerry :-)} London, Canada
I'd agree with the others, that this sled as is needs no enhancement, merely a little maintenance and the patience to wait for the right snow.
It is not a "first snow" sort of sled. It's a "this snow pack has been here for weeks, melting and refreezing together until thoroughly consolidated" sled. Typically used in areas where you get that good heavy wet "snowball" snow. When that snow is fresh, make snowballs, snowmen (well these days, snow sculpture) and forts. Often, there'll be a cold snap after the storm, so all that wet snow is now hard snow...this is when the runner sled begins to shine.
You can get good enough performance on this snow to get some trails made, the usual tactic when we were growing up (we had a gentle slope to our property, so not quite flat, but not a real hill either) was a running start, followed by throwing the sled down and belly-flopping onto it. When making trails, you might do this a half dozen times in a row to get a long enough trail for good sliding. Sometimes the trails will improve, and sometimes they'll degrade. But as long as the cold weather holds, those trails will keep getting smoother and faster and you'll be able to go farther and farther on them. During this phase, woe to the kid who tried to walk back up the wrong trail and made boot prints in the sled track.
The real magic would come a little later. Either there'd be a warm spell, or a quick rain that would either turn the whole snowpack or at least a top crust to slush. In the ensuing cold spell, you now had a sheet of ice to slide on...with trails already in it. Sort of like a homemade luge run. And if your property was sufficiently blessed to have a flooded drainage ditch or a pond that had been pronounced "safe" by a Responsible Authority (Dad), you could then throw a hard turn as soon as you crossed out onto the ice while still travelling at a high rate of speed, which would usually result in spinning across the ice.
For us, the toboggans, plastic sleds, caffeteria trays and such were mere stopgaps to be used until you had snow hard enough for the"real" sleds. The soft snow sleds required a Significant Hill for power. On the right snow, a good runner sled didn't, just a running start. With the right snow, a steep hill (grandma's pasture) and frozen creek at the bottom...a runner sled was an adrenalin junkie's nirvanna.
I'll also note that there is an ideal weight-to-length-to-snow ratio, which will vary with snow conditions. We had two short sleds and one long one, there were snow conditions when only the youngest kid on the longest sled could stay on the snow surface without breaking through the crust, and there were times when the snow/ice was hard enough that everyone wanted the shorter sleds for less runner friction and that last few yards of best travel. For much of it, an adult of any size would not be successful...it was a magic just for kids.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.