Pulk Sled

Very nice work, is that a mortar tub? How much can you comfortably haul? My best friend has the larger sled from Cabela’s, I was going to get one until I saw yours.

It is a mortar tub. An ACE hardware special at $10 or so. Hacksawed the tips off of some older downhill skis, drilled holes and bolded them on. (Nordic skis would be lighter though, but you probably would have to get kid’s skis and not saw them due to the camber.) Drilled around a dozen small holes around the edge and ran cord through it. Had some elastic cord so tied it to the front to absorb some the shock when I start pulling or hit moguls. Aluminum tent poles act as the tubing – from sled to waist. Ran cord through them and tied small, tight loops at each end. At the sled, a small biner is through the elastic as well as a static “leash” so that the elastic can only stretch a bit. For a harness I found a Marmot padded pack waistbelt, melted holes through it as well as through climbing daisy chain webbing with a soldering iron and then attached them using rivits and larger washers. Two mini-biners on each side keep the slack in the system to a minimum.

It’s been a FUN project. And it pulls very well, although I have not tried a heavier load yet. 25lbs should be fine though. Wouldn’t want to pull a moose carcass in it though.

Do you think the skis make a big difference in tracking? Other designs I’ve seen either use tracks pre-molded into the plastic bottom, or add a thin aluminum fin bolted to the bottom. I’m not sure what your cut-up skis weigh, but it might be over two pounds.

Cool design. I’ve been meaning to make a pulk from an old plastic toboggan, but my kids won’t give it up!

What are the sled dimensions? Smaller one?

27.5″ x 19.75″ x 6″
10.5-gallon capacity

“Do you think the skis make a big difference in tracking? Other designs I’ve seen either use tracks pre-molded into the plastic bottom, or add a thin aluminum fin bolted to the bottom.”

Actually, this design does not track very well on sidehills. I built it especially for groomed snowmachine-type trails, which usually don’t have the terrain that a backcoutry hiking trail may have. I’ve thought about adding a fin or two, but am not sure about that yet.

“I’m not sure what your cut-up skis weigh, but it might be over two pounds.”
Biggest disadvantage is the weight. Nordic skis would reduce it, but would require buying kid’s skis. Another option would be attaching a sheet of high-desity plastic to the bottom, or even a few strips of the plastic that is put on dog-sled runners. I like the last idea. May order some of that.

“I’ve been meaning to make a pulk from an old plastic toboggan, but my kids won’t give it up!”
Hehehe. I have a old plastic toboggan pulk as well. I use it for hauling heavy weight to a cabin (you know, beer weight). The plastic has a lot of surface area on the bottom and there seems to be lots of drag due to that.

“What are the sled dimensions? Smaller one?

27.5″ x 19.75″ x 6″
10.5-gallon capacity”

Those sound very close to the dimensions.

http://www.skipulk.com/images/pulkbook.pdf

My home-made Pulk Sled / Pack Frame. I pull the sled about the same way you pull yours. I cross the pull tubes which gives better control.

Just curious if anyone uses any ski wax on the bottom of their pulk. I usually use a cheap plastic sled without runners and have encountered conditiond where the underside accumulated incredible amounts of snow. I know that maxi-glide from maxx waxx works well on my nordic skis in similar conditions and prevents build-up. Anyone have experience applying wax to their pulk, thanks.

John – I read that pulkbook very carefully. Some great designs in there that helped influence my direction.

Bill – I had looked at your sled during a search in the past. Very nice. I particularly lik ethe ability to carry it on your shoulders when needed, and also that it has runners like a dogsled. looks like it would be pretty good on sidehills and hardpack. My old pulk had crossed poles. This one is very squirrley when I cross the poles. It moves with my running hips and shakes the sled back and forth – which may indicate that I need longer poles?

Doug – I’ve wondered the same thing. I’m guessing at the temps I’ll be racing (very cold) I won’t need to use anything.

As an additional note. I’m ordering high-density dogsled runner plastic today to replace the skis. That should cut at least a pound off the total weight!

Alec, did you decide to stay with that size pulk? It does seem like it's small for winter gear. When is your race?

John,

So far I have been using the same pulk. It is a bit small, but in turn is making me try to make smart cuts to my gear. Since its primarily for racing, not sure I would go much larger (although 5-6 inches in additional space would be nice).

I've modified it by removing the skis and replacing them with high density plastic used for dog sled runners. The two strips of plastic are each 3 inches wide. Looking back, I should have ordered 2 inch wide strips. This mod has cut 10oz from the sled weight, has not reduced control and has seemingly made the sled even faster.

One problem is that because it is so small, it ends up being taller than I want. I ran 45 miles with it this weekend on snowmachine trails and it was a bit tippy when I was on uneven ground but for the most part was really pretty good.

I'm buying a nice pulk from Cabela's catalog. It's black & comes in 2 sizes. I'm getting the larger size. High modulus PVC makes great wands too.
I'm tired of kid's sleds breaking after a few winters. Thus the tougher Cabela's sled. I forget the brand name of the sled but it's got high sides to protect your pack.

Eric, that sounds like the jet sled.

Your right John, it's the Jet Sled.
Pretty good design for my purpose and at a very reasonable price.
Any opinions on this as a pulk sled?

I don't have it. From what I have read, some really do like it. It is said to be heavier than other sleds, but nearly indestructable. Mention of it is made in some forums and at http://www.skipulk.com in the pulk book.

Check out madriverrockets.com's options. They offer a knee board type sled for fun which can also be used as a pulk. I've purchased the adult version and have just set it up so I can also use it as a pulk. In trying it out around my place it seems to work great.

Just another version:

this is the old Mountain smith style, slightly modified for better tracking and manuverability. The crossed poles help alot in steering, there are also aluminum runners on the bottom.

My pole may have been too short, but when I crossed them the sled really followed the motion of my hips, causing the sled to pull side to side too much. Poles too short or is that because I was running? Some of the other runners had a single pole design…

If you're interested in some design ideas you may want to check out Ed Bouffard's site. Bouffard has a great pdf file that describes his design and construction process of his sleds and how well each one performs. Not to mention you can buy a full system, sled, harness, break system for $170!

http://www.skipulk.com/index.html

Hey Chadn,

I have downloaded and read that file. Very interesting designs. My friend bought one of those sleds, and SkiPulk gave a few to the Arrowhead race to use as loaners. They are well put together although a little long and heavy for the race. Of course the only foot division finisher used one of those…

There were two types of sleds and loads at the Arrowhead race…

Here is my friend with a SkiPulk sled and what I thought was a huge load!

And here is my pulk with a lighter load… (Thanks to all of you for making mine so small.)

I'm thinking of using one of the Skipulk sleds on my through hike of the Superior Hiking Trail next February. I want something that won't ride very high and can be used as an actual sled to slid down hills!

Weee!

Might as well use the sled on the downhills. Save energy, go quicker… and obviously fun. Imagine takin' a sled down something like the DrainPipe though? Break out the crampons for that.