Maybe stupid, or not, but Boston gets decent amounts of snow. Snowmobile Frankenstein board build feasible or not?

Can’t find much info on esk8’s with hub drive, studded (or track drive :man_shrugging:t2:) and added skis on front. Still new, so I’m sorry if I posted this in a wrong section. Mods, please move for me if necessary. Anyways. I have found a few DIY parts and photos, but I wanna see how feasible it would be to make one using either an existing board with a damn-good hubdrive system, or if it’s just dumb and unrideable? I’ve seen lots of studded wheels and a few cool looking Setups, and even a lot of part options for skis (sizes, plastic or bladed bottoms). Anyone know if I should say screw-it, and build one? Or, is it just dumb? Haha. I’m talking about one that would do around 30-35 and kick up plenty of snow behind it. Not something slow, but nothing dumb fast to the point it’s no longer fun. Lemme know guys, Thanks I’m advance for any info. :metal:t3:

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Dude… If you are finding the parts for it, why the hell not?

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Only one other man I know would be brave enough, or foolish enough, to attempt this. Ladies and gentleman, I give you:

@mmaner

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Do it do it do it!!!
Over the years we’ve seen half-track esk8s, 4wd with caterpillar tracks, this is definitely doable. Not a lot of open design though so you’ll have to plan a lot of it yourself.
Best of luck!


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Photo credit @mmaner

https://www.electric-skateboard.builders/t/electric-snowboard-scooter-snowmobile/68552/14?u=skunk

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I forgot to post this but I’m getting a basically complete snowmobile track for around $200

Its a gold mine

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I’ve been talking about this but I don’t have the climate for it

You could absolutely run a track drive out the back with a sled front. Gonna be wild to ride.

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Like three sets of raptor hubs in the rear. Find a way to attach a track. Ski up front…
@DerelictRobot do it.

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Trucks aren’t going to work in the snow so just make a metal part that they all attach to the back.

For a Snow SK8 I would put like double dualie; 8 wheels on 2 axles. Gear drive to both axles on the metal frame, bolts on to back of board. I suppose you could attach it to a truck but how deep snow are we talking here.

With that giant snowmobile track I don’t even know…

At least they wouldn’t overheat.

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I’ve seen that. I think it would be super fun in/up to about four to five inches, then the wheels just slump and get stuck. I was thinking about using a huge nitro r/c car’s “snow and sand upgrade” that supposedly holds up to 300 or so lbs. do a fat track hanging way off the back of the board and have them about 1.5ft - 2ft apart, and a HELL of a hub drive that could swap wheels onto with new trucks if it doesn’t work out hahaha. Like some Torque brand ones, and then just do some skis that can go onto trucks. I own a theater shop, and we sorta made it out mega man-cave hangout spot when we want to escape city life for a night, so we bought a huge cammaster panther cnc, a small water jet cutting system, and some other high end machining stuff. I just love building strange fun stuff to mess with. I own just about every Motorsport you there is, and when I got into e-skating I fell in love instantly. I figured how much I enjoy brapping on sleds, and if I mix the two, how friggin fun would that be?! :man_shrugging:t2::metal:t3: Hahahaha.

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If I build a wider set of those in my machine shop, they just might work. Put some stoppers on them or a damper of some sort perhaps?

Guys, these are what I was talking about. Some nitro rc thing that’s like four feet long. A huge car, and this is part of some snow conversion they make for it. Supposedly someone used these tracks for a thing someone sits on like a 4wd electric go-cart type deal. They’re only a few hundred bucks. I might just look into some other options and dick around with these in the meantime. Maybe use a couple bigger 80-90kv motors I might have laying around my shop and hook them up to see what kind of torque I’ll need to get my 250lb fat-ass moving on them. There’s a lot of parts online that could work. It’s just getting them to work and not kill me is the second worst problem. The worst problem is getting them to push me over at least 18-20mph so it’s actually fun and not lame haha. I know if it has a center run track like a snowmobile, there’s no way it’ll be rideable at fast speeds. I think the trick is to get everything out away from the deck and have a medium center of gravity and make it rigid. Let the snow be the rubber in the front, and then the two tracks way off the back would be sorta chill I guess. Idk. I’ll start building it and prob not finish till summer hahahahaha. I’ll try though. Not gonna do work or anything and just see if I can crank this thing out. Any ideas, please let me know dudes. Thanks!

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Those are way better than the rc tank type stuff I found! If I was guarenteed snow this year I would be looking at these seriously for my bajaboard :slight_smile:

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Why?
I’ve analog skated in the snow more than a few times. My wheels normally freeze lol
But gravity keeps me moving and trucks still have lean.

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You should definitely build one. I would think to use a mountain board deck, with a single large snowmobile type track in the back, and two small skis mounted on a standard mountain board truck in the front. It would be really cool, like a mini electric snowmobile with tilt steering. I think bindings and a top mount box would also be a good idea.

You’re welcome world… someone had to do it.
This electric skateboard/snowmobile/death trap is based on my relatively low-power 10S3P testing platform with the Haggy drive system. It actually works!

Next up: studded tires.

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