What Changes have you made in Snowbuddy?

The first Snowbuddy had only two components and had 60 inches of lift. The upper shaft, jack head, and jack handle was one component. The shovel blade and the lower shaft the other component. This early version of Snowbuddy was carried strapped to the tunnel under the rider’s legs. I felt simple to use and the highest possible lift would appeal to Snowmobilers. I found out riders would not carry a Snowbuddy strapped to the tunnel no matter how useful. The 51/2 foot height made it more difficult for people to learn to balance the snowmobile when lifting. The jack handle was so high relative to the user’s body it was difficult for some people to get good leverage on the jack handle.

Public response guided me to Snowbuddy’s next steps of evolution. I the separated upper component into three pieces and the lower into two pieces. I sized the pieces to fit the width on a snowmobile. The new design was much more convenient to carry and the shorter 4ft lift was an unexpected bonus. Riders discovered it was much easier to control the shorter version. The increased ease using the shorter Snowbuddy outweighed the need to lift a couple of times in some situations.

Riders soon discovered several new ways to use the new version of Snowbuddy. The most significant discovery that passed me by was the usefulness of the short set up. By using only the lower shaft when setting up the Snowbuddy the user has greater control and leverage. Chuck Smith of Idaho showed us his discovery of the short set up when we were shooting the videos. (see Basic Snowbuddy)

When I designed the latches which hold the pieces of Snowbuddy together I unknowingly created a weak spot in the lower shaft of the Ultra-Light model that would fail under extreme loading. An over size dowel pin that holds the latch was the culprit. All of the failures happened when the Snowbuddy was improperly loaded. I know it is not always possible while learning in difficult conditions to know when to back up and start over. Using a smaller dowel pin that had little effect on the strength of the tubing cured the problem. I tried to notify all Snowbuddy owners with the weaker shaft of the problem and offered to replace the shafts at no cost. If you or any one you know has one of these shafts please contact me to arrange for a replacement.

When I first started working on Snowbuddy weight was on everybody’s mind. Riders were spending big bucks to lighten their snowmobiles. Most of the articles and ads in the magazines touted the benefits of less weight. I thought it imperative to make Snowbuddy as light as possible yet strong enough to work. I succeeded but the flexible nature of Snowbuddy made the less skilled users nervous.

Once I realized the riders who saw the wisdom in carrying a Snowbuddy did not care about a little more weight if the Snowbuddy was stronger. I changed the tubing used for the upper and lower shafts. I increased the wall thickness by 50 %. This change added 14 oz to the weight of Snowbuddy while nearly doubling the strength of the shafts. The stronger shafts and wider margin of error gives the average rider a greater sense of confidence.

The original Snowbuddy could raise a snowmobile 4 inches per full stroke of the jack handle. Using only the lower half of a stroke would lift a snowmobile 2 inches. I changed the ratios in the jack head so one stroke would lift a snowmobile 1 ˝ inches. This change gives the user better leverage and control when lifting a snowmobile. Also the improved leverage makes Snowbuddy more effective as a come-a-long.

The “Snowbuddy 101” video shows all of the more recent changes.