Sno-Riders add second trail groomer

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This article was published 26/12/2022 (1228 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Snowmobilers in the Southeast got an early Christmas present Friday with the delivery of a new trail grooming machine to the South East Sno-Riders shop in Woodridge.

The machine, a red PistenBully 100 made by German manufacturer Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG, was ordered in the spring and arrived on a fittingly snowy morning, just in time to be pressed into service alongside the Sno-Riders’ existing grooming machine.

“It won’t be idling for too long,” said club president Mitch Gobeil. “We’ll be putting it into service very shortly.”

The grooming machine will pull a new Mogul Master drag groomer behind it. The combined cost of the equipment is over $350,000. It’s the club’s first major purchase since finishing a new shop two years ago.

“We’ve been squeezing our nickels, making them dimes,” Gobeil said. “We apply for grants here and there as well.”

Until now, the Sno-Riders had relied on a single machine to groom 953 kilometres of trails every week, from Friedensfeld to Lake of the Woods, down to Buffalo Point, and up to the Trans-Canada Highway—all while travelling 13 km/h.

“It basically ran, not quite 24-7, but it would start on a Sunday at two o’clock in the afternoon and not get done til about Thursday noon,” Gobeil said.

Adding a second machine not only makes the job of grooming easier; it also keeps unforeseen repairs from sidelining trail maintenance during the relatively short but much-anticipated snowmobiling season.

“Now with two machines, if either one of them was to go down for whatever reason, we know we can do the whole thing with one machine,” Gobeil said. “With one machine, if it goes down, you lose your income, and your snowmobilers are upset because their trail isn’t groomed.”

Southern Manitoba doesn’t always have much snow before Christmas. Gobeil said the club typically spends the early winter season placing signage and preparing the packing trails.

“We typically get grooming right at the end of December, but beginning of January is more common.”

This year, however, a trail from Woodridge to South Junction could be groomed as early as this week.

“The snow is good, for the most part.”

Gobeil explained the best trail conditions are created by an initial cold spell to freeze boggy areas, followed by snowfall, followed by another cold spell to harden the trails.

Gobeil said the Sno-Riders’ membership count currently stands at 62, about 25 fewer than last year.

Several operators and board members turned up Friday to get a look at the new grooming machine, which seats two and comes equipped with hydrostatic steering.