For the first time in two whole years I finally had an opportunity to get back out in the woods on snowmobile! On Saturday I tried out my new EZ Glide covered wooden ramps loading up Project Powertek REV heading to the Goulds for a few hours of adventure with the crew.

It's never a good idea to ride alone, but keeping social distancing in mind Bill, A.J., Ron and I all arrived in separate vehicles to maintain public health safety guidelines at this time.

It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day with temps hovering around -8ºC, perfect for a snowmobile adventure!

Today we had the following Shed-Headz project sleds on hand, first A.J and his 2009 Skidoo TNT 500ss;

Ronnie and his '97 Vmax 700 triple;

Yours truly on Project Powertek REV;

and finally Bill on his 2010 Yamaha Nytro XTX. We unloaded the machines on Power's road then headed in Chicken Farm road to Northern Pond Road planning to take the next trail over to Pasture Land Road.

Quite surprisingly we found the bridge on that road had been permanently removed. The river crossing is much too deep for snowmobile. A lot of large rocks and a sharp ice shelf would be super sketchy for our newer riders so we opted to turn around and not risk damaging a sled skipping the river. We ran into Ron's buddy George along the way so he joined our adventure on his beautiful blue Yamaha SRX 700 triple.

We headed back and rode in Northern Pond Road towards Joyce's Trail opting for the open country/pond route to Witless Bay Line as it was much smoother than the well worn rough trails.

With our longer ride plan altered due to the missing bridge we spent more time playing and exploring along the way which honestly is one of my favourite parts of a ride.

A.J.'s Skidoo TNT continues to run very well, it's a great match of machine and rider!

Bill's 2010 Nytro was the newest sled in today's riding group and continues to run very well, the new suspension upgrades were certainly put to the test!

I'm quite happy to report that Project Powertek REV is still running strong despite its unplanned hiatus in the past 24 months. The only issue I had this ride was a fouled spark plug of unknown age (possibly 2018). This combined with a tank of old fuel, which I have been diluting with fresh Supreme and Sea Foam additive, was a most likely cause. I had a brand new pair of BR9ECS in my tool kit and swapped them in the woods with no issues.

We made it all the way to Witless Bay Line where we turned around and worked our way back to the trucks in the Goulds.

We only had one other issue on the return trip to the Goulds. Along the way Bill lost or cracked & lost an upper ball joint bolt. Luckily he had a spare (in a pinch you can harvest a bolt off the machine eg. off the sway bar) and replaced with with ease for a quick, solid trail side repair.

With darkness fast approaching we loaded up and headed for home.

It wasn't a long ride but it was a perfect shakedown run to see how my sled was holding up. I'll give it a close inspection once it's thawed out in the garage and do a thorough nut and bolt check. One thing I did forget about riding snowmobile vs. my recent trips in Project 6x6 is what a workout it can be, especially standing while riding rough trails. I was certainly reminded that I'm not 30 anymore!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith