John B
Newbie
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2016
- Messages
- 23
- Age
- 50
- Location
- Watertown, MN
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2007 RS Viking Professional
Starting to get my new to me 07 VK Pro set up for the coming winter season. 95% of the time the VK pro will be used for ice fishing across Northern Minnesota and Lake of the Woods.
This is my first 4-stroke sled, my previous sled was a Ski Doo Grand Touring 500. Not having another option to start the machine makes me a little nervous, especially when I can be 20-30 miles from civilization on Lake of the Woods - so I decided to rig up a dual battery set up. I thought about just lugging around a jump pack, but I wanted the self contained ability to seamlessly switch to a back up battery.
There was plenty of room for a second battery in the nose, so I fabricated a bracket out of some heavy gauge aluminum channel. The entire bracket can be removed with 2 bolts. Hopefully it doesn't obstruct or mess up any of the ventilation to the engine. I made sure the duct on the right side remained exposed. I have another battery cover on order that should fit right over the second battery to protect it from any snow that gets into the engine bay. I also installed a waterproof switch from Blue Sea systems that allows me to switch between battery 1, battery 2 or to even combine the batteries (it also has an off switch).
While I was at it, I also added a Blue Sea Systems fuse panel next to the air box to make install of accessories much easier.
The plastic on the rear bumper was kind of mangled. So I trimmed away the damaged parts which left the lower bumper railing exposed. So I mounted two Scotty rail mounts, and attached some LED flood lights. The lights and wire harness came from super bright LED's, they can be turned on and off via a little key fob remote. This makes it easy to see what you are doing when drilling holes and also during set up/tear down of my portable ice fishing shelter.
In the event I need a jump start, or need to jump start someone else, I ran heavy guage wire up to the handle bar pad and installed a quick connect on a set of jumper cables.
I have a two bank charger to keep the batteries topped off, I ran the wires from the batteries to the handlebar pad and installed some quick connects so I can easily hook it up.
I still need to mount my GPS and depth finder, and also figure out where/how to mount my ice auger.
Looking forward to a nice long cold and snowy winter...
This is my first 4-stroke sled, my previous sled was a Ski Doo Grand Touring 500. Not having another option to start the machine makes me a little nervous, especially when I can be 20-30 miles from civilization on Lake of the Woods - so I decided to rig up a dual battery set up. I thought about just lugging around a jump pack, but I wanted the self contained ability to seamlessly switch to a back up battery.
There was plenty of room for a second battery in the nose, so I fabricated a bracket out of some heavy gauge aluminum channel. The entire bracket can be removed with 2 bolts. Hopefully it doesn't obstruct or mess up any of the ventilation to the engine. I made sure the duct on the right side remained exposed. I have another battery cover on order that should fit right over the second battery to protect it from any snow that gets into the engine bay. I also installed a waterproof switch from Blue Sea systems that allows me to switch between battery 1, battery 2 or to even combine the batteries (it also has an off switch).
While I was at it, I also added a Blue Sea Systems fuse panel next to the air box to make install of accessories much easier.
The plastic on the rear bumper was kind of mangled. So I trimmed away the damaged parts which left the lower bumper railing exposed. So I mounted two Scotty rail mounts, and attached some LED flood lights. The lights and wire harness came from super bright LED's, they can be turned on and off via a little key fob remote. This makes it easy to see what you are doing when drilling holes and also during set up/tear down of my portable ice fishing shelter.
In the event I need a jump start, or need to jump start someone else, I ran heavy guage wire up to the handle bar pad and installed a quick connect on a set of jumper cables.
I have a two bank charger to keep the batteries topped off, I ran the wires from the batteries to the handlebar pad and installed some quick connects so I can easily hook it up.
I still need to mount my GPS and depth finder, and also figure out where/how to mount my ice auger.
Looking forward to a nice long cold and snowy winter...
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2004
- Messages
- 7,728
- Location
- sudbury on
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 2016 apex xtx
2011 apex xtx
2009 phaser rtx/x
1997 et410t/r
1988 vk 540
welcome to the site.
i am glad you have that switch installed as i have had different brands of batteries kill each other in my truck. i run dual batteries in my truck for cold starts and some acessories i have installed.
i am glad you have that switch installed as i have had different brands of batteries kill each other in my truck. i run dual batteries in my truck for cold starts and some acessories i have installed.
John B
Newbie
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2016
- Messages
- 23
- Age
- 50
- Location
- Watertown, MN
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2007 RS Viking Professional
I put a similar switch in my boat, they are really nice. Right now the the sled and all the accessories run off of whatever battery the switch is pointed too. I might change it so that they are always running off the second battery, not sure what is best... If I did that I would lose the ability to completely kill all power at the switch.
brad gilker
Veteran
Briliant!!!!
brad gilker
Veteran
AHAMAY Rules!!!
kingtut
Expert
Reading this I am like daymn he loves his ice fishing.
brad gilker
Veteran
Ice fishing is the best. 2 little Haliburton Ontario Golden Trout on one line with a cheater hook! Lake %#&*!*
Attachments
brad gilker
Veteran
I like the way you spell DAMB!
LtRon
Newbie
This is an awesome mod. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice setup.
YukonMP
TY 4 Stroke Guru
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2014
- Messages
- 839
- Location
- Yukon Territory
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 2014 Venture MultiPurpose 2020 VK Professional ll
Nice job, I'm a booster pack guy but you have the full meal deal for sure. I think if I had that set up I'd switch between batteries every day. That way you would be keeping them both fresh and know that all of the wiring is as it should be.
I'm all about ice fishing too. I can tell guys that are serious by how organized and set up they are. You obviously aren't a casual/occassional ice-fisher. Keep safe.
I'm all about ice fishing too. I can tell guys that are serious by how organized and set up they are. You obviously aren't a casual/occassional ice-fisher. Keep safe.
