Cougar 550 Mod

[boondockerpro16]

Im seventeen, on a limited income, and with the way the economy is going, the hope of a new m8 is slipping away, and modding out my current sled is become a more real way to get to the places I want to go, but idk where to start, I need some help, any ideas on what to do and how to do it would be much appreciated, thank you.

[M7LIMITED]

The main problem you will be facing is a lack of horsepower and a short track, that being said here is what I did for my daughter when she was 13.
We took a Yamaha Phazer ll and geared it down a tad and put a 2 inch paddle under it. Put on ski skins for more float up front.
You should be able to find a good used track at a local dealer, ask them for a take off. Make sure that you have the clearance under your sled for bigger paddles first. Double check the current Pitch of your existing track.
The gear will be around $ 25.00 bucks and depending on size you may or may not have to replace the chain. See how much tension you have left in the take up. This will slow your top end but gain you low end torque to spin the bigger track. Due to limited horsepower you wont get a ton of performance but it will buy you another year for $ 200.00 - 300.00 bucks.

I can tell you that we took that little Phazer all over the West coast and it really did go about any where she wanted it to go. Some of the Snow trackers on here will vouch for that..lol:D

Good luck on the project.

M7LIMITED

[DRHSpecialty]

I'm impressed with the fact that a seventeen year old is aware of and concerned about the condition of the economy.

[boondockerpro16]

We geared it down two years ago, I was carving up the side of an on ramp by my house and the chain blew up and it took the gear and two of its teeth along with it, so we geared it down then, and it was noticable, we got a 3/8 in. track for it last year, it helped a little, we reversed the track to get more bite, but its still not the climber i want it to be, i want to put a 1 1/2 in. track under it but im afraid that it wnt have the power to turn the track and climb the deep stuff,

[feardiz]

the question should be what's your budget?? You may not have the $10,000+ for a new M8.. maybe you have 3-4k ??

[boondockerpro16]

over time ill have that much yes.

[2doo]

I would have to agree. If your budget will allow it, try looking for a different sled that is maybe more the speed you want, and when I say speed I don't mean mph! Don't try to live above your means or you won't have any $ to go sleddin!

[boondockerpro16]

exactly, mph is overated, i want something that will keep the track speed above 30 climbing the steep and deep, i dont care about flatland, i just lose all sorts of power out west and i dnt want to anymore.

[coolcatman1]

i have a 1995 cougar 550 mountian cat i dont know about your sled but mine has a 2 inch paddle under it if the tunnels are the same YOU CAN GO UP TO 2 INCH i milled my heads took .020 off each head that helped with power you can pull the jugs and port it too mines ported and polished i did it all my self with my dremel it just depends on what you want to do to it my track is turned around and that 2 inch track climbs like crazy in my colorado mountians pm me for more info if you are interested and want to know more

[boondockerpro16]

thats **** man