When you live in the mountains where you get lots of snow you can either hate it or decide to have fun in the snow.. We have had a lifetime of playing in the snow. When we were kids 40 years ago we only had snowmobiles and we could not think that one day we would be snow grooming with a UTV.  We tried to make the snow smooth for certain activities.  We did not even call it snow grooming. The need to groom your snow trails in the winter has grown and the experiences of the past are still true in how to make snow trails with your Side-by-Side.

Get a longer UTV hitch when towing a snow groomer

When making snow trails with your side-by-side you need to make sure whatever you are pulling behind your UTV does not get caught in your UTV tracks. A rear hitch that is 14” inches long or more just puts your pivot point back far enough that when you are turning your UTV, the chance to catch your snow groomer in the tracks is significantly reduced.

Why you need a longer hitch when towing a snow groomer with a SxS

The hitch on your side by side is usually on the back of the frame. The problem is that tracks can be 2 feet farther back than just tires.  So when you are pulling a snow groomer or snow drag it is easy to get the tongue or chain caught in your tracks.

There is a simple solution to this. Get at least 14” inches hitch that stickers out from the frame.  

When I was young I tried to pull a pallet to smooth out some snow.  Bad idea. The chain pulling it broke off part of the pallet and that became a weapon and barely missed me. 

So then we pulled a truck hood and that was fun to ride on. That was our backyard snow groomer. However, the paint got rubbed off the hood and the next year it was all rusted and broke apart and was not even safe to ride on. The chain never broke off the truck hood. I am glad it did not.

That truck hood would try to pass us on the steep tubing hill and the chain did not hold it back. Now I am talking about what not to do instead of how to groom with your side by side. Do not use a chain.

How wide your snow groomer needs to be if being towed by a UTV with Tracks

Is your groomer wide enough to groom the snow trail made by your side by side.  Most tracks stick out farther than just wheels.  If you have tracks that are wider than the snow groomer then your trail is leaving ruts and not nice groomed corduroy. Ruts on the side of your trails are not as good as no ruts.  When skate skiing on the trails having a hole that your pole goes in just plain stinks.  Have a snow groomer that covers the complete trail. Even on the corners where a groomer may cut the corner a little and leave a track mark.

How to safely make snow trails with your Side-by-Side

Over the years we have made too many mistakes.  We have learned from these mistakes. These mistakes would be made worse if making a trail with your side by side. Grooming winter trails often have unseen obstacles.  Whether they are rocks that have rolled into the trail and are covered by snow. Same thing for a tree or tree limbs. The limbs fall and get covered by snow.  Then when snow grooming you hit them. Hitting obstacles while grooming can break you up or break your towing machine, or break thee groomer. let along the whiplash you may get.. 

I have even had a hidden wire from a fence get caught on the machine.

To help solve the safety issues we have shear pins that shear off when hitting whatever it is that happens when snow groomer.  Side by sides are bigger and if there is no shear pin when hitting stuff then things just get busted up worse than in the days when we did it all with snowmobiles.  The other thing is there are different places that might catch on your snow groomer. Our snow groomers have built-in bolts that are meant to shear when there are issues.  This not only saves your snow groomer but your pulling machine and in extreme cases the driver.  Even when your snow groomers are designed to be tough, efficient, and long-lasting. There is no substitute for experience and learning the problems that happen in real-life use.  We built-in solutions to these real-life problems.

We love making snow trails with our Side-by-Sides. You need tracks on your side by sides to do a good job though. They go at speeds that are great for grooming.  Side by sides are superb in dragging a groomer.  They have backrest seats.  They get stuck less often than when we groom snow with our snowmobiles.  Riding your UTV in the snow with a little company is often more fun than just  making your snow trails all by yourself.