Wondering how fast you can go while snow grooming? Or what is the best snow grooming speed? You are in the right place.

It’s important to find the right snow grooming speed for laying flat perfect snow corduroy. There are many different factors that come into play when it comes to the correct speed for optimal Snow Groomers.

For example, if you’re going too fast your Snow Groomers could bounce causing you to have bumps on your trail which is what you’re trying to get rid of. If you go too slow you could also have issues with the snow not being able to set up correctly and smashed down efficiently.

The other thing to think about is safety you also want to go to speed that is safe and so you can avoid running into other users on the trail especially if it’s a snowmobile trail.

10 to 12 mph is the recommended snow grooming speed

Even though 10 to 12 mph is the recommended snow grooming speed there are other factors like the type of terrain, towing machine, steepness of the trail, and the depth of the snow. For example, in some cases where the terrain or the snow is too deep or it’s too tight and you have tight quarters you’re not gonna be able to go 10 to 12 mi./ hours you’re gonna have to slow down to make sure that you make these corners and through the tight trees.

Grooming Deep Snow

Snow Grooming in Deep Powder

And then powder this introduces a whole other set of issues when it comes to grooming Snow. As you probably know when you’re in deep powder you don’t have very much traction so this means you need to go faster on the machine to get the traction you need which then causes your track to spin, if you’re on a snowmobile and then makes it seem like you’re going 20 mph but the whole idea is going at a nice consistent speed where you don’t get stuck but then lay down nice flat corduroy and your Snow Groomer is not bouncing.

How Deep can the snow be?

One trick of the trade is if your snow is really deep let’s say 2 feet or more and you have a snowmobile on it and you’re worried about getting stuck while you’re towing your snow groomer, the one thing that I would recommend is going and hitting your trail before you tow your Snow Groomers and packing it down a bit.

With a tracked UTV we have been able to tow our largest Sno-master 72 to Snow Groomers in over 2 to 3 feet of powder with no issues and not getting stuck.

Also having Ultra-Compact lightweight Snow Groomers allow you to still pack down and groom your snow when it’s light powder. Then add weight later when you really need to smash down the snow or if it’s really heavy wet snow.

Honda Pioneer with Camso Tracks

Should I do multiple passes with my snow groomer?

You’re also welcome to do multiple passes if you feel like you need to but typically if you’re Snow Groomer is set up correctly you only need to do one pass.

And the great thing is once you are ready have a base packed down from grooming multiple times during the winter it gives you a really solid base to work off of and gives you traction underneath the new Snow.

If you’re towing machine is having trouble making it up a hill you might need to get a run at it — means you’re most likely going to be going over 12 mph — that way you don’t get stuck.

Pack down your snow before snow grooming

For us out here in the west where you have large mountains and hills. If it’s a deep snow day I will use the machine and just tow up as quickly as possible and then on the way down I will add weight to my Snow Groomer and go nice and slow to pack down the snow.  That way I can get up the hill without having to load up my snow groomer and get stuck in my machine but then on the way down I can really to spend the time to go 10 to 12 mph making sure that the snow is perfectly groomed.

Now, what if your snow is old and crusty and has whoops and ruts in it?

  • Moguls
  • Snow Whoops
  • Ruts
  • Bumps

The same story do you want to go from 8 to 12 mph do you want to add weight to your Snow Groomers and you also want to have a snow razor blade that will cut and trim the trail to give you fresh new snow to work with and pack down into corduroy.

Now keep in mind if your trail is frozen solid as in its ice there are no Snow Groomers out there that’s going to help you. The reason the ski resorts groom often is to keep their snow agitated and as fresh as possible so that I can be workable every day. So once your snow gets soft if it heats up during the day and you had wipes or bombs in your drawer you can actually go use the snow razor blade and go knock down a cut and trim down the snow whoops.

SNO-MASTER 72 snow groomer

I always recommend grooming your snow as much as possible!

If you are worried about hitting rocks or trees then for safety reasons go slower.  Our groomers have built-in shear pins and bolts so that if you hit something then these break instead of your groomer or you or your towing machine.  When not having these safety options you literally hit something and fly right over the handlebars of your snowmobile.

 

Again safety comes FIRST!

 

There is also the case of our sno-blaster groomer.  It is fine to go faster as that allows you to blast the snow farther from the trail.  The speed of a snow blaster is often 15+ mph if the trails allow it. The snow blaster will remove snow off your trail so really you can go as fast or slow as you would like.

 

If you are pulling a groomer with a tractor or other wheeled vehicle then a little faster can help cover your tracks as the sno-razor cuts the snow on the side of your tracks.

 

To summarize, safety is more important than how fast to groom your snow.  Then not getting stuck and not breaking your towing machine or your groomer comes next.  Depending on snow conditions the speed still may be different.  How much weight compared to the density of the snow affects how fast you should go. Although in lots of cases a little slower than you think is OK.  Experience is a great teacher on the speeds to groom your snow.