Sno-Riders kick off year with new groomer

The Yorkton Sno-Riders snowmobiling club is entering this season better equipped than ever before.

Until now, the club has maintained its 500 km of snowmobile trails in the area with a set of used snow groomers. Breakdowns were common, and with two of the club's groomers approaching the 10,000-hour mark, the Sno-Riders decided to do something.

"After years of canvassing and various projects, we went ahead and purchased a brand new 2011 John Deere tractor from Maple Farm Equipment," says Sno-Riders president Jason Popowich.

Equipped with a state-of-the-art Soucy track kit, the complete equipment package is valued at more than $200,000. It's the first of its kind in the area.

"We're anticipating it's going to be easier to operate, it's going to cost less to run, and our costs of ownership are hopefully going to be a lot less, as well," Popowich says.

The decision to purchase an agricultural tractor rather than a dedicated groomer was made in light of the harsh conditions the club regularly faces in Saskatchewan, says the club president.

"The cattle guys know, an ag tractor, when they have to go out to feed their cattle, they turn the key, it starts up, and it goes. It has to go every day."

Since 2005, the club has received money through the province's Trail Fund, which provides a cut of snowmobile registration fees to groups that maintain trail systems. But it was local membership fees, fundraising events, and business sponsorships that made the purchase possible.

"The funding that we get from the Trail Fund pretty much covers the expenses associated with the grooming: the fuel and the operation," says Popowich. "Not a whole lot comes for the expense of purchasing a new groomer."

The Sno-Riders will soon be preparing their trails for the upcoming snowmobile season. The work usually begins in early December-after hunting season, so that hunters and snowmobilers aren't a danger or a nuisance to one another.

But the schedule will obviously be dependent on the weather, says Popowich.

The 500 km trail system should be largely unchanged this year, with some exceptions such as the city access trails. In past years, for example, the trail crossed the area now occupied by the Royal Honda construction site.

"That trail is definitely going to change if it still exists."