# Winter (snow) Trail Grooming Techniques



## RYNOFREERIDE (Feb 26, 2004)

Hi all,

I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has some unique ways to groom your mountain bike trails for winter (snow ) riding? There is a lot of winter biking in Minnesota, especially now with all the fat tire bikes showing up. It seems to be getting to be a bigger deal every winter. We currently have a very manual process for setting up our trails for winter use. We start out by snowshoeing the trails, then bring in the fat tire bikes and if all sets up fine, the thinner tires can ride. When it is packed in correctly, it makes for a great riding experience for many different tire widths. This happens over and over again all winter as we continue to get snow. It is a lot of work and we appear to have a civil war developing between the thin tires and fat tires over this process. 

There is all kinds of grooming equipment out there for cross country skiing trails and I was wondering if anyone had developed something to groom their local winter mountain bike trails. 

Any ideas out there?


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## Loren_ (Dec 3, 2006)

I've thought about making a set of cement rollers for my yard boss tiller, something heavy enough to pack the snow down that I could just walk the trail with. Usually I just lay down until the idea goes away.

It's just part of the season, I figure. For a few weeks each year, it's better to grab the skis than the bike when you hit the trail. Why fight it...


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## zrm (Oct 11, 2006)

XC skis are the best tool for snow covered trails. There is a season for everything.


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## RYNOFREERIDE (Feb 26, 2004)

zrm said:


> XC skis are the best tool for snow covered trails. There is a season for everything.


Yeah, I like to XC ski myself, but we are getting more and more winter riders, especially with the new fat tire bikes. MN has a fair amount of year round riders. Our group already packs in the trails good enough to be great for riding, but it is a lot of work. Hopefully we can come up with a plan to make it easier.


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## singlesprocket (Jun 9, 2004)

a snow melter contraption that packs and waters the trail for a nice ice base... always thought that would be the cats meow. you can pretty much run a trail anywhere.


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## woodway (Dec 27, 2005)

RYNOFREERIDE said:


> Yeah, I like to XC ski myself, but we are getting more and more winter riders, especially with the new fat tire bikes. MN has a fair amount of year round riders. Our group already packs in the trails good enough to be great for riding, but it is a lot of work. Hopefully we can come up with a plan to make it easier.


Snowmobile? Opps sorry, snowmachine?


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## Trail Ninja (Sep 25, 2008)

woodway said:


> Snowmobile? Opps sorry, snowmachine?


Works pretty good if the trail is wide enough. Go slow and drag a heavy sled, preferably on a warm day if you can get one.


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## Loren_ (Dec 3, 2006)




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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

http://cgi.ebay.com/nordic-cross-co...ultDomain_0?hash=item4a9cd189ad#ht_500wt_1182

Just a thought.


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## RYNOFREERIDE (Feb 26, 2004)

bsieb said:


> http://cgi.ebay.com/nordic-cross-co...ultDomain_0?hash=item4a9cd189ad#ht_500wt_1182
> 
> Just a thought.


Intriguing.


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

RYNOFREERIDE said:


> Yeah, I like to XC ski myself, but we are getting more and more winter riders, especially with the new fat tire bikes. MN has a fair amount of year round riders. Our group already packs in the trails good enough to be great for riding, but it is a lot of work. Hopefully we can come up with a plan to make it easier.


My knees will not let me ski or snowshoe, so a bike is about my only choice. The ebay groomer looks good. I have had fun rides on snowmobile trails.


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## BadHabit (Jan 12, 2004)

shiggy said:


> My knees will not let me ski or snowshoe, so a bike is about my only choice. The ebay groomer looks good. I have had fun rides on snowmobile trails.


Have fun. Very important for riders to stay out of xc ski tracks.


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## mtbxplorer (Dec 25, 2009)

No Problem...get a snow roller and a team


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## highdelll (Oct 3, 2008)




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