Members of ATV clubs from across Manitoba spent last Sunday in Woodridge, testing out new trail grooming equipment.
Gary Hora, President of the Woodridge ATV Sandhogs says they were in need of a new trail groomer and so he reached out to The Shop Industrial, out of Sudbury, Ontario. He notes it’s a company that makes larger snowmobile trail groomers and was now making smaller models for ATV and walking trails.
Hora says last weekend, Mike Heino Jr, owner of The Shop Industrial, came to Manitoba and brought some machines along to demonstrate what they do. Sunday was the day when members of the Sandhogs, the Eastman ATV club, Westman ATV club from near Brandon and even some people from the South East Snoriders came out to see what these machines were all about.
Hora says everyone was really impressed. He describes the pull-behind machine.
“Essentially what it is a frame with two guide runners on either side, and then they'll have a variety of different cutting blades within. The longer models have four blades on a 45° angle, that kind of step back from one another, and then a straight blade on the back end with dolly wheels at the very rear, so you can lift it up and drive down a road.”
Hora complements the inventors. “It's an incredibly good design. They're very stable. They have serrated teeth blades, so it cuts through the vegetation and moves it around. And then after several passes, you end up with a very nice smooth and flat trail.”
Hora says the smaller groomers can be pulled by an ATV, other than that the large machines would need a side-by-side or small farm tractor, which all of the clubs that came out noted.
As to the cost of these groomers, Hora notes that they vary in price, and get more expensive the wide, and longer the machine.
“You're going to have more material in there, and more hours of labour to assemble that sort of thing. You can get into a base unit for just under $10,000 and then the larger units for doing ATV trail work could go up in the range of $26,000 to $28,000. So, it primarily it depends on what you want to invest in.”
Hora says last Sunday, the Ontario based company had four units on site, one which the Sandhogs have already claimed.
“I was sold on it, and we are going to be purchasing it this summer. The second unit actually, went out all the way out to Brandon Westman ATV. They were so impressed with it, they took one home, and they also intend to purchase theirs this summer.”
He says there are 10 ATV clubs in the province, all of them would like to try the trail groomers at some point this summer.
Hora notes the trail groomers will be used throughout their trails year-round.
"All of our trails have different types of ground material to work with. You'll have areas that have a lot of clay and gravel, so it compacts down and stays a little tighter, it doesn't need as much regular maintenance. And then we also have the very sandy soft soil that will actually need to be groomed once, maybe twice, in some places every second week.”
He says there are some areas of their trails that have had little to no grooming for the past 8 years, so “it’s catch-up time.”
“So, we're going to have to make up some ground. But as time goes on, the trail system could be maintained a lot easier and a lot quicker because it'll be in better shape.”
Hora adds the trail groomer test runs went really well. “In fact, at times it felt like we were a bunch of kids playing in a sandbox with smiles on their faces. It wasn’t a nuisance; it was a joy. Everybody wanted to take turns, whether it's with the tractor, with the side-by-side or on the quad, and just try it out, because they all see the benefits that this tool could have for the future of our trail system, right? So yeah, a lot of people were having more fun than work.”
Hora is excited to get their new purchase out on the Woodridge ATV Sandhogs trails. He hopes that people won’t get discouraged with the current condition of the trails. In fact, he says, “It's not safe either, right? Because, if it's really rough and bumpy, people might also lose control. But, if you make a smoother trail system, makes it safer, and that's our whole goal at the end of it, just have a good riding experience, good family experience and a safe one.”