Snowdog club was started in the USA
Rick Alford, resident of Minnesota, military retiree, shares his experience after using his Compact B13 ME: “The Snowdog has been an answer to my prayers.”
He purchased it more than 1 year ago, had a great ice fishing season and now he is getting prepared for the second season. This even led to starting a new fun club with a large number of participants. We were favorably impressed by this, contacted Rick and interviewed him.
We believe it will be interesting for you.
- Rick, your club appeared on Facebook a year ago. Which prerequisites were there for starting the club? Who came up with this idea? Who was an initiator? Tell us please.
- Our club is really in it’s infancy. 1 year old today as a matter of fact. My buddy said to me it’s too bad there is not a group on Facebook where Snowdog owners who love to ice fish could get together to discuss modifications, maintenance and how to best use our Snowdogs for ice fishing expeditions. I said to him let’s start our own and that is how the MinneSnowdogs came to be. We never expected it would grow as quickly as it has but I have made some very good friends from this group already. Myself and my buddy Will Vervair initiated the club.
- Great! And how many members are there in your club now? More than 160 people? How often and where do you get together, what do you do? Are there women among the participants of the club? Why are they interested in it, too?
- We currently have 163 members in the Facebook group but only about 20 people who have actually gotten together during our ice fishing get togethers. But that is expected to get bigger and better this year. We have a really big ice camping Snowdog expedition planned for Jan 14-16. I hope to get some film from drones when we meet and have a bunch of Snowdogs going across the lake at the same time. It should be fantastic! I have only met one woman so far that joins us and she likes the Snowdog as much as her husband does.
- Do you know about similar clubs in other areas, states?
- I know of no other groups in the area like ours. North Dakota has a small group and the leader of that one is a good buddy of mine. His group may come to our event in January.
- Why did you and your friends choose Snowdog? What do you like most about them? What are the most common breakdowns? Is it quick and easy to fix? What would you like to change or improve?
- I personally chose to get a Snowdog because I got shot twice in Afghanistan by the Taliban and one of my legs is disabled so walking around on the lake is a struggle. The Snowdog has been an answer to my prayers. It allows me to enjoy the winter outdoors easily. I have the Compact 13hp. I love it. It’s small, but powerful. The most common breakdown that I have heard of if fuel leaking into the oil and causing issues. The spark plug that comes with the Snowdog is very poor quality. By changing it to a better plug, I immediately noticed a better performance by my Snowdog.
- OK. Could you tell us one funny story connected with your trip with Snowdog?
- The funniest story I can think of is my buddy pulling a 4 wheeler ATV out of a ditch with his Snowdog. They are very reliable and easy to work on… I love my Snowdog!
Great story, Rick. We wish all the participants of this club a successful fishing season and an exciting festival in January! We will look forward to photos and videos from this event. Thank you!
