Although the snowmobile biz has been one of the strongest survivors of the economic downturn, snowmobilers are always looking for ways to stretch greenbacks.
If your faithful steed needs some mechanical work and it just isn’t in your budget to trade up, you may be wise to consider shopping for used replacement parts.
Sure, you can shop the flea markets and swap meets, but it’s often difficult to find exactly the replacement you need exactly when you need it. If you’re not into digging through trailer loads of unlabeled semi-junk or willing to settle for something that might be a fit, you need to consider checking out one of the used parts dealers located across the snowbelt.
Most used parts businesses are rather specific about the makes and ages of the sleds they supply parts for. For instance, some dealers only sell Polaris parts, others specialize only in Ski-Doo, Cat or Yamaha.
As we’ve toured some of these outlets, we’ve been impressed with the level of organization we’ve seen. Sure, you’ll find a few you could loosely call “junkyards”, but it’s amazing how many of them carefully disassemble components and then label and catalog each piece before storing it where it can be easily located for sale.
Since they’re focused on a relatively narrow model selection, these businesses know what’s in demand and which items will move off the shelves readily versus what will be sitting in a bin gathering dust for a decade.
One such place we’ve visited is Indy Snowmobile Salvage in Minden, Ontario. Leon Wright deals exclusively in used Polaris parts, specifically Indy, Gen II and Edge platforms.
Leon does a great job of organizing the fastest moving used parts and is very selective about where he sources his parts from. Surprisingly, very little of his inventory comes from insurance wrecks. He prefers to buy complete sleds, hopefully still in running condition, so he can test the condition of components like clutches, engines, shafts and other moving parts before he sells them. Sometimes, he purchases bulk inventory from discontinued dealers.
You can save some serious moolah buying used tracks, body parts, skidframe parts or even shocks. Best part is, you don’t have to drive half way across the continent to find what you want. It’s right at your used parts store, sitting on a shelf.
Contact: Indy Snowmobile Salvage 705-286-3481
Al’s Snowmobile Parts Warehouse: 802-487-1000
