Wisconsin Trooper takes issue with snowmobile transport

[pathfinder 97]

 

A state trooper in Wisconsin had little trouble deciding whether this car — and snowmobile — needed to be pulled over. Credit: Wisconsin Department of Transportation

A Wisconsin state trooper pulled over two vehicles in one stop: a car with Minnesota license plates and a snowmobile precariously perched on top of it.

The sedan was pulled over about 1:20 p.m. Sunday on Hwy. 63 near Clayton, Wis., after the trooper saw the Polaris sled sitting perpendicular on the roof of the car, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol.

“Folks, don’t try this at home,” read a tweet posted Monday by the Northwest Region of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). “This isn’t a safe way to transport a snowmobile. If you’re transporting equipment this winter, you are advised to safely haul it secured on a trailer or in a truck.”

Matthew R. Schmit, 23, was issued a warning about the ill-advised hauling technique because he was “over width,” said WisDOT spokeswoman Christena O’Brien.

The trooper did cite Schmit, who lives in Clayton, for failure to buckle up, O’Brien added.

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Schmit said he had just bought the snowmobile and was driving it over to a friend’s house to show him.

“I know it looks sketchy, but we had it strapped down and shook it,” he said. “Up like in this kind of region, stuff like this gets seen all the time, but more like the back roads.”

[Saluda 110]

People are great !

[PolarisCobra 132]

Where there's a will, there's a way...

If that thing has studs, the roof is probably gonna leak. 

[pathfinder 97]

Reminds me of an episode that happened about 15 years ago when I had my touring business. I lived close to Timberland Lodge on First Conn Lake and had to make a quick trip home for lunch and had two Ski Doo tourings on a two place trailer behind my pickup. Being in a hurry I didn't unhook the trailer as I was only going a couple of miles. Also didn't have the skis secured with the tie down bars, no biggie, not going too far. Up the road I went from Timberland that led to rt 3, took a right, went a short distance and took a left. Before doing that I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed the local chief was behind me and getting pretty close. Put on my directional, turned left as I accelerated to get out of the chiefs was and started up a steep hill. Same time I felt some motion behind me, looked just in time to see the two tourings gracefully slide backwards off the trailer into the road. I knew the chief saw the whole sequence and couldn't help see him laughing so hard the cruiser was zig zagging a little. He didn't bother to stop. I drove the sleds up to the top of the hill, drove them back on the trailer and continued home, grateful nothing was damaged and the cruiser didn't crash.....

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[ICG 8]

Over zealous cop .  .

How else could you put that sled on a car with such a short roof . . . Any other orientation would take out the windshield, and obstruct viability.

Pathfinder,  did PhotoShop make this possible?

[pathfinder 97]

Pic doesn't look photoshopped and if you look close you  can see something like a door mat sticking out of track towards the rear window. Even more interesting is how in hell did they get it up there? And how the hell are they going to get it down? People are always getting creative moving sleds around, as we see pics of people stuffing a sled into a car trunk, three sleds in a pickup. In the early 70's I can remember myself and two buddies  stuffed two Rupp Nitros nose first into a Dodge B200 van, one each behind the seats, put a 2x6 across the seats and piled  a 634 Sno Jet in backwards, track on the 2x6 and went a couple hundred miles to ride somewhere in VT late season. 

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[jhwentworth 307]

15 hours ago, ICG said:

Over zealous cop .  .

How else could you put that sled on a car with such a short roof . . . Any other orientation would take out the windshield, and obstruct viability.

Pathfinder,  did PhotoShop make this possible?

It appears that the photo was edited. Below is the original photo from the Wisconsin DOT tweet. The license number is blurred out as is the political decal. Still, the sled on the roof part was the same.

[gunmaker 29]

 I had a Newport NH town cop follow me home one time to tell me my sled deck was to wide. He stated the law about the deck was past the out past the 6 inches allowed. Didn't write the ticket and never stopped me again

[John Mercier 36]

For most they won't. Officer is just doing due diligence to protect his department.

The issue would be in case of an accident. If it extends beyond the legal limit and is not correctly flagged... regardless of the other driver striking you from behind... your insurance will have to pay out.

It is the same for building materials, and other over sized loads.