Recalling the Cutter Craze: Sled Trailers Boom and Bust

Call them cutters, sleighs, cabooses, tow-behinds or tag-a-longs, it doesn’t matter. They were an important part of the sport’s development as both a means of utility and as a family activity. And there are still a lot of them around today.

From the simplistic to the sublime, these pull behinds varied greatly in their design and function, but in more recent year’s they’ve turned into unique collector’s items. Many top vintage shows now offer Cutter-Combo classes for these snowmobile trailers with the sleds that towed them. We’ve also seen some very impressive custom cutters built to match specific sleds like the Ski-Doo Elite, Arctic Cat Panther VIP and even custom Kitty Cat cutters.  

Basic Cutter Types 

Cutters exploded onto the snowmobile scene in the mid-1960s. While Dad drove and Mom held on behind him, the kids rode in a tow-behind cutter as the family bounded across farm fields and down ditchlines in the still-developing sport. In fact, the extra power required for towing such a trailer was one factor that fueled the industry’s earliest horsepower races. 

Right from the beginning, designs quickly split into three types: passenger, cargo and combo.

Passenger models – like Ski-Doo’s Ski-Boose, Arctic’s Kat Kutter and Skiroule’s Cariol – most often included a working suspension, cushioned seating and often some sort of leg protection. There was also typically a windshield.

Such models evolved considerably over time. For example, Ski-Doo’s mid-’60s Sleigh was quite different from its later Ski-Boose that was offered in two sizes.

Aftermarket brands that made passenger cutters included the popular Michigan-built General Aluminum Products (GAP) Sno-Cruiser – not to be confused with OMC’s Snow Cruiser snowmobile or the Scorpion Snow Cruiser cutter. Selling for $150 to $170 in the early 1970s, Sno-Cruiser pull-behinds could be color-matched to any major snowmobile brand.

In Quebec, Aurèle Marois manufactured a full line of cutters. They were sold with their own branding and were also private labeled for several Canadian sled manufacturers, as did Skimo.

At the low end, Jiffy Plastics offered the polyethylene “Kid” that would handle two children for just $16!

Less expensive cargo models like Ski-Doo’s Carry-Boose, Arctic’s Tag-A-Long and Alouette’s Tow Sled (later renamed Tote Sled) lacked any suspension or seat, although some included removable padding for a passenger sitting straight legged.

Polaris offered its smallish 1967 Tow Sled for the equally small price of $44.50. And there were many aftermarket models.  For do-it-yourselfers, the 1973 Popular Science Snowmobile Handbook included directions on how to construct a cargo sleigh out of wood and galvanized metal. 

Combo variants that could fill either role were sold by many brands, including Sno*Jet, Scorpion, Evinrude and Johnson. Featuring suspensions and cushioned seats, they sacrificed passenger protection for a more open-body design. That allowed for easier handling of bulky cargo and a lower price than a better-equipped passenger cutter, but sitting in the snow spray/dust wasn’t always a pleasant experience.

Herter’s combo cutter was sold catalog-direct for $137.50 in 1969-70, but brands sold through dealers typically cost more. Aftermarket combos included the unsuspended Nick-A-Boggan and Smalley’s Pup-Sled, each with a rear platform for a stand-up passenger. 

Specialized Variants 

The rescue sleigh, a stretcher on skis, arrived in the late ’60s. The GAP Sno-Cruiser’s early ’70s rescue model was fully enclosed, fully sprung and clearly labeled as a medical unit. This general type remains in use by first responders to this day.

Our crew has witnessed these sorts of sleighs in use in recent years. It’s obviously sad when you stumble across a rescue sled in the woods next to a badly crumbled snowmobile. Yet we were glad to see the local paramedics had the equipment available to safely transport the injured party out of the woods and back into town.  

Winter camping got a lot of magazine coverage back in the day. GAP offered a basic Sno-Camper sleigh for about $350 in 1970. But the 1978 Sno-Mo-Home was a premium model. This $1,200 Canadian-built clam shell camper was fully equipped to handle two people and included holes in the bottom for ice fishing. But snow camping never caught on.

The 1973 Arctic Cat Kitchen Cutter was the industry’s most unique sleigh. This big aluminum box on leaf springs and skis featured a gas grille, two-burner LP stove, cutting board, storage space and wheel kit.

Inspector Henderson, Arctic’s snowmobile safety spokesman at the time, promoted the $495 Kitchen Cutter for use by snowmobile clubs and other organizations. The initial 500 sold slowly, but a second batch that included a fold-down shelf was built, and it was in production once again in the 1980s. We still see them in use by some clubs at trailside weenie roasts. 

Retreat to the North 

In the middle 1970s cutters quickly declined in popularity as snowmobiling evolved away from multi-place family sleds and laws regulating cutter use were enacted in some jurisdictions.

Although a few brands like Arctic Cat offered cutters into the 1990s, today they are strictly aftermarket items. Cargo cutters, also known by their Labrador aboriginal name kometic, remain popular in the far north for hauling survival equipment and supplies – as you’ll see in any of the dozen or so shows out there about people living in Alaska. Some of the latest high-end passenger sleighs like the Equinox Snowcoach series feature modern coil spring suspensions, full enclosures with doors and even heaters.

But you’ll spend more for one of these plush tow-behinds than you would have for a family snowmobile and a sleigh back when snowmobile cutters originally hit the snow.