Swap Meet Pictorial: Tis The Season!

September 6, 2022 By John Prusak

It’s finally here. Call it the pre-season to the pre-season for snowmobilers if you wish, but late summer brings with it the first big grass drag and swap meet events each year.

Those, of course, start to get the blood pumping for fall snow shows, swap meets and grass drag events.

And those, of course, are eventually supplanted by our first opportunities to actually get out and ride our snowmobiles!

Here are some images we captured at the annual Outlaw Grass Drag & Swap Meet event in Princeton, Minnesota, which features various forms of high-end grass drag racing plus a decent swap meet that gets folks in the general area pumped up for the Hay Days Grass Drags in September. Enjoy.

Outlaw Grass Drags swap — Now this is what a swap table is supposed to look like… old helmet, stack of drive belts, Santa Claus on a motorcycle, a neon bar light…

Outlaw Grass Drags triples — Plenty of three-cylinder vintage sleds were on display, building hype for the “Triple Wars” that will be a part of the Midwest Ride-In event in January in Elk River, Minnesota.

Serious swappers — Some swap meet participants are dudes with pickup trucks. Others are far more serious, like this setup under a massive tent.

Princeton Grass Drags — There’s nothing like bringing home that new-to-you sled the first time — even if it’s about 50 years after it was originally built!

Swap meet in princeton — “Hey good looking, what are YOU doing here?” What? We were talking to the Vmax?!

F500 sled — Grass drags may have been the competition of choice, but you could find other competition sleds in the swap meet, including this “race ready” F-500 machine for ovals racing.

kitty cat photo — These early 70s Kitty Cat are true collectors items that just anybody can afford, and one of them would be in the garage of our sales director Mark (those are his feet in the edge of the photo) if he wasn’t so dang scared to break it to his wife that he bought yet another old sled!

An oar, a garden hole, a dog kennel, a boat seat… these people know they’re at a snowmobiling event, right?

Thomas Sno Sports had the biggest display on the grounds, including both Arctic Cat and Argo ATVs. Snowmobile snowmobiles were all Cats… almost. He did have one vintage Polaris in his collection.

Mmmmmm…. the smell of grilled pork chops was a great way to start out our morning!

Editor’s Note: Every Snow Goer issue includes in-depth sled reports and comparisons, aftermarket gear and accessories reviews, riding destination articles, do-it-yourself repair information, snowmobile technology and more. Subscribe to Snow Goer now to receive print and/or digital issues.