Senior Culminating Project

For my senior project I took on the task of rebuilding a 2007 Polaris 700 snowmobile. It was a challenge working on a new kind of machine, all of my previous mechanical experience being on motorcycles. I decided to step out of the box and try something new! Difficulties came along with this decision from lack of knowledge on the simple make up of parts that comprise a snowmobile, to a basic problem with tools available at my house. Luckily I have friends and family members that are very knowledgeable in all motorized vehicles and these folks came in handy when I would get stuck during the process of swapping most every stock part on the sled out for aftermarket upgrades. Throughout the project I learned that I actually knew more about sleds than I had thought prior to the start of my project. It turns out parts on a snowmobile are very similar to that of a bike. I found some comfort in realizing this! Not everything came easy though. At one point in the project I found myself stumped on how to remove a specific part and called upon Cody T. for a favor, he showed and helped me overcome this obstacle. I also had to use a lot of trial and error in the course of my project. I would try multiple things to get parts loose or to even get to the nuts and bolts that needed to be loosened to remove aid parts. I planned out all the parts that I would be removing and made a step by step outline that I followed so that I removed each part in a fashion that allowed for the most logical time frame. I kept work moving by drinking lots of Monster energy drinks, and mainly by just enjoying the opportunity to learn about a new vehicle. Managing my time wasn’t difficult since I planned on working on the sled every weekend on Sundays, a day where otherwise I sit at home doing almost nothing aside from eating. I enjoyed my topic a lot because I love mechanics and working with tools, getting covered in grease is sort of a reward in my eyes, and a snowmobile has no lack of grease