A look under the hood of ‘The Batmobile’

News — 15 February 2011

From left: Wayne Clark, Chris Rob and Jeff Sprenger with their icefishing creation ‘The Batmobile’ on Edward Lake, Feb. 11.

In the old days, they called it ‘cabin fever’.

A certain spark of genius, bordering on insanity that spurs men to expand the realm of what is possible in the dead of winter.

Gripped tightly in the hold of one such revolutionary concept, two winters back, Vermilion Bay area residents Wayne Clark, Chris Rob and Jeff Sprenger built something that has since captured the imagination of area residents.

On You Tube, Clark’s gangsta-rap scored video, produced by Clark’s 16 year-old son Davis and titled ‘Icefishing in the Batmobile’, has attracted just shy of 6,000 hits thus far and garnered the attention of the CBC.

Clark says the project started by stripping two 1984 Skandic 377 longtrack snowmobiles down to the bare frame and joining the chassis together. Removing the inside skis, they fashioned a new ball joint running between the two arms to establish a single steering column.

Throttle cables from each engine were joined together in a junction box and tinkered with to synchonize into a single throttle. Heat from the engines was channeled into the cabin for comfort and to keep the windows clear.

The cabin itself is constructed from quarter-inch plywood. It seats four with four holes for fishing. It can travel at speeds up to 50 miles per hour fully loaded and pulling a sleigh.

“We actually built it in about two days start to finish,” said Clark. “We were fishing the second day. Before the paint was even dry we were going across the lake. The funny thing about it is, we put it together and the thing worked — first try.”

After an interesting first day’s fishing Chris Rob adds they opted to refine the exhaust system — routing it outside of the cabin.

A resort owner on Edward Lake and major minnow supplier, Clark says the Batmobile has generated lots of interest, though he has no plans to pursue any commercial notions with the machine.

“We’ve had guys call up and want the plans and this and that, but I never meant to do anything commercial with it. We’re so busy with the other work we do we have no time for anything else. It’s just for fun and fishing. Someday I’d like to build an upgrade with some bigger sleds — liquid cooled. That would be really cool.”

By Chris Marchand

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