Gas to the bottom. The studded tire rubs against the surface of the ice. A small shower of snow flies into the air, when Jouni Harjun the vehicle he is driving jumps into motion on the Tuohisaari ice road in Saimaa’s Pihlajavedi.
Harju’s common-law partner Emma Engström goes after with his own game. Soon, the couple glides along the ice road smoothly and silently, firecracker-colored sleds below.
However, you don’t kick with these kick sleds, they speed forward with electric motors and battery power. Only the Stella dog runs alongside the sledders with muscle power.
The sun shines from an almost cloudless sky, and there is no wind. The silence is broken by the cawing of a crow and soon again the muffled screeching of studded tires as the kick sledders fly back to the shore.
“This doesn’t work,” says Harju about the controls of his orange electric scooter.
“You can move on that ice with this and not disturb anyone. And you can talk while driving.”
Jouni Harju (front) and Emma Engström whiz by on their electric kick sleds on the Tuohisaari ice road in Saimaa’s Pihlajavedi.
With a feather Jouni Harju, who lives in Etelä Savo, works as a museum curator as an entrepreneur. He builds exhibitions and tunes audio equipment and video cannons.
In his free time, Harju enjoys a different kind of tuning. In the workshop located in the attic of the old barn, he works on various engines and machines, cars and mopeds.
A special passion is kick sleds. For twenty years, Harju has been building motorized sleds for his own enjoyment and that of his close friends. The result of years of tinkering, planning and testing is an electric kicksled that the builder himself is beginning to be satisfied with.
Traditional the wooden Esla kick sled is equipped with an electric motor. It rotates a stud ring mounted on the front of the sled, which pulls the sled into motion.
On the Tuohisaari ice road, the engine of Harju’s sled runs on a self-built battery, which he uses to power the electric outboard motor in the summer. Engström’s pink sled is powered by four E-bike batteries connected in series.
The speed can be adjusted with the thumb throttle. By pressing the turbo button, the engine starts working with greater power.
Jouni Harju has developed the studded tire he installs on kick sleds to be more grippy.
It would be here’s the engine, Harju remembers dreaming in the winters of his childhood, when he, as a primary school student, kicked off his school trip in Sulkava’s church village. Pushing the sled uphill in wind and gusts was not always easy.
In adolescence, Harju immersed himself in the world of mopeds, engines and machines. When the mopeding phase subsided a bit, he and his friend started trying to build a snowmobile.
The first working game was a kick sled powered by a scooter engine.
“The first sled was a bit of a joke. The thought came from laziness: it would be nice not to have to kick. You couldn’t really drive the first one properly, but the next one was already quite functional. I noticed that hey, you can actually ride this one.”
Over the years, Harju has developed a sled with better steering and studded tires. The development of battery technology led to the replacement of combustion engines with electric motors.
“We didn’t dare to give the first ones to someone suddenly. They were so cute. But even grandmas and grandkids can shave with these latest ones.”
Jouni Harju thanks his electric kick sled on the ice.
In electric bicycles, the motor helps pedaling, but the kick sled is moved by the motor and the driver helps.
“It’s not worth kicking much with this. The legs are not like on the road. That’s how far it goes,” says Harju.
The combustion engine sleds he built have traveled more than 60 kilometers per hour. Current electric sleds travel at a speed of over 40 km/h with turbo gear and a leisurely 25 km/h with tamer gear.
Jouni Harju has tuned various kick sleds over the years. On the left is an aluminum-framed sled and on the right is a traditional wooden sled with an internal combustion engine and front light.
In winter the couple regularly rides their electric scooters on ice and on quiet private roads. Often they sled a few kilometers across the ice to their island cabin.
A kick sledder running at speed is such a special sight that usually other people moving on the ice stop to marvel at the progress.
Emma Engström and Jouni Harju often ride their electric scooters to their cottage on the island, for example. The dog Stella is accompanied.
Many people get excited about getting a sled for themselves, but their enthusiasm usually subsides after Harju tells them the sled’s price estimate. He calculates that the electric kick sled he built is worth around 2,000 euros. Most of the money is tied up in the battery.
“I don’t want to use the cheapest Chinese batteries, because you don’t know how they work in freezing temperatures. I like that you can drive at least twenty kilometers on the sled and you don’t have to think about whether you can get back,” says Harju.
The battery of current sleds has lasted more than 40 kilometers at best. Harju estimates that if you take a spare battery with you on the trip, you can cover a distance of 80 kilometers with the kick sled. What you can drive in a day, he says.
“Now that you’ve gotten the hang of the electric kick sled, even riding a snowmobile starts to feel boring and old-fashioned. It makes a terrible noise, and it uses a lot of gas.”
The lake on ice, the best snowmobile weather is usually in the spring and winter, when sunny days and heavy night frosts make the ice a hard, smooth surface. Back then, you could go everywhere with a kick sled.
“Oh, that’s really sweet when you get to drag around the islands over there. Just put a backpack on your back and a friend for the ride,” says Harju.
Jouni Harju and Emma Engström sledding with their dog Stella at Pihlajavedi.
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