Hi-Tech Performance makes snowmobile clutches

This article submitted by Linda Stelling on 1/13/98.

Hi-Tech Performance, an after-market snowmobile parts manufacturer, was started three years ago by Duane Watt, Litchfield, and John Mor, Paynesville. But it wasn’t until last year that the business finally started its sales operation.

“Duane is the brains behind the operation,” Mor said. It’s Watt’s expertise and knowledge of snowmobile clutches that prompted the two men to form a partnership and forge ahead in the industry with a different concept for snowmobile parts.

“We are always developing new products. Our snowmobile parts are made to fit several brands which include Polaris, Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo and Yamaha. In paging through our sales brochure, the machines the parts are designed for are listed,” Watt said.

“We’re starting to get recognition for our original parts, making improvements on the manufacturer’s equipment,” Mor said. “Top snowmobile racers are using our parts on the race circuits.”

The two men have patents pending on six snowmobile parts. They said it usually takes anywhere from a year to a year and a half to get a patent. However, once they apply for a patent, their inventions are protected and cannot be copied.

Watt was recently featured in Snow Tech, the sled and rider magazine. The magazine states: Watt is no newcomer to snowmobiles. He bought his first sled in 1964 and raced mini-sprints in the late 70s. His genius seems to be with secondary clutches and has developed more working clutch designs than most of us will ever see in a lifetime.

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