Liquidator

[sledder670]

1976 liquidator 055136
10/75
original
Brad
Rockford,IL
10/29/09
murphy and gustafson Freeport,IL
was raced by Lavern Michaels unsure of where and number

[DLDeere]

Year & Serial # 1976 SN 055280
Build Date (if available)
Original/Restored - Original
Your name (at least first name) Howard Olson
Location (at least state/country) Detroit Lakes, MN
Owned since 2010
Original Dealer - Unknown
History/Number if Raced - Unknown
Special Comments
"Gang-Green" was painted on the hood and signed by "Sprocket 01/87"

[cooter]

Year & Serial # 1976 SN 055028
Build Date (if available)
Original/Restored Restored
Your name Tyler Thoms
Location ND
Owned since 2009
Original Dealer Hillsboro ND
History/Number if Raced Was raced by Gary Lindgren in the I 500. Plus many others around north dakota.
Special Comments

[davedude]

Year & Serial # 1976 sn 055397
Build Date (if available)10-75
Original/Restored Original
Your name (at least first name) David McClellan
Location (at least state/country) flint mi.
Owned since 6-12-10
Original Dealer
History/Number if Raced yes
Special Comments 519 Original miles

[b.henrion]

1976 ser# 055320M
10/75
Original
Brian Henrion
Redvers Saskatchewan
2011
Henrion's Equipment
Never Raced

[dream weaver]

1976 sn#055456
10/75
Original and Unrestored with 557 miles
Nick Thallas
Blair, Ne.
2/14
Stempel Equipment/Oakland, Ia.
Sled was never raced
This sled was never sold and remained in the dealership until I bought my "new" Liquidator. (Happy, happy, happy) Being a Polaris TX guy as well, I've crossed over to the Green side.
Pictures will be forthcoming. Waiting for Joe Rainville to get pictures downloaded.

[Cabindweller]

Year & Serial # 1976 J34SE 055507M
Build Date (if available)
Original/Restored Original
Your name (at least first name) Jerry
Location (at least state/country Wisconsin
Owned since 6-30-2019
Original Dealer NA
History/Number if Raced NA

[Cory Ernst SK]

Year & Serial #. J34SE 055441M
Build Date (if available) JD NOS replacement tunnel
Original/Restored. Unrestored Apart for Restoration
Your name (at least first name). Cory Ernst
Location (at least state/country). Saskatoon Sk Canada
Owned since. 2005
Original Dealer. Enns Brothers John Deere Oak Bluff Manitoba
History/Number if Raced. Dave Enns #100 1976 I-500
Special Comments by

Ken Dyck of Winnipeg Manitoba

In 1976, after work and on weekends I worked on the Enns Bros John Deere race sleds. They had 2 Liquidators, one set up for oval, which was converted back to cross country for the 500. The other one, the one in the picture, was used for cross country. During a 2 day race to Grand Forks, the tunnel on 55441 was severely damaged. The first leg of the race was to Devils Lake, And we were allowed to work on the sleds at night. The engine mount had come lose I was told. The driver had managed to use all his belts up, and was able to scrounge belts from dead sleds to finish the first leg. He used any belt he could find, any make. The light snow conditions and rocks had taken their toll. This was before the chassis reinforcement up-date. Overnight repair was not possible. Back at the race shop I deemed the damage to be a bit more than I wanted to fix and had a new tunnel ordered. I remember the 500 was fast approaching and I still had a lot of sled to re-assemble. A bunch of help came my way and it was off to the 500. The last detail was the Vin/Sn. I didn't want to cut out the decal and pop rivet it to the new tunnel, it was still somewhat usable, less so with a hole in the tunnel. I decided to scribe the Vin/Sn onto the tunnel. I remember slipping on one #, and in the picture you can see the long tail on the second 5. So 42 years later, I get called out on it, My intent was not for it to look like it had been "scratched" on the tunnel. Judged and found guilty, harsh judgement considering the many hours of work that went into readying the sled for the 500. And don't forget, it served as a suitable Vin/Sn for quite a few years. I followed the links on this post, this sled wore # 100 for the 1976 500. Its stable mate wore # 385. I did the engine work for both sleds, but for the 500, I only twirled the wrenches on this one. A separate crew worked on the other one for the 500. Good luck on your restoration.
The engine and carburetors had a few updates and we got the updated cam ground pistons 2 days before the race. I assembled the engines in Minneapolis. We were running out of time, Jim offered to help and the 2 of us changed the pistons in both machines overnight.

[AirborneX4Special]

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

[ihengineer76]

Year & Serial # J34SE 055524M
Build Date: 11/75
Original/Restored: Original/mechanical refresh
Your name: Tom Rehberg
Location: Southern Wisconsin
Owned since: 1/21
Original Dealer: The Farmacy, Medford, WI
History/Number if Raced: Raced by Don Krakenberger from Medford, WI. Mechanic: Duane Oldenberg. Has all the 1976 updates and was raced at Tomahawk and Balsam Lake. DNF at Balsam due to engine failure. Won at Tomahawk.