New sled

[Jd sled rider]

I am the proud owner of a brand new, used 77 cyclone 440. I think I have an addiction! I sit here tonight thinking how it started. I really was not looking for a cyclone, yet I now own one. I don't know what compelled me to buy it, other then it is very nice, the front bumper looks new, and it is a strait sled, that has not been molested. I really think I need help! After I talked to wade today, I felt better about my bid, and now I find myself out in the storage shed wondering where I will put it. Looks like a set of shelves is in order to double stack them. This sled will take a back seat to the two I have already started for projects this year. When I get it home, I will share some pictures. Is there a hotline I should be calling? Later Lincoln

[pkehrer]

I know how you feel. You really don't need it but it's in good condition and the price is right gotta have it. It's a relative cheap hobby but right now I have too many to ride and I really have a hard time selling one. Must be a symptom of Deere snowmobiles.

[400brian]

Get your wife on it and bring her up to the HOF.

[HoosierDeereMan]

Congrats Lincoln!

It's too late for you. There is no help! The crystal ball shows images of a 77 340 Cyclone to match the 440. They get lonely you know. They will multiply like rabbits. Then you will need 76's and 78's so you can complete the entire Cyclone lineup. You will need a pole barn to store and work on them in. More room means more sleds! You will go to the dark side and buy 76-78 Liquifire sleds to complete your collection. The wife will see you and ask "Who are you?" When you tell her she asks "Why is our bank account drained?" You will also be accused of having internet boyfriends. You will call and talk to these internet boyfriends about the most trivial things. You will also collect vintage snow suits to match every year of sled in your collection. Your calendars will have snowmobiles on them. You will surf the internet for hours on end in search of sled porn. Then about the time you think it can't get any worse you totally loose it and buy a race sled! Insanity becomes the norm. Then there is the gathering! You will work all year to travel to a far away place called St. Germain for a weekend of torture. Will my sled run or will it let me down? After you return home it starts all over again. Only with a different sled. Get out now while you can!

Only help I know of is a support group called jdsleds.com. There are others there that suffer from the same ailment.

Troy

[JDT]

Well that pretty much says it all.

Troy had the courage to stand up and speak the truth.

Lincoln, you will be all right.

[AirborneX4Special]

When you post some pictures, it enables us to make comments which can in turn alleviate or exacerbate some symptoms of the disease.
Also bear in mind there are more expensive and thus destructive hobbies available than old snowmobiles. Old snowmobiles tend to occupy your spare time in a manner that requires your presence at home, toiling away in a seemingly mindless quest for a perfect representation of an old relic that will enrapture many who see you driving it until it quits and leaves you stranded, typically halfway to your destination.

[TASKY]

Hold on for this late breaking news- John Deere made tractors too!!!

[sledhead16]

Lincoln, your spot on. Most of us "Find Ourselves Magically obtaining more and more" to us we manifest it in our minds that it's normal to keep getting more and before you know it......your standing in your garage scratching your head at where your gonna put the newest one you just bought..... Then the public, family and friends. ...but most importantly the wife just all give you this perplexed look and you can see their gears turning that their trying their best to understand but just end up thinking your nuts

[liquifireguy]

My Deere tractors were the gateway drug that led to the Deere sleds for me. No rehab can bring me back. BE CAREFUL!!!!! Jeff

[Den]

I was practically born on a '72 400, so it was the other way for me. (Sleds first)
I was all the way down to three this year (and thought I was "cured") but now I'm putting away 5. Ooops!

[Cabindweller]

Not sure you can say you really have a problem, until you rent one or more storage units for them and still have a mess off them in your yard and garage.

[400brian]

A few of us were having this conversation privately last night...I blame Jon Carlson, he's the one who really encouraged all this. We were just dabbling in all this before Jon got in our heads.

You may be accused of having an on-line affair, because no one in their right mind would spend any time on the internet talking about old snowmobiles!

[Jd sled rider]

I like all the encouragement. Reading 400brians stories about the vc is wat started it for me!!!!!!! After doing the ride this year, I am hooked like a big old catfish! I have been reading all the old posts in my spare time. I started on the last page, and have been working forward. I have learned a lot, and I am sure I will learn more in the future. I have been looking for a 78 440 liquifire for a while now, and have been close on a few, but I like to do the work on them, buying a finished sled takes the fun out of it. I like the ones that are still original and not all beat up. That is where this cyclone fits. Like I said, I wasn't in the market for it, but yet I now own one. When I told my wife, she said it was ok, because she was thinking about upgrading most of her horse show apparel. I know what this costs, because I bought all of it the first time!!! I am picking it up tomarrow, so pics wil be posted when I return home. The thrill of the hunt is what drives me. It is great! I hope next winter, I will get to meet more of the jd faithful. The best part of riding vintage, is the looks you get on the trails when you are mixed in with a group of new rides.i guess it is like being the smokin hot girl at the party! Later lincoln

[Jd sled rider]

Pictures of the prize

[Jd sled rider]

One more where it came from. The bonus was that when I picked it up, I flipped the key on, and on the second pull it was running! I let it run for a few seconds, and hit the throttle and it wanted to go. The track had been loosened up, and it appears the carb had been cleaned recently. When I got it home, I looked it over, and there were no dents anywhere. The paint was missing in all the usual spots, and someone had removed the rear grab handles off the side of the tunnel. Other the that it is a great cyclone. Later Lincoln