So I have been trying to figure a deal out with him since august. Meanwhile our friendship has grown and I've got him back into deeres again and he has been picking up a few here and there. He's hooked again! Well we finally worked a deal and out it came from the barn. I got the sled home and just kept staring at it, talked with a few members about it. It is missing a few components but a lot of it is there. The motor has 135 in both jugs, it has good spark. The pan was upgraded to aluminum. The seat and tank cover are shot. The rear compartment is cracked. The tracked is all there but old, the skid looks all there minus the wheel kit. The airbox is gone along with the feed tube. The skis have been reinforced as well as the suspension. The sled screamed to me that it was raced.
With some advice from some members I did some checking. Jesse Babler looked up my SN# and the original owner was from Saint Cloud MN. Then Jesse told me that guy raced in the 1975 I500 Winnepeg to St. Paul race. And was on the roster as #161. He raced a deere. We came to the conclusion that it was more than likely the sled he raced. He finished the 1st leg according to race results in 5hr 40min. But not the last two.
So later that evening I white paged Richard Held and found a phone # not knowing if it was right but I figured I'd give it a shot. I called the number and an elderly sounding man answered the phone. I introduced myself and asked him if he ever owned a JD snowmobile. He stated that he did and raced it in the 75 I500. He stated he bought it from a store in Saint Cloud called Gardner DX. He told me he did all the reinforcing himself. He stated he finished the 1st leg of the race and started the 2nd to Alexandria but never finished. He said he never wrecked. He said he also grass and ice dragged the sled and beat many people in that class. I asked him if I could put his name and race # on the sled when I get it going someday and he was estatic about the idea. He asked for pictures so I will mail him some. Nice gentleman but time has aged him and his memory. This story makes this sled much more enjoyable and my friend was excited to hear the findings as well. I will need a lot of help from the 340/s guys but I'm glad this sled was saved 20 yrs ago and never scrapped. Save those sleds! Ya never know their history
