Time to pull it out of retirement...

This is where you can post the story & photos of your John Deere Snowmobile project.
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Hemi guy
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:00 am
Real Name: Dustan Howell
Location: Portland, IN

Time to pull it out of retirement...

Post by Hemi guy »

Well, to make a long story not as long, my grandpa bought this sled from the local John Deere dealer brand spankin' new. He bought 2 for the family to share, and they rode them both a lot. The next year after bringing up the rear in a pack of Ski-Doo's, he bought a Trailfire 440.... So, the Spits got demoted to the kids and my dad and uncle rode the living dog snot out of them.

Then my generation came a few years later and the Spitfires got hooked to all kinds of repurposed sled items. As we grew up, they were parked for a few years. Then my brother thought he would get them going. Adding a little gas and some new plugs had them off and going again. Then one started the day creeping on the clutch and ended the day ghost riding into the neighbor's fence half a mile away across a field....(story best told verbally) I determined, at 13, the crank seal failed and caused the runaway. My brother, being my brother, ordered parts and scattered the two sleds across a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the barn. A couple more years and I was itching for some snow fun. Armed with my deductive reasoning skills and my mental image of what it looked like before my brother started fixing it, I drove in to the pile right before a winter storm. A few days later, we had one running sled again! Then I spent the next several miles finding every nut I didn't properly torque. :bonk: BTW, I owe most of my mechanical abilities to following after my brother....

Several years of fun later, I bought better, faster sleds and this one got moved further back in the barn till it was put in the hay mow. Then it was job, house, wife kids.... I now have 3 kids that need to be steeped in the Spitfire goodness.

If I remember correctly, it had carb issues when I parked it last, I did find the carb in the glove box... In order to not repeat history, I will be replacing the crank seals. It will be just a get it going and make it look OK kind of project, because if my sons are anything like me it shouldn't be fixed up too nice yet.... And yes, that speedometer says 3,875 miles, and the speedo pin broke several miles back....
Attachments
20210105_202007.jpg
20210105_202019.jpg
Dusty

Riders:
83 Liquifire
80 Trailfire (grandpa bought new)
79 Spitfire (grandpa bought new)

Projects:
79 Spitfire AKA: FrankenDeere
81 Liquifire
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400brian
Posts: 5621
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:00 am
Real Name: James T. Kirk
Location: South Central Wisconsin

Re: Time to pull it out of retirement...

Post by 400brian »

Great story! Many of us here have a story that follows a similar theme.

I grew up riding a 72 400 that my father bought brand new, restored it a few years back.

I am currently working on a 78 Spit. Have never ridden one, this one is earmarked for the grandson.

'09 Vintage Challenge Survivor, and I wasn't late for supper!
'10, '11, '12, '13,'14,'15,'16,'17, '18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Vintage Challenge Survivor !
72 400 restored, Father bought new in '71
73 X8 restored
'74 340 green machine
'74 X8 9 time VC finisher
'78 Spitfire in progress
2 '75 340S 1 running, one on deck
'78 LF 440 future CC clone
'73 Skiroule RTX 440, 500 mi.
Popcorn popper
Posts: 225
Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:21 pm
Real Name: Steve

Re: Time to pull it out of retirement...

Post by Popcorn popper »

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
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