Classic Green Reunion 2025 Show

[400brian]

After all the planning, cleaning, painting, and hauling, the Classic Green show is over. Tom Rehberg was on the point of the snowmobile display, and I had volunteered to assist. Serious planning had begun last October, and it accelerated as we approached June.

We didn't get to put on the show we had been looking forward to. We got limited space inside a nice building sharing space with garden tractors. We wound up displaying 22 sleds. Because of this, we were forced to pick and choose by invitation what sleds were displayed. We wanted at least one of each model so we could show off everything Horicon produced.

Matt Gabler provided a nice Spitfire, Joe Wanie brought out the last LF, the team 340/S, Hardesty's grass dragger, the Borth 295/S, and a very clean TF, Jesse Cypher showed his circle track racer, a 78 Cyclone and a 77 LF, Luke Abitz showed a very nice Snowfire and Sprintfire. Wade Bennet showed off his recently restored 295/S and 77 LF, Joe Rainville showed off his race Dator, and his custom LF. I showed my 72 400, and my two X8s. Mike Rehberg showed a 78 CC, a 75 800, and an 84 Sport, while Tom's Dator was used as the stand-in for the SHOF raffle sled.

Don Amber and Tom White were set up at the entrance to the building selling tickets, with Brian Nelson chatting and signing autographs on Saturday.

Tom and I arrived early Tuesday and started sweeping the floor of the building. After that we began setting up the display. Jesse arrived a bit later in the day. Late in the afternoon I returned home with my sled trailer and went down to the Madison airport to collect Joe Rainville who's flight had been delayed a couple of hours. My wife Katy fed us, after which we loaded Joe’s 72 400 into his trailer. The truck and trailer had been left here after the Round Up swap in May.

Shortly after the planning meeting in April, I had been contacted by a Classic Green organizer looking for a 72 400 to use as a stand-in for the Horicon FFA’s raffle sled that would not be finished in time. I volunteered Joe’s 400, then had him bring it up for a quick facelift.

In the two weeks we had between the Round up and Classic Green, my grandson Galen and I stripped the paint off the tunnel and a 72 hood I had, rattled canned a fresh coat of green on and applied NOS decals. On that Tuesday night Joe fired it up and drove it on the trailer.

On Wednesday the 11th we pulled into the fairgrounds around 9 AM after an hour and a half drive. Getting into the grounds was surprisingly easy! I drove alongside our building with my truck and trailer with my Gator on it, no sweat, and we had Joe’s trailer backed into the north door shortly after. The battery in the Gator died on the trailer, so we wound up rolling it off and putting the battery from my 73 X8 in it.

Everything worked out great after that. Joe, Wade and my truck and trailer were all parked side by side in the parking lot, so we used the Gator to run back and forth. I stored the Gator in the building over night, and dropped my trailer to use my truck to go back and forth from the motel just down the road.
Thursday , Friday, and Saturday are a blur of activities. We spoke to guys who had worked at Horicon, guys who had raced Deere sleds, guys who had rode Deere sleds. The guys combed the swap for Deere related stuff.

The weather which had looked less than ideal on Monday turned out great. High 60s to low 70s, a light shower on one night. We quickly settled into a routine of grabbing breakfast in the motel at 7 AM, grabbing a bag of ice at the gas station, and heading for the fairgrounds. We had been told no carry-ins would be permitted, however, it was not being enforced by anyone. So…the front compartment of the Gator sure looked like a cooler. Toss in the bag of ice, drinks on top, and I parked the Gator just outside the building by the side door behind our display. Worked great!

Katy and the Grandson arrived Wednesday morning and stayed til noon Sat. Inside the building across the street from ours was a guy’s set up with custom RC trucks, tractors, and a combine. Couldn’t keep Galen out of there.

We cruised the grounds on the Gator, I chatted with a magneto guy, and bought an exhaust pipe for our B from Tom Detwiler. One of the highlights was watching tractors on the Dyno! On the first day an 830, then the next day two 830s and a 730 all hooked together and rolling coal. That was awesome and the claim is that they saw 181 hp.

Brian Nelson arrived Saturday morning with Don and Tom. Galen wanted to meet him, and he got a signed photo and photos were taken of the two of them in front of the Dator! Brian held court until the show ended at 3 PM, with many people standing around listening to the stories. It was great to have him there. I got to transport Brian and his gear back out to his truck with the Gator that afternoon, so that was pretty cool.

Joe, Jesse, and Wade, loaded their stuff up and headed home. After they were gone, the building was locked and I loaded the Gator on the trailer to go home and sleep in my own bed. Tom, Joe Wanie, and myself, returned Sunday morning and loaded up everything that was left.

It was a heck of a week! After it was all said and done it worked out just fine, and I think people enjoyed seeing the display. Thanks to everyone who helped out, you all contributed and made it a great event.

[400brian]

Pics inside the building.

[400brian]

So I had been trying to get Rainville to freshen this sled up for years. Now we had our chance to have our way with it. Freshened up the plastic with Krylon Fusion, the tunnel sides and boards got the paint removed and repainted with Deere Classic Green. Then I freshened up the foot treads with some Back to Black. I stripped and re-painted my hood, then applied new decals and a stripe to the hood and tunnel. I thought it looked pretty good considering that previously it looked like it had been pulled down a ditch upside down. Galen helped with the disassembly and then the re-assembly.

[400brian]

The gas door got the fusion treatment, a little trimming to make it not catch the hood when opening, and fresh letter decals.
Galen at work, and a shot of the sled the day after it was left here as we began teardown.

[400brian]

So here is a shot of Rainville's 400 at the show, Galen Meeting Brian Nelson, and Tom's Dator with Nelson's hood on it.
Threw in a shot of an 830 taking a turn on the dyno.

[400brian]

Here is John Deere Joe getting some face time with Brian as we were loading his gear into the Gator.

We had his hood and helmet in the Gator, he was taking it home to get them refurbished. There was some in the crowd aghast at this prospect, but here was what Brian told me: After the winning I-500 race, the sled went on display at Deere headquarters. In 77 he went to Arctic Cat, and that was the end of his relationship with Deere for some time. The sled got put into storage where it was not treated kindly, and he didn't get it back until after Deere had exited the sled business sometime after 1984.

The hood had stuff stacked on top of it, and if you look at it closely, it is broken all over. Brian says he never fell off or flipped a sled in all the times he raced the I-500. Nowadays, people assume the sled is showing race damage, which is not the case. So he wants the hood repaired and back to looking like it did when he finished the race.

The same deal with his helmet. It is showing a number of scars that he didn't put in it. So that is going to get repaired as well.