First Snowmobile

[FF321]

First ride, late 60s or real early 70s doo, all I really remember is yellow and tipping over alot. First Sled - 80 Sportfire bought in 85, still have it.

[Jack Frost]

My first time on a sled was my uncles 1972 Polaris TX 340. COLOUR was white hood, blue tunnel and red seat. We use to ride that thing all over his farm untill it got dark or we ran out of gas. He also used it to pull us back up the hills after we went down on the toboggans . After much pestering by myself to sell it, my uncle gave me the sled in 1985 and I drove it for two years but then sold it in 1987. I have been looking for it for about ten years now with no luck.

Dave

[400brian]

First ride, late 60s or real early 70s doo, all I really remember is yellow and tipping over alot. First Sled - 80 Sportfire bought in 85, still have it.

That reminds me of a family gathering at the farm in December of '71.

My uncle who later owned Deeres, had a pair of Ski Poos at the time. I still laugh at the memory of him onloading the Elan, and promptly flopping it on its side in the middle of the lawn! Much cussing ensued!

[EricR]

JD slednut, I destroyed it by not knowing what i was doing and not having proper tools or anyone to mentor me. I could not figure out how to get the driveshaft out and the chaincase off, I was trying to pry it off with a big tire iron and a hammer for example because I did not know to pry the seals out of the bearing cups (hard to describe if you've never had a ski doo shaft out of an older one with the one piece stamped chaincase= another hit was trying to use a vice grips on the porcelin because I did not have a spark plug socket- lets see I took the jug off for some reason and broke two of the three piston rings not having a ring compressor, used an open end wrench to put the head back on, cut the muffler off and used a straight pipe thinking it would go faster, you get the idea, I was 14 yrs old and took a good running sled and made it a non running sled!

[Mr. Deere]

My Liquifire!!!!! then The doos. Never drove a Polaris or an Artic Cat.

[Spitfire79]

My first ride and drive was a 68 ? OMC Snowcruiser. That machine was a tank. First time I got to drive I sunk it in soft snow. Still remember walking back to the house to get Dad. I thought he was going to kill me but he was laughing so hard at my situation. After that it was a 69 TNT round nose . a 73 JDX4, 70 Ski-doo Olympic. Bought my first in 79. A new Spitfire. What a machine. Went everywhere with it. My best friend had a 79 Yamahe ET250. Those sleds were perfectly matched for us. I still have the Spit, plus a few more

Jeff

[JDT]

Bob I never rode an Artic Cat either.

[ICCSF 108]

EricR, That almost sounds like someone else we all know from Mass a choo chits..... But he HAS all the mentors & still does it..

Kenny

[dator]

My first ride was in 1966 when my dad Jake Enns and Gerry Anseeuw started a Polaris dealership.When they got the first sleds shipped,just before Christmas, we set up a 10 hp mustang.We all got to go for a ride,my brothers and Gerry's sons.Then we also became a Rolo-Flex dealer in 1968--1969.Oval races were poping up in a lot of small towns in Manitoba,so Gerry thought racing would be a fun thing to do.I just turned 16 and got to be the first to drive at a race.The sled was a Rollo-Flex Wild One 372 single Hirth engine with a megaphone installed on it,boy was it loud.We did quite well at the races,so Gerry got more sleds ready to race,and got his son's Willy and Jamie racing junior classes.We olso started racing the Polaris sleds. My dad was also a John Deere dealer,and in 1972 Deere came out with the 400 sled,for fun i took a 400 in a 100 mile cross country race,no rules,bring any sled you want,all start at the same time,first to the finish wins,I won.I was hooked on cross country racing. The next day i wrote John Deere Canada a letter,and was wondering if i could join there efforts in Cross Country racing.They wrote me back and said i could join the racing program in the US.The next year I got to race in the I 500,and i met Jon Carlson,and we beacme roommates and best friends. From there we went on to race for Rodger Janzen & Dale Cormican,and then Enduro Team Deere. The rest is history-------------Bob Enns Oak Bluff Mb

[matts73z]

73X8 that my dad bought new and put away in 75 with 176 miles on it. I got it out in the early 80's and was dumb enough to sell it in 1990 for $250 with only 280 miles on it. I really wish I could find that sled again :sad:

[jdsledfarm]

My first ride was when I was 4? on my cousins 83 Trailfire, with pops driving. My cousins still own the sled. Paul works with both of them.

Ive always collected Deere stuff, since I was a kid. I always wanted a Deere sled like the TF. A couple years ago I came across a super nice 80 Sportfire, and equally nice 80 Spitfire, at a consignment sale. Both had been siting since the early 80s. I paid a reasonable price and dont regret it. The Sport was my first ride, and it was great. In fact I was on it ten minutes ago! Sadly the spitfire was smashed into by my idiot friend on his 4-wheeler. My first ride on a Liquifire was last season, and what a fun ride it was!

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Geez Bob, what a great story!! Keep them coming. DA

[clackinator]

Our first "family" sled was John Deere green. Moved to Minnesota from California when I was 10 years old. In California we had John Deere tractors, so my parents figured John Deere sleds were the way to go. Put lots of worry free miles on the old Deere. Then in 1978 I came home to a Ski Doo in the garage. That introduced me to replacing drive belts about every 100 miles or so! That Everest ate drive belts like they were wheaties.

[HoosierDeereMan]

Bob Enns, great story!

In the early and mid 70's my grandfather was taking winter vacations in the WI Dells. He was a farmer and used nothing but John Deere equipment. On one of the trips they rented a snowmobile to ride ( a John Deere). He was hooked and hit up a dealer in the Dell's area to buy one and take home. All they had used at the time were 2 '73 400's. One was wrecked and the other had a blown engine. They worked out a deal and combined the 2 into one running sled. Dad drove to WI two weeks later in Grandpa's new 76 Chevy 4x4 to pick it up. '76 must have been a good harvest! That next winter of '77 I practically lived at grandpa's house. I was 9 and we tried to wear the 400 out. I remember struggling with which way to lean when turning. I'll never forget the smell of my first smoking drive belt either! Each winter Dad and I always had to work to get it ready for the season. Grandpa always forgot to drain the gas and "Summerize" it. In the late 80's Grandpa was getting too old to mess with it and wanted to know if I wanted it. So this 400 is the very first sled I ever rode, it has a family history, and is the very first sled I've ever owned.

Funny thing about this '73 400. It started in Wisconsin, was sold and moved to Indiana. Returned to Wisconsin last year for the Marsh and HOF rides and then back to Indiana. Does this qualify it as a Cross Country model?

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Bob Enns, great story!

Funny thing about this '73 400. It started in Wisconsin, was sold and moved to Indiana. Returned to Wisconsin last year for the Marsh and HOF rides and then back to Indiana. Does this qualify it as a Cross Country model?

Works for me T-roy!!! DA