Chaparral vs John Deere: A Build-Off Challenge

For some time, I’ve been thinking that the shop is missing something. I’m a bit of a slow learner so it took awhile but Gary’s post finally lit the lamp. It needs a Hamm’s banner. I’ll be working on it.

heckler56 said:

I was going to write something smarta$$ like your an “influencer” and we are your “followers”, but, I prefer guys enjoying shop talk and watching a skilled craftsman at work.

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I agree with your preference. I can’t even be an influencer at home, much less out in the online forum world.

mezz said:

Well, your not wasting any time. Quoting a military phrase, "As you were".

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The truth be told, I had a slight head start on the Cyclone earlier this summer. At the Boondock Inn vintage event last year, I promised some of my John Deere enthusiast friends that I would have a re-done Cyclone 440 at the event next year so I’ve been nibbling at it when time permits. Otherwise, I knew I could never fulfil that promise. Of course, adding the Chaparral to the mix really spiced things up, which is why I decided to document the progress here.

Whenever I look at the beatings these chassis took, I can’t help but think about the stories that some of these dents and hack repair jobs could tell.

I decided to switch horses (sort of) on the John Deere. The 440 chassis was rough but had I no other options I would have tried to work with it. As luck would have it, I had a decent 76 340 chassis off the parts sled that I bought last year that had much less damage.

While the damage on the 76 chassis was light, the pan must have been a Monday stamping. This thing has more waves than a parade queen. There’s no point in trying to correct these, it’s just a part of the sled’s character.

So, by virtue of a chassis change, the 77 440 Cyclone will be a 76 440 Cyclone.

very good choice