Chaparral vs John Deere: A Build-Off Challenge
- Thread starter skiroule
- Start date
skiroule
Well-known member
I started laying out all the pieces needed to install the Cyclone track and realized that the chain case on the left that I spent a couple of hours cleaning wasn’t the one I wanted to use.
So, back to the brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, and wire brushes and clean the one on the right, Both are Cyclone chain cases so what’s the difference you might ask.
I think all of you will spot the difference quickly. Yep, the one on the right (a 77 case) has a little pin that the left (a 76 case) does not have. This little pin will play a huge part in ease of assembly, as will been seen once everything is all together.
So, back to the brake cleaner, lacquer thinner, and wire brushes and clean the one on the right, Both are Cyclone chain cases so what’s the difference you might ask.
I think all of you will spot the difference quickly. Yep, the one on the right (a 77 case) has a little pin that the left (a 76 case) does not have. This little pin will play a huge part in ease of assembly, as will been seen once everything is all together.
skiroule
Well-known member
Agree, I’ve always thought they were sharp sleds. Given their history with two stroke motors, it's kind of surprising that they got into the sled game so late.
Paint supply arrived so Chaparral skis got finished. Will set these aside until the rest of the sled catches up.
Switching gears back to the Cyclone, work continues. Assembled the rear skid. It’s been awhile since it was torn down and refurbished but there were no parts left over, always a good thing. Hoping the Cyclone will be a rolling chassis in a week or so.
skiroule
Well-known member
Thanks, Mezz. As I’m sure I’ve said in the past, most of the work on my sled projects doesn’t require any specialized mechanical ability but one does have to stay committed to the project.
It seems like there are almost always stretches on these projects where the work isn’t all that exciting. That’s when you just have to grind it out until the job is done and may be the point at which some might decide it isn’t worth the effort. Personally, I find that as long as I maintain the vision of how I want the sled to turn out, it helps me power through those stretches.
When the sled does come out the way you imagined it’s a great feeling.
Somebody needs to buy Skiroule this T Shirt
skiroule
Well-known member
I do need that shirt.
With cabin season over, I took advantage of a little more shop time and got a bunch of stuff installed, including the driveshaft, chain case, jack shaft, drive chain, brake caliper, and some smaller things.
This is a job where a service manual really pays off. When you see it all together it doesn’t look like there’s much to it but this is a diagram of the parts involved.
A while back I mentioned the difference between the 76 chain case and the 77 case was a small pin molded into the case. This pin is used to mount the chain tensioner as shown in this photo. With the 77 case, you mount the chain and gears, pull the chain out of the way, slide the tensioner on the pin and into the case, and release the chain. Takes about two minutes.
In 76, Deere used a floating chain tensioner and because the tensioner had to be on the chain when it was installed, this required installation of both gears, chain, and tensioner as a single unit, all while trying to open up the tensioner to loosen the chain.
The dealers had a special tool to open the 76 tensioner and hold it open. I didn’t. It looks simple but it probably took three hours of trying to make a tool (which failed), prying, and swearing to get it all mounted on the Cyclone last year. Even with the special tool, I suspect there were a lot of dealer complaints and the design was changed for 77.
With cabin season over, I took advantage of a little more shop time and got a bunch of stuff installed, including the driveshaft, chain case, jack shaft, drive chain, brake caliper, and some smaller things.
This is a job where a service manual really pays off. When you see it all together it doesn’t look like there’s much to it but this is a diagram of the parts involved.
A while back I mentioned the difference between the 76 chain case and the 77 case was a small pin molded into the case. This pin is used to mount the chain tensioner as shown in this photo. With the 77 case, you mount the chain and gears, pull the chain out of the way, slide the tensioner on the pin and into the case, and release the chain. Takes about two minutes.
In 76, Deere used a floating chain tensioner and because the tensioner had to be on the chain when it was installed, this required installation of both gears, chain, and tensioner as a single unit, all while trying to open up the tensioner to loosen the chain.
The dealers had a special tool to open the 76 tensioner and hold it open. I didn’t. It looks simple but it probably took three hours of trying to make a tool (which failed), prying, and swearing to get it all mounted on the Cyclone last year. Even with the special tool, I suspect there were a lot of dealer complaints and the design was changed for 77.
Amen to that!