Fear the Deere

[skiroule]

I hope you ‘all are up for one more vintage go-around. I’m probably pushing my luck on whether I can finish this project but what the heck? I guess the worst that can happen is that I don’t get it done and I spend my last years in shame.

I originally thought the title of this thread should be “How to Get Started on a Vintage Sled Project in 10 Years or Less” but it seemed a little wordy.

This latest effort involves my 76 John Deere Cyclone 340 and here’s a bit of history on this sled: Looking at some old photos, I couldn’t believe it has been 10 years since I bought it. I picked the sled up from a guy who lived west of Spooner WI (Mark S. might even know the guy, as he said he lived on or very near a snowmobile trail).

The sled had all the requirements of a true barn find; tucked away in a corner, covered with dust, and the standard cat paw tracks on the hood.



We dragged it out and the fellow said “If I shoot a little gas in the cylinders, it will probably fire right up.” On the first pull, the starter rope handle broke off in his hand, Unfazed, he grabbed the rope stub and gave it another yank. Sure enough, it did fire up.

I think he bought it new and had a sentimental attachment to the sled so he told me to grab it and go before he changed his mind.

After I got it home, I gave it a hose-down and after adding some fresh fuel, it was making a nice cloud of blue smoke.




I had intended to restore it years ago but it seems like it was always taking a back seat to other projects. In the meantime, it has been one of my most reliable vintage riders.

There will be changes made to the sled, some mandatory and some optional, that hopefully will add some interest to the project. As it seems with every project I’ve attempted, this one is starting on a slow roll, but I have set a target completion date of New Year’s Eve 2024. We’ll see how that works out.

 

[hermie]

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. Always amazed at your attention to detail.

 

[garageguy]

Wow cleaned up nice..almost looks done.

 

[rph130]

Another sled that when done, will belong in a museum. Looking forward to your progress.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

I'll be looking forward to the coming weeks and months of this project. 48 years young, the headlight still works, the windshield is in one piece, and the engine starts on the first yank of the rope. He'll have this Deere Running by the time of the first snowfall.

 

[mezz]

Excellent! Looking forward to another chapter in your restorations portfolio, good stuff.

 

[skiroule]

I’m glad you guys are on board with one more of my vintage sled projects. I hope Gary is right and it is done by the time that winter gets serious.

I think this is the first “down to the studs” project where I started with a sled that was complete and actually ran. Having said this, any of you guys that have shopped for a used sled know that there can be a big difference between a photo and reality. While the sled looks pretty good in the photo and was basically rideable, there were and still are issues to be addressed to make it fully functional again and bring it back to its former glory.

Right out of the gate, the suspension seemed a little off. Even so, I still thought it was a good buy.

 

[heckler56]

Looking forward for updates. If I can’t do myself, I will live vicariously through your projects!

 

[heckler56]

Hey Skiroule,

Top of the Lake museum has two JDs in their collection. If you look by mannequin’s head you can see the former I500 sled

 

[gary_in_neenah]

Picture and Content from the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum.​

​

1976 John Deere Liquidator​

John Deere introduced two snowmobile models in 1972 and produced around 225,000 before sales stopped in 1984. For the 1975 model year, John Deere introduced a 340S model for cross country racing. 376 snowmobiles started the Winnipeg to St. Paul I-500 in 1975 and 12 of the 22 machines to finish the race were the John Deere 340S.
For 1976, Deere developed an all out cross country racer called the Liquidator 340. The race team was called Enduro Team Deere and they were very successful in winning the I-500 and 5 of the 8 major races in 1976.
Only 600 of the Liquidators were built between October and November, 1975 at the Horicon, WI plant. The Liquidators were powered by liquid cooled Kioritz engines.
John Deere engineers used the cross county activities to improve the design of all their production machines built after 1974.

 

[euphoric1]

Cant wait to see the master at his craft at work again! looking forward to another skiroule resto project!

BTW... found a true garage find, not a sought-after sled I'm sure, but a find I'm sure won't come across too often so I picked it up. 1973 Evinrude Skeeter opposed twin engine, electric start, reverse, last time it was registered was 1975 and has been sitting in garage since, it is in excellent condition, don't know when I will find time for it but when I saw it, had to have it and for $100 i couldn't say no. Would like to get it running again and maybe use for ice fishing (if we ever get ice again lol) most of my gear would probably fit in trunk under the seat lol

 

[skiroule]

Thanks for posts Heckler and Gary. You know I love this stuff!

The 340/S was a preview of things to come but I think 76 was really the breakout year for Deere. I always liked the 76 design but until I picked up the Cyclone, I didn’t appreciate how much fun they are to ride.

Some would say it’s ugly but I think the Liquidator is one of the most iconic 70’s sleds ever built. It just looks like it means business. With the limited production run and attrition through racing, the remaining sleds command a hefty price, if you can even find one for sale.

Cant wait to see the master at his craft at work again! looking forward to another skiroule resto project!

BTW... found a true garage find, not a sought-after sled I'm sure, but a find I'm sure won't come across too often so I picked it up. 1973 Evinrude Skeeter opposed twin engine, electric start, reverse, last time it was registered was 1975 and has been sitting in garage since, it is in excellent condition, don't know when I will find time for it but when I saw it, had to have it and for $100 i couldn't say no. Would like to get it running again and maybe use for ice fishing (if we ever get ice again lol) most of my gear would probably fit in trunk under the seat lol

Awesome! Sounds like a great deal, hard to beat $100. Can’t wait to see it out on the snow this winter. I think the under-seat storage was almost perfectly sized to hold a case of beer. Coincidence? Maybe. A luxury sled for sure. Does yours have a cigarette lighter in the dash? Very important if you want to light up a smoke to go with your beverage on a trail break.

Please post some photos!

 

[euphoric1]

Thanks for posts Heckler and Gary. You know I love this stuff!

The 340/S was a preview of things to come but I think 76 was really the breakout year for Deere. I always liked the 76 design but until I picked up the Cyclone, I didn’t appreciate how much fun they are to ride.

Some would say it’s ugly but I think the Liquidator is one of the most iconic 70’s sleds ever built. It just looks like it means business. With the limited production run and attrition through racing, the remaining sleds command a hefty price, if you can even find one for sale.


Awesome! Sounds like a great deal, hard to beat $100. Can’t wait to see it out on the snow this winter. I think the under-seat storage was almost perfectly sized to hold a case of beer. Coincidence? Maybe. A luxury sled for sure. Does yours have a cigarette lighter in the dash? Very important if you want to light up a smoke to go with your beverage on a trail break.

Please post some photos!

Yes it does have a cigarette lighter and a decompression knob as well, I will see if I can figure out how to post photo's I thought there was a how to on here somewhere.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

I will see if I can figure out how to post photo's I thought there was a how to on here somewhere.

I'll try to walk you through it. First, the photo must be saved on your computer's Picture file. Scroll to where you want to post your picture, across the top of the empty post will be a series of buttons for various tasks. Find the Smiley Face, just to the left is a small square, click on it. A drop down square will appear, click on it and your Picture file will appear. Scroll until you find the picture you want, click Open and your picture should appear, then hit Post.

​

 

[mezz]

Brian, pics please, I would really like to see what you have there. Regardless, nice find for $100! I can only imagine that it has to be in pretty good shape being as it's only seen 2 winters of use.

Perhaps I can add to Gary's instructions above, If your taking the picture with your smartphone you can email it from your phone as an attachment to yourself on your PC. Yes your picture will have to be saved to your PC's picture file. To post it in the thread, select the "insert image" icon located on the left of the smiley face in the toolbar that appears within the thread you are posting, a drop down will appear, click within the box that drops down that says "insert image or click here". When you click within the box this will open a window for "this PC" where you can select the "pictures file", click on the picture you wish to insert. This will have to repeated for each picture you wish to attach to the thread. I hope that helps. If not, my apologies.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

I met one of those "Skeeters" a few years ago while out riding. He had pulled over for some reason, so I stopped to talk. The guy was proud to show me the features including the lighter and storage under the seat. That engine with the opposing pistons must've been loud as the one piston and jug was right between the legs. Not to mention the hazard of a quick stop!

 

[garageguy]

lots of room for trail beers in the trunk .

 

[euphoric1]

I'll try to walk you through it. First, the photo must be saved on your computer's Picture file. Scroll to where you want to post your picture, across the top of the empty post will be a series of buttons for various tasks. Find the Smiley Face, just to the left is a small square, click on it. A drop down square will appear, click on it and your Picture file will appear. Scroll until you find the picture you want, click Open and your picture should appear, then hit Post.

View attachment 70097​

thanks Gary, i will figure it out and get some pics posted first part of week

 

[J.Glenn]

Looking forward to following along again! I got my start riding Deere sleds!

 

[skiroule]

Thought I’d slip in a quick post, really looking forward to photos of Euphoric1’s Evinrude photos. Hope he is able to upload some. I dug out a couple of old archived photos of what I discovered with the suspension when I got the Cyclone home. The guy I bought it from confessed that he used to like to jump the sled – a lot. The photos show some of the results

One slide rail was pretty bent (this is not designed as a "tip up" rail. If you saw these slide rails in person, you would realize how much force it takes to bend one.


The rear cross-shaft tube was also distorted. One of the things that John Deere did that was really smart is they used bushings at each end of the tube rather than fit the shaft to the tube. This meant that if the tube was somehow bent, you could still get the shaft out. Also, it prevented the shaft from seizing inside the tube, both of which are common problems on a lot of vintage sleds.


I was able to find the necessary replacement suspension parts and have been riding it that way ever since.