Bush Whackin 1
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Bush Whackin' "Everybody Does It ! " ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tobacco Road Jim Langan went on a recon mission to pull these 2 Ski Doo's out of the tobacco field they had been sitting in for over 10 years.
After looking at these images , I have to say that the experts must be right. Extended exposure to tobacco products does nasty things to your physical condition. Guess I better quit smokin' !
Saved Sabre Jet
Jeff Goole of Churchville , NY pulled this 19741/2 Sno Jet Sabre Jet 650 out of a fallen down garage. Jeff is currently restoring a 1977 Ski Doo RVCC & promises pics when it's done.
" Let's Make A Deal." This next submitted item comes from Jason aka "Trucker". The story goes that Jason came into contact with someone from Maryland that had some old sleds he wanted to trade for something in a later model , rideable snwomobile. "Trucker" loaded up a 1993 Polaris XLT SKS & made the 2400 mile round trip in 3 days to close the deal. What did Jason acquire for his efforts ?
1980 Arctic Cat Trail Cat 4000 - 605 miles
1980 SRX 440 Aaen pipes , ported , EGT's ,Comet clutch , Mikuni carbs .- 1800 miles And as if that isn't good enough...
1982 Kawasaki 550 Interceptor , serial # 61 of 601 produced. comet clutch , EGT's ,Mikuni carbs and both stock & Aaen pipes. 450 miles on the clock
Below we see Jason's toys safe and sound in their new home. Go ahead & spike the ball, Jason ....You scored !!!!
Buying in bulk. Jon Bertolino is well known for his knowledge of & addiction to 1981 & 1982 Yamaha SRX's. Like most of us , Jon can't resisit a chance to add to the already out of control collection. Last November , Jon and a fellow SRX fanatic drove to Northern Wisconson to recscue a stash of SRX stuff. What you see below is the result of their excursion.
Approx. 7...count 'em..7 1981 SRX's and a veritable treasure trove of parts.
Enough to fill a 28' trailer !
Good find , Jon ! thanx for the pics. Not to be outdone, Eric Westman and a fellow Scorpion fan from Minnesota made the trek to Sawyer , ND to rescue a stash of Crosby Minnesota's finest.
Talk about creative packing & stacking.
So what do you do when you run out of trailer ????
Throw that last one on the roof !
Eric reports that all the sleds made it home with no casualties. Hidden Treasure I've been aware of this beast for a few years & had the picture kicking around for quite some time. Thought it was time to post it. Just because the sled is nifty.
1970 Sno Jet GT-3
Kinda like a "Hemi" for snowmobile fanatics.
To answer a few of the expected questions: Yes , I know where the sled is. No , I cannot divulge it's location or ownership. No , it's not for sale...Believe me..If it was you'd be looking at my goofy grin in one of these pics.
Connect the Dots Well..One dot. A "Black Dot" to be precise. Tom Snell of Tamworth , NH is a long time snowmobile mechanic & self described former avid grass racer. The vintage bug finally took a good chomp out of Tom & promptly sent him into the world in search of an old race sled to restore. Having a familiarity with a lot of the sleds in your area can be a very valuable asset. Pulling an item from his memory banks , Tom set out to check on an old war horse that he had heard about at some point. Looks like he had good results.
Tom contacted me looking for info on his new acqusition. I'm in no way a Ski Doo expert , but it appears to be a 1970 T'nT 340.
I can figure some of it out.. The image below came in from Gerald Dion. All of the text was in French which puts me at a disadvantage. After 41 years I'm still trying to get a handle on English & am in the process of learning basic Russian for our trip to Moscow when Tatiana & I complete the adoption process. At any rate , heres the pics of the Sno Prince Gerald found.
Unless I'm totally ignorant of our friends to the North , I beleive the basic info is that the sled was used for transport in the Matane region of the Gaspe' Peninsula in Quebec. Perhaps some of you better informed , bi-lingual types can help me out here. Gerald's original text is below... " Voici la dernière motoneige que j’ai ramassé dans une petite cabane. Jusqu’a l’an dernier elle servait de transport a un vieux bucheron dans la region de Matane en Gaspésie au Québec. C’est une belle pièce a restaurer ."
D.J.'s SS 440
D.J Norman of Corner Brook , Newfoundland is in the process of shaking this 1982 Yamaha 440 SS back into shape. I'm not really sure how a "Stars & Bars" plate made it all the way to Newfoundland..
Goin' Snow Cruisin' Brent Apter acquired this sled & contacted me looking for info on it.
If anyone can help Brent with info on where to get Snow Cruiser parts , please e mail him. Diablo " Rough " This poor old relic showed up at our shop a few weeks back. The owner dragged it out & brought it up to see if he could get $20.00 for it to put gas in his truck.
I have since sold it to a gentleman who needed it for parts. The selling price....$20.00 That's recycling.
Ya never know..... What do you suppose one might find under a pile of crap such as this ?
How about this ???
Don Lawerence of Alberta , Canada sent in the images from a recent search & recovery mission. Don writes that upon investigating the contents of a house/barn , a treasure trove of sleds was found. In addition to the '76 Z , Don unearthed a '76 SRX 340 , a 78 el tigre with 400 miles on it , a 1995 Arctic Cat Powder Special with .5 ( Yes ..1/2) of a mile on it and a 1974 Sno Jet Thunder Jet with a 250 Kohler L/C powerplant.
Let's move some of this junk & get a good look at it..
the T Jet has been restored with the 250 L/C Kohler intact & will hit the snow very soon !
12/15/05 Another racer rescued. Jim Howell , was in Maine a couple of weeks ago for a visit & managed to find out about a really nifty sled not 30 miles from my house.
Note the very "Maine" phrase of "Wicked Fun" on the hood. For those of you " from away" , that phrase is considered perfectly accepetable grammar here in the extreme Northeast.
Beating the bushes in Saskatchewan A very welcome e-mail showed up from a past contributor . I haven't heard from Ward Stebner in quite some time , but the wait is well worth it. Ward sent the following pics he snapped at a farm north of Yorkton Sask.
Hey..Look under here...More stuff.
Junk for all ages.
More buried treasure. Eric Westman of Sawyer , ND has provided us with some excellent images . In the course of rescuing what appears to be nearly every sled he finds , Eric has uncovered some really neat artifacts.
When Eric first spotted the blue hood he thought it was a Sno Jet or Suzuki that would be going into the back of his truck. As it turns out a 1974 Auto Ski Spitfire SS 440 is now in his yard. ** The sled below may not look like a real prize right now , but Eric says this one is headed straight for restoration.
Locating anything left of a 1976 Polaris TX Starfire 340 makes for a godd day , but one that has the liquid cooling conversion kit on it is even better. Eric says all of the L/C components are present & accounted for.
Westman World. There are some in this hobby that have a compulsion to bring home any sled we find . If I had the real estate at my disposal I would fall firmly in this category. Eric Westman of Minot , ND is doing a bang up job of giving orphaned sleds a home . Below are some pics of Eric's adoptees.
Should be able to hook a field mower up to one of those John Deere's.
As you can see , Eric is in the process of providing inside storage for as many sleds as possible.
One of a number of Roll-O-Flex's Eric has acquired. Scott Carmen strikes again. Scott is another regular contributor to RetroSno.com. & a master at finding excellent Bush Whackin' pics.
New pics from PA. Aaron Zeoli strikes again with some excellent images of forgotten toys.
A daunting task. One of the more active group of guys here in Central Maine is the Boyle family. They mange to keep a paddock of vintage race sleds in excellent condition while still running them on their own small oval track plowed off on a local pond. They have recently picked up another sled to shake back into shape.
Rest assured this will be a 1977 Z again. I don't know if I'd have the courage. Orphaned sleds..from A to Z ( Actually the pics are from A.Z.,,,,Aaron Zeoli )
At least it's nice to see a Sno Jet leading the pack.
Perhaps 2 can's of Rally wax are in order..
Stacked like cord wood..
To think..the hopes & dreams of thousands of people were pinned on these sleds during their production...A sad fate.
There are some true diamonds in the rough here if you look close enough.
Magnum Force
I've had this picture kicking around for a couple of years now & just re-discovered it this week. The owner of this Magnum dropped the pic off at our dealership in the effort to trade the sled for new snowmobile merchandise. A somewhat optimistic opinion of the Magnum's value on his part kept us from completing the tranaction. The "Western Auto" issued stickers tell us that it's a 440. While looking a bit tired , you can see that the Magnum has not kicked the bucket quite yet.
Russ Swenton World Tour 2004 Connecticut collector Russ Swenton has a knack for sniffing out old sleds around his home state. Here's some of the more "needy" of Russ' finds during the fall of 2004.
These gems were found in the Northeast corner of Connecticut. A '72 Skiroule RTX 447 , a '72 Ariens 450SX , and proof that somewhere out there a '72 Moto-Ski zephyr is wandering around topless.
This group photo shows a '72 Polaris Charger , late 70's Blizzard 5500 , '73 Moto-Ski S-440 , '74 Chaparral Firebird 292 , and a '79 Kawasaki Invader 440.
A backside shot
Russ writes that when he spied this sled in the weeds he thought he might have unearthed a rare Kawasaki of some type. Once pulled out it was found to be a Trail Twister in a lime green wrapper.
Russ calls this one the "JLO-laris."
For obvious reasons. The owner of this 1977 Polaris Colt had installed a 399 JLO in the sled without bothering to see it the motor was set in straight. Be that as it may, he was still using the Colt to haul out logs.
Williams Winner.
Jon Williams acquired this 1971 Yamaha SL 292 a while ago. It has since under gone alot of refurbishing. Jon says the reed valve 292 runs like a top & he put about 200 miles on the sled this winter. Jon promises to send us some "after" pictures..
"Oh Brother where art thou ? " and where did you find that sled ?? Eric Westman of Sawyer , ND is another case of the old sled bug gone awry. At last count Eric had 64 sleds. He says some are "junkers" , but many are not. This is Eric's latest addition compliments of his brother who saw the sled for sale beside the road & figured Eric just could'nt live without it.
1975 Sno-Jet Astro SS
How can you resist a sign like this ??? Eric 's brother couldn't !
Now if I can just find room in the van...
Perfect fit !!!
Estes EXT-stasy
Ray Estes picked up this '72 EXT last October. Hopefully a full resto is in the works.
A man who knows his limits.. (or lack thereof) One of the most likeable guys I've met here in the Northeast is Tim Guerette of Caribou , Maine. Tim has sent us some pics before & presents these as witness to the level of his addiction.
As you can see , Tim likes them all.... There are some very nice restored & original sleds in Tim's stable as well. I hope this next one is added to the restored list.
Tim's rescued Blizzard...
Ski-Doo Racers..Rescued ! Noted vintage racer Clay Stroup has shared an image of his latest find.
This 1979 Blizzard Super Stock is now in good hands & I'm sure will soon be in fine shape.
John Bogie of Goderich , Ontario sent in a pic of a sled he finally got around to checking out. Acting on a phone call from a gentleman who said he had an old Ski-Doo RV that had been stored in a neighbors barn for over a decade, John went to investigate the sled. The caller had purcahsed it from the neighbor and then the RV was relegated to sitting in the callers yard for another 8 years. He wanted it gone ! This is what John found !
A 1977 Ski-Doo RV Cross Country John tells us that the odometer shows 1400 miles , the chassis is very straight & the motor is not stuck.
John is looking for info & assisitance in his restoration that is already underway. If anyone knows about RVCC's contact Johne via e-mail.
Pining away for an Alpine.
Tom Tufts of the West Epping , NH Stump Jumpers drove all the way to CT. to rescue this "double track"... Yup !!!! Tom's got the addiction ,,Bad !
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Ohio Bush Whackin'
Thanks to Scotty Graybill for these pics of what is to be found lurking in the wilds of Ohio.
Haugen keeps Haulin' !
Jeff Haugen of Cannon Falls , MN has to be one of the busiest guys in the hobby.
Not only does Jeff contribute a huge amount of images to this website , he never seems to have less than half a dozen restoration projects going.
Here's Jeff's latest find.
1967 Fox Trac RT 300
As with EVERYTHING Jeff finds.......This Fox is being restored .
Jeff need a seat & track if anyone can help out !!
More Roode pictures.
Local collector , Mike Roode of Skowhegan , Maine sent in these.
This Whisper Jet needs a nose job !
Another Massey photo
I took this pic here in Central Maine last summer....
The sled is probably still sitting there waiting for the newspaper...
Hey..Lets hide behind the woodpile !
They'll never find us there !
This one came from Mark Desrochers of Roxbury , CT.
According to Mark , amazingly the Cat Rotary still turned over. Mark goes on to say "What is REALLY amazing is that an otherwise sane person would bother to check"
Well..I'm kinda fixing it. I've got it all apart ...
John Bogie of Goderich , Ontario sent in this pic of sleds he rescued from a farm auction. John says the former owner had a huge assortment of machanical devices of all shapes & sizes. Everything from motorcycles to logging equipment. The one thing all of his stuff had in common was the fact that they had been taken apart & left that way.
The 1971 Panther 634 motor had been torn down & left in a pile under the hood.
John plans to restore the Panther. The '73 Boa-Ski R/T 340 may be beyond redemption , but John brought it home anyway !!!
More pics from Jeff Haugen
RetroSno.com contributor , "Bush Whackin' Jeff Haugen" of Cannon Falls , MN , appears to be intent upon seeing to it that I never get caught up.
Jeff sent no less than 10 great new pics including the one above , that will be added over the next few days. Jeff & I share the same curse of not being able to center on one brand of sled.
The image above shows Jeff's latest garage find. A 1977 TX 340 , 1976 Johnson JX 650 , 1981 Kawasaki LTD , 1973 Colt 340 SS , 1973 440 Panther , and a 1973 Puma 340.
All of these were found sitting on shelves in the same building.
Gotta love buying in bulk !!!!!!!
You can take the sled off the farm....but can you wash the farm off the sled ??
Jeff recently acquired this 1975 Evinrude Rotary 35 from the original owner. Jeff says it runs well enought to ride it until the cows come home.
This battered Wheel Horse will soon restoration at the hands of Mr. Haugen.
"Give us your tired , ..Your weak , ..
Your huddled Massey's "
( Paraphrased from "The New Colossus" , by Emma Lazarus. This is the poem that appears on the tablet on the Statue of Liberty.My apologies to Ms. Lazarus , her progeney and/or heirs and to all fine American patriots. No disrespect inteded. I just could'nt resist the play on words.)
Another of Jeff Haugen's rescued orphans. This 1972 Massey-Ferguson Ski-Whiz 500 SST was hauled from the original owners barn. The motor had been thrown in the trash years ago , but this did not deter Jeff.
He's obtained the correct motor for the sled & is in the process of restoring it.
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We're not out of the woods yet ....
This picture was taken by Scott Carmen while out looking for land for a new home. Scott says the pile on the right used to be a 1971 Massey-Ferguson Ski-Whiz 400 & the sled on the left is a Sno-Prince. I'm guessing a 72 or 73 model year due to the blue chassis.
According to neighbors , the original owner of the sleds backed his truck up to this spot some 30 years ago , dumped them off & there they sit. It appears many offers were made to purchase the sleds over the years.
I think we all know of sleds in this situation...
Thanks for the pic ,Scott !
OUCH !!
This image was sent to me months ago. I believe it came from Mike Kempfer , but to be honest it took me so long to post it I'm not sure...If I'm wrong ..Somebody corrrect me.
Up on a pedestal.
Al Hawkes of Vancouver , BC sent in this pic of his 1972 Sno-Jet SST 433.
Al's looking for a ski to replace the broken one. Which ski would that be Al ??
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Lost some of it's sting ! !
A sadly neglected 1971 Scorpion Super Stinger 290
The sleds are still out there ....
It quite often seems that the majority of the really neat old sleds have either been destroyed or already snapped up by another fellow collector. Not so !!
JD from New York was out trail riding last week & happend across an interesting lump in the snow.
According to "JD" this is a 1972 Chaparral Firebird SS 650. It is now destined for a complete restoration. Look for the complete resto story here on RetroSno.com in the coming months.
"JD" did'nt say if the saw blade came with it or not.
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Raise the dead.
I thought putting sleds up on racks was supposed to help preserve them.
This is whats left of an old Evinrude I found sitting in Ellsworth , Maine.
TX Rescue !
Mike Honken - Rushford , MN
Mike saved this 1977 TX 440 from it's world of neglect. It was last registered in 1982. It 's currently undergoing a complete restoration.
Send us pics when you finish it , Mike !
Flying Solo
This one comes to us from J.D.
A lonely Sno-Jet.....
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Es-Kee-Mo
Looks like a lost Eskeemo Scout to me
Thanks to Brian in Minnesota for this picture !
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A couple of interesting items showed up in my e-mail today. The first comes from Eric Soles of Newfane , NY. Eric is a regular contributor to RetroSno and usually has a couple of neat sleds for sale in our photo classifieds .
This past week-end Eric went on a Sno-Jet rescue mission. Sitting in a barn near his home , Eric found these 2 sleds.
A 1974 Thunder Jet 340 & an early production 1975 SST F/A. Nice work Eric !!!
Now if I can just get him to sell the T Jet !
R.I.P.
( Rest In Pieces )
These next 2 pics come from Grey Rolland.
Why do some folks insist on lining up items that are left to rot away ??
Do rock walls emit a magnetic field that attracts old sleds ??
Or is it a sirens song that causes the unwitting 'Twister to throw itself on the rocks ??
Jeez , I know I had one of those wrist pin clips left...It was right here last January.
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Let sleeping Cat's lie ,, if you hafta...
I had this sled in mind when I started the " Bush Whackin" page on this website. This poor , old 'Cat sits right here in my hometown. The owner INSISTS that it is a King Kat. He's a heck of a nice guy & has a LOT of old sleds sitting on his property , with every intention of making them whole again. He just never seems to get around to it. Too Bad. Somebody should have the chance to polish those Montana pipes. Just for the record , I've taken the owner pictures of a REAL King Kat , but he is still adamant that this is an EARLY one. Oh Well ! He's happy. I suppose that's all that matters.
"Not for Sale"....
We've all seen it. A sled...or worse yet, sleds, sitting in a field rotting away & nothing can be done about it. Usually the owner is going to get to it "someday". The worst case scenario is the " I'll let it rot right there before I'll sell it to anyone". That 's exactly what happens in most cases.
This Alouette , which I suspect to be a 1972 Venture, has obviously seen better days. I like getting shots like this but it is rather depressing to see a once viable sled suffer this fate.
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These pics come from Jason Thomson of Drayton , ND. I would say most of these are well beyond the point of no return.
Thanx for the pics , Jason !
I see hints of yellow. An Autoboggan?? Somebody I.D. this thing for me ,please.
It's No Traveler !
Ouch !
"The Cat's Ass !"
Well,,maybe not. But it's the rear end of SOMETHING !
Here's another one where memory fails me. I've seen these before but can't quite put a name to it.
This guys yard even gives the "Scooter Geeks" something to feel bad about.
The final resting place.
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We're All alike ...
This picture comes from Tim Geurette of Caribou , Maine. Tim's truck on April 16th , 2003.
What Tim did not tell me ,is if this was coming to, or leaving his yard. If I know tim , I would guess this an "arrival".
Field of Screams
Photos submitted by R. Hutchison
I did'nt get alot of info with these pics , except for the fact that Mr. Hutchison plans on restoring at least some of these sleds. I sure hope so. This is enough to make any Sno-Jet fan feel " blue".
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Shark Rescue
This T Jet was pulled from storage in South Western Maine in July of 2002.
It is now in the Carsley Family collection in Newport , Maine.
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"I'm Boa-rd
1971 Boa Ski Mark II languishing in the leaves.
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Ev & Al hangin' out...
1970 Evinrude Skeeter & a 1972 Alouette Elimintor 295
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Barn Fresh
1973 Thunder Jet 650 Mod IV & 1974 GPX /w/ GYT Kit
Found in a barn in Central Maine in April of 2002.
These Bad Boys had not seen daylight for 20+ years.
Now in the Carsley Family collection.
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Bad Ass Bobcat !
1972 Evinrude Bobcat SS.
Located in a grain filled barn in October of 2002.
Rescued by Dexter Van Dam.
Picture courtesy of Dex !
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Trailer Trash
A trailer load of Skiroules I was asked to go look at on Dec. 10 , 2002.
They were offered up for sale with 2 pick-up loads of parts. STILL not enough to bring these poor abused sleds back to life.
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Don't 'Doo It ....
These 5 abused Ski-Doos were recently saved by John & Diane Schmitt. Along the sleds was a pile of parts including roughly 6 RV F/A motors , Super Mod kit components , a Ski-Doo racing suit , & Mod pipes. As you can see , they not only suffered at the hands of a kid who fancied himself a mechanic, but also at the business end of the local bird population. Thanks to John & Diane for the pictures & for bringing these babies home!
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On It's Last Leg , ..or Ski
My wife ,Tatiana, took this picture on December 22 , 2002 in Auburn , Maine. This "accessorized" Alpine has been for sale since early fall. The sign on the windshield says "$ 500.00" ! I don't know what you think , but I think the seller is a wee bit optimistic. Five Hundred Bucks ??? Not even if you sold it by the pound.
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Open the gate !!
This picture was an anonomous submission to RetroSno.com. Kinda looks to me like they're trying to escape. Nice cartoon characters on the hoods..
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Busted Blizzard
Tim Guerette of Caribou, Maine supplied this picture. I'm not sure of the sleds location, but I suspect it's one of Tim's future projects. I don't think Turtle Wax is gonna be enough.