# Snowmobileing.



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

My first was a brand new 1971 Mercury Rocket, bought it the last week of February 197. Was 61F when I brought it home and I had to leave for a week for work. Surprisingly that 61F in Feb was a fluke day that year. Used it up to the first week of April.
It had a Canadian Curtis Wright 339 engine and bogie wheel suspension. I still own it today and it is a real nice sled for going thru the woods off trails it is so narrow and maneuverable.










Had met some guys while riding with relatives, one had a Artic Cat with megfone exhaust. I wasn't crazy about the noise but liked how it went thru deeper snow with that wider track so I bought a new 1972 Artic cat Puma Knew about the dangers of that cleated track on icy surfaces like packed trails so had it studded. Is a wonder I am alive today the many times I got in deep ca ca with it. I also learned that those long cleats sucked. I would replace a bunch on Friday night after wook and by Saturday night a bunch more would be broken. I bought them 25 at a time for a discount. Also bought a hand pump hrydrlic pop rivet gun. It wasn't very fast either. Brother had a Chaparral 440 fire bird ss that ate it for lunch and I could beat my hunting buddies Scorpion 400 stinger if we started on ice.
I sold it in 1974.










In 1974 Mercury inderduced a new sled called a Sno Twister with a Kohler 400cc engine to race in the stock D USSA races. I bought one with plans to race it here in Michigan. The 400 did not fit in any of Michigan's sanctioned race program.
So I did a lot on not sanctioned racing with it. It was also a good trail rideing sled if you stayed out of deep snow.

 

But it wasn't any worse than my friends 1975 340 tiger Z.



the 400cc engine blew up on me in 1976 early in the season. Mercury had a deal where you could trade a 400cc engine in any condition for a 340 or 440cc engine because the USSA change the rules so they could race 440cc sleds. I traded the 400cc engine for a 340cc kept the pipes, carbs and clutch.
I did do a whole lot of racing in 1977 and My brother and a friend took a trip to snow mobile in the UP of Michigan.
The trip up was nasty.





They had 27 inches of new snow in Hulbert where we went. so riding on Saturday was some hard work on local trails.







I still own the Sno Twister and ride it every so often but retired it to just a once in a while ride in 1979.

TBC.

 Al


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## tamarackreg (Mar 13, 2006)

My Uncle had a Mercury sled like yours when I was a kid, another had a Gilson. I can still remember riding with them and getting pulled on a sled. 
I have another Uncles Sno-Jet with the 396 Yamaha , it still has the track that writes "Sno-Jet" in the snow but hasn't been out in years.
These sleds are all seen on my Grandpas films from the early '70's. Good times.

I remember there being a Massey Ferguson around too.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

By March 1977 my brother and I were taking a weeks vacation from work to go to the UP and ride. Rob had sold his Firebird SS and got a 1973 Mercury Max electric start. Then he bought a Polaris 340TX for our 1977 vacation to the UP. We stayed in Hulbert at the hotel which had became our favorite place to go since we could ride the whole eastern UP from there as it was sort of central located. In 1977 we asked our cousin Norm to come along as he had not gotten a job yet we decided to treat him.



Norm took his dads 300 ski do Olympic to ride and he did a real good job keeping up with us and had a good time too. Of course he did pray a lot.





there was a hill to climb on a power line south of Hulbert on a power line on the way to Trout Lake.



A stop on the way to Pine Stump Junction, I think we were waiting for a dog sled team to go by.



We would take a local trail to the back side of the Tahquamenon falls where there were stairs to climb down and stand in front of them on the ice. If we took the state trail to the falls we had to buy a day use sticker (about 5.00) then and then walk a good bit to the falls and stand above them, see the fence above and behind us..



Our last day a ride to Grand Maria VIA Pine stump Junction and Deer Park.



We had a ruff night trying to drink the bar dry and did a very good job on the hard liquor. I was in real bad shape the next day.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

March of 1979 it was just Rob and I. Our friend Ridge had gotten married, Norm had found a Job too.
this is just East of Nubinway across US 2 from Lake Michigan.



We also learned that year we needed to cool our jets down and ride at a more reasonable speed. We were on a trail near Brevort ripping along on a nicely groomed trail doing about 80mph and came around a curve and there were about 10 cross country skiers spread across the 16 foot wide trail. We slammed on the brakes but was still going to hit some one so we went off into the trees and stuff off the trail.
It was a clearly marked snowmobile trail so they had no business on it.

 Al


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Our week in 1980 was mostly a week of sunny days and temps in the high 30's low 40's. We rode to the Soo one day and when we went thru Brimley we were riding a trail thru town that had a good 10 inches or water covering it most of the way. We also rode down to St Ignese and met two guys who lived in the area. One owned the 76 truck stop on US 2 east of town and the other was a toll taker on the bridge. They showed us about 150 miles of trails the locals use almost out to the Cut River Bridge then back to Trout Lake.

A few days later we met 3 guys From Port Edwards Canada and a 4th from Port Huron. One of the Canadian's had a New 1980 Polaris Indy. He want to buy a sepention spring off one of our TX's as he had broke one the day before and they had wired and duct tape it till they could get to a dealer some place. They were riding the whole trip with out a support trailer from Port Edwards to St. Paul Minnesota.
I got a short quick ride on the Indy and when I got back home ordered one for 1981 from the local dealer.










 Al


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

we had 1980 Skidoos dad bought in 81 an Everest 440 and a citation 340 , grandma and grandpa had 1982 articat a panther and pantera but with my aunt and uncle riding old enough to run their own sleds grandpa bough a 1985 indy trail , that was a sweet ride till it was stolen on the Rez several years later 

he replaced it with a late 90s XLT extra light triple , my brother has his sleds now grandpa gave up riding about the time he got his pacemaker maybe 4-5 years ago 

before 81 dad had a mix of sleds I think there was a Rupp , a mercury and Johnson


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

I once had an Evinrude, that would run about 35 mph tops, later got a Yamaha 340, used to go to Old Forge, NY, once went to Jackson Hole,WY, flew out there and rented machines, I think 16 of us, don't care much for snow anymore....


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

One of my uncles had a 1971 Sno Pony snow mobile. He bought it because it was small and fit on the trailer with his 2 1969 Rupps.



















A friend on my hunting partner had a Evenrude bob cat for his self and a Johnson version for his wife.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

This is my first and only snowmobile I've ever owned, I got it right after I was snowed in for 6 weeks.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

a bunch of those old sleds were geared for pulling 25-30 was top speed but they sure could drag an ice shanty well

grandpa had a sort of side car looking sleigh that ran on 2 skis it was fiberglass and pulled behind the snowmobile , it would fit 2 kids sort of like this but not nearly as fancy http://www.hammacher.com/Product/12...DFx6JhRHkl2B8JOVMVsAKNmxNwj9ZIBGYoxoCiz7w_wcB

if I recall it used 2 skis just like what would be on the front of a snowmobile it had a simple tube steel frame under it and then this fiberglass pod that was like a motorcycle side car , the top was open and it wasn't any wider than the snowmobile the larger kid would sit down , then the smaller kid would sit down in front of them


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I have one like this I pull with the old rocket on occation.










What GCP is talking about is probably like this one really.It is a 1967 sno cruiser. 










Most of what I saw back in the day was like this and usually white with some decals on them to reflect.










I went to a snowmobile salvage yard and bought 4 of the widest skis I could find and made a towable sled that the front steered so I could ski small logs out of the woods for fire wood during the winter.

 Al


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

much like the green one 

the one they had reminded me a lot of a car from a carnival ride that had been put on skis


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

As I said earlier I raced my Sno Twister, this is from a Race in Manton Michigan. I raced the 440 and 650 class that day and won both.



Snow can be deep by March. I always liked this cabin along one trail. I 75 & US2 ramp.





One place on the trail from Hulbert to Trout Lake had a nice hill to play on. the trail was at the top of the hill. Pictures from March 1979. I had bought a new Polaris 340 TX like my brothers that year.






Trail to Pine Stump Junction, Bar restrunet and gas station. 



 Al


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