Its rough... But hey, what the hell? Let's see if we can breathe some life back into this old girl just in time for winter. Compression, spark, fuel and air, you know the drill. Let's see what we can do!
Fellow Wisconsinite here (Tomah-LaCrosse area). Great to see some old iron come back to life. Don't see a lot of old Deeres around anymore. They were pretty solid machines back in the days. My current ride is a 1995 Polaris Indy440, and I love it. Did quite a bit of work on it last fall. Got a couple vids if interested. I had hoped to put more than five miles on it this year though. Oh well, at least it does look nice sitting on the trailer, LOL. Cheers, from west central Wisconsin.
Love the LaCrosse area, did 5 years at UWL. Still get back that way every once in awhile. I'll check out the indy later today! Yeah, it's been a pretty bad year for snow. Just picked up 5" last night so hoping I'll be able to get some riding in without trailering to the UP. Thanks for watching!
It's not a 78' or 79'... By appearance it looks to be a 76' (would have actually been produced (build date) in the Fall of 75'). Cyclone's were "Mean Green" in 76' and 77', then in 78' they went to a much brighter green, which I don't think was Implement Green either. The side pan has vertical "ribs" on it, which was a 76' model trait. In 77' the side pans were smooth. If the serial number is legible, it should read: J34FE055...M, or something along those lines. The "E" in that number would indicate it's a 76' model, "34" indicates a 340 cc, and "F" indicates it's fan cooled.
Thanks for clarifying. The serial number was illegible, but I convinced myself the last two digits were 7 and 8 and took that to mean 1978. Good to know, thanks again!
@@GearheadRob319 You are right about the Chem-dip stuff. Until last fall, I wasn't really sure about how effective it would be. I cleaned the carbs on my Indy440 and used the Gunk brand. I only had them in it for a bit over an hour each. That sold me on it. True these carbs were not all that bad, but I did a set later using the same can. Again highly impressed. Still want to get an ultrasonic someday, but until then, this stuff will do the job just fine.
As a Deere sled collector, I tend to cringe at the methods guys use. I didn't see you pull out the pilot jet, they are almost always plugged. I spent the last year refreshing this exact model for my wife. This is a 76 BTW. Crank seals are a must. The Prestolite ignition is also a failure waiting to happen. Old Deeres are easy, just throw huge amounts of money at them until they work like new! New bearings throughout, fanbelt, ect. These are not a tractor, they are a trail rider.
Completely understand and respect where you're coming from. Chalk it up to the difference between a "revival" and a "restoration". If it were something I had been more interested in keeping or had some sort of attachment to, i wouldve sunk more money into it, but truth be told that just wasnt the case. Appreciate the comment and the extra info though! Always like to learn more about the stuff that makes it's way in and out of my shop.
The twist throttle first showed up on the Deere 340/S race sled. Some of the racers liked them, others took them off. You will note the idea did not catch on. They do have some value to guys restoring race sleds.
