John Deere Snowmobile...

[Mykol610 2]

Does anyone know anything about John Deere Snowmobiles? I know, I know, it's a Deere I've been wanting one for a while now and I recently found one on craigslist. The other person is asking $400. The only things I wonder about is there anything I should really check out before I buy. He said I can here it run (though it might need a little starter fluid).

A couple things I question is the wording on the ads. On one, he says nice track, original motor. The other he says it has a 600cc Kawasaki motor and new track. I'm not looking for a brand new sled but something I would like to play around with and get the hang of before I shell out a couple grand for a newer one. Anythings I need to look at when I go to get it? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

[KATO 115]

I don't think Deere ever used anything bigger than a 440 (Kioritz , CCW, Kohler, or Kawasaki) but i could be wrong. here's some info that might be helpful.

http://www.jdsleds.com/models/models.html

[CasualObserver 3,406]

Do research before you go. Google and read on the snowmobile forums you can find. There's tons of information out there. The guy you're potentially buying from may just be confused or uninformed himself. Deere had a model 600 that that had a 440cc engine in it. I don't know much about them, but my BIL has had a few.

[MarkPalmer 80]

I had a Deere Liquifire 440 of early '80's vintage with a Kawasaki engine for about 10 years, it performed good and I didn't have any out of the ordinary problems with it. As any Deere snowmobile is "vintage" now, you have to expect some troubles but their sleds aren't overly complicated to repair and there is still quite a bit of parts availability.

-Mark-

[can whlvr 991]

i had a 1974 440,it was alot of fun back in the day,but it wasnt very reliable

[6wheeler 586]

Well, I had alot of John Deere sleds. What is it? Is it a 3, 4, 5, 600 ? JDX4 JDX5 JDX8? Cyclone, Liquifire, Trailfire, Sprint? The 440 CCW's were a good engine. Although, the 340's were better. I always replaced the Walbro carbs with Tillotson's because they seemed to work better. The Kawi's were good too. Everybody that complains about them probably didn't realize that ALL sleds at the time had the same reputation and the same cliche. "They are like a woman. You work on them all week long for a 10 minute ride on the weekend". (NO OFFENSE INTENDED). . The 440's would pop the crank seal out on the clutch side but if you put silicone on the out side then it would hold. As far as I know there was never a 600cc motor in them. And, I am very sure of that. For your info, The first 4 models I listed, all had bogie wheel suspension and 27" spread on the skis.The JDX series had slides and a 28" stance. The latter had slides and a 34" spread. If I am not mistaken. However, before they got out of sleds. There was one in the works. Based on the Liquifire chassis that did have independent front suspension and an 8" rear suspension travel. But, I don't think it ever came to fruition. I did have a 79 cyclone 340 that had independent suspension, I hit a rock and the right front ski became independent from the rest of the sled . Polaris had one at the same time called the Centurian that also boasted the independent suspension which DID become the 1st independent front end. Pat