[AJD] My new John Deere/JD Spitfire

Steve W. falcon at telenet.net
Thu Jan 27 15:06:25 PST 2005


There are a bunch of JD sleds in this area. Some still in use. Most of
them seem to be Kawasaki based machines.
For a workhorse sled I think the Ski Doo Alpine and the early Elans were
hard to beat, never saw one really stuck and they were light enough to
toss around if they did bog down. Unlike my Raider TT. When it gets
stuck, your STUCK...

Steve Williams
Near Cooperstown, New York

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <greg at theoldtractorcompany.com>
To: "Antique John Deere mailing list"
<antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 2:46 PM
Subject: Re: [AJD] My new John Deere/JD Spitfire


> Kyle
> Back when we used to sell JD sleds, we always marketed the Spitfire as
an all around
> sled for the family as it was smaller and manueverable and the family
had an easy time
> with it. The Trailfire was the workhorse of that series. Plenty of
power and decent
> performance. Both sold about equally for us. The Liquifire was for the
"go fast" crowd
> and took quite a bit of tinkering to get to perform properly.
> The Spitfire was an innovative sled due to the direct drive as you
mentioned and was
> basically troublefree.
> The green and black versions, as well as the later Sprintfire and
Snowfires, make for a
> neat series to collect
> Greg
>
>
>
> Greg Stephen
> The Old Tractor Company
> Stephen Equipment Company
> PO Box 709
> Franktown, CO 80116
> 303-663-5246
> 303-468-0377 FAX<<--GREAT WAY TO REACH ME!
>
> On Thu Jan 27 12:34 , 'Kyle Sands' <willys_46 at mail.com> sent:
>
> >Chris, I don't know how many more JD's I can fit in my garage.  I've
got nearly a
> dozen old snowmobiles right now and can't find a place to house them
all under cover at
> this point.  But you know how that goes - a lack of storage space
doesn't always
> prevent anyone from buying more toys.
> >
> >I'll waste some badwidth and give you my impression on the Spitfire.
It is NOT a deep
> snow sled by any means.  My impression from talking with owners of
other late JD models
> tells me they don't do so well in the powder either.  The Spitfire is
a direct drive
> meaning there is no chaincase - the secondary clutch is mounted right
on the drive
> axle.  As a result, the track has a very steep angle of attach in
relation to the
> snow.  So the sled has to work pretty hard to get on top of the deep
stuff.  It never
> really succeeds and sorta just plows through it until it loses
momentum and you get
> stuck.  On hardpack or shallow powder however, it is a blast to ride!
> >
> >Kyle
> >
> >>
> >> Nice find Kyle.  I'm sure more of those Deere's will follow you
home now....
> >>
> >> After viewing the pictures of you cleaning the snow off the heads
> >> in the deep snow, I am curious how vulnerable that little Spitfire
> >> is to getting stuck.  I won't waste bandwidth grumbling about how
> >> easily the early Deere snowmobiles get stuck.
> >>
> >> Chris
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > Take a look at my newest Deere:
> >> >
> >> > http://sledaction.homestead.com/JDSpitfire.html
> >> >
> >> > Ok ok, I know it's not exactly what you had in mind, but it IS a
> >> > 2-cylinder, just makes a different sound.
> >> > Regards,
> >> >
> >> > Kyle Sands
> >> > --
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