While not exactly the same structure, the Trailfire concept served as the underpinning for Deere’s liquid-cooled Liquifire series, which featured a Kawasaki liquid-cooled 436cc twin. To the Deere engineers’ credit, the Trailfire concept provided an excellent backbone for future higher performance models. So, you see, this whole sharing thing predates the Arctic Cat/Yamaha hook-up by decades!ĬOMPETITION: Read our review of the 1986 Yamaha Inviter So there would be no confusion, John Deere’s Kawasaki-sourced engines were renamed as Deere Fireburst powerplants. Deere chose a Comet drive set to its specs and a driven of its own making. The Kawasaki Intruder 440 featured a similar two-stroke powerplant, but Kawasaki engineers went with dual 32mm Mikuni slide valve carbs. For example, the Trailfire’s fan-cooled 436cc Kawasaki twin used a single 34mm slide valve carburetor. While Kawasaki provided the base power for the Trailfire, Deere engineers established their own specifications. Handling came from the Trailfire’s extremely low center of gravity and lightweight character. The new breed of lightweight John Deere trail sleds was truly nimble and could turn on a 9/16-inch washer. We also conducted high speed and handling runs back in that day and time, too. It’s unlikely any snowmobile enthusiast would ever drive 20 miles at such slow speeds. The results of the runs were verified and the sleds did get the mileage claimed. But, then, these fuel economy runs proved as consistent as the coast-to-coast Mobil Economy Runs of the 1950s and 1960s. The chances of a real-world rider getting such mileage numbers were, at best, unlikely. Then, too, the sleds were ridden and maintained by factory personnel. And consider that speeds averaged between 20 and 25 miles per hour. In fact in a snowmobile-sponsored fuel economy trial, a 1982 John Deere Trailfire LX with a 440cc fan-cooled twin managed 33.4 miles per gallon, which was better than the 25.1 mpg a 1980 Trailfire 340 achieved.Īs the magazine editor and official overseer of the fuel economy runs at that time, I suggest you be cautioned that the trials were run over a very deliberately chosen 20-mile course that consisted of long open runs and very few road crossings. To prove their acumen, the Trailfires tended to do very well in fuel economy runs of the time. Sound familiar? That was one reason Deere engineers worked to provide good fuel economy for its Trailfire series. In the Trailfire era, gasoline supplies were spotty and prices tended to elevate without much warning. Those engines worked through finely-tuned clutch setups that included a Comet drive with parameters identified by Deere engineers to provide ample on trail “go” and above average fuel efficiency.ĬOMPETITION: Read our review of the 1975 Polaris TC And although Deere didn’t have an exclusive engine supplier, it did have an arrangement with Kawasaki, which used nearly identical engines in its own Kawasaki-branded sleds. That second generation of sleds didn’t go over snow so much as it plowed through it. Where heavy-duty meant heavy iron in the world of tractors and combines, the world of snowmobiling meant light-footed for over snow performance. The two-up Trailfire achieved 30-plus miles per gallon in a magazine-sponsored fuel economy run over a 20-mile course. Among the first entrants was the Trailfire. Learning from their errors and sensitive to a new world (for Deere & Company) of criticism, Deere engineers totally revamped the product line and brought light and nimble handling models to the snows. It had been Deere’s goal to strengthen its sleds, but the company went overboard and made them heavy, bulky and poor handling. Well, that second generation, often referred to as “bridge busters,” didn’t innovate in the weight department. While Deere’s initial “400” and other early models could be called copycats of Ski-Doo, future models showed innovation. And wanted a sled to capture buyers’ attention.īy the mid-1980s when John Deere decided that lawn tractor production rather than snowmobile production provided more sensible profitability for its Wisconsin-based Horicon Works factory, the agricultural products giant had planned to introduce a strut type front suspension for its fourth generation of sleds. It was not coincidental, but John Deere didn’t have an exclusive engine supplier or an eager-to-own fan base of snowmobilers and Ski-Doo was king of the snows. The early 1970s saw John Deere enter the snowmobile market with sleds that channeled Bombardier’s best-selling Ski-Doo Olympiques of the period. The John Deere snowmobile experience lasted about a decade.
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