AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
“Finding parts means shopping for the best deal on the internet, through friends who don’t collect MF (fortunately for me), or just driving around and looking,” says Doug. “I turned down several opportunities to finish the Chinook because I couldn’t find a good deal.”
With all the parts on hand, setting it together and getting it running took two weeks.
“If you have everything laid out and the time, it’s really not that difficult,” he says.
Sometimes Doug has to make his own parts, or alters others to fit.
“You have to figure out a way to make it work,” he says. “The best way is to have a metal lathe and tool shop so you can do a lot of repair, flux welding and the like. Without the resources, you have to improvise.”
Windshields are hard to find, so Doug traces them and makes them himself.
“Maybe making some of these things isn’t ‘original,’ but it is cost-effective,” he admits.
Tracks can be improvised, he says.
“Tracks were, for the most part, one-size-fits-all. Those from John Deere 400, 500 and 600 sleds have the same dimension as Massey-Fergusons. Just change the drive socket pitch, and the tracks will fit. The tracks make a JD imprint in the snow instead of MF, but that’s fine.”
To change drive sprockets, “just pop a couple of pins,” says Doug. “If you’re not prejudiced to any brand, the sled companies in the ’60s and ’70s bought parts from the same places, so you can get what you need.”