1978 John Deere 440 Liquifire

Walk around of a 1978 John Deere 440 Liquifire.
Mostly original sled. I replaced the aftermarket skis that came on it with plastic skis and ski shocks (they weren’t original JD replacements anyway).
Replaced the suspension shock and Hyfax slides. Rear idler wheels are reconditioned JD idlers.
Had a local company fabricate new track cleats and replaced all of the original worn out 3/4 length ones with new.
Temperature gauge sender was faulty, so that gauge is new as well.
Helmet is a custom job based on the original vintage helmet design from the ‘70s.
Thanks to Don Amber at Busco Bullet for parts and advice. E-Mail: [e-mail]
Check out his website: www.buscobulle...
And Facebook page: / buscobullet
Also have a look at New Breed Parts: newbreedparts....
Both of these businesses are dedicated to keeping John Deere Snowmobiles on the snow.

[@quincee3376]

Beautiful vintage Liquifire!!!

[@DougTrevors]

Thanks! I really like it!

[@quincee3376]

@@DougTrevors does that have a Kawasaki 440 in it?

[@DougTrevors]

@quincee3376 No, the Kawasaki was introduced in 1980 in the Liquifires. The 76-78s had either the 340 or 440 Kioritz. There was no Liquifire released for the 1979 season.

[@johnpatterson4272]

I wanted one of these bad boys back-in-the-day when John Deere snowmobiles were popular. The Liquifire and Trailfire were machines that rivelled Ski-Doo, Moto-Ski and Arctic Cat at the time. Nice score on your part.

[@DougTrevors]

My dad had this model back in the day, brand new. I always thought it was so cool. This isn’t his machine, but luckily I was able to find one and make it my own.

[@throwingsparks]

I remember these sleds, they looked FAST sitting still!

[@DougTrevors]

@@throwingsparks For front leaf springs and about 3 inches rear travel, they are plenty fast!

[@glenerickson358]

Those Scorpions and Deere's were sharp sleds in early 80's right before they went out of business.

[@glenerickson358]

​@@throwingsparksplus so much smaller than 90's sleds. And low. Like Corvettes of the snow. '79 Trailcats are 3/4ths the size of a 90's Arctic Cat.

[@h2ofilms-freshfrozen989]

Beautiful old liquifire , my Dad had the same one , it was his first sled , I had a 78 Olypic 300. This JD was GOD!

[@DougTrevors]

My dad had a ‘77 and then a ‘78. He rode the ‘78 until 1992!

[@glenerickson358]

Crunchy snow. Must have had some freezing rain. 😟

[@DougTrevors]

This was the first run of that particular winter. Had some not bad snow and then it got warm for a day or two. It got much better about two weeks later and had a pretty good winter after that.

[@jodyharris4317]

What make is the engine in the

[@DougTrevors]

This sled has the original 440 Kioritz liquid cooled engine John Deere sourced for these. The next Liquifire model in 1980 had a Kawasaki engine.

[@h2ofilms-freshfrozen989]

I left from Miramichi on Friday and rode to Saint Quentin via Christmas mtns. 279 km day 1 , 318 kms to Campbelton Day 2 and return to truck day 3 291!

[@DougTrevors]

Nice!

[@michaeladams8532]

Great purchase..

[@DougTrevors]

Thanks 👍

[@coonlakebackwoods]

Sweet sled

[@DougTrevors]

Thanks! I really like it!

[@MrROOSTER58]

Sir, where did you/do you find parts for it? Thks

[@DougTrevors]

Hey there! I source parts in multiple places… BuscoBullet, New Breed Parts, MFG Supply, Royal Distributing and eBay… my sled was in pretty good condition when I got it so I’ve been lucky not to need a lot of parts. Mostly preventative maintenance stuff In extreme cases (grouser bars for the track) I had a local metal fab place make them for me.

[@perterror2918]

hi Doug, where did you get those skis?

[@DougTrevors]

I got these through BuscoBullet… you can find them on Facebook…. Don Amber is a great guy to deal with. He sells the skis, and the mount adapter for the leaf springs.

[@perterror2918]

@@DougTrevors cool thanks!

[@jepdot]

Very nice looking 78'. They're very sought after and a low number sled, so I think you are fortunate to find one in such good shape. I do like the small modifications you did! Very nice job! I've got a number of JD sleds which I restored... this 76' is the latest one I've done: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGGqpp2tZbV6b6c.

[@DougTrevors]

Thanks! 1st winter with this one, so a few more things to tweak, but I'm very happy!