SM-II ~ SNO PRO
SERIAL No. 4349335
October 28th, 2015 at 3:40PM the phone had a special ring at SnoPro USA.
The caller ID on the large screen of the land line phone on my desk said:
CALLER : DOUG HAYES 3:40 PM
Earlier that day I had left a message with him in regards to a specific
sled owned by Jerry Kienbaum that I was going to be representing
details on for some fortunate person to have the opportunity to buy / own.
Doug
and I spoke for a few minutes and then we both went to our computers.
I sent him to this
very web page of photos and upon his screen loading
up on his PC, Doug said,
"Hey
That's one of my sleds!"
"How do you know?"
I
replied and he said, "Well it has a #5
in
the serial number
and
that was one of my specifics that I had going on back then.
As
a priority I chose chassis with the number
five."
"Are you sure",
I asked and he replied "without
a doubt !"
WHY #5 ?
Doug
Hayes was awarded the USAA #5 LIFETIME PLATE
#1 in Points for MOD-I
class.
Champion Winner five
years in a row.
1969, 1970, 1971, 1972
and 1973.
I explained to Doug that
this was the prize possesion of my one of my best friends
Jerry Kienbaum.
Jerry had displayed this sled in his museum for years
and during that time
I had taken many photos of this sled and with Jerry poised on it.
He always had a "look"
in his posture when he sat on this sled.
It was as if he could
feel the authenticity and rage that this sled was part of
in SNO PRO racing history.
Jerry always told me the following.
"This Sled is not for sale while I am alive,
I never want to see the day this sled leaves on a trailer."
LATER ON:
One day in 2014 Jerry first off said to me one morning,
"So today you and I are going to take very specific photos
of this sled.
"These will be the photos one day you will use to give Janice some real cash."
I joked with Jerry and
said, "well you and I both suffer the concern that
one day our wife will
sell our sleds for the amount we told them we paid ! "
We Laughed. Then Jerry
explained,
"No,
Janice knows damn well what I paid for this sled."
We had a "let it go"
day that very day and went to lunch in Liberty Lake, WASHINGTON
and
split a reuben sandwich
at Barlow's.
Without
a doubt, if you are into Vintage Sleds you know that. . . .
Every Sled has a Story
and this SNO PRO MERC Twister is a Real "Twister"of
a Story.
MERCURY SNO-TWISTER
SM-II ~ SNO PRO
SERIAL No. 4349335
PHOTOS PER REQUEST by Owner : JANUARY 6th, 2014
1976 MERCURY SNO-TWISTER
340 ~ SNO PRO SM-II
Originaly sold to Jerry
Kienbaum and displayed as Stan Hayes' sled of the HPG-MERC TEAM
Doug Hayes explained
to me that afternoon at 3:40PM the following:
The Mercury HPG ~ HIGH
PERFORMANCE GROUP
Consisted
of Stand and Doug Hayes and two mechanics.
They
were provided a shop directly across the street from
the
Mercury Engineering Plant in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.
This
was seperate from the MERCURY FACTORY in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin.
This particular sled
is referenced as a LONG WHEEL BASE SLED.
The LONG tracks used
were MERCURY Production 103" cleated.
The SHOR tracks used
were SPEEDWAY 101" convuluted.
Stan and Doug called
it their HPG Torque Limiter Suspension.
Doug went on to explain
that he and Stan used
Cherry Brand Stainless
Steel Rivits with magnesium washers
on their track cleats.
Doug explained that the
HANDLEBARS and STEERING LOOP
on this sled is from
his brother Stan's HPG parts.
~ MERCURY SNO PRO - UNDER THE HOOD~
Doug identified and explained
the motor & plate was correct.
Doug explained that the
pipes on this sled were not original.
Doug and Stan used Mueller
Kautzer Pipes.
DOUG
X20 ~ STAMPED
X20 Stands for 1975 PDC
Chassis and Bulkhead.
Now
we all can close the door on this marking.
Doug explained that on
this sled, somewhere
along the line he removed
his bulkhead on the '76 chassis
and replaced it with
a 1975 PDC bulkhead.
When I asked why, he
clearly stated:
"I
probably folded the sled in a crash and at some point
and
was just experimenting with parts."
This is definately the
correct chain cover !
~MERCURY SNO PRO - CHASSIS ~
This is my brother Stan's seat.
"Well it has a #5 in the serial number
and that was one of my specifics that I had going on back then.
As a priority I chose chassis with the number five."
Doug went on to explain
that he and Stan used
Cherry Brand Stainless
Steel Rivits with magnesium washers
on their track cleats.
In the 90's it was attained
by Lee Fredrickson in Minnesota.
He removed the back half
of the tunnel that accommodated the
Arctic Cat suspension,
THEN had a matching tunnel welded to,
this sleds original "335"
serial numbered tunnel, chassis/bulkhead.
ARTIC CAT MODS to this
particular MERCURY.
~HISTORY~
