A New Project
 

My neighbor gave me his old Yamaha Excel III snowmobile. He always had it parked in the garage when he was using it. He drove it outside about 6 years ago, and when he went to start it the next year, the battery froze, and he didn’t feel like messing with it anymore so it just sat in the woods. He told me it’s mine if I come dig it out.

It was buried behind a rolled over truck, a dead tractor, a pile of wood and a boat on one side. On the other side was about 50 feet of woods out to the road. It was quicker and easier to go through the woods, so I took my 147 out last night and made a trail.

I came back this morning and drug it out, pushed it onto the trailer, and took it home. The red circle in the last picture shows where it was sitting.

It is in decent shape. He put lots of new parts on it. I don’t think the motor is stuck, I don’t want to pull it over much until I get the old gas and oil out. The only real damage is a few holes rotted in the belly pan. It needs a seat cover, everything else should clean up nice. It’s a shame he left it outside, my dad said it was really nice the last time he saw it. It should be fun getting it going again.

Looks like a fun project.

Back in the day when I lived in Johnstown, PA I started out with an 1973 Artic Cat Panther. Then dad bought us a 1981(I think) Yamaha Enticer. Wow, what an awesome machine. Then after I moved out I bought a friends 1981 Yamaha SS440. The Enticer was nice but boy did that 440 run. IIRC top speed was near 80mph and you could keep the skies off the ground for a good 150'.

I couldn't imagine what the sleds can do today. For some reason they just aren't a big thing down here in Georgia.:Huh:

I had one given to me once. Cant remember make / model but I remember the track was pretty well worn out. I gave it to the guys in shop to play with. They wound up drilling a bunch of holes and nutting and bolting short carriage bolts through the track for some traction. It lasted a couple winters. Fun times. It was a 440 if I recall and heavy as heck. My VMAX 700 no no trouble beating it :biggrin2:

Thanks! We also have an Arctic Cat Puma, my dad bought it a few years ago to fix, but never got around to it. If what I read is correct, this is pretty much the same as an Enticer, just a different motor and electric start.
Sounds fun.

Last week I started taking it apart. I washed it, and cleaned the carb and fuel tank. One cylinder was locked up, but I got it freed up.

I got it running today.
https://youtu.be/LHN88Dg3SMU

It needs the chaincase oil changed, fuel lines, a battery, a choke cable, seat and possibly a windshield if this one doesn’t clean up good. I should have it ready for a test drive next time it snows.

Looks like fun!

Thanks. So far I’m enjoying it, I can’t wait to take it for a ride.

I got it running and idling pretty good now. It bogs down a little when you hit the throttle, but I think it just needs to run more and get the rest of the old gas out of the lines.
I have also been working on getting it cleaned up. I got the hood cleaned and polished. The paint is almost perfect, I did not expect it to clean up so good. The windshield and bumper also cleaned up nice. I still have to polish the footrests and find a seat since this one is beyond repair. It ready for a test drive if we ever get snow.

If it is a two stroke(what I think it is) then these motors love to be run fast otherwise sitting idle tends to load up on fuel....which is probably why it tends to bog when you hit the throttle. With need some snow and some fun, I think it will be fine. You might find rapping the throttle often under idle and low speeds will clear out the motor.

Damned envious of your freebie....hope it don't snow:biggrin2:

Thanks, it is a 2 stroke. I don’t think we will be getting much snow anytime soon.

I used to have a Yamaha Ovation that was given to us by my father in-law. We hardly ever get a good snow here for it, so the one or two times a year I could get it out it would never run right. It's either rain/snow mix, a dusting, or deep drifts here. In the summer when it was warm it would run like a champ set up on a bucket with the track off the ground, but come cold weather it would idle and die. It wasn't worth messing with it, so we traded it for an ATV (the kids call it a dune buggy), a two seater with a roll bar. We get FAR more use out of that.

We have the same problem here, which is part of the reason my dad sold his last snowmobile. I have a quad, but have not rode it much since I got my Cubs.

I finally got to take it out for a ride tonight. It’s running good, but I have a few electrical issues to address. The lights all burned out and the electric start is not working. The rear suspension may also need some work. It’s fun, can’t wait to take it out tomorrow in the daylight.

I took it out again today. Rode it around for about 20 minutes until something in the steering broke. Not sure what, I’m guessing something rotted and broke. Hopefully nothing too expensive or hard to fix. I’m trying to upload a video to YouTube, but it’s taking a long time since our internet is slow.

I figured out the steering problem. The part where the column bolts to the belly pan rotted off. I’m going to try weld something in there for now, then fix it right over the summer,

Here is the video from yesterday.
https://youtu.be/QIg4OVBdMoc

I pulled the motor for better access from the top. I made some patches and riveted them in there, good enough for now. I’m going to try to find a good used belly pan and replace it over the summer. This one is much worse than I originally thought.

Looks like you wont have to "fix it right" over the summer. That repair looks great. Should be a fun little ride

Thanks. It may look good in the pictures, but the metal is pretty thin in spots. It’s only a matter of time until it breaks again.