For Don McLennan, restoring vintage sleds is not a hobby; it’s an obsession.
McLennan, 72, lives outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He took his first ride on a sled in February of 1968, and was immediately hooked.
“I was working the night shift and I got home about 9 in the morning,” said McLennan, “and I heard this horrible noise out on the front lawn and I looked out and here’s a friend of mine doing power turns on his new snowmobile. So, of course, I had to go out and take a ride on it and within a week I had one.”
His first sled is one that only bona fide vintage sled lovers will recognize: an AMF Ski Daddler. The following winter, though, he switched to Arctic Cat and has been riding the Cats ever since—and he always has a number of them to choose from. McLennan has been restoring vintage sleds for almost 30 years, and as he just recently acquired four new sleds to break down and build back up, he is showing no signs of stopping.
It was his son, Darrell, who first introduced him to what would soon become the guiding force in his life.
“He had a ’75 Z that he had started to restore—(he) was busy and not getting too far, so he told me to take it,” said McLennan. “I brought it home and I restored it over the next year. And then I started another one and another one and I guess right now I’m up to 20.”
McLennan thinks his affection for the classic sleds is connected to his discovery of the pastime. He loves the look and feel of the 1969-1973 Arctic Cats, but he doesn’t turn away many sleds. Nor does he have to search too far to find them; in fact, they seem to find him. He recently acquired four new old sleds—two of which were dropped off right at his door. He actively sought one of the four, though, because it was the same type as one of the first sleds he ever owned—another sentimental favourite.
The need for speed
Lest restoring vintage sleds does little to elevate the heart rate, McLennan takes it to the next level by racing on the vintage sled circuit. Just as he was hooked after his first ride on a snowmobile, within the first year of that outing he was racing sleds in short and long hauls, including the grueling I-500 Winnipeg to St. Paul marathon. In that first race, he placed solidly in the middle of the pack—a finish he was quite comfortable with. He entered several other races in Manitoba and Minnesota, and did well enough to earn the support of a local dealer.
"He put in a word for me, so for the next two years, I had brand new sleds shipped to me before the race from the factory,” said McLennan. “I was pretty lucky.”
These days, McLennan has found a speed he’s content with. He still races with his son a few times a year on the One Lunger 100—a 160-kilometre (100-mile) circuit on a one-cylinder sled. But even when he’s not opening the throttle fully, he still rides every day in the winter. He lives two and a half kilometres from the SnoMan trail network, so a quick jaunt opens up endless possibilities for riding.
He does not always stick close to home, however. He’s taken several week-long, 2,200-kilometre treks from Manitoba, through Ontario and south into Minnesota along the shore of Lake Superior. And more recently, he and two friends took a trip down memory lane, following the same route he took in 1970 in his first I-500.
“I’ve always wanted to go back and do the same route—not racing, just riding,” said McLennan. “Forty years later, three of us did just that.”
To see some of McLennan’s restored sleds, visit his website.
