Almost 50 years later, Brad Huling’s original 1977 440 IFS SnoPro is back!
Well, it never really left… towards the end of the year, Brad opted to ride the newly retired Jim Bernat’s 440 as this one was getting a tad worn out. It went to Gordon Rudolph after the ’77 season, and there is a picture of him in SnoWeek, kneeling by this sleds with no engine in it. You can easily tell it is this sled by the Arctic Cat chaincase, which is something Brad specified when the sled was built.
Brad won so many races with this sled that it’s hard to keep track – Ironwood 440 and 440X. The 440X final in Hartford. Bangor, Maine, 440 & 440X. Weedsport, New York – 440 & 440X. Beasujour, Manitoba, where Hulings not only won the 440 class, he won ALL the SnoPro classes.
We are not sure where it went after Rudolph had it, but it wound up in Quebec with a gentleman who was still racing it as late as 2002, then he sold it to ‘ol Skiroule Pete, a legend in the vintage snowmobile world. Pete sold it, eventually to Brad Warning, and Brad talked Hulings into the restoration work.
Brad is a very busy guy with a very active shop, so the restoration work was basically fill-in work when he had time and it took about two years from start to finish.
