Carl Kiekhaefer had incredible success with marine engines and saw growth in the burgeoning winter market for snowmobiles in the 1960s. The company’s first snowmobile came out in the late-1960s and by 1974 they were at the top of the pack in the racing circuit. This 1976 Mercury Trail-Twister 340 T/T is listed here on eBay in Westby, Wisconsin and the current bid price is $1,825.
The company slammed it out of the park in 1974 with its first crack at Stock D class racing with the new Sno-Twister, which came out in 1973. They dominated the oval circuit enough that the top driver switched from Polaris to Mercury. To tackle the trail market, they modified the Sno-Twister by adding fan-cooling for slower trail rides (compared to all-out racing), and the Trail-Twister was born in 1975. That first year they offered a slightly detuned 440 engine, the same as the Sno-Twister, and in 1976 the Trail-Twister 340 T/T came out.
The seller has this sled listed as a 1975 model, but Mercury didn’t offer the 340-cc Trail-Twister until the 1976 model year, and the serial number decodes to it being a 1976 model. The Trail-Twister was only made for the 1975 and 1976 model years and sadly, the company got out of the snowmobile market after that. It was a short run for such an interesting, well-made, and successful line of snowmobiles. This example has been fully restored, according to the seller, and it looks fantastic. These sleds have a 15″ track and a 35″ ski stance with the spindle angle knocked back 30 degrees for nice stability on the trails. To help with bumps, it has a three-layer foam seat and a gas tank in front of the rider for good weight distribution.
These sleds were pull-start rather than electric start, so you got a workout to warm you up in the days before heated grips, and some fancy snowmobiles in this era even had fans that blew warm engine air toward the rider. New ones probably have heated latte holders, I don’t know anything about snowmobiles after the 1980s. The red kill switch/knob is on the right side and the headlight dimmer is on the left side grip and the handlebars are adjustable. There is both a speedometer and tach, much fancier than anything that we owned when I was a kid.
The engine here is a Kohler 339-cc fan-cooled twin-cylinder with chrome-plated bores to help with cooling, and it has 40 horsepower and that cool (literally) air-induction system seen in this photo. That system forced cold air into the carbs through the open portion of the cowl next to the single 60-watt headlight. It has what Mercury called its “MerCoustic Silencing System” exhaust that was computer-tuned. Yes, in 1976. With shock-assisted leaf springs on the skis to make trail riding nicer, Mercury added a front track shock and also two rear track shocks to its slide suspension. The Trail-Twister got good MPG, and with a 6.2-gallon gas tank, this was a very nice trail machine. This is about as “modern” and nice as vintage snowmobiles get, and having been restored and presumably working as it should, this would be fun to own. Let’s hear those vintage snowmobile stories!
Nice find Scotty, gives me the Mercury Blues.
https://youtu.be/URm7Ze9a56o?si=R_doChydxbDABydh
Thanks, Pat! And, thanks for nothing for forcing me to buy so many vehicles here over the years… (just kidding)
You may as well enjoy your money now, you can’t take it with you!
Howard we are waiting for your wisdom.
Thats a well written and accurate summation on this sled. The Sno-Twister and Trail Twisters in this kind of condition likely will prove to be a very sound investment as they are very popular with the vintage crowd.
The Trail Twister is the smart choice if you want to go to some of the many vintage events around the country. Many have some type of trail ride and the Trail Twister is more friendly for the rides. Handling for a mid-70’s sled is quite good really and the Twisters are pretty reliable and because they have become desirable collector sleds there is lots of service knowledge out there in the hobby and many parts have been reproduced.
For the most part the Trail Twisters lag a little behind the Sno-Twister value wise. The 76 Sno-Twister became a full-time race only sled and it was a home run for Mercury race result wise. They were liquid cooled. They offered it in 250/340/440 size and stock or modified they were tough to beat. They still show up today in some vintage race classes. It was shocking to see Merc leave the sport at a time they had built one of the best race sleds ever.
You are too kind, sir, thanks much.
In case some wonder where am I, I’ve got the Barn Find blues. My comments are either moderated, delayed or cancelled altogether, so I’m real leery about prattling on, for nothing. A service I’m paying for, perhaps not for much longer, by the way. I don’t blame the staff so much, I’m sure they have a monumental task. So, not much from me in the future. This post in itself probably tripped some filter.
I will make an exception in Scottys posts, however. There were so many neat sleds, it was a market everybody jumped on. Over 212 manufacturers at its peak. Initially, the Mercury was this goony looking roundish thing, a family machine and worked well, but in ’72, an engineer from Rupp came to Mercury, and the Sno-Twister was born. Overnight, it changed Mercurys image from stodgy to, well, the hottest stick out there. Think they had it made? Not so fast, the Asians, in true form, were hot on their heels with the ’76 Yamaha Exciters. I had a couple Exciters, and were clearly Asian knockoffs of the Trail Twister. Once again, the Asians gave US makers a reason to sweat. Kawasaki bought Sno-Jet, even Suzuki got in the act with their “Furys”. The only one that didn’t, was Honda. They did experiment with a twin track machine, that never got off the ground. I say that legitimately, as jumping a snowmobile over drifts is the most fun.
So many things have changed, sad really, but those of us that lived through that great time knew, it was the most fun you could have in winter. I miss it greatly.
Hang in there, Howard. I live in Mississippi and I can’t say as I have much use for a snowmobile and – quite honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in the flesh, much less ridden one (although I’d love to). I pretty much just looked at this because I knew you’d have some great comments on it.
Brad Hulings had huge success 74-76 with the Sno Twisters. Then he switched to Polaris 76-78 as a Pro. In 79-81 he teamed up with Scorpion Sno-Pro and won the World Championship in 81. In 82 he teamed up with Ski-Doo and won his second World Championship. There was a magazine called USSA SnoTrack that concentrated happenings on the racing circuits. Great times back in the day.
Don’t let that barn door… Nah, just kidding.
You know your sleds. We didn’t have them at the beach, but had ski doos for water. 😊
Thanks, as always, for the insights, Howard! Having decades of experience with pretty much every vehicle type is hard to beat. I haven’t had a snowmobile in years, but I ordered a Raider “Twin Track” coffee cup and a Yamaha coffee cup (more for their motorcycles) a few days ago and they showed up today – because none of us have enough cups, t-shirts, hats, etc… (crickets)
Howard A ….I was going to say the same about back in the day that there were so many manufacturers. Today how many ….four. ..Your last paragraph is spot on Howard !
These were neat sleds and were fun to ride even when better ones were out there. One issue I had with a lot of this era sleds were that they were ear splitting LOUD. Some like the 3 cylinder Brut ( and I think this one) were completely unmuffled. Mufflers were big, heavy 4 stroke style and hurt power.Tuned pipes had not really been figured out and straight or megaphone exhausts just pointed down to the snow.
It is an interesting collectors market.
I don’t comment much anymore, or even look at many cars as most are they same or everything that can possibly be said I have already written. But I do enjoy these oddball posts. Or trains, or airplanes.
Roll-O-Flex had the ‘tuned pipes” figured out in the early seventies. When Canadian engineers were taking Yamaha engines and making them more powerful than Yamaha could do themselves!
What’s that you say? :), it was a false impression of going faster, although 2 strokes do run better unmuffled. The snow quieted them down some, but loud on the ice. What ice? I hear the Great Lakes has only 4.6% ice coverage, a new record low.
The last time I rode a snowmobile, was 2017 in N.Wis. My landlord there had a SkiDoo SS, heavy, but a literal sports car on snow. Anyway, on a ride, one of the newer 4 stroke SkiDoos passed us, FAST, it was loud and sounded so unusual in the Northwoods.
I once had a Kiekhaefer Mercury 40hp outboard on a big, heavy, open-bow Glasstron boat. It would run right past my buddy’s 40hp newer Merc on a lightweight, aluminum fishing boat. Both were 2 strokes.
The Kiekhaefer Mercs were all fast, and they all looked a bit different, mostly because of their size. I believe they may have been the origin of the term “looks like a refrigerator” because of that size and the fact that they were white in color, but I could easily be wrong about that.
Anyways, to make a long story just a bit longer, I once read somewhere (well after the old Glasstron was sold off), that Carl Kiekhaefer rated his outboards’ hp at the prop, whereas the competition rated theirs as measured at the crankshaft, with no lower unit attached. “Gross vs Net” if you will.
That’s true, Mercury under-rated their outboards considerably. When I was a kid, at our lake cottage, we had a Silverline 14ft(?) runabout, and the 1st motor we had was a late 50s Merc 6 cylinder, Mark 75(?),3 carbs, no neutral( dock buster) and was rated at 65 hp. I’m sure it was a lot more than that. I had a 65 hp. Johnny that didn’t perform near as well. The Merc was a monster, way too big for the boat. He then got a 4 cylinder, “58A”, supposedly 45 hp, but was more too, but a much better motor. I think Kiekhaefer had a lot of success racing those tall 6 cylinders with great results.
While Mercury dominated the outboard motor market, I don’t remember seeing many Mercury sleds on the trails, and I did a LOT of trail riding. More JDs than Mercury. Without question then, it was Polaris, Arctic Cat, or Skidoo, very few exceptions. Oh sure, you might see a Columbia or a Skiroule, and while Yamaha did make a major dent in sales, I think it’s still USA( or Canada) all the way.
My Dad’s employer was a Mercury Dealer in the 70s in western Colorado. When these came out, they were glorious. Lots of good memories riding behind dad in the powder.
I worked for a Mercury dealer in 1976-7-8. He campaigned a 340 liquid sno twister. Beautiful, brutal purpose built machine! I’d love to have this trail twister. Do they sand drag vintage snowmobiles here in Florida?
In the “snow belt states” sleds have had some popularity the last 10+ years and Twisters rank high on the list of collectables. The lack of snow for a few key years put many out of business along with the oil embargo years. The limited edition race sleds and oddball 1 or 2 year run unique consumer sleds bring the best money as far as collectibles go. This is a good price on the TT.
After next year the sport of snowmobiling will be down to 3 major manufacturers as the 2025 model year will be the last for Yamaha. Ski-doo owns about half the market currently with Polaris a solid second but still well behind the BRP Doo’s. Arctic Cat, now owned by Textron is a distant third but next year will be an important year for Cat as they are finally coming with some new sleds, engines and technology and quite honestly, they need to hit with it or they will struggle to stay alive. Yamaha largely threw in the towel about a decade ago and has had Arctic Cat building their sleds for most of that time. Still, they built very high quality reliable sleds but Doo and Polaris just kind of ran away from them overall. Yamaha has outstanding and durable four stroke motors though.
I should add to my last comment that beyond the current 4 major manufacturers that there are several other companies tring to find a place for them in the sport. A few have come and gone but I really should have mentioned Lynx as a legitimate and up and coming manufacturer. However, Lynx is built by BRP (Ski-doo) in Europe and are now being imported in bigger numbers each well and was rumored to have already out sold Yamaha. They are very similar to Ski-doo and have Rotax engines but they are also quite different than the Doo’s in a number of ways.
In Europe there are few groomed trails like we have here so the Lynx come with premium suspensions cabable of tackling rough terrain or trails probably better than any other sled manufacturer (I have rode them and agree with that). If Lynx comes with a more trail orientated model for 2025 that may be my next purchase. I currently ride Ski-doo Renegade X models and trade yearly as I love snowmobiling, maybe even more than my GTO’s?
There are also a couple of companies taking a crack at Electric Sleds (that includes BRP’ Ski-doo) and those are thought to maybe have some place for them with ski-hills and resorts?
When the 250 cc Twisters were introduced and raced in USSA, there was no reason to show up with any other brand, Polaris, Cat or Ski Doo, they couldn’t touch them on the ovals. I was always a Cat guy as a close friend in high school had one and his dad was an Arctic Cat dealer. Vintage snowmobiles are so much better looking than the praying mantis cookie cutter junk built today.
Good read!
I maxed out at 45 vintage sleds at one point so I love the vintage hobby. If you are going to live in the northern part of the country it’s a great way to make winter go by till you can get the cars out again. There are more antique, vintage and classic snowmobile events than ever. Vintage sled racing is big also.
But the current sleds are so awesome that anyone who knocks it maybe hasn’t tried it. Todays sleds handle so well, ride like you can’t believe and you almost NEVER have to wrench on one. Today’s clothing, helmets and sled accessorys means you don’t have to fear the cold anymore. For me, I love the trails of West Yellowstone and the U.P of Michigan. 2000 miles a winter of trail riding is the norm for me.
Auction update: this one sold for $3,050! My condolences to the owner/seller/restorer, that’s one beautiful vintage snowmobile for three grand.