Massey Ferguson Snowmobile Collector Keeps Vintage Sleds Running
One young man's first love was for antique snowmobiles and old machines geared toward the farmer.
Bill Vossler
February 2012
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Doug Holicky on a 1977 Massey Ferguson 440 Storm snowmobile, flanked by others he showed at the Le Sueur County, Minn., Pioneer Power Show.
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Doug Holicky is a young man who likes old things. “I’ve always liked old machines,” he says. “They’re simple and easy to work on, and – for the most part – affordable, if you’re willing to do a lot of the work yourself.”
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Doug, who lives in New Prague, Minn., fell in love with Massey Ferguson snowmobiles in his teens after using one owned by his uncle. By the time he was 16, he had one of his own. Now 31, he’s had them ever since. He also collects John Deere, Massey-Harris and Massey Ferguson tractors, along with MF literature, clothes, signs, lawn mowers and farm toys that reflect those bigger tractors. “I’m the kind of guy who gets a 5-gallon bucket of parts and uses them,” he admits, “whether it’s for snowmobiles, garden tractors or tractors.” But Massey Ferguson snowmobiles remain his first love.
Starting out young
Doug’s first Massey Ferguson, a 1971 500 SST, was drug out of an iron pile destined for the scrapyard. “My uncle told me about it,” he recalls, “and said if I wanted to build one, this guy was just scrapping it out and it was heading to the salvage yard.”
Doug went to get the machine on a snowy day and rode it down a hill, powered by nothing more than gravity. “I paid $15 for it,” he says. “The hood was there and the framework and skis. I had to find an engine for it, and put it together out of parts to make it work. I also sewed the seats, which were missing.”
The restored Massey Ferguson made its debut at a snowmobile show in Waconia, Minn. Onlookers gave Doug an enthusiastic reception. “I was 17, and people offered to buy it from me right there,” he says. “That made me feel good.”
A working collection
Doug later sold that first Massey to another collector, but his cupboard’s not bare. He currently owns 15 MF snowmobiles. Nine are in running condition; the others are waiting in the wings. Not all are candidates for restoration. “I have a couple of nice original machines that I haven’t done much to,” he says. “I might do some cosmetic painting on them, but mostly I won’t paint or polish if they look nice and are mechanically original.”
Those that are candidates for restoration get the full treatment. Doug (who works as an auto mechanic) takes them apart bolt by bolt to make sure they are sound mechanically, have good drive tracks, wheels, engines and suspension. “If they’re sound, then they’re reliable,” he says. “I drive every one of them.”
Last year Doug and his wife, Lori, each drove Massey Ferguson snowmobiles from his collection on a one-day, 120-mile ride as part of a St. Jude’s Hospital fundraiser. “They performed flawlessly, without any trouble,” he says. “You always hear those horror stories about how snowmobiles break down, but the trick to keeping them running is to know your snowmobile inside and out, and it will treat you well and give you a good ride.”
Snowmobiles from tractor manufacturers
Massey Ferguson began manufacturing snowmobiles in 1968, Doug says, though many people think it was a year later. “When you compare them to other snowmobiles of the era, they don’t come out too great,” Doug explains. “They weren’t racy, they weren’t fast, and you have to remember that back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, snowmobiles weren’t generally made for recreational use, but for going out to feed cows or into the woods for hunting.”
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