RAPID CITY, MANITOBA Arctic Cat antiquity This 1963 Arctic Cat is one sled with an interesting history by KIRSTEN ARMLEDER
A RARE RELIC: Ken Paul of Rapid City, Manitoba, plans on taking this sled to all the relic derbies when he is finished
rebuilding it. —photo by Ken Paul
Ken Paul of Rapid City, Manitoba, has an appreciation for vintage sleds that motivated him take on the project of restoring a 1963 Arctic Cat—a sled that's been in his family for 43 years and has quite the history behind it.
The Arctic Cat's story started in 1963 when it was purchased in Thunder Bay, Ontario, by a man named Joe Kuhl—who has recently passed away—for the price of $2,000. According to Ken, Joe used the sled to pull barrels of gasoline to his fly-fishing business in Hornepayne, Ontario, until it was involved in an unfortunate railway incident.
"In about the winter of 1968, the machine was in an accident when it was hit by a rung of a box car because it was parked too close to the tracks," said Ken.
It was sold to Ken's father, Bill Paul, who fixed the damage and then used it to haul gas and pull ice from the lake near his fly-in fishing business. According to Ken, the sled was very reliable.
"This machine ran well—it was the first four stroke that actually started at 40 degrees below zero," Ken said.
In 1980, the sled was then sold to a guy in Hornepayne, but after some time, Ken decided he wanted something to remember from his youth so he bought it back and decided to restore it.
"The Cat should be totally rebuilt by September...hopefully," said Ken. "The body had some surface rust on the cab. We had to make the brake cable out of a power take-off cable as the throttle and brakes are controlled from two levels in the cab."
Although Ken had to make the parts for everything that was broken, he is pleased with how this sled has held up through the years.
It was and will be a very reliable machine—even though it is 43 years old," said Ken. "I sure wish they made things last like this one. Maybe they should start putting 10 horsepower Kohler motors in the new machines."
