I bought the smallest AMC I've seen IRL.
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 9:37 pm
This probably belongs in "general discussion", since it's not technically a "Jeep" at all, but it is an AMC product intended for solely off-road use! 
For those that don't know, for a brief stint in the mid 70s to early 80s, AMC made little tractors!
This one is a 16hp 2cyl 4 stroke. It's in their B chassis and came with a 40" mower deck and has the brackets for a plow blade or snow thrower, but didn't come with the actual attachment.
One thing I really like about it (I'll post pics of it tomorrow) is the mower deck is pure mulch only: no provision for bagging or collected discharge. Three blades that cut like mad and then distributes the clippings evenly across the width of the deck.
During the AMC era of Wheel Horse, there were 4 different chassis. The A chassis was mower only and they didn't sell well and aren't that collectable. The B chassis (what I got) is the smallest of the "garden tractors". It was meant as a mower that could do more, which is why I wanted it but I'll get into that more later. The C chassis is the most common and most sought after. If you youtube "Wheel Horse", the vast majority of videos you'll see of Wheel Horse tractors making stuff happen are C chassis tractors.
The last three weeks, I've really been busting my butt around the house. I felled a 30ft ash that was growing into the powerlines, I put in another 50ft of horizontal plank fence, I've completely tilled the front yard and then scraped it with a shovel to fill a massive raised garden. I also dug out a 4ft wide path next to the driveway because we're extending it with flagstone. The second time the wheel barrow fell over (it had already cracked, and the first time it fell over one of the legs got all jacked up) I thought to myself that I was working WAY to dang hard!
The pics don't do justice to how crooked the trunk was, so I'm really proud that I trimmed it and cut it to fall exactly where I wanted!
I've resisted getting a riding mower ever since we bought this house in 2014. I called my father-in-law some unsavory things when he said that I needed to "bite the bullet and get a snowblower". We're on a corner lot in suburbia, I have a fart-ton of sidewalk that I am legally required to clear, but even when we get feet instead of inches, I've been out there hacking at it with a big aluminum scrape shovel. I came to realize, it's not about the exercise, it's about the time!
I first heard of Wheel Horse tractors about 5 years ago and always thought that I'd like to have one if it fell into my lap. After my recent epiphany I looked at modern "yard tractors" from Husky/Poulan and John Deere and DANG! They are awfully proud of their products! More importantly, they don't fit. They don't fit through my gates, they don't fit on my sidewalks,they don't fit in my garage, and most of all, they don't fit anywhere NEAR my budget!
I jumped on the Craigslist, and about 20 ads down there's this wheelhorse. I was ready to spend twice as much for a tractor in twice the condition, but the price was right for what it is. I need to mow grass and pull a cart full of sand this summer and this tractor will do that. This winter, I need to find the snowblower that fits the tractor, AND my sidewalk (where do you find 44" sidewalks? Why is that the smallest tractor snowblower?!?!). The snowblower that was made for this tractor was 36" wide (perfect if I can find one!). This little pony looks to fit the bill!
For those that don't know, for a brief stint in the mid 70s to early 80s, AMC made little tractors!
This one is a 16hp 2cyl 4 stroke. It's in their B chassis and came with a 40" mower deck and has the brackets for a plow blade or snow thrower, but didn't come with the actual attachment.
One thing I really like about it (I'll post pics of it tomorrow) is the mower deck is pure mulch only: no provision for bagging or collected discharge. Three blades that cut like mad and then distributes the clippings evenly across the width of the deck.
During the AMC era of Wheel Horse, there were 4 different chassis. The A chassis was mower only and they didn't sell well and aren't that collectable. The B chassis (what I got) is the smallest of the "garden tractors". It was meant as a mower that could do more, which is why I wanted it but I'll get into that more later. The C chassis is the most common and most sought after. If you youtube "Wheel Horse", the vast majority of videos you'll see of Wheel Horse tractors making stuff happen are C chassis tractors.
The D chassis is now extremely collectable, but wasn't very popular in it's lifetime. It was bigger and more capable than the C chassis, but at the same time, if you needed more than a C chassis, you were looking at a farm tractor, not a garden tractor. You were more likely to wind up with something even bigger, so it was a real niche market. The logic follows to my purchase motivation as well.
The last three weeks, I've really been busting my butt around the house. I felled a 30ft ash that was growing into the powerlines, I put in another 50ft of horizontal plank fence, I've completely tilled the front yard and then scraped it with a shovel to fill a massive raised garden. I also dug out a 4ft wide path next to the driveway because we're extending it with flagstone. The second time the wheel barrow fell over (it had already cracked, and the first time it fell over one of the legs got all jacked up) I thought to myself that I was working WAY to dang hard!
The pics don't do justice to how crooked the trunk was, so I'm really proud that I trimmed it and cut it to fall exactly where I wanted!
I've resisted getting a riding mower ever since we bought this house in 2014. I called my father-in-law some unsavory things when he said that I needed to "bite the bullet and get a snowblower". We're on a corner lot in suburbia, I have a fart-ton of sidewalk that I am legally required to clear, but even when we get feet instead of inches, I've been out there hacking at it with a big aluminum scrape shovel. I came to realize, it's not about the exercise, it's about the time!
I first heard of Wheel Horse tractors about 5 years ago and always thought that I'd like to have one if it fell into my lap. After my recent epiphany I looked at modern "yard tractors" from Husky/Poulan and John Deere and DANG! They are awfully proud of their products! More importantly, they don't fit. They don't fit through my gates, they don't fit on my sidewalks,they don't fit in my garage, and most of all, they don't fit anywhere NEAR my budget!
I jumped on the Craigslist, and about 20 ads down there's this wheelhorse. I was ready to spend twice as much for a tractor in twice the condition, but the price was right for what it is. I need to mow grass and pull a cart full of sand this summer and this tractor will do that. This winter, I need to find the snowblower that fits the tractor, AND my sidewalk (where do you find 44" sidewalks? Why is that the smallest tractor snowblower?!?!). The snowblower that was made for this tractor was 36" wide (perfect if I can find one!). This little pony looks to fit the bill!
