AMF Rally mudder build 20hp vanguard, Locked ETC

Well its about time I get around to sharing my other build with you guys, forgot to take pics when I was building it, I just screen shotted my vid for these ones, but Ill get some more and put them on here as I get time. I had been running my wheel horse for years, but I was getting kinda bored of it, it works great, but its not the least bit "sporty" more like riding a old honda 4x4 utility quad. goes great just not real powerful or fast. Im a mower parts horder and I had got my grubby hands on a 20hp Vanguard years before, but never had anything i wanted to put it on. Then Donaldcon found it at his grandpas place just wasting away and sent me a picture, and I had to have it. Im a total sucker for "patina" and this one is perfectly weathered. Like most of my projects it sat for years until I got the great Idea to build it a week before Haspin 2018. A few long days and Late nights and I had a functional tractor, that did really well at haspin despite the factory turf tires. I went with a 10 inch engine pulley and a 9 inch rear, and added a double pulley clutch of a craftsman gt6000. I also added a new clutch lever, as the original was a cluch brake combo on the right hand side. I knew that after more than a decade of riding tractors with a left sided brake and right sided clutch, that having my clutch on the "wrong" side would make me wear the tractor as a hat more often than I would like. Pic of the new clutch lever below. turned out pretty good for a quick job, but I do want to modify it a bit, but Ill save that for a later post.


and a picture capturing the cup holder/cubby hole, which is awesome for cruising.


It was too fast to be useful around the house, which was a big requirement of the build. I needed a small tractor to pull around a yard cart and not tear up the yard, I have a zero turn but its awkward with a trailer, and my wheel horse is heavy and has vampires which tear the hell out of the yard. I changed the front pulley from a 10 to a 8 and its perfect now, 3rd is plenty fast, really too fast for the sketchy steering on it, and reverse is able to be used without slipping the clutch to slow it down. Ill add some more pictures and story later, Im getting tired of typing

This is a legendary rally machine! It led the pack at Tecumseh Trails. What a tease though. I want to see the picture of the frame damage and the fix if you’ve gotten to it yet.

Glad to see you got a thread made up for the old AMF, I've enjoyed the videos of it so far!

Ask and you shall recieve! I worked on the AMF today for a bit and took a few pics of the Carnage, I also pulled the motor to clean up/reseal the motor, it runs like a top other than couple carb bugs, but leaks oil like a sieve, the new belt is totally saturated in oil more pics in the next post. Ill be pulling the upper frame work off to aid in straightening the frame, but I plan on doing up the motor first.

Ouch Ouch Ouch, Poor AMF

Oooo, that's not so good at all. Hopefully you can get 'er fixed up and rienforced.

Looks killer with that tire combo though! I don't think I've seen those rears 'til now.

Did that bend crack the sump on the engine?

@ Alliskid sharp eye catching the new tires, I didnt really think they would work all that well but they really kick ass, and they dont tear up my yard, they come on alot of zero turns and I think thats why, get good grip on grass but dont tear it up. they might not work as good on a lower hp machine but I can take off in third easy and they spin fast and clean out, even a low wheel speed they clean out well and since the tread bars are thin they wrap around roots and rocks way better than the tradional style ags Ive ran before. plus the fact that they are 21 inches tall gives good ground clearance. they are also much lighter than regular ags and hopefully that means they are easyer on the transaxle. I have a plan laid out in my head for reinforcement but Im gonna keep them under wraps till I actually get to it. dont worry its definitely fixable and will be much stronger than stock when finished.

@Mighty it bent basically around the motor, because the motor held the frame straight and it just bent around its bolt holes. it did tear on the threads of the bolt holes, so when it gets put back together it will get longer bolts and ill add a nut on the top of each, just as a little added strength so the threads dont pull out.

Good deal. You mentioned it leaking oil. I was afraid the bend caused a crack.

I got it cheap because it was so leaky, I swapped a intek single onto the tractor to replace the vanguard and they gave me the vanguard as payment, and they thought they were the ones getting the deal lol

I like this machine a lot, firstly, you've got the AMF graphics and wood grain dash, if I remember correctly. And also, it's kinda like a cross between a full size machine and a mini tractor almost. It's nice and compact. Seemed to go good at haspin even with the turf treads on there.

Yea it has really suprised me on what it will do, so much that I’ve been using it more than the wheel horse lately, plus I love the looks of it and agree it’s a nice size. Ordered some new tierods to cut up for it, went with Honda 90 this time, 20$ to my door, one of the ends is basically junk but meh I was really buying them for the rod, the ends are cheap, and it’s a nice way to get a proper sized tie rod end that’s sealed for a good price only probably is they are metric so you have to buy the tie rods and they ain’t cheap unless you go used

engines current status, I forgot how much I hate cleaning and degreaseing. 5 hours in and this is all farther I am, I really should have powerwashed it like I usually do. Oh well, Ill keep plugging along at it with my spare time at work.

Nice tie rods! Yeah I've always preferred sealed ball joint ends like that for my rigs, the greaseable ones are pretty nice too.

Looking forward to seeing more progress on this one!

I hate the tooth brush and degreaser method. now I soak the block in foaming degreaser then atf fluid then rinse it with some gasoline then powerwash them. does a nice job and lots less hand scrubbing with better results I think.

Thanks Allis, it will come little by little.
Biggas thats what Ive been doing, toothbrush and degreaser, usually Im a degreaser and power washer guy, never tried the atf method but Ill give it a try next time. I just didnt want to pull the power washer out to do this one, since its already winterized, but if I had it to do over i would have

I use the atf as it soaks into the baked on crusts and makes it softer. Seems to work for me

Actually worked on this the past few days, need to get the ol girl back in service. Straightened the frame and mocked up the new axle, it’s out of a gilson rebadge I think, it’s a touch narrow, I’m going to widen it a 1 1/4 per side so that I’ll actually be able to turn full lock without hitting the frame, which I could never do with the factory axle, couple pics front end is about 2 inches forward of where it was, should make it hill climb better and hopefully won’t be noticeable unless your looking for it

Neat! I’ve always loved this machine. Will it be making a comeback at haspin 2020?

Ought to add some bite once the new engine is in there. Are you going to put some more aggressive rear tires on it when it goes back together?

It might if I get it done by then, more importantly I’m not sure if I’ll making it to haspin next year, long as everything keeps going smooth I’ll have a 6 month old baby girl to take care of haspin time  so not sure I’ll be able to get away. But yea if I make it I’m sure it will come with. I actually think I’m gonna swap to a 15hp single vanguard I have laying around and save the nice 20 h for another project, and should hopefully help the trans last a little longer. And I’m planning on running the Ag treads I had on it for the Techumseh ride, I really love them tires for this tractor, nice soft sidewall for a smooth ride and enough tread to not get stuck often but not so much tread that is hard on the trans or hard to steer, love the bowling ball ad

Creepycrawler wrote:

I’m not sure if I’ll making it to haspin next year, long as everything keeps going smooth I’ll have a 6 month old baby girl to take care of haspin time  so not sure I’ll be able to get away.

Hey congratulations man, I Hope everything goes well!

Got the perimeter of the frame reinforcement cut out, now to figure out the front axle mount and frame extension/bumper mount and cut the cross braces

Bracing is pretty neat. Nice and hidden so it looks factory on top.

Thanks cq we are very excited

Thanks MM I debated long and hard on how I wanted to brace it up. I didn’t really want it to be noticed, and I didn’t want to go crazy, the factory frame was really close to being fine as is, it was the notch for the front tires that did it in. I also have some 3/4 x1/8 square tube I’m gonna use for cross braces, it should clear the belt about perfect as I have a inch between the belt and the frame as is. Should really help stiffen up the frame for years of use to come. I’m really missing having this thing around the house, it was pretty much my go too for any kind of Chore or running around. Hope to have the cross braces cut out and weld prepped by this weekend, maybe even tomorrow and possible have the front axle back under it next week, we will see though, still a lot of stuff going on and it’s hard to dedicate much time to this much as I want to