The D250 and the Renault/AMC influence

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,507]

Over on MTF, there's a thread on the D200 and D250. And, of course, the talk turned to the 4 cylinder Renault engine. I guess since AMC owned Wheel Horse during most of the '70's and well into the mid 80's and since AMC and Renault were into a partnership during this time, the result for Wheel Horse was the D250 and a 4 cylinder engine. Since almost anything that I've seen with the Renault name has been unreliable, how reliable is the Renault engine in the D250?

[Rollerman 290]

That was an odd ball for sure.

What I understand they were very underated on power.

I don't think reliabilty was the problem as much as locateing parts currently.

The tractor was actually built in Belgium & imported to the states.

Stephen in northern IN...tryin to list tractos on ebay...but haveing issues

[CasualObserver 3,408]

Your right they were under-rated on power. Since they were imported... they had to be rated at 19.9 (below 20) horsepower so they wouldn't have to be titled. Having to title them when they came across the border would have been an enormous hassle and added to the cost, so they just skipped all that and said it was a 19.9 hp garden tractor. The motor is actually rated at more like 35 hp.

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,353]

Hmmm. I never heard the horse power/titleing information before. I was told that it was rated as a low horse power tractor so that it would'nt have to have ROPS (roll over protection) installed before it was shipped to the USA. Higher than 20hp must have required ROPS.

Either way I looked at and test drove one a coulpe of years back(didnt buy it) and it was not only powerful but FAST as well. I got into hi gear and gave it all the throttle she had and I was really moving out.

Mike.....

[Curmudgeon 28]

Yup, supposedly it's a fork lift engine, if left to run to full rpm's will generate something on the order of 35 or 40 HP. But, they governed it down and called it 19.9HP.

From what I've gathered, while most people think it's a car engine, it's in fact an industrial engine.

Dale, in Michigan

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,507]

All this is very interesting information. I'm thinking that with AMC ownership and Renault's influence, the D250 was the result for Wheel Horse. I wonder what would happen if, during AMC ownership of Wheel Horse, AMC had a partnership with Ferrari!!!

It makes sense this was an industrial engine, as it would had been better adapted to garden tractors. I wonder is this 20 hp rule is still in effect as the hp on Craftsman and MTD's are now up to about 28 hp.

[Rollerman 290]

Interesting idea about the AMC link....still could have used a detuned AMC 390 V8 or even a 258 I6...that would have been a tractor motor!

I've heard a lot of differant stuff on D250's...know I'd never own one just for the parts hassle.

It's safe to say Wheel Horse can be credited with creating the "compact" tractor class with the D250 before it became popular.

Heard also that that engine shares parts with continentals...I won't argue over it if I'm wrong...but something I have heard from someone I know that has a few....yes 1 runner...1 for parts.

Stephen in northern IN

[AMC RULES 37,133]

All this is very interesting information. I'm thinking that with AMC ownership and Renault's influence, the D250 was the result for Wheel Horse. I wonder what would happen if, during AMC ownership of Wheel Horse, AMC had a partnership with Ferrari!!!

 

The fruits of AMC's Italian partnership led to this Bizzarrini bodied AMX/3...

So, you can imagine what their joint venture tractor would have looked like.       

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/02/11/rare-amc-amx3-prototype-on-display-at-chicago-auto-show/

 

http://mycarquest.com/2013/08/amc-amx3-by-bizzarrini-for-sale-a-bizzarrini-developed-super-car-powered-by-american-motors.html

Edited December 24, 2013 by AMC RULES