MudPuppy ATV, manufactured by Trail Tamer in Eden, SD
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MudPuppy ATV, manufactured by Trail Tamer in Eden, SD
So, after Tomo was good enough to post a bunch of Super Swamp Fox pictures over the last couple days, I was ogling over the beautiful beasts and came across an advertisement for the "Mud Puppy" ATV, manufactured by Trail Tamer Specialty Vehicles in Eden, South Dakota.
The Mud Puppy is a rebranded late-model Super Swamp Fox that has been retrofitted with full hydraulic drive, according to the brochure. It seems that the company still exists, and is owned by a parent company "Glacial Gateway" in the same town. Trail Tamer even has a website, advertising 4,6 and 8 wheel amphibious ATVs. Mud Puppy - Trail Tamer Specialty Vehicles, LLC. I may try to contact the owner to see if he can get us any additional information on the machines, and whether he bought out Royco. I can only assume that the body molds still exist and that one of my favorite ATV body styles will endure. Somebody should order up a new 8x8....
hi hydromike ,
I wrote some more info on the ssfox under this in the pics gallery . If only some one could get around there with a camera .The mudpuppy has apparently little in common with the original ssfox even though it looks identical . The mudpuppy unit is hydraulic drive so that rules out any chassis items . The body has small changes all over it .They do have an original machine at the factory . The moulds of the original were purchased from a relative or family member .All this info came from the current business [Trail Tamer ]owners son . Mores pics were supposed to be sent but did not happen .
This info is just some I dug up . There is more ..
I touched base with the owner of Mud Puppy several years back, from what I gathered he was no longer producing machines, but had hopes to get back in production at some point.
I asked about the original tooling and if he could produce components for the owners of older machines. The quick answer was "no" the machine that he made had evolved to such a point that the components were not compatible. The frame and body was slightly longer and more reinforced. The engine had grown to 31hp so much frame reinforcement was needed for both the engine and mountings for the hydraulics.
I provided him with my name, ph# and email and asked him to contact me if he got back into production. I have never heard back from him.
I guess more than anything, I was really interested that the body molds, or some modernized variant thereof still existed. I saw where they advertised a water-cooled Briggs engine in the brochure, which really would've made for a formidable hydro-powered machine. I recognize that the price of the machines skyrocketed with all of the upgrades, and it was probably difficult to remain competitive with other purpose-built machines. Even if it was a tad longer and wider the fuzzy appearance in the ad still appeals to whatever in me likes the SSF in the first place. I've been getting machines ready for Ashtabula and have spent a lot of time riding in the 980, the racers, etc. I untarped the 'Fox, gave the key a twist and when she groaned to life, it "just felt right". She gives Big 5 a run for the money in the "favorite machine" category, but nothing else comes close yet.
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