Last year produced

[North Country Tough]

What was the absolute last year of Attex production and what models were produced ?

[jpswift1]

I think it was in the mid 80's. I really don't know for sure since Attex was bought and sold a couple times around then. I recall a company that made trolly cars buying them out and putting out a very small number of machines. I can't remember any of the other companies that acquired the assets of Attex though......maybe some other members could chime in. I think there was the 450 Tomahawk, 500 Superchief and then the 'Lil Truck variations of each. They had the horrible GT-1 and GT-2 series transmissions that would always break (and many say this is what was a big part of the downfall of Attex) These transmissions were designed by Ontario Gear and Drive.

[North Country Tough]

So what your saying is that Attex had lost the use of the T 20 rights before they went belly up.

[Stonewall]

What I wonder is why they would go to a rival company for a transmission and expect it to be a good one??

[North Country Tough]

What I wonder is why they would go to a rival company for a transmission and expect it to be a good one??

Good one,and Argo used a totally different tranny forever I never seen a Argo with a GT 1 must have been a test mule heaped on the waste pile.

[Bazooo guy]

A quote from wikipedia:
Attex produced several models from 1968–1983

Heres the link:
Amphibious ATV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Joe H]

What I wonder is why they would go to a rival company for a transmission and expect it to be a good one??

As you know Borg Warner originally produced the t20, at some point Recreatives aquired the t20 and began producing them. They would still sell to Attex but they were so expensive that it became impossible to build a machine that the market would support, that is when Attex began changing hands and the different owners trying things like the gt trans. So, was the gt1 and gt2 trans the downfall of Attex INC?

Back to the original question, I once owned a green Superchief that was stamped 88-xxxxxx. I hope Bill Gerber chimes in on this thread and sets us straight on it.

[North Country Tough]

As you know Borg Warner originally produced the t20, at some point Recreatives aquired the t20 and began producing them. They would still sell to Attex but they were so expensive that it became impossible to build a machine that the market would support, that is when Attex began changing hands and the different owners trying things like the gt trans. So, was the gt1 and gt2 trans the downfall of Attex INC?

Back to the original question, I once owned a green Superchief that was stamped 88-xxxxxx. I hope Bill Gerber chimes in on this thread and sets us straight on it.

My S/C has KN10497 a bit of space and 78 stamped into the top rail of the frame at the rear near the recoil stater,is this the chassis serial and would 78 be the year of production or jibberish ? I had not realized that the Attex,s produced after the T 20 debacle were the ones with the GT trans,I wanted to start a search for the last of the Superchiefs to add to my collection of one.LOL Holiday Cheers NCT

[George]

My Li'l Truck is an '82 and came with the T-20 and Chaparral engine combo.

[philipatmaxfour]

What I wonder is why they would go to a rival company for a transmission and expect it to be a good one??

good question, one of the trannys made for Amphicats wer made by Odg. go figure

[North Country Tough]

good question, one of the trannys made for Amphicats wer made by Odg. go figure

We had a Amphi Cat built out of Ron Beehoo Ind in Streetsville Ont, cant quite remember but pretty sure it had a Sachs single in it and the trans reversing box was embossed ODG but it was more of a reversing box only.

[jpswift1]

As you know Borg Warner originally produced the t20, at some point Recreatives aquired the t20 and began producing them.

Back to the original question, I once owned a green Superchief that was stamped 88-xxxxxx. I hope Bill Gerber chimes in on this thread and sets us straight on it.

I believe it was in the mid 70's when Hustler Corporation and Recreatives jointly acquired the T-20 from Borg Warner. If you look on some of the older T-20's, you'll see it says "Skid Steer Corporation Jonesboro, Ark." on the tag riveted to the transmission case. Hustler was actually making the T-20 and shipping them out. The owner of Hustler Corporation, Lowell Chrisco and the owner of Recreatives, Sid Wallach had some sort of deal worked out. I believe it was after Hustler decided to stop making machines in the mid or late 80's, Recreatives took over Skid Steer Corporation and was the sole producer of T-20 transmission. I remember when I was at Recreatives, they showed me some old receipts from ABF Freight that were dated around 1976. They were for shipments for a quite a few T-20's from Jonesboro, AR to Buffalo, NY.

Yes, I hope Mr. Gerber can help shed some light on this subject for us. I'm very, very interested to know all the details.

[Bill Gerber]

I have thought about this for a while. I can not seem to put the dates on the events.
The original question was what was the last year of production. I dont really know.
There was a company name change each time the company sold.
The first company was ATV MFG. Co. My dad worked there and designed the original Attex.
They were all ABS bodies at this time. The gas shortage hit and sales dropped.
My Dad, Ray Mckay, and Jack Gould purchased Attex around 1975. The name was changed to Attex Inc. They changed the body from ABS to poly and put the 484 Chap in it and called it the Superchief. They added the Tomahawk with a 16 HP 4 stroke. And had a little truck style available in both models. There was also a 250 spirit with a single cylinder Chap. I dont know how many of those were actually produced if any.. What was said in this thread about the T-20's, sounds correct from what I remember. We could not run production because we were always waiting for T-20 shipments that were always late or did not come at all, not even mentioning the price. We usaly had a bunch of machines assembled as far as possable without the tranny. And once in a while we would get a few T-20's. We could finish a few and ship them. So production was very sporadic and getting worse. I was part time then and not needed very often. After a while the company was sold. I helped move the company to Revenna Ohio to the new owner. The name was changed to Attex International. I dont know a lot about about how many machines they produced. I do remember that Joe's gram-pap Bob worked for the new company to get the parts department set up for a couple of months. And Ron Mckay worked there for a year. Years later I asked Ron if they produced machines. He said that they did. I think this sale happened in 1979 or 1980. I know for sure it was sold before i got married in 1981. I can not say what was produced after the sale as I was no longer involved. Here are some pics of the last production run at Attex Inc. (East Palestine Ohio). Sad machines, backed up on the assembly line waiting for T-20's. Without T-20's, the end is near..

[kghills]

Very cool information Bill and very sad at the same time. Thank you for the insight.

Keith.

[North Country Tough]

Thank you Bill for the info,lots more was going on at Attex than I ever imagined,and some very disappointing times indeed,too bad the company was reduced to nothing they had a handle on design thats for sure,I guess having to rely on someone else for your transmissions was the eventual demise, something that Argo here in Ontario never had to do although their trannys weren't the best the supply was never interrupted which helped them make it in the 70,s market place.NCT