Where do Amish buggies come from? Most established Amish settlements have at least one full-time buggy maker, but those that don’t usually acquire their vehicles in larger settlements.
Amish buggy makers rarely make a buggy from top to bottom. Parts such as the wheels or undercarriage may come from other Amish shops.
One buggy shop owner acquaintance produces one new vehicle per week. Stephen Scott writes in Plain Buggies of a Lancaster buggy maker who estimates 100 man hours of work per vehicle, not counting wheels or top, which are done elsewhere.
Buggy making may be a side project for some. I recall a Daviess County, Indiana Amishman constructing a buggy in his garage as an after work project. Buggy makers meet at annual trade meetings, to share ideas and boost morale.
These photographs are from a buggy maker and repair shop in Big Valley, Pennsylvania.
A used set of wheels. Most brake systems are hydraulic, rather than the bicycle-style friction brake, once more common.
Elliptic springs, or the buggy ‘suspension’.
This particular buggy is a challenge to ride.
The box and top framework.
The interior. Flowers optional.
Accessories: lights and reflectors…
And the all-important SMV (slow-moving vehicle) triangle.
Stick to the instruction manual, and the end-product should come out looking like these.
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7 responses to Where Amish buggies come from
Good post & pix. I am kind of surprised at the Weavertown Coach Shop calendar (from an advertising aspect), but I guess that’s one way of getting a content-approved calendar.
Thanks Rick, this was a fun post, and yes those Weavertown calendars are everywhere, some other Amish businesses produce them too.
This was really interesting to watch the progression of how the buggies are made/assembled. What surprised me was the fabric used in the interior — kind of a cross between a pimp-mobile and a psychedelic hearse. Guess I was expecting something much plainer … go figure..
i am looking for an amash wagon maker to build a civil war medicine wagon will you help Thanks jack
Help
I would like to get my hands on an instruction manual for building carrages, can anyone please help me?
Also where to buy the individual parts.
We’re trying to build a horseless carriage and need a source for elliptical springs…can you help?
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