Mini Stagecoach Looks Real

Mini Stagecoach Looks Real AG WORLD 30-4-21 "A lot of people tell me it's the cutest thing they've ever seen," says Loren Coulter, Garden City, Kansas, about his home-built, one-third scale stagecoach. It's designed to be pulled by a team of miniature horses. The stagecoach measures 5 ft. high, 4 ft. wide, and 8 1/2 ft. long and can seat six small children. Passengers enter through a door that's only 2 1/2 ft. tall and 15 in. wide. Coulter made everything on the unit except for the wheels. "I patterned it after the old Wells Fargo Concord stagecoach. It looks just like the real thing," says the 79-year-old Coulter. "My wife Lotus and I have entered it in parades, where four white and sorrel paint miniature horses pull it. They really look great pulling the coach." The stagecoach's frame is made from 3/4-in. sq. tubing - 300 ft. in all - covered by 1/8-in. thick plywood on both the inside and outside. The seats are upholstered. The wheels have sealed Timken bearings. He used 1-in. sq. tubing to make the axles, welding spindles onto the ends and then enclosing the tubing in wood to make them look like square wooden axles. The windows have roll-up coverings made from black naugeheide. "This is the third mini stagecoach I've made. I don't use any plans. I just figure it out as I go." Coulter displayed his "third generation" stagecoach at the recent 3I show near Great Bend, Kansas, where he had it for sale. It didn't sell. He's asking $5,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Loren Coulter, 1710 N. Main, Garden City, Kansas 67846 (ph 620 276-6906; lospeed48 @wm. connect).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.