UPDATE: Glenn shared this pic of restored Mahl Jeep Loader. It’s located near Minneapolis.
ORIGINAL POST FROM 2012:
There appears to be an article about the Mahl Loader in the 1949 Municipal Journal & Engineer, Volume 80, but I can’t read the whole article. Farm Implement News, Volume 70 page 149, from 1949 also has an article, again I can’t read the whole thing.
EARLY MAHL PHOTOS FROM GLENN:
Glenn wrote, “Two years ago an old used car dealer from just north of Albany, NY came to me at my Flea Market booth in Stowe, VT. and told me he had a very odd snow plow attachment for a Jeep. I sat him down and we went into The Willys Special Equipment Book. We identified what he had as a MAHL Willys Jeep Loader converted to a snow plow.
I went to his location and was shown a collection of parts scattered around his junk yard, with trees growing through it, which resembled The MAHL Loader as shown on the two page Sales Sheet. I researched the history of this company and found it to be a Division of Standard Iron and Wire Works of the twin cities in Minnesota, today a giant cooperation run by descendants of the four founding brothers. MAHL is a name derived from the first initials of the founding brother’s wives.
By sheer luck, I contacted a retired president of this cooperation, the son of a founder, and sure enough he located factory B/W pictures of The MAHL Willys Jeep Loader, on brand new CJ2A’s, in development in 12/ 1947 and into 1948, as well as remembering working with the design engineers back in his high school days. Two years went by, with me urging the NY owner to get the stuff into a pile I could load, as he very well may be the only man on the planet able to identify the parts. Luck again was on the side of Willys History and I was able to pick it all up on my way back to Maine from The Great Willys Picnic.
Knowing full well at this stage of my advancing years, this bit of Willys past needed to be in the hands of ones wanting to preserve it, I again contacted the manufacturer to see if they wanted it back at headquarters. Now, as I write this, The MAHL Willys Jeep Loader is going home to MN. The retired President of Standard Iron and Wire Works passed the ball to his son, who is now President, to take care of the restoration details.
In the future, I’m sure we’ll see this piece of Willys History on display with other products that made this company what it is today. I also hope Standard Iron and Wire Works will share their unique product with those of us out here in Willys World. As far as can be determined now, this is the only surviving example of The MAHL Willys Jeep Loader.”
Other unusual loader links:
From the De Anza Cavalcade:
Here’s another odd attachment:
And One more, The Jeep-A-Loader:
WOW!! How did I miss that?? I sure hope my buddies at Standard Iron got it. I’ll send them this link anyway. Have NEVER seen that brochure previously. Update: The Mahl Willys Loader is nearing full restoration and beng mounted on a nice CJ2A they bought in Iowa. Search this topic on The CJ2A Page for latest info. Dave, I’ll send you another loader brochure I bought last week to add on here.
Glenn-
If you go back to the ebay listing for this brochure, the seller has more of the same. I scrolled down on the page showing it was sold and there are a couple more dealer brochures on the Mahl Loader. Go for it Big Guy!
What i like about it is that it’s from cutler sales in mora where i live. I’ve met ralph cutler that had this shop in the late 40’s &50’s. Actually he is still alive and about 87 or so years old. dave
Look closely at the factory B/W photos. The first dated 12/47 shows the loader in snow, I-beam push arms and no dolly wheels. Development continues with no snow shown. Now the MAHL Jeep Loader is mounted on a brand new “LEFTY CJ2A” (April 1948) and has pipe push arms along with the dolly wheel system. Just imagine the engineering that went into the development of this AUTHORIZED WILLYS ACCESSORY.
How many of these were manufactured?
Great Job Glenn! Thanks for posting Dave!
Hi Iowa Steve, All I can tell you is this MAHL WILLYS JEEP LOADER is S/N 163. There are no factory records to tell how many were made. Maybe they started with #1 but frequently it was 100 or 1000. Who Knows? Certainly when you consider the competition this ungainly contraption faced in the market place, the numbers were very low. In all our research since this started in 2009, this is the only survivor uncovered so far. Stay tuned as this gets out and about.