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So I got bored Sat afternoon and decided to re-do the hood on grandpa's 856. Started sanding and it was looking good. All those layers of brush strokes helped preserve it. Anyways....on with the pics. Guess I'll have to do the rest now.

Hey folks, Richard here out of Adkins Texas. I answered a Craigslist ad for a "lawn tractor, 100$" and it turned out to be a B-80 Wheel horse. I actually stumbled onto this site while trying to find out information on what a Wheel Horse was. So for $80 I pushed this one onto the trailer after the owner nicely sprayed some penetrating oil into the spark plug hole and turned it over with a set of jumper cables. I figured if it turned over $80 was a good enough deal for me. History on the tractor from the gentleman that sold it is that it was bought new in the mid 70's by a local school district to mow the ball fields and drag the infield dirt. After it was retired one of the school grounds guys (the owners father in law) bought it from the school to restore it and use it. It sat in a barn for 15+ years and then was moved out to the pasture for a few more and that's when I bought it. Got it home and started looking into getting it running and was able to start it and keep it running within about an hour using starting fluid. I had to replace the solenoid and fuel line as well as buy a battery for it. Had some leaks in the carb so I pulled the bowl and got the float unstuck and the leak stopped. This is where I'm at now. The ignition switch worked about a dozen times and then just quit. I cleaned the contacts to no avail and will need to replace it if I can find a factory part to put in there. Also the tractor will start and run with the PTO engaged but otherwise it will start and low low idle for about 7 seconds and then quit. Sounds to me like the carb needs to be rebuilt but to be honest I've never rebuilt one so I don't know what it entails, can't be too complicated though. It does need tires. I greased all the zerk fittings and checked all the fluids and will need to put some into the rear end. The deck spins nicely and looks to be newer as the paint isn't faded or too badly scratched and all the blades look either new or wilt little use. Any advice or help on the tractor would be appreciated. We need one to work the family garden this spring and mow an acre of coastal grass that we have around the place. Thank you in advance. Richard.

If you get it cheap enough and the rest of the tractor is good then I would pick it up. You can then try and find another 520 with other issues for the engine or even a 416 and swap the engine. One of my 520's has a 16HP engine on it and I can barely tell the difference. You can even pick up a Kohler engine for it.

My daughter Shanna loves John Deere's. I threatened to cut off her inheritance if she continues to disgrace this family with her green tractor. I keep telling her we are a Wheel Horse family, and there is no room for green here. So we decided love conquers all and met in the middle as a good Father and Daughter should. Here's what we came up with. LOL

10-3-1863 Lincoln proclaims official Thanksgiving holiday On this day in 1863, expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln announces that the nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday on November 26, 1863. The speech, which was actually written by Secretary of State William Seward, declared that the fourth Thursday of every November thereafter would be considered an official U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. This announcement harkened back to when George Washington was in his first term as the first president in 1789 and the young American nation had only a few years earlier emerged from the American Revolution. At that time, George Washington called for an official celebratory “day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” While Congress overwhelmingly agreed to Washington’s suggestion, the holiday did not yet become an annual event. Thomas Jefferson, the third president, felt that public demonstrations of piety to a higher power, like that celebrated at Thanksgiving, were inappropriate in a nation based in part on the separation of church and state. Subsequent presidents agreed with him. In fact, no official Thanksgiving proclamation was issued by any president between 1815 and the day Lincoln took the opportunity to thank the Union Army and God for a shift in the country’s fortunes on this day in 1863. The fourth Thursday of November remained the annual day of Thanksgiving from 1863 until 1939. Then, at the tail-end of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, hoping to boost the economy by providing shoppers and merchants a few extra days to conduct business between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, moved Thanksgiving to November’s third Thursday. In 1941, however, Roosevelt bowed to Congress’ insistence that the fourth Thursday of November be re-set permanently, without alteration, as the official Thanksgiving holiday.

Here are the pics I was able to get from Scott's. Thanks D. J.

After some discussion with my co-worker Big Mike (he's had quite a few old Wheel Horse tractors) tonight I'm gonna disassemble sheet metal and start sanding. BTW....the paint is straight outta the can Rustoleum Regal Red. I've been a rattle-can master since my model car days. After it's painted and re-assembled, I'll order a decal 'kit' and make it look right.

I got the 701 out for a little exercise today and my daughter wanted to drive it. The goofball came down without shoes but I let her drive it anyway. Of course, in the video, as you will see, she wanted to know if it would go faster. She had a blast. IMG_3704.MOV IMG_3705.MOV

While I still prefer making a new control handle which would bring the handle more rearward, I did as suggested and reversed the handle and with some controlled leverage i.e. bending, it now clears the muffler and PTO assembly. As I had postulated I did need to drill a new hole parallel to the original so I could swing the pin control lever bracket to the reverse side. All in all, it would work this way indefinitely.

WOW....... I thought I had the only "Wheel Deere". I haven't duct taped the seat yet but If it will give it more power, I'm off to the shed.

We had this nice little show going on this past weekend. This was the first show ever by this club so attendance was small and the weather wasn't the best. Had a nice showing of horses there between Dan @achto & Josh @PeacemakerJack & myself. Dan's rat rod had the most lookers... We all agreed it is the whitewalls that does the trick! Some nice hit & miss engines...there's just something about stting at one of these shows and hearing these engines running in the backround!

Are new throttle and choke cables available for 1960 suburban? Last thing I need on this resto. Old ones are pretty rusty. Thank you.

My daughter avoids my Wheel Horse like it is an STD. Has zero interest in it. Yet she is wanting to buy a house with a big yard. Prolly wants me to mow it for her... Ain't gonna happen.

Now it won't snow much this year! Got my 54 inch snow blade installed. It fit on the GT14 I parted out but I needed to modify the back ends and take off some of the protruding weld build up to get it to seat properly in the attach-a-matic rear bracket. Also, I had this sitting around for over a year and had thought the bar in pic below went to another implement but got educated out in Indiana this past weekend. Ended up modifying it a bit as well. This allows one to put downward pressure. At least with GT14. Note the slight lift of front end as viewed from the side. i will need to have a lift handle fabbed up longer term as the side style new muffler is potential issue. Also interferes with PTO and PTO control rod but I have removed until I get around to modifying new blade handle.

Amen to that Aldon! July fourth a close second....

My favorite Holiday as it is less corrupted by the marketing and commercialism than other holidays. Just good family time together Holiday. I avoid the shopping frenzy on the weekend following like the plague.

,,, it's tough getting parts. And until it's apart, it's unknown. Glenn

I don't know how much you can do yourself, but most engine work costs are based heavily on what you have available as far as a good reliable machine shop. Most oil burners are going to need at the least rings, and a cylinder honing. If the rings are worn, chances are there are other areas in need of work as well. The Onan P-220 is notorious for burning up the rear exhaust valve seats if the cooling fins have been neglected. I'm afraid I can't be of much help you with costs until you know exactly what needs to be done.

Ok, first thing is to remove the mowing deck and put it somewhere you won't trip over it. Now you can focus on the tractor, you will be working on the deck later. Remove the ignition switch and take it your small engine shop or NAPA and match it u p to a new one. Make sure it is for battery ignition only, not magneto ignition. While you are doing this let the oil drain out, I mean every drop. At the auto parts store get a couple of quarts of cheap oil to run the engine with for an hour or two and then you will need to change the oil again. From then on use straight 30weight oil. Don't try to rebuild the carb just yet. Remove it from the engine, put it on the workbench and carefully take it apart. Use a brass bristled brush and clean the bowl, the float and anything else you can clean. Then spray it all down with brake cleaner, reassemble and put it back on the engine and start it with carb cleaner not starting fluid. Use fresh non ethanol gasoline with one ounce marvel mystery oil per gallon to get the engine up and running for the first tankful. All this is your second step.

One can also 'PULL'l the fan gear back into to stub gear by using a shim(s) at the rear end of the fan gear shaft (underneath). Look for the big cotter pin at the rear end of the lower steering shaft...pull it out and try to fit a 3/4 ID shim between the cotter pin and the steering block...forcing the fan gear back into the stub gear on the end of the steering column.

It was a great day for sure. Ztnoo (Steve) came up and spent some time shooting the breeze. Great chatting with you again Steve. It will probably be spring Mentone before we all get together again. I think we will have a long winter this year.

I'm really glad you guys got a good laugh out of our Sunday afternoon of being goofy. I wanted to share that time with you. Shanna is back in Nursing school going for her RN this time. I sure am proud of her.

Hey guys, new to the site, going to kill two birds with one thread and combine my build into an intro also. Tony from MA, picked up a few wheel horses last season, an RJ and a 502, sold the 502 and am now finding time to start a little resto/mod on my RJ. I started disassembling it yesterday and have a few questions maybe you all could help out with. My plans are not to give it a full factory restoration because of time/funds and overall shape of the unit as it stands. So i have a few motors to chose from laying around the shop and some other parts i am going to be using. so the first and most important question is transmission seals and bearings. Is there a source i can buy a kit or any one place i can itemize and order all the bearings and seals I need? also whats the best fitting off the shelf style replacement fuel tank? Here are some pictures, When i first opened the case i was a little disappointed but i knew it was not going to be pretty from the water i drained out of it. but luckily But a quick wipe down revealed that they gears and case were pretty well protected by a layer of grease before the water intrusion so off to the hot tank for everything. So these are the bearings and seals i am looking to replace. I will also be needing a set of front wheels. stay tuned this project is hopefully going to make ground quickly.

Definitely a round hood & a Kohler..... Just thought I'd share it!

What he said! And if I might add emphasis on the grounds! Seems so many times that I got confused with wiring there was a bad ground involved! You take if for granted and then your readings are wacko and THEN you find a bad ground is the cause of the weird readings!

First step for any electrical problem is to clean and tighten all electrical connections including grounds. To rule out any bad cables you can put the jumper cables directly on the starter and see if it spins over.

ZOMBIE TRACTORS

Seven, I forgot to mention in my post above that I have a '95 model 520H in my shop right now that I bought reasonable enough that needs the exact same thing as the one you have found. I will not hesitate to tear into it and repair it as required. Those Onans are an amazing engine when they are brought back to proper running condition. I have done this to no less than a dozen Onan's. The only ones I won't fool withare the early 16 HP (B43E) that did not have an oil filter employed. Most I have rebuilt have been in JD's, but I've been bitten by the Wheel Horse 520 bug! The last Onan I rebuilt was a 20HP that needed a loose valve seat replacement too. I hired that work done and had that same shop grind the valves and seats. Including that machine work I still had less than $500.00 invested and that is one heck of an engine now that has that famous Onan "growl" when under load and sounds amazing at idle. I intend to begin the engine build on this tractor within the next week or two. I also have another 520HC tractor that is a little rough compared to the one mentioned above but it will get the same treatment in time. I believe these tractor's are worth saving and I certainly am not afraid of these Onan engines! I have by far found more of these engines easily repairable than those that were not. I started collecting Onan parts several years ago now and have quite a stock of good useable parts with which to do my repairs and generally plan on replacing cam bearings and valve springs on principle. I also rebuild oil pumps on each build along with replacing all gaskets and crankshaft seals..............................Gary

Oh the horror...it's spreading...disease and mayhem...next thing you know an orange one will get in the barn and then...simwheeldeerehorsity...aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh....,,,,,!

Think you may be correct. It is called a grip ring in the parts list https://www.partstree.com/parts/toro/mowers-lawn-garden-tractor/21-12ke01-312-a-toro-312-a-garden-tractor-1986/pto-clutch-and-control/ Garry

I know deep down that bigger is better but gosh there's times that I just can't tell it! I got big horse power WHs and others but my little 8hp WHs are real workhorses! I keep hoping that folks that aren't looking to blow snow don't pass up smaller hp WH thinking they won't get the job done. Baloney! And they just sip the gas! Today's box store 24 HP riding lawnmowers don't impress me at all! Cleat, it pleased me to here you admit that you "can barely tell the difference."! It will be our secret! I won't tell anybody else.

The luxury I can afford as I have multiple GT14's running great. This kills multiple birds as well as now I don't have to trip over or physically move the blade. I think your correct and I may do that in next few days. I'll have to drill a hole for the blade pin pulling lever as it is not centered. I initially was going to install it that way but today I was impatient and when I realized that lever bracket would not fit I decided I would do that later. I'll still likely eventually have a handle fabbed up so that I can clear the PTO assembly and leave it in place during winter. Actually I might have enough clearance for PTO if I flip it and bend it slightly towards the outside. May tackle that in next couple hours.

Aldon, if you flip that handle around so the bend is toward the outside, you should have no clearance issues.

Geezzz, you're ready for snow, and we're still mowing here. Looks like what you've come up with there should do the job as far as now goes. It's not usual for me to have to mow even past Nov. 1 here. A few degrees latitude differential can make big difference, even here in Hoosierland. It can be snowing like hell in South Bend and Fort Wayne, while it's sleeting or freezing rain in Indy, and raining in Bloomington. Meanwhile Louisville may be bone dry.

Makes me want spaghetti

I was looking for a couple parts for my 73, and decided to check craigslist. The funny part is when I started dialing the number for the ad it happened to pull up the guys name from my contacts.... So I scored a heck of a deal by trading a couple things that I was no longer using. Both tractors need rebuilding, but the majority of the pieces are there plus they are both 8 speeds. There is only one good deck between them, but the one that is rusted out at least has a bunch of good parts still. The spindles still spin freely. The 417-8 was in use until June, and only has a knock that sounds like a wrist pin. The 310-8 smokes so it will need punched out, the carb is toast so it will need replaced. My plan is to fix up the 417 and keep it as a worker with my blade on it, and move trailers around. Eventually I want to put a loader on it. I don't figure for about $200 (what I valued my trade as) it wasn't a bad deal. Now to get the wife to see the value in them since all she sees in "junk" that will clutter up the yard.

How bout some black vinyl dye ??? LOL My daughter says the duct tape gives the JD about two more horsepower

of course some big stuff... JD was the feature tractor ...but no JD lgt's there! Dan had a real nice pair of Cockshutt's there! He also had this cool Gibson lever steer I got some seat time on!!... Thanks Dan Some steam things & even a little log sawing & threshing!

Hey Richard. You beat me to that one. I couldnt get a response from the seller. Horses are few and far between herein Texas. Good advice already given above. Good luck with the new tractor and welcome to Redsquare. Many knowledgable and friendly folks are here.

Van at least get a black seat for it!

Gear wear will cause more slop but at least fixing up the bushings will help. Your other choice will be to try and source good used parts. And of course, make sure the gear backlash is set as per the top of the steering shaft and it's bushing (or upgrade to a bearing) being held down, and shimming the steering gear to just remove as much slop as possible without binding. Last place to check for slop is the tie rod ends, axle king pin, front steering shaft bushing, wheel bearings, and spindles.

What Cleat says ---- its a simple and inexpensive fix. Every horse Ive ever bought has had to have the done to it.

i got to meet glen pettit, and quickly discovered 3 things. he is a very nice man, he has a great selection of high quality parts, and he was very happy to take my money! all kidding aside , what a great guy, he is an asset to the hobby. he gave me a great deal on a pile of parts.

Van, that thing is an abomination. You do realize that you have permanently soiled that hood don't you?

I have a few nice pictures from the 7th Meet and Greet held at the Mehlberg Horse Barn in Clunette, Indiana. A big thank you to Scott mehlberg for hosting all the guys and gals that love Wheel Horses over the past seven years. It was great to see the tractors but this year it was even better to see all the Wheel Horse lovers in full force!

Just for grins , I did a bit of a comparison recently.... Had a buddy over who brought a guy from work with him. Had both the '73 16 Auto and the Deere LA145 sitting out after a bath , the '73 has been resprayed/decals and looks pretty good . I asked , out of the two , which the guy would buy used .... He said the Deere , based on reputation and horsepower (22hp Briggs) . Then , I asked him about quality/weight/design ... He says , well , the Deere is a lot of plastic , but at least it has the horsepower to pull that big deck . Hmm.... I said "well, there is a huge difference in torque , that old Kohler will pull the 48" deck just as well as the Deere's 22hp Briggs" . He looked at me like I was nuts and asked if he could try them out . After two passes each through some pretty tall grass at a faster than usual clip , he asked if he could buy the Wheel Horse . " It's not for sale" was my reply . I asked why he'd prefer the old Horse to a newer machine - he says " it doesn't feel so cheap, like it's about to fall apart" . He's been hunting CL now for a Horse of his . I wasn't aware buy my buddy later told me he's been buying a new lawn tractor about every 4-5yrs and is pretty reasonable about taking care of them , mows about 3/4 of an acre , pulls a small cart around and a sweeper . Every single one of them has had a transmission failure of the cast aluminum type . It was the cast iron beef he liked most in the old Horse and the way it rode due to larger tires and an extra 300lbs of weight vs the Deere . My point is until they understand the quality difference , they buy according to looks , hp numbers and price - it's an uneducated mass that wasn't taught enough about all things mechanical like many of us - or are at least willing to learn . There is a small group of older guys and even a couple pretty young rebuilding old garden tractors around here and putting them up for sale . Unless one is priced crazy - they disappear in just a few days . Illinois is a brutal place to live with swings in temperature/snow and grass duties . Cheap junk doesn't last , some are actually starting to learn .... I'm also working on a D180 lately and rebuilding it's 56" blade - getting tired of people stopping here and wanting to buy it despite the faded paint , rust and general ugliness that only the nose of a D can generate . It's a huge chunk of iron and has a certain appeal of being in charge of something brutal , I guess.... Sarge

3 Wheel Horses, a McLean Husky, a Poulan, the remains of a John Deere, and tons of push mowers, snow blowers, and pressure washers. Not shown, another John Deere awaiting an engine. Almost all of this is on my to-do list... This is what happens when your dad is an iron worker/scrapper, and you've inherited his mechanical abilities, combined with the ability to see junk as something that's actually worth money. By the way, no progress on the 1973 other than putting a battery in and turning the key. Nothing. Wiring probably needs redone first.

All looks mighty familiar! think your tires look a bit knarlier than mine! Good to see you cracking on with it