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Hello all, my name is Rick Robinson and I have just been bitten by the the Wheel Horse bug!! My father taught my how to mow the lawn in the early 1970s and my very first tractor experience was on a "Wheel Horse". As a 7 year old boy who loved anything that had 4 wheels and a steering wheel this was a thrill. Then in about 1974 my dad traded the old Wheel Horse in on a new Penncraft 8 H.P. tractor from JC Penny. I actuall cried the day the old Wheel Horse left our house on someone else's trailer. I don't remember the year or model tractor we had, but that ol tracter left a lasting impression on me. I am a Corvette & Classic Car Dealer and got a lead on a old Corvette that had been sitting for years that was available. When I drove to the gentleman's home, I couldn't help but notice how neat and well kept the property was. Well, I looked at the car but sitting in the corner was this beautiful Wheel Horse tractor. He told me he bought it new in 1965 and always kept it nice. He updated to a new Wheel Horse in the late 1980s, but couldn't bring himself to sell the old 65. I bought the Corvette and told him if he ever wanted to sell the 65 Please call me. Well, about two weeks ago I got the call! He and his wife sold the house and were going to relocate in Arizona. So I am now the owner of this extremely well kept, original 1965 855. The hood and seat pan and some sheet metal were painted in the early 1990s, but the original motor, tires etc. still remain. I just need a decal set. Oh, I hope someone here can shed light on this, but Jim, the original owner said the wheels on this tractor were silver when he purchased it new, but I have never seen this before as I thought they were always a off white color. So that's my story and I look forward to growing in his new hobby. Thanks in advance. Rick

Thank guys, here are a few more pics. Yes TT , Jim had the lights installed before taking deliv. when he purchased it new. He also replace the seat with a newer genuine Wheel Horse seat, so I would really like to find a original seat. I also have ALL the original paperwork and maint. records since day 1, Not pictured is the original mower deck which is in beautiful, near perfect condition. I will be ordering decals from Terry very soon. Thanks again guy's.

here is what started out as a suburban rat,from this to this

Ya the fenders are now on a black hood someplace, but I never seen a set of plastic ones on a older tractor, they are even uglier than on the C-xx5 tractors.

At the least, if you put a grader blade under it's middle, when the welds do go, it won't snap all the way to the ground!

Ok, here is my way of installing tire chains start by laying out the chain, making sure the cross chain tie links are facing down(see pic 1 ,2 and 3) Set tire on chains(remove air from tire, as much as possible) and wrap chain around tire and loosly attach tighting bar.(see pic # 5) Flip tire over and connect oposite site as tight as possible.(see pic # 6) Now flip tire back over and tighten other side as tight as possible.(pic # 7) Now adjust cross links so they are straight across from each other.(pic #8) Now air up tire and your done, well mount back on tractor, then your done. Pix # 9 and # 10 are of tires mounted with weights(home made brackets)

That I lived in the northeast!!! Every now and again I like to look at the Craig's List adds in the northeast. I would HATE to guess how many tractors I would have if I lived there!!!!!!!!! Just tonight I found oh.......about 3 dozen that I would buy! You guys that live up there sure are LUCKY :party:

My father passed away on Oct 30th 2012 after a long battle with kidney and heart disease he was 81,dad was the first to collect the Wheel Horse tractors and passed it on to my wife and I and our two sons to this wonderful hobby.Dad and my mom really enjoyed driving around at the shows looking for treasures and sharing time with our friends and family. As you can see from the photo that they really enjoyed themselves,dad's tractor is now in my collection and will be at every show that we attend in memory of him,he will be truly missed...

Well it was 50 Deg. here yesterday so I worked on getting the team ready. I have made some up grades since last year. The 1st is I went from 8.50's on the 76 which is the plow tractor to 10.50's. I loaded them with beet juice. The tire, wheel, & juice add up to 103 lbs each. Also got a new set of chains for the 10.50's. 2nd is I picked up a tall chute single stage blower from Kelly awhile back. Got it mounted up on the 75. I have a short chute, but am not a big fan of the cable turn. Have a few things to do to the blower yet. I want to install a new chain, fix some dents in the auger, & then lube every thing up. Hope we get a little more snow than last year. Used the plow 2 times & the blower 1 time last year. Not alot of seat time.

I had a couple of C-111 tractors. Kind of wish I had kept them. The briggs engine is strong and very easy to start, but mine vibrated a lot - to the extent it would work the air cover off the air cleaner. The aluminum block make the front end lighter in weight and the tractor was a dream to steer. The tranny is an 8 pinion and has 1-1/8 inch axles. Mine had a 36 inch rear discharge deck and gave the best cut of any tractor I have owned. They are a good tractor for the $$$'s in my opinion.

The checkered flag Kohler decal was associated with snowmobile engines. I saw those tractors on Craigslist and hope you didn't pay what they were asking for them. :disgust:

No matter if you ever get it running or not, you did a good thing by saving it. That thirty dollars was well spent. I would have done the same thing.

Why is everyone so hard on the tec. motors? I have one in my '71 workhorse and have had no trouble with it. It's only an 8hp so I dont expect alot out of it but it does more than an 8hp should as far as I'm concerned. I also have a c-111, the briggs is ok< i need to give it some attention though before I can be to judgemental of it.

Got my first 312-8 (the one in my Avatar) five years ago and could have just started using it, as all it needed was a good cleaning and fluids changed. But it was late in the year and I wanted to learn more about how these machines were put together and how to work on them (like a lot of folks here, I don't have the money to pay for many repairs). So I put it in my workshop and over the winter did a full frame-off rebuild [not restoration - I'm not that good!]. It's now my main mowing machine with a 37" SD deck. 312-8 #2 came three years ago from a member in Massachusetts. It was very rough but the price was right and #1 had taught me how easy it is to work on and rebuild these machines, so that was another winter's project. Members here and Joe's Outdoor Power got me all the parts, advice and guidance I needed. That now has a grader blade on it and ags all the way around. She's a real worker! 310-8 #1 came from a member in NY last fall, and I've since learned it has a lot of history with another member here. Although in very good shape when I got it, I still touched up/replaced a few things, mostly cosmetics. My wife has adopted this horse as her pride and joy, and she uses it as her personal ATV even though I do have a nice 42" deck for it if I can convince her that it was really meant to work for a living........ 310-8 #2 with 42" deck will be arriving later this month from the same NY member. This machine is a one-owner and aside from a few minor cosmetic issues is represented to be a really nice original machine. I'll respect that pedigree and not tinker with it unnecessarily. I expect I'll move the 37" SD deck from 312-8 #1 to this one and put one of the 42" decks on the 312. Still in the offing is the "mystery build". I've managed to acquire (including a complete 520 swept front axle and gear reduction steering set-up) everything but an engine and some 8" front rims to put it together. The final result is, as they say, still a "mystery"! Duff :thumbs:

I disagree. The first two printings will remain expensive...and may even fetch higher prices. Wanna know why? Because Wheel Horse fanatics will want all three editions, especially those who are just getting their first look in this upcoming third edition. These are the same people who paid $200 for a toy hobby horse that had Wheel Horse on it, or over $100 for a plastic six pack cooler that had the Wheel Horse name on it. Collectibles and collectors are just funny that way. And don't be misled, there's a lot of collectors with plenty of disposable income. As for whats different, if I remember correctly, there were several extra pages of pictures thst weren't in the first, and the nudidt lady was censored. I don't think there was much text that changed, if any. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Are you talking about the tractor or the 5 week old baby??

Browns get a road win, first this season! Woo Hooo!! Somebody needs to start a Cheese-Head thread.

Good to hear! :handgestures-thumbup:

Team Varos is ready for Winter! Oh yes, Trevor is also ready...Woof!

Alright, I'm officially jealous Van! Very nice find, and I'm ready for a video, so I can hear that big Thumper, thump! Matt :flags-texas:

Nice looking tractor! Here we all have WHD (Wheel Horse Disease), welcome to the infirmary! My first Horse was a basket case! Sure glad it was dropped off in my driveway. Forget the model but, was a pull start. If I remember a Briggs. Rear discharge mower. Was a great machine.

After experimenting with a few different headlight options we like the HL-5's the best!

Consider doing a "reverse Phone Lookup" with the White Pages, sometimes a drive-by if they are close. 'Most common misspelled item in the classifieds, one's own phone number'. Good Luck, and stay on it. They may have used their cell phone number in the ad, see if you can text a message to them.

i have one, and I like it. the short block had been replaced on mine, and has a ball bearing on the flywheel side of the crankshaft. I did not use the external bearing when I rebuilt the engine. No problems yet. The exhaust port threads on mine were boogered up from the factory exhaust shaking, so I used B&S 691874 muffler and 795036 deflector. This muffler bolts directly to the block, and the deflector shoots the exhaust out the right side. Works for me, and no louder than the OEM setup.

:text-yeahthat: Jo's covers are very well made.

I had a bad taste in my mouth about the way this thread ended, so I gave it a few days and then I went back and read this thread from start to finish. It really was a fun thread this year...all the way through it. I guess we had to know that, with the passionate fans that participated, the thread would take a turn south when an undefeated Ohio st. was going to meet Michigan. (the Biggest Rivalry in College Football). Heck, it over shadowed the Illinois vs Northwestern game by a ton this year. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I had a good time this season, and look forward to doing again next year. It does make the season interesting. On a lighter note...as bad as I was picking games this year, I did notice that in October, I did predict a Wisconsin vs Nebraska Championship game...with Wisconsin winning and going to the Rose Bowl. So...I guess I win all the marbles... :) Congratulations to Wisconsin...and I pick them to beat Stanford on Jan. 1, 2013. and since Bob took his spread sheet and went home...we will never know who won all the weekly picks. :banana-guitar: :banana-guitar:

Very nice fine and I think those old briggs engine are just as good as the Kohler. They are lighter in weight and not as much torque but they are good for wat they are. Way better than a tec in my book.

Who rebuilt the carb? If the main needle valve is not cleaned inside of the tube, you will have rough running. Also, is there any slop in the throttle shaft? Was a new bushing installed when the carb was rebuilt? A carb that is just cleaned and has a "rebuild" kit installed is not really rebuilt. There is a bit more to it than just replacing the float valve and bowl gasket.

I have nothing bad to say about the Briggs engine. You will need to make sure that the bearing behind the engine pulley is intact and functioning correctly. Service bulletin 326b: http://www.wheelhors...ing-preloadpdf/ Without that bearing, the crankshaft gets forced into the flywheel side of the block when the PTO is engaged. I have actually seen one smear the block so bad that oil couldn't get to the main journal and the crankshaft seized in the block.

How many out there, besides me, are pulling for the Vikings today. :) DA BEARS Who is Cleveland beating up on today???

Yep. black-hoods are my favorite's minus the nasty fenders. I have swapped all mine to metal ones off a 300 series. Some people love those Briggs motors and some hate em. Its probably a good motor, better than a Tecumseh any day! Mike..........

I absolutely hate buyers premiums. Its a total ripoff... charging me to spend my money... ive left auctions because of it. its just a shady marketing trick to get the auction job. If they charge the buyers the premium they can offer the client a lower percentage... sometimes zero. Not much to that suburban, but what did it bring? Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Looks like they had a lot of neat old junk, I like them places, reminds me of home.

Traction devices for the dirt floor............ Sorry no idea, buts Jims sounds good.

Pennsylvania and New York IS northeast of Nebraska :ROTF:

Come on out I'll let ya loose in the barns for a bit.

What Rock Farmer said. But then again sir, we aren't in the northeast. We are in Canada according to the rest of the country..

All- Thought you may find this interesting. This was an email from the previous owner. As I said he was a really nice guy and straight shooter. Hi Steve, I'm so happy that you are enjoying the SR. I knew she would run fine. I enjoyed meeting you and couldn't be more pleased that she will be shown at the shows. After talking with you , I consider you "OLD SCHOOL" which is refreshing nowadays. As for the paint, I don't recall that it was ever painted or primed. In your picture where you oiled the right hand side of the hood is the color that I remember . For history I believe the tractor was bought new by Joseph Ventura of East Bridgewater, Ma. He owned and operated the Shawnee Nursery on rt. 106 "Plymouth St" . Bob Andrews,my dad, bought the property in 1960 and with it the SR. He was a gentleman farmer as a hobby and enjoyed many years driving around the property on the SR for relaxation. The tractor was never really worked hard. When he passed in 1995 I brought it here to Middleboro and until about 3 years ago I also enjoyed driving her around my property and talking to the many people who would stop to check her out. I can't count how many offers to buy her that I have had over the years. Well, that's my story and I'm very very happy to have you as the new owner . If I come up with any more info I will get it to you. Thanks again, Bob Andrews, Jr. Bob, My buddy and I were able to work on the SR and get her running perfect. I changed the tires with a set I had on another machine. They are the exact match. Here are a few pictures of how she sits now. In a few hours I plan on taking her for a ride. Believe it or not we were able to date the engine to a early production 1956 engine which leads us to believe that it is a 1956 model. The hood has been primered at some point. I am considering removing the primer back down to the original patina. If you don't mind, can you send me any other information on the history of the tractor? From a collector standpoint it would be great to know who the original owner was then you and your dad's full names and when he purchased it. I do not think it was used all that much.

Same problem here in Florida. I lived just outside of South Bend for 45 years and had a barn full of red. Sold everything when we full time RV'ed for 2 years before we settled down here about 10 years ago. It took forever to find this one on the gulf coast. It was filthy, neglected, banged up a bit and needed all new consumables like belts, etc. She runs great and looks pretty good now. Keep looking. You'll eventually find one.

This is a really interesting thread. This summer, I purchased a 1961 Suburban in really bad condition. However, I have enough here to save this tractor from going to the scrap yard. In fact, already bought parts I needed (wheels, tires, hood, belt guard, engine) to turn this tractor into my next resto project. Anyway, the tranny is locked up. Gear lever is in neutral, won't go into any gear, and engine pulley/axles won't rotate. Thinking the bearings are frozen since I drained a lot of water out of it first thing after I got it home. Apparently, I will have to tackle my first transaxle rebuild to get her running again. This thread has given me the motivation to believe that I can start taking my tranny apart and bebuild it.

OK guys, update time: Picked up the 416 this morning. Brought it home and gave it a good bath, and then another bath, then a blow drying with the backpack blower. Then followed that up with a WD-40 bath and rubdown. I removed the seat for this due to the seat has some cracks, and I did not want to get the foam wet. Then it was time to grease everything that had a fitting so it would steer and roll easier when I pushed it from one place to another. Then it was pic taking time, and it looks pretty darn good eh? :)

My '88 414-8 has the Kohler Magnum engine. The '85 416-8 is powered with a Kohler K engine. The 416-8 is powered! I guess after all the 12 hp and less, Horses I've owned, 16 hp is a treat. 30-40 years ago I remember rope starting a couple of my Horses. I want to rationalize a bit, the 12 hp Kohlers actually do everything I want to do (or play). Blow snow, plow, sweep, mow, take Grandkids ridin', get me out of indoor chores with the Mrs. In fact, anyone know where I can get a 12" mower deck? I'll be right in Hon soon as I'm done mowing the lawn. :-)

IT'S ALIVE !!!!!!! Had to clean the points in order to get spark. Here is a video of it running for the first time.

I do have a used one like the one in the picture i posted Brian

I had a 1979 K-91 that I believe had that magnet style. (been a while ~ sorry I can't quite remember) @Ken: can you post the spec and serial number from your engine, and/or does it have a silver ID sticker vs. a metal tag?

I may have a good used one I will look Brian

Use the German torque setting built into your arm.... Gootentite! :)

Hey guys, I recently picked up a tiller (1960's I believe) and the setup is almost complete. I have two pairs of pulley's but not entirely sure it will work around the transmission. I have the pulleys that will bring the belt down below the footrest but I dont see much clearance for it to fit around the axle. I've seen pics while searching and saw that there might be a pulley that would eliminate the belt from going over/under the transmission but the one I saw was mounted to the tiller. I'm not seeing any holes where one may have been mounted... Any ideas how this would work? Or should I just fab up a pulley on the tiller to bring the belt under the axle? I'll try to get pics uploaded sometime tonight with all the parts that came with it... Thanks!