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Hi All, I thought I would start a thread for the 401 that I bought last week and picked up yesterday. I have been wanting a 401 for a long time and am so happy to finally be able to have one! This is my first RJ/Suburban and I already love it alot! It is a nice, orginal tractor and also came with the plow, inside wheel weights, and tire chains. Am planning to restore it this winter and hopefully will have it done by next spring. Thanks to Jim Meyer for selling me a great tractor! Here are some pics of when I unloaded the tractor today and also after I power washed it and also of it in it's new stall . I will be sure to keep you all updated on the restoration! Hope you enjoy the pics! Taylor

And that's the rest of the story... Just kiddin papa, I think you are spot on!

Ok, been busy with work and all, my pulling tractor, and other projects I am working on. So I have not had time to reply to some of the questions that were asked. I apologize. So, here goes... The new front tires on my 552 I purchased about about a year ago from M.E. Miller Tire off of ebay. They are Firestone Turf Guides. Not sure if Miller still sells them... did not see them on their web site the other day. The tread is quite similar to the original tires that were on the 552 tractor. I liked the fact that they were Firestone branded and that's why I bought them because my dad liked Firestone tires. He even had one of those Firestone rubber tire ash trays that he always kept near his seat at the dinner table. The lift lever was finally disassembled with torch heat and a heavy duty press which I don't have in my garage. Fred did say that the shaft was swelled from the end down about an inch or so... probably from me pounding on the end of the shaft trying to get it pushed out of the sleeve. I think I understand that instead of twisting the shaft loose to get it out, by pounding on the end I was probably making the fit of the shaft in the sleeve more and more a tighter press fit. So, the more I tried to pound or push it out, I was only making it tighter. I did not ask if I could go through their bone yard to look for any old Wheel Horse tractors. I will have to do that next time I get down there. Wheel prep and paint... sandblasting, a lot of hand sanding to smooth out rough spots, Rust-o-leum spray bomb primer and paint. I chose to use Rust-o-eum spray cans instead of a professional automotive paint job due to relatively low cost of spray cans at the local Wal-mart stores. I am quite comfortable and adept at using spray cans I have spray bombed lots of other projects all my life including spray painting those plastic models cars when I was a lot younger than I am today. I also use one of those squeeze trigger handle attachments that you can place on the top of spray cans, so it kind of feels like I am using a "professional" sprayer. I find using spray cans can do a really nice job if the spray technique is done properly... start and end the sweeps off of the parts being painted and allow several light coats to dry some between each coat instead of spaying on one heavy coat that has the chance to cause runs. Takes some time and lots of patience but I am proof that a spray bomb paint job can be done successfully. Besides, as long as my paint job looks good to me and lasts maybe another 20-30 years, I will be pleased. And finally, I can only hope my dad would be proud of my restoration project. He passed away 20 years ago and I still miss him dearly. I do know he would probably smile some but wouldn't have much to say as he always was. When I was about 15-16 years old, he had a 1940 Dodge pick up truck that we used on the farm I grew up on. The old truck was pretty beat up but one day I asked him if I could have it and fix it up. He told me not to waste my money on the truck. He said it was junk and he wouldn't let me have it. Today, I now wish I would have stolen that old truck or taken it anyway. Sometimes, when I just sit down and look at his old Wheel Horse now and think about how beat up it was a couple years ago when I got it, I wonder if he would kick my ass for putting lots of my time and money into fixing it up. But I can honestly say that even though I have spent a lot of time and money in this project and eventually the resale value will ever only be several hundred dollars, this tractor is worth a fortune to me personally. They say everything has a price, however I wouldn't ever sell this tractor for any obscene offer... at least while I am alive to enjoy it. Thanks to all you RedSquare members here on this fantastic Wheel Horse forum. I enjoy reading about your projects as well and will promise to keep you informed as I bring my dad's 1962 552 WH tractor back to its second life. Still can't wait for the day I saddle up and ride her again.

I have been restoring my dad's 1962 552 Wheel Horse for almost the past two years now. Been a slow process but enjoying every stage of the rebuild. So far from this... to most recently this... Anyway, had a bit of trouble getting the lift lever/hood stand assembly disassembled. Soaked with PB Blaster for a long time. Still no results getting it apart. Figured that I needed to take it to a "professional" who had more powerful persuasion tools than what I had. Took it a local Cub Cadet dealer just a couple miles from my home. Once I mentioned it was off of an old Wheel Horse tractor, he said he wouldn't touch it... wouldn't even look at it. Well, that ended our conversation rather quickly. Took it then to a farm implement dealer, specifically Wertz Farm and Power Equipment located near Lineboro, Maryland which is about 30 miles from my house. Now this area is where I grew up as a child when my dad originally purchased the 552. The technician there took it immediately and got it apart within 30 minutes. Got to talking to the old guy and he said that he lived in the area all his life and has worked at Wertz's since about 1965. I told him I grew up near there also and started talking about how I acquired my dad's tractor just a couple years ago when I had not seen it for nearly 40 years. My uncle found it two years ago and gave it to me. Well, seems this guy knew my uncle and said my uncle lives in that house over there... and he pointed across the street. I honestly did not know that. Anyway, seems this guy also worked on my grandparents farm near there when he was a lot younger like way back in the '50's. Not knowing exactly where my dad bought this Wheel Horse tractor, I asked Fred if there were any Wheel Horse dealers in this area in the early '60's. He said that this company he worked for, Wertz Farm and Power Equipment, was once a Wheel Horse dealer when the company had their location in the town of Lineboro, Md. He smiled when I showed him pics of my RJ58 and 552 and said he really liked working on the old Kohler engines but didn't care much for the Techy's as they were generally hard to start. Although, Fred said he was pretty sure that they no longer had any purchase records from the old Wheel Horse tractor sales, I am now convinced that my dad bought my 552 tractor from Wertz in Lineboro which was just a few miles from my childhood home. That's my story from my little corner of the world and I'm sticking to it. So, back to my resto project, just got done painting the original rear wheels off of my 552 and a couple of front wheels for my RJ58.They actually came out looking like new... I was able to save the original rear tires from the 552... BF Goodrich Silvertown 6-12 turfs... There is some cracking on these tires, but they are generally in pretty good condition considering how bad the whole tractor looked when I got her a few years ago. Got new inner tubes for it and a bottle of that black tire paint from m.e. Miller Tire Co, so we'll give it a try and see how they come out.

I had this 1954 Dodge Red Ram Hemi engine laying in the garage for many years. I wanted to build a power unit out of it but I tripped over these 1959 Copar Panzer parts and thought, hmmmm! So I have it mocked up so far but I'll have to make a new frame and weld it together. It looks pretty beefy so far! Should I do it or what? Looks like a done deal to me! KJ

So I was outside working on my parents house when I heard a rumble in the sky. Looked over to my left and this is what I saw. (turn the sound up and listen to the engines rumble wish the video did it any justice. pretty damn cool) There was a small "wheels and Wings" show at the local airport. (BVY for anyone interested) The main attractions were two bombers, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Nine O Nine†WWII Heavy Bomber and a Consolidated B-24J Liberator “Witchcraft†WWII Heavy Bomber. There was also a P-51C Mustang. Just got a glimpse from a distance.

Its not a tall schute but I figured for 25.00 I did ok

Awesome indeed. What a great wessage. BTW-Mike Rowe is an eagle scout also.

What a FANTASTIC message!!!

Bragging Rights for 5 guys...this ought to be good!!! :banana-linedance: :banana-linedance: WOW...Michigan sure is making a lot of teams look good.

Well don't do 50% thinner that's about like spraying it with a garden hose. There is no way to stop any paint that thin from running. I am not a professional but I have sprayed a lot of paint. Here is what I found, if it's 70 degrees or more I use very little thinner. Now you have to realize I do paint outside which does make a difference too. By outside I don't mean usually wide open as I paint in a big open door on my shop. I don't let the tractor sit outside and get hot before I paint either. I don't mix large batches of paint to start with. Depending on what I am painting I usually mix 4 or 8 oz. of paint. I use a measuring cup, For the Van Sickle paint I use, I put the paint in, then you add the hardener( in my case that is 1 oz for 8 oz. of paint ) and stir, let it sit for about 10 minutes covered, then I will add an ounce of thinner maybe less depending on the temp and stir it with a paint stick. When you pick the stick up out of the paint watch it run off the stick. If it looks too thick add a little more thinner until you are satisfied. Now you don't spray it on what you want to paint yet! Take a scrap piece of metal and shoot some on there, if the coverage looks good and it doesn't run you should be good to go. If your gun doesn't spray it good you have a couple choices. You can thin it a little more or increase your air pressure a little or adjust your spray pattern until it works for you. Before you do any spraying with a gun though you should read as much as you can about the adjustments on your gun. If you have never used a gun before don't assume that you should just start with your newly restored tractor without practicing first. When it comes to painting even professionals have problems from time to time. Don't get in a hurry or discouraged when you get runs, orange peel or it is dull. You can always wet sand and put some more paint on it. Take it slow and remember that old adage if you fail, try, try again you'll get the hang of it.

Stopped by the mentone show today ( 100 mile one way ticket) and grabbed up a pretty nice 96' 520H with a 60" deck. Both are virtually flawless. Very happy with it. Original paint and 609hrs. 50th anniversary model to boot. makes 3 520s now. 2H's and one 8 speed. Of course this is the nicest so far. This one didn't even make it in the show grounds.

Latest update pics on my dad's 552 tractor... Obviously did not get er done by July... but then again, if I had gotten it done already, there wouldn't be more to do, ha. Still coming along nicely.

Picturing them flying over your lake reminds me of a story my Dad and Uncle would tell. As I remember it they were pretty young and in a small boat just off the coast fishing with a couple of friends. The saw one of these big bombers flying over head pretty low so they all started to make machine guns out of their fishing poles, oars, arms and whatever they had in the boat. The plane was low enough to see them and the pilot had a sense of humor so he made a wide loop and then came back around. This time he was brushing the tree tops. He snuck up on them good. They didn't hear him or see him until he cleared the coastline and when they did they were jumping out of the boat to get out of the way. I'm sure the story has been embellished a bit over the years but I bet that's exactly how they remember it. They can't tell the story without busting up laughing.

On my way home from pa scored a Nice truck load 4 mower decks a 633 and a restored c81 with boxes of parts. The best part are the amish family I got to meet. Heres some pictures and more to follow.

I just saw this video while surfing youtube. Thought it was pretty interesting and it struck a chord. I've read many posts on this site by folks who I think might enjoy seeing this. The real message starts 10 minutes and 55 seconds into the video.

I was just curious. When I got mine it was a little rough on the eyes but it was a runner, it took me 2 years to get around to cleaning it up because I was having too much fun using it.

As someone else mentioned....that mid hitch where the deck mounts to doesn't look right. With engine off....can the deck be pushed forward and backward by hand much?

Great looking machine you got there Taylor! Excited to see what you do with it. Does it run?

I want an old round hood so badly. nice score and ill be following the restoration.

Humm... looks like I see some of the factory paint emerging there in that last pict.

He does some awesome work!! I'm really digging the 70 camaro!!

(2) My wife and I

Cleveland wins 31-27!!!!!!

Well I tried the card trick this morning on my winter wheels. I used some old flash cards the kids had when they were much younger. I cut the cards lengthwise so I could tape & card both sides of the tire at once - so they would sit flat when flipped over. It all worked so well and went so fast I didn't get any pictures. After these harden up for a week or so I'll mount them and do my summer wheels - I promise to get some pix then. I used Rustoleum Antique White and the color looks to be a perfect match for the Gravley front wheels I just put on the tractor. My 310-8 is an '85, but I like how the white wheels look better than the silver. I'd recommend the card trick strongly to would be wheel painters. It works. Deflate the tires and push down a bit on the tire to slide the card in between the tire and rim. Thanks for the tip. Tim

Thoughts: Minny- 4-0 start. Kill is a good coach. Could the Gophers be the real deal? Tough to tell as they haven't beat anyone significant yet. Upcoming game with Iowa will be the litmus test for them. Iowa- hawkeyes 3-1with the lone loss being N Illinois. They have come back from their horrendous 6 game losing streak from 2012. But Iowa will be Iowa. Right in the middle of the pack. The game with Minny is more of a test for the Gophers than it is for Iowa: no surprise if they win and no surprise if they lose: that just what Iowa does. Ohio State- 4-0. throwing 76 on Florida A&M is no shock. Guiton picking up where Miller left off is no shock. Defense pitching a shut out is no shock. Do you see where I am going with this? Wisconsin will be the toughest test for them yet but, the Buckeyes are en fuego. Nebraska- 3-1, with a single loss to UCLA, who we are seeing is no joke. They haven't really shown much. Beating who they are supposed to and getting "upset" by UCLA. They do have a nice October coming up: Illinois, Purdue and Minny. The game with the Gophers could be large IF the Gophers beat Iowa. Penn State- another 3-1 team. The 3 point loss to UCF doesn't really reveal anything about this team. Are they a surprise? I dunno. Are they better than we thought? I dunno. The schedule gets significantly tougher this month with an interesting game at Indiana and ending with back to back games with Michigan and at OSU. How these three games shake down will tell us more about this team. Wisconsin- 3-1 with humongous game looming at Ohio State this saturday for the Badgers. Gary Anderson is a good coach and he is proving it. Could the Badgers take the Buckeyes to ot again? Sure. Could they just fall into the meat grinder at the horseshoe and be spit out as ground chuck? No. They will give the Buckeyes all they can handle. We know who the Badgers are: good D, decent QB, and run,run run power football. Michigan State - 3-1 with the loss coming at the hands of a Notre Dame team that didn't want to win; and the Spartans still found a way to lose. Another close loss, shades of last season. Dantonio can coach defense but the rest of the team remains a question. Iowa, Indiana, Purdue and Illinois come up this month. Some teams would be salivating at this schedule, using a sharpie to mark w's on the schedule. My feeling is that the Spartans are using a pencil do draw question marks. Northwestern - 4-0 with the big test at Maine out of he way. Really, the wildcats have beat Cal and Syracuse showing us that they have some potential. Pat Fitzgerald is a very good coach and we all know how well he has done at this perennial doormat of a program. Are they in the caliber of the conference elite? No, but they sure as heck can surprise some and dominate others. We should get a real good feel for how good this team is after they get thru back to back games with OSU and at Wisconsin (2 teams that they didnt play last year) Indiana- 2-2 with losses at navy and Mizzou. This team is getting better but they won't turn the corner until they can play defense. With such a prolific offense they can and will score points. October brings PSU, MSU and Michigan. Could they possibly beat one of those teams? Sure. Could they lose all three? Likely. Until they can show that they have a defense, this is what its going to be like in Bloomington for the foreseeable future. Purdue- 1-3 with the lone win over Indiana State. In my mind Hazell was a reach and until he has a significant win and the team shows continuos improvement, he will remain that way. Purdue has reached what quite a few other B1G teams have: the plateau of mediocrity. No upset specials here, no dominating wins, an occasional, exciting close loss and an occasional win versus another team from the plateau. Illinois - 2-1-wins over S. Illinois and Cincy. Loss at Washington. The Fighting Illinin remain the landlords of the plateau of mediocrity. They hired a mediocre coach to run a mediocre program. They hired a mediocre OC (Cubit) who was mediocre at Western. From back to back bowls to 2-10 last season. I see a trend here. Game at Nebraska, followed by 2 home games against Wisconsin and Michigan State spell doom for the Illini. Which brings us to the luckiest team so far this season in the B1G: Michigan - 4-0 with a questionable squeaker at home against the Irish, another last night at UConn, yet another at home against Akron and the given blowout win against Central. Wow! This team is hard for me to figure out. Gardner is playing very well and he is no joke, but they seem to have a penchant for not finishing games and letting their opponent lose them instead. That will haunt them when they play the big boys. Minnesota comes to Ann Arbor this month as does Indiana. They go to Happy Valley between the 2 home games. Could the Wolverines come out of October 1-2? I think so. Unless they get their act together and play for a full 60 minutes the tides will turn as they face more upper echelon teams in the conference.

I think it sounds OK Mike...a chain, going around at that speed, is going to make some noise, and that is what it sounds like. If it is aligned right you should be OK. She may quiet down a little when you feed it some snow...I think it just sounds hungry. I sound the same way when it is time to eat. BTW...Nice Pictures!!

I believe the replacement hood does make the tractor more unique and rare but not necessarily worth any more than a normal hood. But, there could be a collector out there that wants it more than someone else does. $0.02 That's a great find so go get it!

Somehow I had forgot about this project. Even if you have not made one inch of progress, I'd love to see some more pics!

Ahh, I see... The hub actually broke broken set screws are common but easily removed with a welder, washer and sacrificial bolt! Mark

Sweet Ride! So, what your saying is the best thing to do at the shows is hang out in the parking lot and grab up the good stuff before anyone else gets to see them. Now we know how its done!

And the winning teams are for WEEK #4... MINNESOTA, IOWA, OHIO ST., NEBRASKA, PENN ST., WISCONSIN, NOTRE DAME, NORTHWESTERN, MISSOURI, MICHIGAN 5 guys picked all ten games right this week...bk-scouter...brrly1...hodge71...JimD...Stevasaurus 9 / 1 papaglide 8 / 2 bitten...RMCIII...Squonk Total standings::: Stevasaurus...............38 / 8 hodge71.....................37 / 9 JimD...........................37 / 9 brrly1..........................36 / 10 bitten..........................35 / 11 bk-scouter..................35 / 11 papaglide...................35 / 11 RMCIII.........................35 / 11 Squonk.......................32 / 14 Congratulations to the 5 guys and their PERFECT PICKS...in the 4 or 5 years we have been doing this, I don't think this has ever happened. :) :)

True words from a down to earth guy. Best 28:17 minutes I spent today. Thanks for posting. :handgestures-thumbupright: Here's that website- http://profoundlydisconnected.com/

Great to see it running Craig. With all the bad press the Tecumseh gets I'm sort of relieved to see yours up and running so well. Like I said elsewhere maybe it's because folks just aren't familiar with them. If ours turns out near as good as that sounds and runs we'll be happy. Good job.

I must also apologise for missing this post initially Rob and a belated Welcome. Suspect I know where you got the replacement Hub from at that price . I agree totally not to disturb the other Hub (unless the Seal leaks), Not sure if the Woodruf Key is the same size on the 1" Shafts as on the bigger inch and an eighth diameter shafts. If they are, I may have one, or can make you one. The important thing is if the keyway in the Shaft is damaged. Is there any way of taking a pic and posting it on here for us to see?. We can then make a more qualified answer as to where to go next. I see your fairly-ish local to me , and pretty close to Stigian, who may also know more about the early Raider 10s. So don't feel too isolated down here in the South East corner of the Rock. Regards

WoooooHooooo...Wife is leaving me, and I will be there for the M & G! Keep my tee shirt and I will pick it up there....2 XL Add 1 to the guest list! Oh, she will be coming back home later that day, but It will be an overnighter for me!

So why did you buy a new hub, what was wrong? I thought the set screw had broken that's all?

50 or so

A guy I work with collects antique engines and he stopped by yesterday and looked around. He said a lot of stuff was too far gone to be worth much. Couple of tractors with trees growing through them. Kinda sad really. That's the thing I have about people collecting stuff just to have it. After a while it gets out of control and everything just sits. How many tractors do you need???? I have 4 and run them all the time. It's enough.

circa 2000 about the beginnings of the Wheel Horse Collectors Club and their show. http://www.farmcollector.com/Tractors/Whee...nd-Running.aspx

Here's my C195 Brian

Finally got the rear tires and wheels mounted... at least I now have a roller. The m.e. Miller tire paint came out real nice on the old rear tires... very pleased with the results. Mounted the engine last week but didn't get to take pics yet. Working now on refinishing the hood stand. The gas tank and steering wheel are ready for assembly once I get the hood stand finished. Hoping to be painting the hood stand, lift lever, hood/grill, fenders, seat, belt guard, and left side shield withing the next two weeks. The target date for me to saddle up and ride this pony for the first time in nearly 40 years is being planned on July 10, 2013.

I was a bit slow there on the transmission... Charlie has a raider 10 with techy engine if I'm not mistaken.... Charlie... You gonna pipe in :)

Last project of 2012

depend ing on the cylinder --you can install a new o-ring have done it 1-574-342-4545

Found the early style stand up springs being reproduced at Norms Toys, if anyone is looking. http://www.normstoys...wheel_horse.htm

If you play your cards right you should be able to have as much fun as this guy. The video is a little sketchy but trust me, its worth a look. Half way thru he starts laying down some good burn outs.

Here's one more. It's another articulating I believe was made by the same Red Square member who made the other one.

Here is a couple of the many I will try to post more later, I'm off to work.

With the rod attached between the governor arm and the throttle shaft plate on the carburetor, pull the top of the governor arm AWAY from the carburetor as far as it will go (full throttle) and hold it in place while you rotate the governor shaft COUNTER-CLOCKWISE as far as it will turn. (the same direction that the governor arm moved) Hold both parts in this position and tighten the pinch bolt in the governor arm. B)