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So, I have been a RedSquare member for about two years now and I just want to share with y'all what I have collected so far. My collection started about 2-1/2 years ago when my uncle found my dad's old 1962 Wheel Horse 552 tractor and gave it to me for free. Then... and now... restoration in progress... same tractor but now with a 502 model Lauson HT55C-3088 engine and new front tires... My 2nd Wheel Horse was another 1962 model 552. This was a clist find that I basically bought so that I had one to refer to when tearing apart my dad's 552 for a full restoration and putting that one back together... My 3rd Wheel Horse was an RJ-58 (early S/N) that I bought from JDog's Horse Ranch. She has the original Kohler K-91T 3-1/2 hp engine and still runs great. I refinished the front wheels and mounted new front tires... Then my 4th, I saved this 1961 model 551 that was abandoned in a wooded lot about 25 miles from my home. This was a clist find for $75. This photo is from when I got it home. I already had an original Lauson H55D-2113 engine for it which is shown here just set on the frame. Since then, I have acquired new wide rear wheels/tires, and a hood for it. Not posting new pics now as it is in the back corner of the shed patiently waiting for serious restore time, but the plan is to build a rat rod out of this one... I got my 5th Wheel Horse about a year ago, a $500 clist find, this 1995 314-8 is in great shape with a mower deck and snow blower. I sold my 11hp Crapsman so this is now my worker... and a hard worker she is... I bought my 6th Wheel Horse earlier this year from RedSquare member Big Jake. This is pulling tractor... a 1977 C-120 WH chassis with a 1965 hood and a 22hp Robin Subaru V-twin engine. I went to about four local pulling events this year and had a ton of fun learning about garden tractor pulling... And my most recent addition to my herd about two months ago is another 1961 551 Wheel Horse. This is my 7th WH, another local clist steal. This tractor is nearly complete (also came with a heat shield not mounted) but does need some engine work and a new red coat. A rare feature on this tractor is an NOS replacement hood with the horizontal open slots you would find on the 1962 models... So, that's my current 2-1/2 year Wheel Horse collection. I am now a serious Wheel Horse collector, and yes, I do proudly admit it. There are a few other models that I have on my wish list but as you can probably tell, I really admire the late 50's-early 60's round hoods, So, I am always looking for more if and when the right ones come along. I am also very proud to be a member of the RedSquare forum where I have found so much more information about Wheel Horse tractors than I ever imagined. I have attended the last two Big Shows in Arendtsville, PA just looking for parts and admiring everyone's tractors. I hope to maybe bring a few of these fellers along with me to the next show in 2014. Dave from south central PA

Well i bougth a LXI for a while ago.. On the left side they had done som uppgrade on the hub whit 2 extra set screw's.. i thougt it was ok.. but i was driving it around i could notice that the wheel was (wobeling) a bit.. So i went back in the workshop to have a closer look at the fix they had done on it before.. the axel is 1-1/8 so ill started to pull the hub off.. it needed some fight to get it off but i won.. and when ill got it of the axel was really bad... and here are the hub it was broken from before.. but you can se they have drilled it up and put a sleve innside the hub.. i have asked around whit a some "tranny guys" and they are not sure on the axel in this tranny is the same as older horses .. so i had to do something whit it.. to fix it now.. and let's se how long it works before ill need to change the axel... so here is what ill did to fix it for now.. ill turned the axel 180 degrees and found a square keyway pice i had and marked the axel so i had some to cut after.. i tok my dremmel whit Cutting blade on and started.. have also did some filing whit a airtool on that pict.. almost done whit the new keyway did a test whit a hub that was good..and it's fit just need to do some fine filing on it and it's ready ill guess.. last pict shows how long the new keyway is.. this is just a test hub yo see how it fit's need to pull of a HD hub to put on this tractor and to fix the axel on the old keyway im gona try to clean it up really good and use chemical metal to fill up the old broken keyway and file that to a so it follows the axel.. and ill hope it will work good for a long time... Lars

ONLY 24 more shopping days!!! Anyways.... I went hunting on a brand new piece of property the State of Connecticut purchased in 2011. Its just under 500 acres and is nice for walking in and sitting quietly. I was mopeing along slowly looking around and being quiet when i stumbled upon this abandoned deer / summer camp. I did find on the door frame the date November 25, 1965 and a list of about 15 names. I looked it up and that was Thanksgiving day. The stories and memories in this little 12x20 camp must be amazing. Sad to see it slowly rotting into the earth, it is all cedar and is incredibly well built including a solid cement slab---HOW MANY BAGS OF CEMENT DID THEY CARRY IN / MIX!!!!! Yes I did sit in it for an hour or so both to check out all the scribbles and stuff the kids have done over the years plus as a cool "snipers" nest if a deer strolled by---none did. Tony

I received my 701 dash today and was feeling like jumping off the porch in Joy!What a well engineered product.I highly recommend any of his products as they are A-1 quality!Thanks for keeping the interest and makin the time to help keep these red gems alive!

I was born in '45 and grew up on a farm in central New York. One of the greatest things was being able to go anyplace and feel safe. We would ride our bikes to the general store a mile away and drop off eggs and produce and bring home the groceries, didn't need any money, it was all on the barter system. If the account had a little extra on it I would get a Coke. ( if not I think Mr. Wright would tell me there was and give it to me.) Growing up all of the boys in the area would work for whatever farmer needed help, most of them paid us well and would take us out for pizza or burgers when the work was done. From time to time we would all ride our bikes to the city bus stop ( five miles ) and take the bus into Syracuse to see a movie. As a teen I played drums in the School band. That gave me an opotunity to go to all of the events and home games. Our little town had one social hang out, soda fountin/bowling lanes/barber shop/diner. We would all go down to "Archies" after shool on game nights and then after the game some one would take us home, parents never had any concerns, we were safe as could be. I can not remember any crime at all in our little town. My mom would put any excess produce out by the road with a change box and sell it on the honor system. ( try doing that today ) Every adult was treated with respect and if we got out of line they made sure you knew it, long befor your parents found out. I once made a go cart from an old door and the motor from dad's mower. That thing seemed like it went 100; Dad didn't mind as long as I put the motor back on the mower and cut the yard.Yes, they were the good old days!

Ok Terry, here you go! Pretty rough looking, but it all works! I have equipped it already with a copy of Scott Moreau's 2" receiver. I have a 12v fan type fertilizer spreader and a semi-mounted liquid sprayer with a 12v pump and both will be attached via the 2" receiver. I will have a 12v accessory outlet somewhere on the rear of the tractor for quick hookup when using both. Lot of work to do yet, but it will be a "labor of love"! I like the look of your 8" wheels better than my 6", but when sitting in the seat I can't see what it looks like, it just performs as I had hoped and like you, I have it to use! Melvin-man

I had most of my c195 complete last winter, then spring came. 140 rounds of golf later, it's cold outside and it was time to finish it .this tractor was the worst rust bucket I have ever worked on. refracman helped me with a few parts. also, learning the c175 has the exact same parts really helped. im just going to moth ball this tractor. I just cant see dropping three hundred bucks on rear tires that are not going to be used. here is how she turned out.

Been down in the 20's the last few days and went out tonight to swap out the 30w for some 5w-30 in the 314-8 (Kohler M14). After wrestling with my IH Cub Cadets and Simplicity, it was a pleasure to simply unscrew a pipe plug, drain the oil, refill. No subframes to remove, drain plug on the side of the engine, easy access to drain. Other simple things come to mind - like no speparate subframe for mower deck and front blade, heck - no subframes at all. No need to pull the engine to replace the clutch or hydro fan. Crazy simple PTO, easy to service and adjust - no special tool required. Flip the hood and almost total access to the engine. Problem with the driveshaft, pull the engine to service. Problem with the drive belt, easy replacement - engine stays put. Pretty simple. Am I missing anything? Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Bill

There is a possible work around. Go to parts tree and drill down to find the part number you need or if possible download a manual/parts list from Toro. I have a lot better luck at these dingbat dealers if I do the look-up for them and just give them a part number to work with. I definitely respect and use a good dealer for any product, but find it more and more difficult to stumble into a dealer that is not an expert at taking your hard earned $$$'s for a product they know nothing about and dread the day they have to service or be asked a question about what you bought from them in the first place. It's no wonder the box stores rule today. At least with them you can get a no hassle return. But... I'd take an old Wheelhorse and the great support on this forum over a new dealer or box store tractor every day!!!!! Good luck, Bill

Here's a pic of both marks on a 161: @scratchawl: did you remove the camshaft & followers (lifters) during your "rebuild"? I'm with Kiwi Mike on the spitting possibly being caused by a "tight" intake valve.

Very good repair Lars . that damaged keyway was major. As has been said, I also sure hope it will hold up well. If you need anyone to search for parts in UK , just say .

Funny you mention Simplicity. I was showing my local OPE guy pics of my tractors. He sells Simplicity. He asked about one I just got from the original owner. He said, Why did the guy sell the WH? I told hime he couldn't get on and off it anymore and he bought a Simplicity. The Simplicity guy said ,HE WON"T BE HAPPY WITH IT!!! There is a Old Toro Wheel Horse Dealer about 30 miles from me. He has been there forever. He might be able to help you. At least he might be able to come up with a part # PM me if you want his phone #

I was born in 1951 in Chicago and raised there, the third child with an older brother and sister; and a younger sister born in 1958. We lived on the North Side. My grandmother on my mother's side lived with us. My father worked six days a week for a clothing store, Lyttons, and my mother watched children for families that had both parents working. Both of my parents worked hard to send the four of us to Catholic school. At that time, people associated the local parish with where they lived. I can remember "Duck and Cover" drills plus when they were doing sonic boom testing over Chicago. Living two blocks from school, I would go home for lunch. We would line up in the classroom to go home, either Church Corner or School Corner. My father never drove (he did during the war though) so my mother was the family chauffeur. We had a 1948 Studebaker that my parents had purchased from a neighbor who was related to the Stromberg family, of Stromberg carburetor fame. It was rather innovative for its time as I recall. It had been modified to run with two six-volt batteries because they had a home in Northern Wisconsin. It always started for us. We had a black and white console TV that would blow a tube every once in a while. My father would pull the tubes out and go down to the local Rexall drug store to test them on the Tube Tester. Just like Bob, I watched the same shows plus some local ones such as Romper Room, Garfield Goose, and Uncle Johnny Coons (he ran Tarzan and Jungle Jim episodes.) I can remember before I was old enough to go to school that my mother and grandmother would watch "As the World Turns" daily. Our telephone was a "Party Line" and the number was LAkeview 5-1157. No area codes then! When we traveled somewhere (for example, every summer to Durand, WI which was a 14 hour drive before the Interstates,) we would call using an operator "Person-to-Person" for my dead grandfather, of course never home, to save spending money on the long distance phone call! Unthinkable back then with today's cell phones. Summertime we would play outside until the street lights came on. The street would be the softball (16" clincher) field until "Car!" temporarily stopped the play. We played in the street as there were hardly any parked cars in those days. In the winter, we would play in the snow and flood the backyard for a skating rink. I can remember eating buttered Cheerios and fresh snow with maple syrup. I belonged to the NBC ( Neighborhood Boys Club) for organized sports where I broke my nose playing baseball in 1961. We had two neighborhood movie theaters, the "Northcenter" and "The Bug." Both are long gone! I delivered newspapers for the two local papers at various times using my wagon. I would also use that wagon to go to the local lumberyard for supplies that my dad used working on the house. Before I turned 12 (half fare), my father would take me on streetcar and bus rides throughout Chicago on Sundays. As Bob said, simpler times (hard to think that way with the Cold War going on) for a kid back then. Ah yes, then the 60's!

That's what old folks do Brian.

terry and i have been working on the dash decals the past week or so and we also came up with a new design for the other decals. all morning i have been preparing the 416 by removing the old dash decals and the last set of custom decals we did. i also decided that since they were all off that i would break out the da and give the paint some more depth and shine. that factory paint responded once more to some polish and i think its about as good as its ever going to get. so stay tuned for some more custom decals from terry a little later on....... heres the 416 all naked waiting for a new set of clothes.....

Thinking next year, maybe get a new mower something with a little more 'pep', cut down on seat time. Looking for something with a 0 - 60 ...say 4 seconds, top out at 130 and blade rpm of...oh I don't know....say 4000. Mmmmmm , well at least its RED. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH_Qb4fdHfg

For the camshaft timing it is very easy to get it a tooth off. The cam and crank gears slide together as you insert the crankshaft and since they are hypoid gears they have to be slightly rotated together. The picture below shows the camshaft marking. I don't seem to have a pic of the crank mark but it is cast into the crank gear. More like a lump in the crank casting that kinda resembles an arrow. You can see both marks with the oil pan off. If the cam is 180 degrees out the camshaft eccentric for the points won't be in the right place. Seriously though, it would be impossible to get the cam 180 out on a 1 cylinder engine. Either way the piston is at TDC. If it is a tooth or two off though it needs to be corrected or it will never run right. The points timing needs to be set correctly after taking the engine apart too. The ignition timing is set by the dwell of the points. There is a peek hole in the shroud over the flywheel where you can find the TDC marking on it and another mark for the correct timing advance. If you are familiar with automotive engines you can set the points from there. It is like setting the dwell on a Chevy distributor, you move the points in and out and that adjusts the timing.

Brian, For the reasons I told you long ago I will never forget your Birthday! MJ and I wish you the Best B Day Ever! And many more to come. Your Pals ~Duke & MJ

Well got a real wet snow yesterday, So got MJ on the Camera. Here is the 520 Snow Chucker in Operation. ~Duke

Yes I forgot to say how much I enjoyed this thread too guys, You all were a bunch of fun and the ribbing was cool too. Thanks to all of you for making this a fun and successful thread. Wow. 414 posts and all in good spirit. Special thanks to my buddy Stevillinisaurus for all your hard work.

The foursome in the boiler room has been determined!!!!

Makes you wonder how many of these places are hidden all over the U.S.A both completly wrecked and fallen down and it this sort of shape. I saw a post asking what the U.S.A was like in the 50's.... well i wasn't born till '71 but all I can imagine is that it was 1000% better than what we have now. Deer Camps, a Chevy, Ford or Dodge in the driveway, not worrying about getting shot, blown up or otherwise by some jealous/pyscho anti Ameircan type.... post war prosperity and no P.C. B^&*(%%^%IT!!! yep I would take living less but living in the 50's versus living to 100 now with the medical advancements. Theres my little rant... but thats what thinking about this camp and seeing that 15 + people where together in the camp on Thanksgiving day 1965 made me feel. Tony

Man, I was born in 1965 and thought that the 70's were cool. The 50' s sound awesome!

Love the pics Doc. Cool old place, shame it's going to ruin.

Very nice work Lars, as usual.

lets see 8 btu needed to raise 1 gallon of water 1 degree 2o gallon tank needs 20 x 8 or 160 btu per 1 degree temp rise at 22f outside temp you need 160 x 10 or 1600 btu to maintain 32f in tank 1600 btu / 3.4 watts per btu equals about a 500 watt heater Steve is right, extra washing soda does not help the electrolysis action but it does lower the freeze point of the water even further i imagine a 26 f freeze point would not be unreasonable with additional wash soda added. a 6 degree rise in temp would only require a 250 watt heater. subtract another 5o watts contributed by the electrolysis action and a 200 watt heater may keep your 20 gallon tank operational down to around 20F the passive techniques of added washing soda and ping pong balls only work to a certain degree Uno pun intendedO

I surely understand about lack of customer support at some of the Toro dealers. I hear a lot of people talk about supporting their local dealer and in most cases I agree that is a great thing to do ......but......what if your dealer doesn't want your business because it's a Wheel Horse and not a Toro? I was needing the O rings for the mannifold to motor for my D and was having trouble figuring out on line what all the parts needed were. I had an idea but wanted to get it right so I went into a dealer and asked for help. Well the person behind the counter asked their mechanic to come look at the computer to help figure it out and about 5 minutes later we thought we had it. Well, the owner comes walking by and states, "we really don't have time to be messing with that Wheel Horse stuff and we don't make anything off it anyway". I took that as my needs mean nothing to him and that he is the type of guy that if he can't make a buck, he doesn't want you walking thru his door. The other dealership across town seems to like my money and is much more helpful. Worth the drive to deal with people that may actually appreciate your business! All dealerships are not created equal.

These guy's went far beyond when I needed parts for my 718Z, They ended up getting my part from another dealer in NC Grassland Equipment 892 Troy Schenectady Rd, Latham, NY 12110 (518) 785-5841

Very ambitious repair Lars. I bet it lasts along time and you never have to mess with it. Just keep checking that the set-screw is tight. Well done! Mike............

Plus you could wash parts with gas and it didn't burn your skin!

the work that went into this was puttin on the dual wheels and the exhaust and some electrical work

I remember gas spelling better too! Must have been the lead. I forgot to mention the "Season Changeover" with cars. Swapped the "Summer" thermostat for "Winter," and vice-versa.

Maybe "Godzilla vs. Gork" or "the Incredible Shrinking Fungus"!

the washing soda added to the water makes .... salt water. the freezing point will be lower than tap water. you also gain heat from the electrolysis action. if your 12 volt charger is flowing 5 amps; that is 70 watts of energy dispersed in the electrolyte. this heat would be equivalent of a 60 to 75 watt light bulb heating the solution. you could wrap the tank in a fiberglass blanket anf float ping pong balls on top of the solution to retain heat in the tank.

Thank You everyone having a good day so far going to see a movie at 4pm brian

You are going to catch up with me...if you keep having birthdays. Hope you have a great Birthday Brian. :happy-jumpeveryone:

I was born in 1950. My family consisted of mom, dad, and an older brother. Life was simple. As kids, we played outside almost all the time. Rarely watched TV. Shows like Howdy Doody, Romper Room, I Love Lucy, Our Miss Brooks, and of course Saturday morning cartoons were watched on occasion. TV was so bad that my mother used to drape a blanket over the TV and my brother so we could see the image. When we played outside, we were cowboys, indians, pirates, soldiers, and anything our vivid imaginations told us to be. We came in for lunch and supper, but were back out until dark. We camped out under the stars, and played in the puddles during rain storms. On rare occasions, we went to the movies. Old Yeller, Davy Crockett, Bambi, and Godzilla were a few that we could see for 25 cents. 5 cents bought you a Bonamos Turkish Taffy or a bag of popcorn. Dad filled the old 52 Ford pickup at the Sinclair station for 15 cents a gallon and got the windshield washed, oil checked and tires inflated. On Sunday we went to church, then to grandma's for Sunday dinner. No stores were open on Sunday. Where I lived, life was centered around the family. We got a telephone in 1952. Our number was 53M. Mom always had a garden, and we were never hurting for food, even when times were tough. I always wore hand-me-down clothes, that had been handed down to my brother by my older cousins. A trip to go shopping meant a bus ride to Baltimore City. There we had Sears-Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, Macy's, Hutzlers, Hochchild Kohns department stores. In our town, we had a real hardware store where you could buy anything. My dad would typically buy a bag full of nuts, bolts, hinges, screws, wire, fuses, and other stuff, and for less than $1.00. I was not into music when I was a child, but I did take piano lessons, and learned to appreciate real music. In 4th grade I played the trumpet. We were not allowed to listen to Rock and Roll, and my mother thought Elvis Presley was evil. But life in the 50's was simple and good for an All-American boy. I could go on and on, but then came the 60's, and everything changed.

Yes you did good I pd. $75 for a pair 2 years ago. I have them on the front wheels of my Power King.

Update: Right hub still on, transmission partially disassembled, and probable malfunction detected. The high/low gear has some gnawed off teeth on small gear and input shaft bearing went to outer space. Googly, oogly, plain gnasty pictures of guts.lks, Good eye folks does reverse gear look gnawed, looked better than picture? Will be searching for detent shift rail ball, high/low gear, input shaft bearing (outer cage still in) and possibly an input shaft so far. Presume would be safe to power wash as long as finished take down and dried out.

I bought a pair a couple years ago for $90 and they are mounted on the inside of my rim with WH 50 pound weights on the outside. They weigh in at about 25lbs apiece giving me about 75ish ponds on each rear rim. I dont think they are rare since they fit both the garden tractor size rear rims and the front rims of the larger Cub tractors. Mike............

Happy birthday Brian.

Happy Birthday Brian! today is also my Lab's birthday! Morgan says WOOF!

Happy Brithday Brian. hope you have a great day.....

Not to hi-jack this thread but this is a really good opportunity to say that it is nice to be able to work with a dealer in case something is wrong. The problem that I have run into is cost. Yes I like to support my local dealer especially the one I have used for years. The fact is the dealers price is sometimes 20 to 30% more than what I can find it on-line for. I just recently bought some Toro/Wheel Horse OEM items for 40% less than what my dealer was charging and that included shipping. I have in the past gave my dealer a chance to match or at least come close but he said he just could not do that. I understand business and know he has his cost, etc. but when you are faced with pay more and in some circumstances a lot more in order to support a dealer, it just does not add up for me. I have to get the biggest bang for my buck and unfortunately going the Internet route is being route I have to take. I don't like it but circumstances dictate it. I fully understand what flyovrcntry is saying and I am sure there is times you just should work with a dealer but the price they charge now a days you have to look to the net. Just kinda stinks to me. I guess the old saying "What it is, is What it is"

just changed out the tranny oil on my 416-8. went with 85w-140 from TSC. waiting for oil to drain out is almost like watching paint dry.......

After 1985,when WH was bought by Toro, they would have kept operations in the Wheelhorse plant since that is where all the tooling and employees trained in their manufacture were at. I don't know if the 300, 400 and 500's were made there until their demise but it takes a great deal of time and money to shut a plant down and move a product line to another location. The South Bend plant ran well past 1986. The quality of the Wheelhorse "Garden Tractor Line" was the same if not better after Toro became the parent company to Wheelhorse. I think a majority of members here would agree that we owe Toro a debt of thanks for keeping the 300, 400 and 500 series, (what Toro later called the "Classic"), going for all the years that they did. Toro added their lines to the lawn mower and commercial series and of course added the Xi series which was a really nice heavy garden tractor in it's own right. If Toro would have pulled the plug on the "Classic" line, we wouldn't see near the implement availability we see today and parts would have been scarce long before this present day. In regard to why some tractors only had a one or two year run, it all boils down to sales verses profits. I don't know for certain what the cost difference was between a 416 and 418 Kohler powered tractor but if 2 horsepower in a twin cylinder cost many hundreds of dollars extra, it most likely didn't sell as well as the single cylinder 416. Parts availability from engine suppliers would also play a large part in a continuation of a tractor model. We buy, sell and trade our tractors in used conditions. Toro needed to sell new tractors and I can tell you right now that when I bought my first home, I couldn't have afforded a Wheelhorse new. My car and truck were worth as much as a new 416 in 1986.

I will plant a tree Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

Make up a bolt on kit and offer it for sale.

604 & 500 special

the one on the left has the worst amount of pitting of the 2 in the chrome, but they will look great on the 416H... now i need to hunt down some rears.......