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Found a surviving 1075 on Craigslist a couple weeks ago and pounced.The gentleman I purchased it from bought it in 1966.It came with a Snowblower,tiller,snow/dozen blade and a nos deck.It has the factory headlight option as well!It's so hard to believe he used this for 49 years and its still in this condition!He had the motor gone through a few years ago and the starter/generator rebuilt 4 years ago.I said I would never own another hydro but I couldn't pass this gem up!I paid a respectable price of 500 dollars for all and I'm happy to be its caretaker from here on in!The deals are out there,Be patient!

The grass is finally growing here and I had the chance to mow with my 520H for the first time. I bought this 520H last year in pretty rough condition and have been restoring it since (I use that term loosely as its not on par with many of the restorations I see here Heres some pics of the tractor and deck when I bought it And how it looks now: I honestly didn't have much hope for the deck, the metal had a few rust holes and welded plates when I bought it. However, the spindles were in good shape with no noise so I tried to salvage it. I used JB welt to patch the holes, we'll see how it holds up. The engine itself runs great, smokes a little when you throttle it up but doesn't smoke when running and doesn't seem to burn large amounts of oil so hopefully it has some good life left. I have to say that Onan and 60" deck sound pretty awesome when running. My neighbor came outside just to comment on how cool it sounded. Now I just need a new seat, but it has to earn it first

On Saturday the little Electro went to Cajun Model Fest here in Baton Rouge and did alright. After winning in its class it took "Best Auto" which is one of the top level prizes. It might be a bit of a stretch to call it an auto but I was able to enter it as an off-road vehicle which made it eligible in the Automotive category. Thanks to all the Red Square members for the enthusiastic support. It wouldn't have been such a success without you!

Had my new 1277 FEL tractor out for an oil change today.

Found this one on craiglist about an hr from me....very good price. Its a mostly complete 604. I have everything to put it back together other than a correct motor. So I will be on the hunt for one later on. Has some of the nicest wheels I've ever seen, not any rust pitting on them at all. Well here's some pictures, who likes the custom round fenders?

Nope, you made your bed now lie in it. It will be locked tho. Mike......

Koen

I disagree, I think Jason bought a nice tractor at a nice price. If he did anything else with it, that's his choice. I never hear this negative stuff posted toward others that find a great buy on a tractor. I have read in the past some of you not happy with him buying/selling, but you guys fueling the fire, then getting all wound up over it? I guess you have a right to be upset that it was listed on eBay already, but what is the the appropriate time frame from a buy to a sell ....and who is the authority on this? If I can buy one today and have it sold yesterday that is fine with me, it's no one else's business. I believe Jason is over 18 and the seller also over 18. The business Jason works for makes money, why should he not be able to do the same. I find it hard to believe that others on here would pay more then someone's asking price, let alone telling them the value and then paying them the actual value. I remember a post in '07 that an early member made on another site saying something like....."The guy I got it from just wanted to get this "old" tractor out of the garage (it's been garage kept since new too). So I kept my big mouth shut, loaded the trailer, handed him the cash and shook his hand then got out of there before he realized what he'd done. " Time and time again guys on here are complaining about finding tractors that are out there, but the owners think they are gold and too pricey. You can look right in the venders section here and see that they are bought to resell for a profit, I don't see the negative posts toward those guys. What's the big difference? Talk about taking the wind out of a guys sail. Very nice tractor Jason..... The only comment here is I am jealous I didn't find it first, but then again so are others.

Yep, where you'll find all of us waiting in the parking lot for you to arrive Chas... screaming, and pointing... "clown car's coming!"

AND next thing you know...you'll be having a shinndig ...or a hallabalu gathering or whatever you kids call it nowa days Up in the mountains... In the middle of nowhere ...drinking & talking about those thingys or who knows what... And with my luck it will probaly be just miles from me....

Just a bunch a crazy RED NECKS

YOUR ALL A BUNCH OF HOODLUMS .. running around on those thingys ,mowing & blowing snow everywhere.... And now BOMBS You all need a good tazzering .... . Mind you ..I am writing a letter to the authorities on ALL of you characters .....

What'cha gonna do when they come for you? At the top of your lungs, scream...don't taze me bro.

How do you get yours to stick to that 90 degree incline?

Hello! I joined this forum pretty recently and I'm probably not the typical forum visitor. I build scale models - usually 1/25 cars - and I've been working on an Electro 12 model. BTW, many of the model cars that I build are my favorite car and another South Bend native - Studebakers. I found this site while searching online for reference photos and manuals. It's a great place with a lot of excellent resources. Reminds me a lot of the Studebaker Drivers Club forum where the members have always been very supportive of my model building. Makes me want to have a real Wheel Horse (and a Studebaker). Anyway, this is where it all started: Probably not many people are more interested in the Wheel Horse than they are in the Indy Car but I'm building the tractor and may never build the car. The tractor in the kit appears to be Charger but after looking over this forum for a while I decided to convert it to the Charger's cousin - a 1969 Electro 12. I had already built the engine as it came in the box but I realized it wasn't correct for this tractor. This is what the first build-up looked like: So I stripped the paint off and did a conversion: The next order of business was building a mower deck since the kit didn't have one and what good is a Wheel Horse without it! I downloaded the manual for a 5-1422 (Thank you, Forum!) and started scratchbuilding. This has been a lot of fun! Here are a few shots from the build-up and the finished mower: The paint is Duplicolor Bright Red which is a GM color. I bought some IH Red at Tractor Supply but didn't really like the drying properties of the paint. The GM Red matches it very well and in fact I brushed on a little of the IH color as touch-up paint in a few spots and can't see the difference. Duplicolor is my preferred paint. It dries fast and hard. There's certainly more to come. I hope you enjoy. Most of the other major components are under construction right now and will be ready to post soon.

Today my 1981 IH Cub Cadet 582 Special was finally picked up. It was sold a year ago but the new owner never retrieved it until today. Tom Rupprecht's hitch with crane attachment for the HF crane came in handy as the Peerless 2300 transmission was locked in gear. The previous owner of my house had pushed it into the field where it was abandoned. Not wasting any time (much to my wife's chagrin!) it was off to the local tractor show where I bought this 1952 David Bradley Model 917.57560 "Super Power." It has a 2 1/4 hp Briggs model 8 engine. The first model sold with the more powerful engine, it still retained the red hood. This one runs compared to the Cub! Being from Illinois originally, I had to have a piece of Illinois history. This should be an easy restore as it is complete. Just to give a size perspective, I parked it next to the 518xi. The 16" wheels are impressive! Downside is when I go to replace the tires, they will cost three times what I paid for the Bradley. But seeing as the Cub was free and the Bradley cost the same as what I sold the Cub for, I am ahead in the game - so far.

Just picked this up yesterday from a relative. 2nd owner tractor with 1359 hours. I always liked the Suburban 400 tractors and last year I finally got a Suburban 550? and a RJ58/59. This year I got this. I see a trend. Anyways, its a real nice tractor.

The Kids had a great day yesterday a the Yorkanna Gun Clubs annual Egg Hunt.

Fenders are a bit odd bit I'm digging that wooden motor mount! Mike...........

Dang...God forbid your tractor backfires a couple times in a row the swat team will be called!!! Lol

Thank you Duke. The pics help. I'll have to get a bore gauge, borrow or buy, and check that out. I did pull the plugs and stuff a small shop rag in each hole, just to make sure both pistons were still moving, and they popped right out when I turned it over. Just a quick simple way to check the engine before I bought it. Cylinders were obviously taking on oil, and the seller was honest about oil consumption. I figured I could sort it out by winter. I paid $100 less than what was advertised, and with all of the little extras, including mailing me a new trans fan later, I think I got a good deal. Sometimes it would not start, and it was clear one of the switches was the cause, seat, PTO, etc. It was easy to solve, have to hold the PTO and listen for the click so it will start. Worn out bushings on the handle. Another $100 in small parts, missing handles, new PTO brake, gas cap, hood stop rod, etc, plus the engine parts, and it will be a great tractor. I was a little worried about purchasing it, but Red Square came through. The biggest help was how fast people replied. Thank you all! Matt

Stop resisting.

Wait a a gosh darn minute there Mr. AMC!! There is a lean-to structure on the back of your shed. That's how you fit all those goodies in there!! "Ignore the man behind the curtain" Wiz of Oz Sigh! and we thought it was magic! Dennist: looks like the Coffee mate I put into my java this a.m.!

I converted my 414-8 to a forward swept axle and gear reduction steering and put a deck on her to get it ready to mow next week...

OK, I like to post these wierd things every once in a while (Remember my "theme" thread?). I find some of the stories delightfully entertaining and all of them interesting. So... WHY do you collect these old Wheel Horse tractors? - - - or - - - HOW did your addiction start? In my case, the story is simple: Dad bought a shiny, new Wheel Horse in 1987. With the tractor came the "Horse Sense" magazine subscription. In the back of the magazine were "Love Letters" that showed old tractors that owners kept alive. Many folks had more than one tractor too! (If you can believe that). So, we added an "oldie" to the mix. Then another. Then another. Eventually we ended up with a sizable fleet, and I even relocated to South Bend for a while due to this affliction. So, what's YOUR story? Steve

I bet the mid grader blade has only been used a couple times! The tiller has hardly seen any use either!

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Watcha gonna do.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1s2b1i_c2PU

first pic shows the 416 (p216) engine harness, second shows the 520 (p220), the only differences i see is on the 416 9 pin the tach and cylinder temp wires aren't connected to anything. the best thing i would suggest is since you have both harnesses compare them. get the plugs oriented the same way (some of the pin holders on the connector are round and some have flat spots to key the plug a certain way) and see if they are the same........

I dethatched, Swept, and overseeded the yard with the 704 and I think I managed to kill the fuel pump yesterday. Had to push er in. Will be rolling with Ezra today.

And out of the magic shed comes the D-8!!! OPPS!! LOOK OUT FOR THE WORKHORSE!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! What do you mean that downspout is flat! Don't you know you're supposed to wear a hard hat when operating "Heavy Equipment" ! Where is it??? Awesome tractor!!

Nice tractor and a great deal!

Wasn't feeling the best yesterday (chest cold) It was the Best day so far it was 72 deg. I went out in the garage tried to start a Wisconsin Engine I got off flee bay (I didn't try real hard) I got tuckered out pulling the recoil Sat down in the chair, drank a beer, got up turned the light off and went in the house. ~Duke

No idea on the year Craig, just a very long time ago.. There is a strange brick structure in the wood which I keep meaning to get a photo of, I've no idea of what it once was.. There are a lot of bricks all over the place, partly buried now.. all the bricks are hand made as they don't have frogs!! I need to ask my landlord about it next time I see him...

Wow! Very nice to say the least. Drop off all in Montrose and I'll pickup the whole shebang!

Yeah I got alot of black tar looking stuff out of the gas tank I think I got the carb fixed it will run under its own power now with half choke but I does sound good when I get some more time I think I will get it right . WHO hooo!!!!!! Dad is already wanting to plan another trip!!

Yep...got to be a stuck float....forgot to tell you that I put a new elec fuel pump on it....(price would have gone up if I had remember that..lol) Todays fuel is all crappy stuff....when you take the top off of the carb you will see what ethanol does....grows GREEN mold on everything! Think you will like the 416 when you get all the bugs worked out.....you can tell the PO had never heard of "PM" PS....remember to bring a bigger trailer the next time you come visit the Horse Barn!!!

Thanks for all the nice comments guys. This is my 3rd new fleet truck. I bought a new 1986 Ford F-150 with the 300 straight 6 back in 1986. Had over 100,000 and was still running great, but you could see through it. That was a great truck. Then I bought the 2000 GMC Sierra with the V-6. This was a great truck also...just over 96,000 and rotting out under the doors. It's going to be a good truck for someone. And now comes the 2014...I am really liking this truck already. For 1 thing...it is quiet as a mouse...2nd...the gearing gives it some real spunk. I'm still breaking it in, but I have a feeling the top end is really good also. She feels like she really likes to cruise in the 70's and it is a very nice ride. COMING TO A SHOW NEAR YOU

Neil, I am sorry that I missed you today (Saturday). My Mom called just a few minutes before I was going to call you. She went into the hospital yesterday for a new battery in the old pace maker, and she called me to bring her home just before the call. She is OK, but her timing sucks. I'll try to call you tomorrow.

The best thing to do is pull the heads, Then use a set of bore gauges with Digital calipers and Mic the Cylinder walls in several places. Write them down and do an average. Compare that average against engine Specs. If you are within Tolerance Go for the ring job possibly new piston and rings deglazing the Cylinder. Also while heads off check the valves. Stick a piece of notebook paper and rotate flywheel and let the valves close when they do try and remove paper if it rips valves are most likely will give you a good indication if they are good. Good Luck on her these pictures are from my 417A. ~Duke

Interesting thread going here.

This guy had everything . He even remembered what he had for dinner the day he got it.

We use it to flush toilets when the power goes off.

The tractor is starting to come together now. I had to build a few items that weren't in the kit like a taillight, lift valve, lift cylinder and neutral pedal. Oh, and a fuel filter, too. This is it on the tip of a toothpick. Detailing the battery always adds some extra visual interest. That's the kind of thing that helps make a model look real. I took a little liberty with the transaxle and painted it aluminum. I thought that would also give some visual interest - sort of an eye catcher - but I'm not really happy with it. Before everything is done it will end up being red! Now, this next part was fun to do. Wheel covers are an essential part of an Electro and I had an idea to make them out of a soft drink lid using a hollow punch. It worked like a charm! The horse decals didn't want to snug down on the shiny Alclad painted finish and a couple of them had to be redone but in the end they came out okay. After a little bit of paint, she was up on all fours and ready for some test fitting and even some assembly. I had already painted the fender unit but during test fit I realized that it needed a cutout for the hydraulic hoses. Now it's waiting to get repainted. The weather the last few days has been very rainy and I don't want to paint the "shiny bits" until the humidity goes down. That really affects the finish. In the meantime, it's starting to sprout wires and hoses and this is how it sits for the time being. Hope to make more progress soon but right now I need to check a weather forecast!

Many thanks to everybody for the very kind words and warm welcome to the forum. I didn't expect all this! I hope to get a lot done on the weekend so this is probably a good time to respond to some of the questions and comments. Is the spec plate painted or a tiny chrome and black decal. It's a homemade decal using the computer and inkjet printer. I make most of my own decals (all of them for this project) based on images that I find on the internet. After printing the decal I applied it to bit of adhesive backed aluminum foil and then to the engine. What did you use to build the deck? The deck is almost all made from various shapes of styrene stock available at most hobby shops. It took sheet stock, rods, tubes and quarter round of various sizes. There's also a little bit of 1/32" brass rod used. By the way, do you have any full size Wheel Horses? No. In fact, my lawn has so many obstacles that using a riding mower might be more trouble than it's worth. On the other hand, I could ride around the neighborhood on my Wheel Horse if I had one. I love cool mechanical devices and it would be a lot of fun to have an Electro or something. I have a hard time working on a full size one. MIne only has to look like it runs! What else have you built? Mostly cars in 1/25 scale and a few 1/32 scale. I love Studebakers but build lots of others, too. Here's a few samples: I call that one the "Cowboy Cadillac". 1963 Studebaker Avanti 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner Customized 1953 Stude The "Slant Six Slingshot" 1934 Duesenberg Okay, I'm not showing you the ones that didn't turn out so well! Thanks again, everybody.

My story started 5 years ago when I got married. My husband needed something to mow the lawn and he went looking for a tractor. he knew he wanted a wheelhorse since he had mowed with a 68 lawn ranger growing up. (me personally grew up with craftsmans and my father had 2 in my lifetime). Little did I know that one tractor would start it all for us. we got a 657 off of craigslist, and Jim used it to mow the lawn, and then he picked up a Raider 12 at an auction. Well he decided that I needed to learn and stuck me on the 657. I had so much fun I "claimed" that tractor, and after that it was all down hill. I have to put in too that although I love the Wheelhorses, I have found that the tractor folk are so much nicer than some of the circles that I have hung out with (have a classic car and everything has been a my car is better than your car because I have a bigger wallet). I think more than anything that is what has me so addicted to this hobby, that and my favorite color is red . Thank you so much for all of the other stories, I think that tractors are in our blood, especially wheelhorses since blood is red and so are they!!

On Thursday evening, my brother and his family lost their home to a devastating fire that destroyed everything they owned. So in the process of looking for things to give them to help restore a 60 year old collection of memories, I found this picture of my brother and me on a tractor back in 1953. I think maybe this is where the love of tractors all began. Since that time, both my brother and I have had a tractor of one sort or another. That's me behind the wheel at age 3. Bob

This is the reason we are still into wheel horses after 27 years! Look at those proud to have this grins! This was taken in 1962 in gary, Indiana at my parents home. They still live there but this first wheel horse is gone (way too bad). It was our mower and snowplow for about five or six years. Dad kept adding to this tractor. Weight box in the front. Bigger motors, chains, etc. We did not find out until this past Thanskgiving that my dad bought this tractor at an auction in Merrillville, Indiana for about $250 or $300. Neither dad or mom could remember! But mom did remember that she had saved up that money for some time in the savings account to buy a clothes dryer. We had two younger sisters also - so a dryer was an important item in a house of six people. Mom said she never forgot that this whole Wheel Horse craze started with Dad taking her dryer money! So no much has changed in 47 years - we are still into the Wheel Horses ( 11 and still looking...) and we are still using savings money! However, I think the two dryers at my parents house are now fully understood!! :thumbs:

Why do I collect Wheel Horses? Because I am a collector and appreciate quality! When I bought my house I knew a garden tractor would be a nessary tool and a quality garden tractor could be found. Being a diesel technician I know machines must be built well to last and I am cheap so buying repair parts is not part of my creed. A trip was made to a local Wheel Horse dealers "back lot" and a old round Lawn Ranger with mower deck, snow plow and tire chains was discovered. It was amazing that a tractor so small would have a cast iron front axle and transmission. The dealers mechaninc told me the Lawn Ranger did run and was used to plow the dealerships driveway in the winter. After shelling out $200 the Lawn Ranger was on it's way to a new home. Now I have been tought by my father to restore things, he once said "Anybody can have some thing new but if you have restored a old peiece then you will be the only one with one". I located a dealer up near my in-laws and stared to purchase parts to restore the Lawn Ranger, another place I looked for N.O.S. parts was right though the Wheel Horse company of which I still have those connections today! These connections gave me dealers phone numbers that might be able to help me locate parts for the Lawn Ranger (this was before the internet). At the dealer near my in-laws a second Lawn Ranger was found in the "junk yard", this rusty Lawn Ranger was purchased and became the Mighty Lawn Ranger Six Speed! The quality in these small tractors was just astounding and would do any task that was they were asked to do. At this point the collector in me came out and any thing I could find that was Wheel Horse was soon in my hands. This picture is titled "Some of the Stuff" Wild Bill in Richmond, Va.