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Been working for a month or so trying to buy this 654 finally made a deal for $150.00 and brought her home,new carb,fuel line & a good scrubbing its original skin cleaned up pretty good...

Last night I was going through some things looking for a specific manual for something. I didn't find that, but I did happen across the owner's packet that came with the 420LSE that's now in my possession. Included in the embossed vinyl pouch was the hang tags affixed to the tractor, the owner's manuals, the detailing instructions for the 48" deck, warranty card, and return envelop for the little chrome plate that attaches to the hood. Apparently you'd send the plate to Ireland Rd. with your 18 character personalization request, they'd engrave it and send it back. Thought you all might like to see this stuff. Also note the extra chrome-plated, hairpin cotter enclosed. Steve

Golf cart ...that is. Complete with beverage holder, foot control (permits drinking while driving), and heater for the cold weather duffers.

Hey all, look what I grabbed for 500 bucks! I'm out in SLC Utah and these just don't exist out here, in fact its the only one that I've ever seen. It came with a 42 inch rear discharge, and a 2 stage snow thrower. I have one other garden tractor a JD 317, and several throw-aways. My wife thinks I'm crazy, maybe a mid-life crisis or something, but I'm in love . It had been stored outside for years, the paint is bubbled, the deck spindles were frozen. I lubed them up, took a wrench to them, and presto they freed up. I drained the gas, changed the oil which smelled like gas btw, and it fired right up. The engine sounds more like a Harley than a mower which doesn't suck. I'll be going through the carb, changing plugs, and adjusting valves. It's low and mid range seem to be a bit rough. I'm also going to clean around the shrouds make sure there aren't any rats living in there. So to commemorate the 4th and wheelhorse, I put it in our neighborhood parade, and dragged the wife, kids and neighbors kids around in it. The float sign says "oh say can you see" in case it is tough to read on the pictures. I also did something I now regret, which was hook a power inverter on it and powered a smoke machine. I think I may have damage the stator. It doesn't seem to charge anymore. So I could use some help on where to start with that one. I have it on a battery tender charging it and can mow just fine, but each time I try and restart it cranks slower. I know this should be in the electrical section but I wanted to show it off here. Also, does anyone else's throttle creep down when they mow? If there is an easy fix for that it would be much appreciated. I'm planning a repaint, in fact purchased the Earlex HVLP that I saw someone mention on Red Square. Any bits of knowledge that are obvious to long term WH owners but maybe not to me are appreciated. Anyway thanks for the great community, hope you like the pics. Edit- found the forum post on how to fix the throttle

that is pretty darn cool. best part is if you hit into rough that you think is a little to thick just flip the pto and turn it into a fairway

Gorgeous ... some guys have all the luck.

here's some more oh and Neil, that bloke to the left looks awfully lot like this bloke Koen

Who is the good looking geezer in the background to the left of the picture?

Cheap no name oils will smoke. SAE 30 in Shell Rotella T1, or a nice 15w-40 diesel oil in a pinch. Set points at like 18 or so, and see if there is a knock. I will say this carefully, an oil burning kohler that does NOT knock, can still last a lifetime. But the problem is even the best maintainers can slip up and forget to check the level, or push it another 20min and she's toast. So it would be best to re-ring it.

Portage Wisconsin 3rd Annual Garden Tractor Daze - July 11-13, 2014. The guy who puts on this show promotes it on other forums, but must not be a member here. MTF show promotion link This is their third year. I've seen it advertised in LAGC magazine and have wanted to go the past two years but wasn't able to make it. I'll be there this year on Friday (and probably Saturday) Anyone else going? Portage WI is about 30 miles or so north of Madison around where I-39 splits from I-90/94. Just south east of the Wisconsin Dells.

Hey Guys I have 2 312's, a 1987 A and a 1990 H both with 12hp Kohler Magnums. The 312A has 1175 hrs on it and smokes and burns oil quite a bit, still runs good but leaves you stinking pretty good by the time your done. A rebuild is definitely in order but...... I like most of you watch local CL and found a early 90's 314-8 that someone is selling with a 14hp Magnum. Tractor is not in the greatest shape but that's fine because I just want it for parts mainly the motor. Don't know a ton of info on it yet including not knowing the hours but I am told it runs great and is mechanically sound just has cosmetic issues. So I am contemplating buying this 314-8 stripping it down for backup parts and transplanting the 14hp onto one of my current machines. What are the community opinions on this idea? How much stronger is the 14hp then the 12hp? I only mow with 42" decks and blow snow with 42" blowers so the 12's really do just fine, there has only been a handful of times where I thought I could use more power. My thoughts are this would save me from rebuilding a motor right now and id get a machine with a lot of good parts and a currently good running stronger 14hp motor. I would think id put the 14 in my "H" which is all redone and my main machine and then take the 12 that's on the "H" and put it on the "A" then just put the smoking 12 in the corner for a possible future rebuild. I welcome all opinions. And if I were to do this would the 14hp magnum swap right out with the 12 without changing anything? Thanks Paul

here is one for now, wil be a few more once i find them on my other pc Koen

I went to the local brake relining shop and got a 7" square of 3/32 lining. Charged me $1. Marked it out, cut the center hole, JB Weld to the plate with a weight on it over night, trimmed the outside the next day. Works perfect! Also use JB Weld to reline the brake band. Yep... I'm cheap!

Epoxy paints come in one or two components plus a reducer. Single part epoxy paints are OK and are better than enamels for corrosion and chemical resistance but a true 2 part or 2K epoxy is best for chemical resistance. Oil refinery tanks that hold gas and components to make gas all are lined with special 2K epoxy systems. Where epoxy paints fall short is they don't do well in the sun, they chalk bad fast. That is where a 2K urethane topcoat makes an excellent system. CARC paint on Military stuff is a moisture cure or 2 K water based urethane with a 2K epoxy underneath...

Definitely nice. No need to restore that one. Looks great as is.

Looks good, and at $150 I'd say it was a pretty good deal.

You might just get the hard hat award without even having to go to the show.

Now that's cool. He needs to work on his landing though.

Your going to need to put rear steering on it if you plan on keeping the greens nice and tidy!

I am sure that experts will chime in but I think it is running rich at high throttle and unburned gases ignite in mufler when throttle is lowered. My Electro 12 does the same thing. If I shut it off right from high throttle it backfires really loud and shoots a long flame out of exhaust. I just lower throttle gradually and let it idle for a few seconds prior to shut off.

Without being there looking at the two, I'd say its all just unbolt one and bolt in the other when you are talking abut 12 and 14 horsepower magnums.

That's kinda what I thought Steve. I've actually got two that are in about this condition. It's hard to tell in the picture but the inside half of the inner teeth look like they've had very little use which, to me, indicates the problem when I was only getting half engagement on the input gear. Now that you've got me better educated on these things I wouldn't have spent the bucks on the NOS gear considering the use the Suburban will see. But I gotta admit, it's a good feeling to have the new one in there and everything working great. It's sitting on a cart in the garage and I find myself shifting the gears when I walk past it sometimes. In spite of the new gear I promise, no snow pushing for this one Looking forward to hearing back from bunson70 to see how his goes.

The front end bolted back together. The trimmed down steering rod thingy will gain a bearing and sprocket so I can move the steering down and run it under the engine WH style. A "Batman" camera angle of the front. As the chassis is upside down so is the front hitch/axle mount. I was going to leave these off, but some extra strength by welding them back on the right way up would be a good thing.. It will also be handy for hanging a weight box on the front as I have a feeling the front wheels may want to lift a little under hard acceleration Hood and engine plonked back on to have a look.. Not sure I like the axle so far forward! Looks like I might have to chop the base of the hood about so it will clear the steering! Rear wheels roughly in place.. It's looking a bit empty back there! So I thought I would plonk the bit of the bike frame with the engine mounts on to see how it looked... Er, it's looks like half a bike frame! The next thought was to just use the mounts and replace the bit of frame with some strong box section. The trouble was the only place both top and bottom mount are flush is here! If I welded some box in I wouldn't be able to get the starter motor out without taking the engine out! And then while relaxing with the last coffee and smoke of the day in the shack I had an idea!! If I chop this mount off about where the scratched on line is, let it drop down by 90 degrees and turn it around it will end up very close to the chassis and tucked under the engine. The top mount mount can be tied into the frame that will hold the body on. Oh, and I got the front of the hood sitting much closer to the axle.. Only a little chopping will be needed and it looks much better

Sounds like you may have internal leakage in your hydraulic valves. SO that when you are shifting the valve the the contract position some fluid is leaking into the extend end of the cylinders and fighting against you. A couple of tests to confirm this would be to change the hoses so that they are backwards and see if the problem reverses itself or stays the same. One could also put a pressure guage on each line and record the differences between the two modes of operation. They should read nearly the same. It may also be that there is a restriction in the return line to tank (marked T on the valve) not letting fluid out fast enough.

I like the new sunshade Ed.

Yeah, I still don't recognise him Koen, but I understand he had an amazing time at the show & he met some real nice people & he had an awesome time with the geezer in the green shirt lol

I looked at the first picture and thought ... now if that just had a place to hold a beverage of choice, George Jones would be in tears right now. Then I went to the second picture and it all came together!! lol Great Job. So I assume the hydraulic cylinder is for added stability and control when using the foot control to cut down on jerky movements? Also like your heater. Might get so hot in there you may have to rig a flap or something to let some cold air in ... or open the door I guess... I am glad I am not the only one working on a cab in the middle of July. PS I also had fear of your 520 being turned into some kind of sulky when I read the title. That would be cruel and unusual punishment for a horse

if real, may not have held up in court. The evidence rolled away at the end:)

That's hilarious, never saw that before Although, I gotta give the guy an A in ingenuity for getting all those carts linked together, maintaining "control" and still being able to hold a beer Hopefully the beer didn't spill . . .

Hey Casual, I don't think SLC harsh on equipment it's hot and dry in the summer. People complain about their cars rusting out early, but that's because the roads get salted a ton on the winter. I assumed that there weren't many Wh out here because farming isn't huge here like back east. But I honestly don't know. I picked this one up in a town called Midway which is more of a rural area. I have looked at our version of Craigslist (KSL) pretty much every day for 3 years and never seen a wheel horse. When I saw this one I jumped on it. It was Thursday and I couldn't get to midway till Sunday. I asked if she had much interest and she said not a ton. She called me back 15 min later and said that someone was coming to look. Long story short I offered to buy it sight unseen and I deposited the 500 in her bank without looking. Big gamble but it paid off. That's something about the Wh dealer on Beck. I know of several John Deer dealers in Utah, maybe they squashed them out. There isn't a large market for quality JD Garden Tractors but they do exist. Maybe just not enough room for both. Hey just a quick shout out to the moderators of this site. I've been on the other side IE green tractor forums, and this one is hands down better than any of theirs. It's much prettier nd easier to navigate. Thanks for the warm welcome all.

Nice to see another member out west... Especially from Salt Lake City. (I've been waiting for someone from SLC to join!) It is curious that we don't have more.... I'll elaborate in a minute, but first, a question.... is your climate out there hard on equipment (i.e. garden tractors?) I just honestly don't know if the "Salt Lake City" air is corrosive to metal like the winter salt roads are to people where it snows. I ask because I've always had a theory that there should be more early Wheel Horses (Rjs and Suburbans) found out west.... and there haven't been. From lots of searching over the years, I found this ad some time ago.... This was a late 1957 or early 1958 ad for Boyd Martin Co, who was one of the early distributors for Wheel Horse. Looking on Google Earth at the address you can easily tell the building at that address was a large distribution/sales facility... Surely they must have actually sold some... so where did they go? I can't tell when they stopped being a distributor, or when they went out of business. As a local to SLC, do you have any insight?

I got some wine too. It's nothing drastic... a 753 "kit" and something to hang on it. No pictures as it was literally just a pile of boxes and two three speed transmissions. I was hoping to get the tractor back together for Portage this weekend, but it appears that other time commitments are not going to let that happen. Anyone else going to the Garden Tractor Show in Portage, WI this coming weekend? I'm planning to be there Friday and Saturday at the moment... may only be Friday.

You measure the cutting height from the ground to the cutting edge. Any other way will result in error. With the deck mounted to the tractor, parked on a flat smooth surface, and set at mid height, measure right side v. left side. Then on each side measuring the same end of each blade, measure front height and rear height. You must use the same end of the blade on the front to back measurement to account for a bent blade. It is pretty difficult to get accurate measurements so I have made gauge blocks in 1/8 inch increments and I just slide them under blade. With all the other problems you have going on here, you may have just some worn out parts that need replacing first. The deck might be sprung, but if you are the original or even long time owner and it has not been doing the uneven cut for its entire life, I would suspect a worn out part or maybe a broken spindle housing (or a housing that has been corroded away so not all the mounting bolts are there)

Looks like a tourist to me Neil... how 'bout them other "blokes", under the canopy on the right? Who are they?

Any member know what a good current oil seal part number may be for a replacement for the #4398 original oil seal???

wish you'd said something. We've got a blueberry farm in south haven, and would of let you come pick. Dutches is just a few miles from me. Anyways, looks like you had a good trip, and visited some good places.

Give it a shot of carb cleaner or starting fluid and see if she pops off It may be flooded

That's more horsepower than my David Bradley! The wines have really improved in SW Michigan over the past few years. I would suggest Saugatuck as a base if you bring you make the trip as a getaway. There are a lot of little shops and good restaurants. I would also suggest the Round Barn Winery as a stop just east of Bridgman. We were there six years ago on a long weekend trip from Chicago, before we came East.

I was blown away with all of the new old stock parts available! I know what I am going to be going for next year! The main things I was wanting this year was some belts, a solid link for the grader blade (found for $5 bucks!), and a steering wheel. I brought my 42" RD deck to sell but ended up trading it for the set of new old stock hub caps, and a 40" grader blade. I also really enjoyed looking through the original assembly manual for the 876 that I got. Finds: Here is the parts tractor I picked up. Hopefully I can get the steering wheel off.

This is my absolute favorite Rod Stewart song... Horse or no Horse!! Use earphones with this one...

I spent 18 years at Toro, and watched the last classic get crated and shipped out. It WAS a sad day!

I wonder what the line workers thought as they were putting together the last of the Wheel Horses. I met a gentleman last year who had recently retired (after 40 years of service) from Toro. He told me the day Toro stopped production of the Wheel Horse was one of the saddest days of his life.

I just wanted to let you know that I replaced the transmission & transaxle with one I bought on ebay. It took a little while, since I was alone, but the results are great! My Wheel Horse is up and running like a charm! Thanks for all your help with the manual and service bulletin. Hoping I get another 20+ years of service from my tractor!

Hope this comes up so you can see it, but it is the only pic I have so far. Not me driving, it is my neice's son. It was also quite windy so the skirt blew up, exposing the wagon. Someone in my family took a video, but havent seen it. It was a real hit, everyone loved it. It's a 1965 Lawn Ranger With fenders, seat and tools box from something older. I worked at Toro, so it was disasembled and powder coated at Toro. Also got to see the last classic get crated up, and shipped out. Was kind of a sad day!

Old school mid '80's Lamborghini Countach with the gull wing doors.

Chopping and stretching is half the fun. This should be neat!

Thats what I was thinking. My hydraulic guy said he has hundreds of customers with Sundstrand pumps, everything from wood chippers to vibrating rollers, and they ALL use hydraulic oil.

CHROME???? A truck driver / boat captain use chrome or stainless??? Why ever would you ask??!! lol HELL YEA!!!

Close!! I used to have a lightbar mounted with them. They are rated at 500lbs ea. and if you put a flat piece like a fender, you really have to use leverage to get it off!! lol They sell them at Harbor Freight, $10ea I think.

Not making much progress ... friggen HOT!!! Anyway, I had some old magnets laying around, so I bolted them to an old wood rack, and came up with a great table top tool for holding part. They are strong enough to hold whatever I put up there ... well, not the axles!! You can see one here holding a fender, plus a few other little pieces.