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It's been pretty wet in northeast Ohio this summer. These guys haven't had much time in the lawn. Great day to give them some fresh air.

After selling my C-200 with loader to MRC, which I of course regret, and the John Deere 112 with Johnson loader, I always wanted to find another one. I saw this for sale mounted on older Sears rider. It was listed on Craig's List and Ebay. I e-mailed the seller and asked if he would sell the loader separate and how much or if he was interested in any trades. He gave me a price and asked me what I had for trade. I have been sitting on that little Kitty Track dozer for a few years and seeing as the amount of work it needed and the cost just to have replacement tracks made ($800 with the chain links!), I offered it up in trade. He accepted and I picked it up yesterday up in Massachusetts (Actually really close to Wallfish). Apparently it was designed for the Bolens 800, 900 and 1000 series tractors. It has a trip bucket but they offered a hydraulic tilt kit. I have the manual that shows all the parts so that may be in order. Going to drop it off at the sandblasters next week and have him go to town on it. I believe he also does epoxy priming too. Today the kids helped me off load it and we rolled out the Diesel Ranger to see how it would look if I mounted it on it. I think the ranger is a touch to small. Maybe a "CERTAIN 702" might be in order to mount it on ! No matter what tractor it does end up on I'll have to fabricate the front and rear mounts which is really no big deal. These little midget loaders are almost impossible to find and this one is never going to leave my sight!

Here's the pics. I have an original air filter coming soon.

Well boys & girls , I feel I should update you all on my current state . Last month , I was fired from my job of 13 years for a really dumb reason . Partially my fault but it was really a blessing in disguise . I was absolutely miserable there but made good dough & when this happened after the shock wore off ( about a day ) I realized there is waaay more to life than just money . Took a huge pay cut but with the house paid off ( just the month before ) & no car / pickup payments , this is do-able . I was working again 2 days later for a little outfit where you're actually treated like a human being rather than the contents of a bag on a Halloween porch prank . We do most of outr work for General-Mills hauling their finished product to various local customers . Today I was training on "bulk" flour where I load several trailers & the road guys haul them to where they need to be . Its been 13 years since my boss whacked me on the shoulder & said " nice work , man " .

Better leave that one alone. It's got money pit all over it. Even if it was free looks like it would take you to the bank. No sir my advise is to just turn and walk away.

Based on the pictures and the description you gave it may not be a total POS. If you are mechanically inclined and don't mind correcting the previous owner's shortcomings I would suggest offering him $150, that will give you some extra cash to work with. If this was in average condition with a good deck it would probably be worth $500 to $600.

Whole place smells like Cheerios! I love it!

Here's pictures of the dozer. You can see the John Deere 112 with the Johnson 10 Loader in the background I used to have. The dozer looks a lot better in the pictures then in person. The tracks and track links are shot. This thing sat outside for a long time and water collected inside causing rot holes through the under carriage.

I am going to 2nd this, by the time you dump money Into it and then discover whatever else might be wrong. Keep looking. Glenn Curiosity has me, what is the price? Ty Glenn

I was under the assumption that you already purchased this... But knowing that you havent, I would go for $50 or go look for a better condition (or at least mostly original) horse. The wiring from that swap will probably be a nightmare. From what I hear, there's usually a pretty good selection in and around PA.

Very cool. I'd hotrod the hell out of that thing! I'm picturing some go cart slicks tucked up underneath the rear and a pumped up engine. Custom exhaust poking out in front of the rear wheels....

Yes, Terry is right. The early Lawn Rangers dont have hubs, they have a keyway in the wheels and are secured by a setscrew and locknut.

I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to own one. The snowblower alone is probably worth $1000+, so $2500 for both a moderately used 522xi in perfect working order and the blower plus the blade seemed like a deal not to miss. From checking various parts suppliers, the prices seem about the same as 520-H parts I have purchased recently. The used market is slim pickins, but as robust as the 5xi series is, I am not surprised. There aren't many of them that are only good for parts yet as they are still running strong. Brand new Kohler Command Pro CH22 engines are still available as well (really expensive, but available), and it seems like a much easier design to repower with a wider variety of engines if need be. There also seems to be more new parts still available then the 520-H has available. I understand the concern with XI exclusive components, but I have a feeling that more used XI stuff will start showing up during the next few years. It seems like I can keep the 522xi going at least that long without major problems. Someone suggested that the Kohler Command Pro engines are good for 2000+ hours when properly maintained. Mine is at about 800. I will post some pics this weekend and share some final thoughts after I get a couple of good work days out of the (new) 522xi.

I've often thought about going thru the pic gallery and deleting all the "empty" posts. Many pics posted thru a host site such as Photo-bucket get lost if the owner moves his gallery around within Photo-bucket. The link is broken and the pic is lost. Its a massive chore to just delete those posts, not a one man task. But we still need a place for those "incorrect machines" (most of mine are incorrect). I cant speak for the whole Admin/Moderator team but I like where this could go. Mike..........

The bottom line is it takes time. When I first got into collecting I emersed myself in it. Researching everything I could find. Downloading every picture I could find. Downloading every document about them. It actually consumed me. Going to show after show and speaking to whoever I could. There are a bunch of guys on here that really know a lot of the history and really intricate quirky back story on Wheel Horse Tractors. Seek the out and pick their brains!

Once mounted I plan on large fender washers to spread the load. I think I can get them from McMaster Carr but haven't looked yet. I also plan on using timmerman nuts to hold the bolts from falling out of the fender during install. That way they will act like studs. Then I can cut those nuts after removing the cab for the summer. They are cheap. Got it on the tractor. and all the holes drilled. Now I have to get the tractor back to the way it was to show it at the Steam Pageant in 2 weeks. after that I'll remount the front half and then make mods so PTO and lift handle clear the frame.

Dennis, you have a wonderful idea. Looking forward to seeing what you (and other WH guru's) come up with. I think most will still visit here on the forum...I certainly will, but I would also like to know more about my machines without having to ask a specific question.

I am purchasing my first Wheel Horse 417-8 tonight to mow my lawn of my house I just purchased and the owner says that the motor was swapped to a 14hp Kohler (unknown why smaller motor) and the tractor only has one speed and the choke does not work because of the motor swap. I have no idea on the model Kohler motor that is in it, but what do I need to look for tonight when I see it? I know my info is vague, but I am hoping I can get some pointers.

My dad has a New Holland lawn tractor and he and my brother have put hundreds if not thousands of hours on this thing since 2000. Now the engine is in bad shape and they have a "parts" tractor and my brother says he will swap engines.....some time... My brother just came over and asked "do you have a mower I can borrow"? Kind of hard to say no when he knows I have 10 running GT's several with mowing decks! Guess I could give him the push mower

Stay away from R&L. Learn from my mistake. They quoted me $230 for a tractor and when it arrived in CT at the terminal they would not release it unless I paid $2300. Yes, thats not a typo. They said it was not classified correctly and as a piece of motorized machinery the classification code changed. And yes, they didn't feel a need to contact me. They took it upon themselves to re-classify it, inflate the rate, and still push it through. After three days of non-stop arguing I finally had to pay $1000 to release the tractor or face storage fees. My attorney said to chalk it up as a learning experience but I refused. I ended up filing a lawsuit against them in CT court and they agreed to settle outside of court. Never again. I use Fastenal.

While we all want a good deal price wise, the age old adage that you get what you pay for is a common denominator in most cases. 300 for a great running tractor is a rare find. There is a nice GT 14 listed in sales section about 2.5 hours from you. Price may be prohibitive depending on budget.

The biggest variable on the value of a Wheel Horse seems to be geographic, if they are scarce in your area they can command a strong price. The other primary factor is the quality of the "restoration". Some people consider a quick repaint to be a restoration.

did you try the mower? Whats the pipe around the steering wheel shaft? Mower deck, no belt guards, motor unknown, not good, Imho. Sound good, shift good, hi range low range good? Oil, engine and trans clean, no funny smells? Just asking, hate to see you get stuck. It would be a bad first wheel horse experience. Havent you seen anything else? glenn

Yes it is , I snapped a couple more for 'ya : You can see the sky-way in the last one .

Like a ZZ Top mower - Awesome

Nice....very very nice, wish my "67 looked like that!....Some day possibly!

Those two Stallions look great! Just massage their slightly soiled hoofs and, presto, like new! Red is for the blood we shed.

1: The belt guard is missing...gotta have it 2: Drive belt is running off PTO...wrong! Imo: P. O. Has done things VERY wrong.

This is how I did it for our latest deck patch/repair. I agree. Also cut out the rotted material and lay the patch flush in the hole. Weld and grind smooth. That certainly would be nice ..but the baffle underneath plus my lack of metal working skill combined with the fact there is an external patch on the other side of the deck... How does one go about cutting out the deck to match the patch??? Indeed overall the deck needs to be strong but not every inch. That area is strong from the support behind. If your metal working skills and tools are limited you could use thinner metal and/or other materials to patch it. You might use whatever thin metal that you CAN manipulate and just solder or epoxy it on. Or even skip metal altogether and use fiberglass and resin. Both would last a season at least or several if you remove all the existing rust. You could even patch mostly from the inside and have far less cosmetic work from the outside. Actually if you remove all the rust (tough where that support is welded to the deck shell...) you could do a pretty good looking and lasting repair with no metal at all! Don't even have to remove the damaged section. In fact, you could leave it to help hold and shape your fiberglass cloth from underneath. Just epoxy resin (thin resin, not glue!) the cloth to the inside of the shell! Then just JB weld over the rusted out areas from the outside, sand and paint. If you are still going to pursue cutting out the area, a high speed cutoff wheel on a 5" grinder (with safety glasses!) is a cheap and usable choice!

By the time you pay a professional to repair, it may be less expensive to look for a used replacement deck.

Well seeing how I have 1949 F5 M/H 1950 F1 paneltruck 1963 F500 1997 F250 2001 F550 And drive a 2014 explorer Oh and have a retired 97 Mercury Mountaineer And my RV is F53 chassis I don't think I'll have room for a Chevy...ever Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have seen someone else on here repair a cylinder by cutting it apart (not necessarily in half... but like one end off) and re-welding it... Does TS has the right size cylinder for our application? Havent found many small replacement cylinders.

Here's the two manuals I have always gone by when rebuilding. Always have over-torqued 20% and re-torqued to spec., as suggested in the newer manual (2nd one). Never did notice any burrs so never did any of that. http://www.mywheelhorse.com/graphics/file/Engines/Kohler_K91-141-161-181-241-301-321_1972-SM-2.pdf http://www.mywheelhorse.com/graphics/file/Engines/Kohler_K91-141-161-181-241-301-321-341_tp_2379_SM.pdf This time of year just make sure to fill the engine with straight 30w oil, run for 5 hours with the deck engaged, and then do an oil change.

Steve and I have both attempted to assist people identify their new acquisition using the Wheel Horse standard numbering system only to find out this particular horse is an exception to the rule. This would be an interesting project, we might want to attempt to determine approximate production numbers by soliciting input on highest and lowest serial numbers for each model. We will never get an exact count but may be able to come up with a reasonable number.

I'm liking this idea a lot. Having been on Wheel Horses since 1o960 I'll add what I can. I agree with starting with the RJ's. One year at a time and well organized and ultimately having everything in order in a section dedicated to this. Since I'm so much younger than you two my youthful enthusiasm might help out.........

Schhhhhhhhh....weet! Whats it's serial #?

I owned an autobody shop for 15 years and fixed a few decks and panels since then and I think your's turned out far better than most others I've seen! Keep it up! Dennis Thornton 1964 654 1972 Raider 8 1977 C-160 1978 C-81 1981 C-85 1984 GT-1100 1987 310-8 1993 416H 1998 520lxi 1990 Husqvarna GT160 1978 Sear Suburban GT/16 1995 Simplicity Broadmoor 16 Twin Not all are complete and working...

LOL, bad choice of words. A good piece of a bad deck.

Mike plowing naked with vaseline all over him? Someone is gonna call the cops!

I do the same thing with my sled . Getting old will make an old man out of 'ya .

Rule #4... FORGET THE SOCKS!!!

RULE #1...WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER!!! RULE #2...YOUR COMFORT MATTERS!!! RULE #3...DON'T FORGET THE CHOCKS!!!

Just bought this wheel horse anyone tell me anything about it. It runs and drives has a plow but no mower deck, needs a new rear tire other than that it's in great shape, planning on using it to plow my driveway with

I got everything painted and ready to go(except a few small parts are not done yet). I just need 1 more coat of paint on the fenders and hood and we will be in good shape. Transmission is going back together tomorrow and a few other things. I got some amazing lug tires off ebay. They are Carlisle farm specialists 6-12 and the lugs are huge(1" tall). And they are quite thick at 6 ply. Also got some tri rib tires for the front. I ended up using rustoleum farm equipment paint in the quart can and bought some majic paint hardener and they work amazing together. The paint gets extremely hard in just 1 night. Here's a few pics!

It worked amazing! I just cut a little slit for a screw driver in the end of the broken bolt and did the battery thing and it came right out! Thanks so much Garry! I am not worried about the broken off ear on the cast iron case. Here's the video. https://youtu.be/9eICuoKmLeQ

I was one of those 30 other people Glad it went to a good home

Got a spare battery with a fair bit of charge in it and a set of booster cables? Clean that cast boss up that the set screw is in so a booster cable clamped to it will make a good electrical connection and the other end to one battery post. Shine up the end of the broken set screw. Place a spare piece of steel rod or flat stock you don't care about in the other booster cable and the other end of the cable to the other battery post. It is going to arc and spark when you hold the steel rod to the set screw for a count of about two. Battery current will try to flow through the set screw, through the rust to the cast iron. The rust is resistance to current flow and will create heat right where you want it. Let it cool because it will be hot. You might be able to thread the set screw out with your fingers because it was loose in the threads when it was installed. You may need to try a second time. Often the rust will blow out as soon as the current hits it. Garry

Wheel Horse SMS-50 Sickle Bar Mower:

My grandfather who lived in SE Missouri had a truck about that year whe I was about 5 or 6 yo.He made a cover out of corrugated tin and 2X4's.He would take me with him out to the cotton fields and sell iced down soda pop.He had a little two borner gas hot plate and would fry hamburgers. Grandpa always found a way to make a few dollars.He also sold bottle gas,he would deliver and hook up.He had a little country store with a lean to on the side where he sold used furniture He's been gone since 1970,but that old truck of yours shook those memories loose.