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Got the 875 together today. Had to hand feed her for about 30 seconds and then she ran on her own kinda rough for a minute,then smoothed out and now really sounds like a happy little horse. I wanted to try the hydro before I invested much time in the redo. When I engaged the hydro she would barely move forward or reverse and had a funny tinny noise coming from the tranny. This was my fear buying a non running tractor....a bad hydro. The drive belt seemed loose, so I loosened the engine bolts and moved it forward as much as I could to help tighten the belt. Still no better, then I remembered this. I had opened the tow valve to load it on the trailer. Closed the tow valve and tried her again. Now I can even pop-a-wheelie although she isn't too fast and I still hear the tinny noise in the hydro. I flipped the seat up and found the fan was missing a screw and the other three were loose. That took care of the noise, so we went on a 1/2 mile trail ride. She runs fine and sounds good with the static timing setting, and the carb settings in the manual. Thanks again to Mike and Brandon for all the help. Now, just need to decide what to do with this one.

My new 3 point implement what do you all think? It will be fun at tractor shows.

I started early last summer gathering GT14's and implements. I started the real tear down a couple months ago but its hard to keep up pace what with job, family and HEAT etc. I have been meaning to start a thread to capture some of the activity. This is my fiest full tear down and I am sure I will hit snags along the way. In fact a couple of posts have already delved into them such as pulling the Tiller Pulley. I deem this a restomod since I plan on making some revisions for ease of use. For instance my current plan is to add an Attach-a-matic and wedge the Ariens 60 inch deck under this tractor for next years mowing season. Picked up a 3 point hitch and tiller (still need to pick this up) and I will install the 16 HP K341 and newer Hydro pump that was on the GT14 i got from Baerpath. I have marine grade wire and equipment for the rewire. As I have a working unit, a parts tractor and the tractor I am resto-modding, you may occasionally identify that the tractor in the pic is not the one which will be the final product. The net result is I will have 2 complete GT 14's when done. I have not yet decided if I will restor the second one. Leaning that way as I will paint this one and may Powder Coat the next. Here are some pics to start off,

" Any Crapsman can do that" But for how long? 40 years? I doubt it.

My opinion remains the same as it's always been. No one has come up with any evidence to the contrary, and I don't believe the Pond's would have ever let anything go to waste. My opinion is that RJ-58's were made for two years with four, or perhaps seven (depending if you count engine differences or not as a variant), distinct variants. The last three mechanical variants were during the final year (1959) of production, maybe only consisted of about 1200 or so machines out of a total run of approximately 22,000 - 24,000, and were so because some components were running out, could no longer be had, or were new to the 1960 model year and they wanted to see how the consumer reacted to the changes. The Ponds were designing the Suburban tractor, they didn't have many people working for them at the time, and simply didn't have the manpower to really think a lot into the RJ-58 platform. They had to fill the ever-expanding orders, and this was a common sense, business minded way to get the production numbers they required, and still design a new model for 1960. My opinion in a nutshell: You either have an RJ-58 assembled in 1958, or you have an RJ-58 assembled in 1959. But at the end of the day ... you have an RJ-58.

So I'm at the shop where I volunteer and one of the guys starts flashing pics of a tractor on his phone... "ya. The guy has this thing and it needs a stahteh - thats starter for you non new englanders he shows me the pic and I say. "That's about a 72 commando based on the stickers and steering wheel". Shows me the engine plate and the sticker covering the model and serial,for the machine. Well it's got electric start so I pop on here and download the reference chart for years and engines. Coulda been a 857, nope wrong engine code. turns out to be a 72 commando 8 as best we can tell its not running so I offered $100, there might be extras like a deck or blower or something. He's got 3 machines total so I may come home with something new Oh, and why exactly is this place awesome? Because in 3 months I've learned more about models and options to id old stuff and to find reference materials when I need them thanks All

Well what do you know. Somebody bought this with the complete working electric lift, a new front rim, decent complete and charging 14HP Kohler K, the original cradle mount for the KT17 and an inch and an eighth tranny plus lots of other real good parts for 250 bucks, 40 bucks of gasoline and 5.25 hours of round-trip time! Wonder who it was? Probably someone who really likes 8 speeds, has a bad back and doesn't like pulling the manual lift all the time. Mmmmmm.

Nonsense... my little RJ still earns it keep.

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.

For the wheelie prevention... that's what my tombstone's for.

Great video Craig. I remember my Dad pushing snow with the new Suburban 400. I did some on it a couple years later but I was still a bit little to go at it unsupervised. They do a great job. Now....pulling a trailer.....that's a different story. Dad would pull the family through the trails and more than once the thing did a wheelie that went too far.

Ed, you have trails?

Love it! Those old Horse Hydro's use a fan off of a Refrigeration condenser to cool it!

A friend of mine repairs these all the time on B @ S racing Go Kart motors. He could probably fix that. but is it worth it or just buy another pressure washer?

As promised :

Don't forget...they can make ice cream, split logs, pluck the feathers off a chicken, tow around airplanes, and surprise a lot of people in a pulling contest. Let's not forget the video link to the four horses pulling a semi back onto the roadway...imaging what else they can do. With the right traction, anything is possible. Last but not least....they can pull the ears off a John Deere!!

Just set up duals on my 753. What do you guys think?

This subject is pretty much answered in a previous post about rod knocking.Just search in the engine forum .Luck,JAinVA

What can a Wheel Horse do? Darn near anything you ask it to do!

Just loving this thread already - shame I can't chip in much on the round hoods, rare as hens teeth here... I'm guessing it will be a few months before we get into the late 60's where I can step in This might feed neatly into my wheel horse family tree thread too....

I told him I'd take it. I'll go after work tomorrow and pick it up. It isn't pretty now but I'll post a couple of pics. When it is freshened up with a little TLC, it will be a strong AND sharp machine. Thanks for everyone's input! If you guys have any thoughts on what I should do with it maintenance wise when I get it home, don't hesitate to share!

From what I've read in the "Straight from the Hor..." I certainly have no reasons to doubt you. Seems that Elmer Pond was quite frugal! Plus I also think I see other signs of more "transitional" models that appear to be either introducing new parts or using up old parts which makes perfectly good business sense to me. It's just that those models don't fall neatly into my \1958\, 1959, \1960. etc. folders or lend themselves to crisp divisions of identifying characteristics. The 603, 701, 854, 1045 and I'm sure others indicate that there was little concern for making complete changes across all models for each of the years. I think they used up what parts they had and changed to new parts as the could, without a great deal of concern about what year it was. That's what I see at least... Thanks Mike! Dennis Thornton

I like my 314 -8 and it seems to respond to all tasks well.

Ed, the Big Show theme tractor next year is CUSTOMS. With nearly a full year you could build a KOOL KUSTOM!

Yep, a neat read... definitely get yourself a book, or two.

A great book that every Wheel Horse fan needs to read.

I believe it is a completely separate entity, not associate with Redsquare. To put it short, if you like wheel horses for more than just a tool to mow the lawn with, then yes, it is well worth the money. And its on sale!

For further clarification: http://grammarist.com/spelling/plough-plow/ I knew SOMEONE would call me out on that. Yes, they are different dialects of the same word with the same meaning... but you got the point, right? I guess i could have used "grade" and "plow".

Thats when I would put the wife on it owning a 32 3 window and a 34 roadster exactly why I bought it, got the looks of a miniature hotrod! but its down a ways on my project list so just put it storage yesterday for a future redo.

For further clarification: http://grammarist.com/spelling/plough-plow/

some black steel pipe, a fence post, and parts of a old treadmill. And some welding.

The Horse'll do what you need to do provided you take care of business. The Stallion'll outlast us all if you groom, clean, sooth it's aches. Hug a Horse today and for years to come.

I think a previous owner was a WH fan and stuck some older style Wheel Horse decals on that there Quinstar

What it can do is usually just a matter of how much traction you have. It will probably out haul your 4 wheeler because it was designed to (may not do it as fast, and hafta watch that ground clearance, but could probably do more per trip). If you were hauling logs 7 days a week the WH would outlast the 4 wheeler for simplicity and beefy construction. Wheelers were designed to handle speed and hauling but just less so. Tractors are just pure haulers. But you gotta have the traction and weight on the machine. Rear wheel weights, front wheel weights and suitcase weights on whichever end is getting light. Oh and chains and/or ag tires out back. Off the top of my head what I have seen a WH doing: Mowing, plowing ridiculous amounts of snow/dirt/gravel, ploughing (notice spelling change), snow blowing, cultivating, chipping/shredding, towing far more than it safely should, tilling, disc-ing, etc. Heck you can put a front end loader on them and have even seen backhoes on the D series. I'm sure i've missed a ton more. How much can it tow safely or all out? I have used an 8 speed to haul a 5-6k lb trailer up a short grade and into a back yard. I know others have done far worse (better?). If you have hills you have to watch your traction. Remember these machines are 4-600lbs stock (depending on size/year) and you can weight them up pretty good but just be careful to not outclass it too much. I was using my C-145 to plow an incredible amount of snow last year. I was limited only by my traction. I had 50lbs weights on each rear + chains, 30 on each front pushing a 48" plow. This year I have an extra 320lbs of suitcase weights to play with (they cant all go on one tractor though)

just got a cat a few weeks ago!!

Make sure that you have gas in the tank. I would start at the output side of the fuel pump. Remove the fuel hose and have someone crank over the engine. You should have a good solid spurt of gas with every revolution of the engine. Have a container handy to catch the gas. Also, for safety sake, remove and ground the spark plug wire first. If no or very low flow, go to the input side of the pump, remove the line and see if you can get a gravity flow of gas. If you have a good gravity flow, you may have a bad fuel pump. If not, work you way back to the tank to see where the flow is stopped. Also, you may not have a fuel filter, but if you do, it could be anywhere in the line from the tank to the pump. If the pump and fuel line is okay, remove and clean the carburetor.

This 551 has been under a tarp in a barn for the last 15 to 20 years. The PO bought the tractor new in 1961 and has had it every since - 54 years. I knew the tractor was there, but I had not seen it for at least 20 years. This past week he called and said it was time. We made the deal on this and a Bronco 14.. The 551 is missing the foot rests, has the wrong decals, and the fluid has worked over the front rims, but it has the correct H55D - 2113 -(serial 55209). The muffler and belt guard are both there and it looks to be in nice shape for tractor 54 years old.

Line the bars up with one of the wheel stud holes when mounting the tires

That could be a fun project!

'71 was the last year of the Lawn Ranger. Check the model number, if '71 then is would be 2-0200 or 2-0210. Looks to me to be a '71.

The Dunphy is done! I just picked the boat up from the upholstery shop and it looks great.. The motor is original to the boat, I did the needed maint. on it and she purrs like a kitten. I spent a few days detailing the motor and it looks almost new..Maiden voyage will be sometime this week. The last time this boat was out on the water was 43 yrs. ago!

Isn't the term/model Suburban... simply an evolution of earlier WH marketing such as this 1959 Ride-Away Jr. ad?

So how do we distinguish between the 1958 and 1959 RJs? I highly doubt you will ever see an ORIGINAL sticker on a tractor that reads RJ-59 but there has been some distinguishing modifications that can help with an educated guess. A solid seat pan was used on tractors in 1960 and some RJs which seem to be completely original also had a solid seat pan which could indicate a 1959 Some will have a height selector for the lift arm which was used on the 1960 tractors. Transmission casting code could also indicate 1959 Then there are early 1958 RJs too. Round rear wheel hubs with only 3 holes which came from the Walk Aways. Leather shifter boot RJ-35 style front rims Rear hitch had separate welded flat pieces vs. the newer style one piece which was bent into shape Some of the foot pedal and lift arm pieces looked more crude the way they were cut and welded. The seat pan was a little bit deeper

OK Dennis...I am by no means an expert on Wheel Horse tractors, but I feel your pain. If there is one thing that this site lacks, it is the ability to pull up good pictures of horses with an explanation of what is different between the years. Case in point...on the main page we have "Picture Gallery" and the sub-category, "Wheel Horse Picture Horse Gallery" For the most part you can go in there and identify a horse...the problem...I think through the up-grades and from the old "Forum-er Site" a ton of pictures have been lost. Another thing that never happened...the folks that posted these horses only posted maybe one shot (usually the left side) when it would be helpful to show at least 4 pictures showing all sides of the horse. This could be my next project...delete the worthless posts that have no pictures and set it up to have pictures, of every horse that is correct...and if it is not correct...why not. We could go to the members that did have posts in there and see if they want to offer up those pics again. What do ya think?? On a serious side...if you do this...a new member can go into this section...identify his horse and never post anything. In other words, if you have all the information available...you lose the back and forth that so many of us love here on Red Square...that includes the banter. Personally, I think it would do us all a favor to clean up the Wheel Horse Picture Gallery...I think that Brrly1 even started a thread concerning this. Understand that this could become a huge undertaking with a bunch of knowledgeable members weighing in on what is correct and not. If I had the admins blessing on this, I already have some ideas on how to go about this...you have brought up something that , I know, a few of us have been thinking about. I was looking for something to do.

Some better pictures of mounting the blade. pictures courtesy of other RS members.

I used mine today 1600lb modified Could be a little bigger table though

That is a Bolens sulky. The Gravely sulky has the seat support angled the opposite direction. Still nice!