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Finally got the boat ready about a week ago and was able to get out on the water a couple times for some long awaited fishing. Pulled this one in last night and guessing betwwen 5 & 6 lbs, my fist could fit inside it's mouth. Too bad the scale was broken. The fish were fighting strong, even the smaller ones had some spunk to them! Must've had some water get into my fuel system or something because the engine would barely start and then die out. After we were out there of coarse! We had to run back from the other side of the lake about 1/2 mile on the trolling motor in the dark. Now I need to get that straightened out which takes time away from custom Wheel Horse building.

Day 1.... I got there just in time to watch Dave take the WILDFIRE down the track with two nice pulls. He gets every ounce to the track I unloaded my few tractors next to Daves string of horses. Brian and Jo's rig is in the background and Eric Johnsons field of RED is just behind me. Checked out the auction field....what a collection to be sold tomorrow. From V belts to tractors, boats, campers...you name it. Even had US Mail delivery. Lots of old Fords, Some original and some not so original. Pullers...all sizes

Up next on restoration list is a 1986 Wheel Horse 312-A. This will be a bottom up restoration, with a bit of customization as well. Here's where I am starting. A couple of things I've decided already: 1) I like the K motors better than the Magnum's, so the K motor is staying. It'll be rebuilt before going back on the machine. 2) Paint will be a custom paint job. I will once again try my hand at HVLP instead of my normal rattle cans. God help me! 3) Along w2ith the custom paint, the decals will also be a custom set. 4) The deck will probably be changed to a 42" RD instead of the SD that is on it. I'm sure I'll think of more things to change, but at the moment that's it. @Vinylguy Terry, I'll be in touch soon to discuss. Stay tuned...

I finally got started on my media blast cabinet. I'm building it out of 1/8 plate. These panels are like our wheel horses very old and built to last. The panels I've used so far are from a 2500 amp switboard. When finished it will have all welded seams. It's 44.5 wide 33.5 deep and 30 high. I'm thinking 15 x 30 for the window. Holes are marked just not cut. It will also be on casters.

So the wife and decided to just go driving around where we haven't been before. Ended up in the northeast section of Connecticut poking thru the small towns up that way when I saw this Wheel Horse on a sign pole. Also saw this weird lookin plow machine for sale, it had a 8 or 9 HP Briggs in it. Maybe homemade?? Mike.........

A few more from today. The BIG garden tractors pulled this morning. Two HP hay rides Met some new and OLD Red Square members....here ya go Jim and Jay. Someone better check on Dave...is he still breathing.

I went to the last Pioneer Power Show meeting and learned that they are doing something new this year on Saturday night. At around 6, they are going to for an 8 mile tractor ride for whoever wants to put their tractors in. This is geared for the bigger tractors with a road gear, but they are trying to come up with things to keep people there longer. The main feature is "John Deere through the ages" which means that it is for anything John Deere so that they can show how farming technology has evolved through the years. It should be fun and the John Deere feature should draw a large crowd.

If you want 70's just get a B or C and paint it like the Partridge family bus!

Finally got some batteries and got the Cam out. They should be shining them up in about 2 weeks. One Apple tree is loaded and one is bare.

Okay, as promised, here's my 'new' horse, fresh off the pickup truck. I had a few tractors to look at, but ended up buying the first one I saw (that's good because I really didn't want to spend the whole weekend chasing all over!) It's a '78 C-101 8-speed with 36" rear-discharge. It was in really good shape, looks lightly used, and already had a lot of maintenance and new parts (and the work was done right). Plus, the price was too good to pass up. $350 and that included a nice, heavy gauge dump trailer. I'll fiddle around with it some, but it's pretty much good to go. I already have a snow/dozer blade and rototiller attachments, wheel weights and chains, and a soft-sided cab. Plus two parts tractors. I want to get a snow blower attachment so I'm sure I'll be looking for some advice on that. Only real problem is that you have to use the steering wheel to make it turn. Doesn't respond to 'gee' and 'haw.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVAJT2ThP-4 Now THAT is a stump grinder! And a mulcher to go with it https://youtu.be/x7nqnndHVcw

My ultimate would be a 523dxi diesel 4wd with a locking diff.... oh wait they never made that... 523dxi with 48" mower deck, plow, and quick attach loader would be my pipe dream.

No doubt about it; I would want a 953 with 483 mower, snow blade and a mold board plow. Oh, I don't need to wish, I've already got that, new they aren't but I have them.

522xi 60 inch deck 2 stage blower snow cab glenn

OK. Confession of an idiot. I didn't reconnect to the down rod with the trunion.

Sounds like a good time if your into the bigger tractors....I hope it works out to be a regular annual thing. Hmm, That gives me until 2020 to get my jubilee ready for when the National ford club and their tractors are featured.......

So what your saying is we should put smaller pulley's on our transmission's so we can keep up

Just set it in for s & g's. Initial observations look promising. It will definitely have to be raised up a good 2.5". The long PTO shaft was necessary (about 4.5") since the overall width of the engine is narrower than my original K482. Big weight difference with the aluminum block vs cast iron. Probably 50 lbs! Might make turning this beast easier. The coupler will need spacers to bring it out far enough to mate with the hydro pump. Suggestions welcome. The hood fits with room to spare, but the engine is not raised up to its final position yet. Exhaust ports look like they'll be fairly easy to adapt. The clutch control linkage from the lever will definitely need to be modified. Might even need to extend the control arm to raise it up high enough to clear the shrouds. Anyway, I'm pretty excited and I think this is going to work. More as I progress!

Someday, for me at least, is today. You know how you see something really cool and think to yourself... "someday". I picked up the Suburban 400. To my surprise, I think I scored BIG. This turned out to be the best garage sale find EVER! The tractor came with two big boxes full of of nearly every part necessary to complete the restoration. And the original mower deck. And a snowblower. And a plow blade.... And 200+ pages of documentation in a 2 inch binder containing every record of every part purchased for the restoration, even with a mapquest page for each purchase showing exactly where the part came from. He claims that he has a rear plow for it too, but it's mixed in with his other tractor stuff--he said it's mine when he can dig it out. He has parts diagrams, and a copy of the original owner's manual. He obviously cared about this little project. I guess I can stop bitchin' about my Craigslist Nightmares and all the $#!T I dealt with recently. The Wheel Horse karma has come full circle. This more than makes up for all of that. Here are the only pictures I can post today. I had to quickly unload and squeeze everything into the garage before a huge storm hit.

I'm new to the wheel horse but I got tired of the same old junk lawnmower's from box stores. I needed a new tractor I can use in winter to plow and in summer to cut grass.so I did a lot of research and I really liked the wheel horse so I purchased a 1995 520h in beautiful shape. it will serve me well I just need a plow for it for winter, so I was on craigslist and saw a wheel horse for sale ( I got the WH bug) and I went to check it out. turns out to be 2 WH 's . one is a 1974 WHEEL HORSE C160 MODEL 1-0480 9 with a looks like 48 or 50 inch deck and the engine runs good so I removed the deck because it will fit on my 520h which has a 42 inch mulching deck . and the other is a L 156 this is a small tractor. the C160 runs good (after I rewired it), I took it for a ride in the yard but when I looked at it the left axle was coming out about 6 inch's, so I tried to push it back in but it will not go all the way in . I want to fix it up but I don't know if it is worth fixing or selling for parts.I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO FIX .HELP

Now that I'm officially an incurable Horse Head, I realized something after picking up the Suburban 400. I now own an example of every Horse era/decade except the 70s. I suddenly feel compelled to finish the mini collection. 1960, 1980, 1990, 1998 are covered. See what I mean? HOW can I call myself a Wheel Horse nut if there is such a gaping hole in the herd? I already have a C-125, so instead of another B or C, maybe I should be looking into a good 3 or 4 digit model number. Or, maybe a Horse with a name, like a Bronco... That would represent the 70s, disco-style. Hmmmmm

I'm pretty sure I would want one of those UK Wheel Horses that came from the factory with a diesel engine. I think the model number of those is 512 (someone please correct me if I am wrong about that) . Attachments would be a 48" SD deck, tiller, and a front mounted ice cream churn

I have a super heavy duty gear box with about a 40:1 ratio to build something like that stump grinder but unfortunately the stump would still be there with a Wheel Horse orbiting around it. That thing is cool and seems someone built a better mouse trap. Just wonder how long those edges stay sharp enough to cut like that.

I live in the middle of a forest on a mountainside, I would cut trees down just to watch this thing eat the stump.

I definitely would make good use of that!

Holy Moley, When can we get both for WH ?

1973 16hp Auto, 42" RD Deck, Snow Blower and a Tiller

Never had the need to remove the wheel when I had a 5xi, but attached is from the factory service manual on how to remove it. Good luck. Rick 522xi steering wheel.pdf

420 LSE Blower Plow Cab

Care to share where ya were.....buddy . Mike......

Thanks for the photos...Nice show. That also explains why the USPS is so slow!!

That would be entertaining.

What a great find. Great horse with accessories and great honest people to deal with. Both seem to be scarce these days. Seems like people these days are more concerned with making money than friends. Money can be had easily enough friendships are few and far between and should be cherished.

I feel like I hit the lottery or something. I'm already planning a weekend of horssembly (see what I did there)

I think a electro 12 sounds more disco-style Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Thanks guys for the positive comments! The future of this tractor will be noted right here. After all, the story goes on every day that we use it or give it rest! The Story: I looked through many old slides and pictures to find the ones that I have posted here. This is the first picture that I could find of me and the Iron Horse. I was about nine months old at the time of this picture. I've been into engines, cars, trucks, tractors, and pretty much anything mechanical my entire life. Mom and dad tell me that as a little child, every time I would hear that single cylinder Kohler fire up, I wanted to be on the machine riding. That tradition continues today with my youngest son who is now about 26 months old. He loves to ride on the tractor. I know that it isnt considered PC or "safe" to give a kid a ride on a tractor but... Notice the 1966 IH Scout in the background. That was purchased by dad as a means of transportation but also because it had a 6' plow for snow removal. It would be in our family until 1992. At that point, dad installed a light kit on the Iron Horse and modified yet another single stage snowthrower to clear the driveway with it. Dad wishes to this day that he had kept that old truck too. The only machine that he kept through the years though was the old wheel horse 875. Of course cutting lawn wan't the only time that I wanted to snag a ride! Here dad is busting the clods from last fall's plowing. "We" are getting the garden ready to plant. Don't I look serious about the task at hand? What is ironic to me as I look at this picture is the fact that dad here is a dozen years younger than I am today. The 875 was a tough tractor back then and it continues today. Although the wheel horse isn't in this picture (It was parked just to the left of the screen), this is where I spent my time as a little dude, with dad in the garage. I'm smiling because I'm looking at my reflection in the shiny Cardinal Red 1972 Pontiac Lemans right in front of me. Or maybe it is because I was just "helping" dad rebuilding the old International four cylinder from his Scout on the saw horses behind me. A couple of interesting notes to observe: the bolt rack behind me is the same one as you will see in the current resto photos (even though mom and dad moved about 20 years after this photo), as is the old Craftsman tool chest which a discerning eye will see the drawer just sticking in to the left of the screen, and you may also see that brown oil can in current pictures too! Dad put a premium on getting good things and taking care of them. They were built with pride and have endured my whole life, Including the Wheel Horse 875!

Here's another control plate decal by Terry. The serial # was completely gone and I didn't want a random one.. I flipped the original plate over to get rid of the pitting, made new levers from 3/4" stock from Lowes, and new levers from Glen Pettit. You've got the heat shield and belt guard. Any other that you might need won't break the bank.

Here's a picture of what Terry's decal looks like to complement Jason's post above.

This horse was found upside down in a dumpster by my friend(tunaslayet). He brought the oil-covered 312-8 to my house with a crushed hood, broken steering wheel, and crushed center console. The hour meter read around 1000 hours, but the engine ran with little effort and the transmission shifted smoothly. I quickly began disassembling the horse and fixing/replacing any damaged parts. Sourcing a steering wheel proved to be a challenge, so i retrofitted a boat steering wheel which came out great and was very inexpensive. I cleaned up and repainted the entire tractor and freshened it up with throwback redo-your-horse stickers and fresh turfsavers. I initially began to set this up as the mower that it once was, but shifted my focus to creating a front end loader after my friends father hooked me up with a great selection of hydraulic equipment in exchange for a custom cabinet. I quickly found a loader on craigslist in Maine. The loader was properly sized, in great shape, missing most of the hydraulic components, and well built from PF engineering plans. I quickly picked up the required steel and began fabricating. Here is the 312-8 the day I got it. The loader on the day I bought it in ME. It is nested with a Kwikway that my friend (tunaslayet) purchased on the same day. We both sourced loaders in ME and took the road trip from Southeastern MA to pick them up. Very exciting weekend. Initial mock up of the loader on the 312. I sacrificed the attach-a-matic and welded it directly to the frame. I decided to modify the support trusses to allow for better PTO clearance and maintainability. I added a slight bend and welded a support gusset to add strength. The PTO and belts are completely serviceable without removing any components from the loader. The back of the frame is supported by 3/8-16 carriage bolts around the rear axle. The weight box is small, but designed to tightly hold a 220lbs stack of exercise cable weights. The weight box alone adds another 40lbs. Wheel weights will soon be added. Here are all of the loader parts painted and ready for assembly. Upgraded to a 520 swept forward front axle with gear reduction steering (Thanks Dennis!). I used trailer hubs instead of the 520 rims. After countless hours of wire-wheeling, grinding, welding, painting, and day-dreaming, my re-rehabilitated 312 is ready to do work for me. I just had to lift something for fun, so i threw my troybilt commercial walk behind mower in the bucket and took it for a ride. The loader lifted the mower with no effort at all.. I may try to lift my 416-8 for fun. Thanks everyone for the help. -Justin

Thanks everyone for the feedback, Iv'e been working the snot out of it this past week clearing land behind my house. It does an awesome job of pealing large pricker bushes right out of the ground. I will get some dirty pictures posted once I get the ag's and weights on it. I believe the tractor sits slightly higher in the front due to the 520 front axle swap. It sat perfectly level with the regular 416 front axle. I created a post awhile ago for the hub swap http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/57457-how-to-trailer-hub-conversionupgrade-for-520h/.

well it was an utter loss on the grass where we started made our way to the parking pad and once again a dead draw just sat there and dug ruts. as for the videos I got them dont know how to get them here...

Almost tolerable... when they're not green.

Nice fish.

Nice catch! Quite a bit larger than the 5-6 hand sized Blue-Gill my friend caught last night in a 1/4 acre pond!!

OK... let me catch my breath... I just returned from visiting "the barn" that he has all the 400 parts stored at. I drove an hour to get there so that I could carefully check everything out--myself. Everything belonging to the little 400 was kept in it's own small covered trailer inside the barn. He turned the latch, and I swear I heard an angelic chorus singing as the doors swung open. It looks like everything is there (except maybe some minor things like springs and belts). The parts that are not already installed are just simply not cleaned up and painted yet. And, tucked way up in the front of the trailer what did I see...? The original mower deck, in it's unaltered, unrestored--but looks to be all there--condition! BONUS!!! Regarding the front tires: they are not filled with anything (including air); the bead is not sealed on either rim. The liquid seen in the picture was just oil that he used on the spindle. That will be replaced with the correct grease when I turn around the front axle. Regarding the cut hood: yep... kinda sucks... and there is a little jagged section in the cut right near the bottom of wherre the ID plate goes. But certainly not a dealbreaker. Which brings me to my final point... There WAS a deal made. The 1960 Wheel Horse Suburban 400 is MINE! I will be picking everything up this evening. One quick question: should I put gear oil in the gearbox prior to rolling it onto the trailer? Or am I just overly concerned about rolling it a few feet dry--they obviously weren't, because they rolled it out of the garage? What type of oil is used in the Uni Drive? BTW, good thing I was smart enough to put a deposit on it yesterday. They have had 15 people today wanting to buy the tractor. One of them offered twice the asking price. I'm glad these nice people are honest.

That was Ken @chevelletown tagging him so he sees this. I don't know if he's still doing them, but he is still on RS occasionally. Here's an example, this is the one he made for me a few years ago. Ignore the arrow...old picture from when someone asked where the serial number was.

I think Mike must have missed this, so I will take the liberty of answering for him. I am far from a mechanic, but I know some basics, and I'm good at figuring out how stuff works. Garry mentioned a spring on the plunger, so I started looking at whether the solenoid plunger had spring pressure. It did. I noticed the plastic fork in the starter had a notch in the center, and the plunger on the solenoid had the sides flattened except the end, so I figured out the plunger must fit into the slot in the fork in the starter. Put it back together, and success.

Got to work on this little gem this weekend and got everything tore down. Got everything bagged and tagged & lots of pics as to how it was. Can't believe my luck as fasteners came out with relative ease. Nothing stripped out or twisted off. Even the sometimes stubborn shift lever dog point set screw backed right out! In an effort to save as much OEM paint I decided not to pressure wash anything as that would have surely blasted alot more paint off. Will have to do it school by hand with regular parts cleaner..lots of crud on the frame rails. The motor really doesn't need to be tore into but I am going to pull the head to check the bore pending availability of a head gasket. The oil that came out was fairly clean. The cylinder head and fin were completely filled with mud dauber nests. but should wire brush up ok. Tranny on the other hand is going to be tore down. Upon getting the shift lever out and pouring out the rally nasty looking gunk in ther I noticed metal shavings ....oh oh... lots of metal particals clinging on the lower shift lever as well. The hubs slid right off but ther does seem to be side slop in the axle bearings or bushings in there. Seals will need to be replaced in the brake & input pulley as well. If anyone has a good source for tranny parts I am all ears. I believe it to be a 5003-5010. Going to get the motor happening before I pull it apart to find out if it's got the ball or needle bearings in it. Going to be a slowww process as this $()&# thing called work keeps interfering with things. Family already asks if I got a bed out in the garage!?!?!? Got the easy stuff done - flywheel cleaned up and ready to go, only part I painted as it don't show anyway, gotta have some rattle can time right? Magnet was real loose and one of the threads were mangled - chased out real nice tho and a few drops of 271 loctite should do. Don't want that bugger to come loose and take out the ignition coil!

A good friend of mine runs a company with manufacturing in China and South Carolina. They make the paper elements for air and oil filters. Just the paper no metal at all. They're the primary vendor for most filter companies. They will build to whatever the customer specs. So in theory all these filters we're cutting apart probably have paper from the same plant! FYI all over the next 2 years all of their manufacturing will be done in SC. Bah BYE China!!!

Well, the best way for me to shop for parts is to shop around. E bay, Parts tree, Pat's Small Engine up here in MN and some others. As far as my local Toro Dealer….a waste of time. My local small engine shop is limited ,but they're helpful and can order me parts and tell me if its a good deal or if I can get it cheaper else ware . As a whole, I think all of the Wheel Horse and small engine stuff is getting very spendy. I think it's just a sign of the times. So my advice is check around before you buy…and if you find a good deal,buy two or more if you think you'll need it again some day.