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I never thought I would get one of these! Also bought a 520H with 91 hours!

I like this saying, ( If you have something bad to say about a farmer, don't talk with your mouth full. )

I got a Wheel Horse for my grandson, age 7½, since he has outgrown his powerwheels. It is a Ranger 800 and since it was in the garage beside my C125 I thought to take a few pics for comparison. It's had to believe that the Ranger is 10 years older than the C125. 1973 Ranger and 1983 C125.

Im probly going to be picking up a 520h with loader wheel weights, agg tires and weight box tomorrow. I'm just curious what you guys think. The good: Tractor runs good no smoke, knocking, doesn't bog. Hydraulics work as they should houses not cracked no leaks, very responsive hours arn't to bad at 850, The bad: It was stored outside so its not pretty paint on hood is faded, tires have some dry rot. PTO clutch lever pops up and the clutch disengages if you hold the lever down it works fine. The loader assembly is a bit sloppy and has some play, and there is some squealing when the bucket is curled down. Overall it's 20+ years old so I don't expect it to be pretty. Price is around $1700 What do you guys think? Thanks

This has been a long time coming, but I think with snow season close...I will be loving this new driveway. I got to use the horses a little...like getting all the plants off the concrete, getting out the edging, and taking up the patio blocks. Time to rip it all up. Freddie Time for gravel. They let me try spreading with the horse when they took a break. It would have taken a lot longer. They start them out young. We had home made Tamales for lunch one day. They were fantastic. :) Time for the concrete. Finished and landscaped Put the patio back in and start unloading all the plants. Thanks for looking...19 yards of concrete. I can't wait to move snow off of it this year. We probably will not get any.

Drain the tank and clean it and install a new fuel line shut off valve (and bushing) in the tank. This is in addition to changing the fuel line and Seafoam use as Richard suggested. Make sure the engine fins are not clogged and the engine breather may need cleaning as well. Check the condition of the two 9 pin connectors (one goes to the engine, the other is up high behind the battery). They are prone to developing open circuits due to resistive (I^2R) heating at the connections. You can get replacements from Bob Maynard here on RS. Also, check the fuse holder, another location for open circuits also due to I^2R heating and well as proximity to the rear cylinder. All of these open circuits are the result of corrosion on the copper alloys. The WH engineers could have used tin plated wire and terminals on all electrical connections, but for some strange reason they did not. Enjoy your Onan. I like mine, but I also like the simplicity of Kohlers

I don't know if it is ok to post this here but some sad news for us collectors. Bowtie, a Chevy man and fellow Wheel Horse collector passed away last month! He lived close by me here in Ohio, in Gahanna. Don't know if anybody else knew him but he had some nice stuff and it all got dispersed around. Thanks...Hammerhead

There are SO many reasons this time of year is special. It's the time to transition from Summer Wheel Horses to Winter Duty. It is also the time when 2 major forum events happened. November 14, 2006 - RedSquare was started by whchris on a free service called Forumer, anyone remember whforum.15.forumer.com October 31, 2011 - We abruptly moved from Forumer to our current home. I often go back and look at the posts from those times and while RedSquare is so different today then it was then, there are STILL many of the same people here who helped make this what it is today. So at this important time of the year, as you get your machines ready for the new season, Thank You for being a member of RedSquare, it's been a heck of a ride and still going!

Hello, I just bought my first Wheel Horse this past weekend. My brother-in-law new i needed a mower and found it through a friend. He educated me a little on Wheel Horses and told me this was a good buy. I paid 500 for the tractor and it also came with a trailer and a bagging system. I've got to go back and get the bagger this weekend. I'm starting to research my Horse to find out all i can. I know this is the '89 model. I'm looking for advice on maintaining and a little restoration. This thing has been sitting in a garage for two years. It started right up and ran for a while, but then shut off. I drained the gas and i'm gonna replace the fuel filter. It ran great before it shut off, no smoke, no noises, blades engaged and ran fine. I'm excited about this tractor and i'm looking forward to learning all i can about it.

been here a while,i do remember the orig format,and the big crash,but here we are and we need to thank all the people who keep the square running,thanks guys ,u guys are A1

I have always preferred a manual transmission,less parasitic power loss.

Welcome! As a fellow newbie, I can attest to Digger 66's comment - this forum is great for all things WH! great group of people with excellent advice... I would recommend becoming a supporter too. Just go to the "store" and click support. It's worth it... Enjoy!

I think most of us would agree that you should keep both of them. A 12 HP Kohler will run a snow blower with no problem and I have a personal preference for a rear discharge deck but that is just my opinion. Kohlers will last for ever, but the Brigs has been operating for 30 years +/- so you can't say it isn't durable. As you said, hydro and lift are great to have, guess you need to keep both!

Power Kings Kohlers are a special breed and a certain Spec# and other Kohlers just won't bolt up to the cast bell housing (similar to a car or truck with a flywheel. pressure plate, throw out...) and they are getting harder to find. I have had two of those rebuilt. Other Kohlers were bought while still sitting in the tractor. Just seems cheaper to buy a whole tractor than to rebuild an engine.

because that is the 520 that's in the bed i think, the 420 is on a trailer

I was just about to post that both of my attempts were no improvement over plain incandescent bulbs, but maybe $17 each would be! Gadds! From link below: A standard 1156 bulb puts out about 400 lumens when new. As of January 2010, I haven't found an LED replacement that puts out any more, and most are only 50 lumens or so, not enough for a standard 1156 housing.To confirm the above: From Bosch Automotive Handbook7th ed. a 1156 (BA15S) Stop/Turn 21W bulb puts out 460 lumens. For a 5W Side marker / Tail BA15S it is 50 lumens (strangely low, I know) and 10W Tail light 125 lumens. http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_lumens_for_an_led_replacement_vs_stock_1156_bulb So these 800 lumen LEDs should be rather impressive! Price certainly is! Hey! Just noticed the price is indeed for a pair! I just ordered from Amazon!

When welding aluminum cleaning the area is very important. Take the engine apart prior to welding. Drill the end of the cracks to prevent further cracking and v-out the crack area. Depending on the material the metal may need to be preheated also.

Whoa nelly, are these your real picks or your pencil in picks??? Don't want to hear that excuse!! The Ka Sara bus left weeks ago!!! Did Koen save you any brewskies or donuts?? I think Jim said they were running low on just about everything, you better stock up. The basement without munchies is the pits!!! It's not very far to go before you won't be able to touch the top. Just think your favorite buds will be hanging out at the top going, Where's Dino???? As always, Go Hawkeyes!!!

I don't own a shop but here's the problem. Any place that overhauls an engine has to GUARENTEE it. Most shops don't have a complete machine shop so they send out the block,crank ect to be checked. The machine shop has to GUARENTEE it. So it's $$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!! We don't want to pay it. Many of us here and you have all seen the posts, open an engine, look at the bore -looks good and throw in some rings and maybe new valves and put it back together and it runs and we're happy and saved some money. The reality is, we don't really know how worn that engine is. Example: I bought a C-160 non runner a couple of years ago. It had carb issues so the guy parked it. I wanted to rebuild the motor as a spare for my current 160. I opened it up and things looked good. I took it to a friend of mine who builds kart engines for an opinion. He said the bore was out of round and needed boring and the crank was out of round and was all ready .010 undersized. Rod had numerous cracks which showed up on dye. He called a friend of his that does his machine work. I brought everything to him to double check. Crank couldn't be turned again. And bore was near limits and may need to be sleeved. Total estimate with machine work and parts was $700! That's not including gaskets or any reassembly labor. Remember this was a motor that to the naked eye of a guy that has been a mechanic for 30 yrs. looked good!

Not necessarily... in that order. More like... muggies and the Cubs.

Hmmm... Five hours later and no response. I wonder what Steve's doing right now. CUBBIES AND THE MUG!!!!!!!!

I purchased replacement 1156 led bulbs which fit into the sockets on my 68 Commando from Autozone

Been here less than a year, but I've been a member on enough other sites...tractors, atvs, snowmobiles, cars.... to know this is one of the best out there. So much information, such great people, very nicely run. Great site.

I need to know 4 things: What is the yellowish stuff? Why isn't there a closeup of the custom front hitch? It's design and perhaps a Sketch Up link? Who is the little fellow doing all the work? Who is the guy on the round hood dominating several of the shots? Oh! And tell the little guy, "Nice job!"!

Hmmm... Five hours later and no response. I wonder what Steve's doing right now.

RIP Bowtie

Haven't got this picture posting down yet . Pics got out of order. I have 2 702's should be able to make a super nice 702 still missing gen flywheel cover,fuel pump stock coil . I have enough tin for one and it's all really strait. Couldn't make it to the rest of the RJ . I know the last one not the right color but if I could have one tractor it would be an AC D21. Couldn't get around my sons truck with my wheelchair . Here's the hoods. My cousin had a pic of the RJ from the add in which we bought it from. He's most likely a member , he had at least 25 tractors most of them early round hoods.

I saw the Ranger under a porch this spring. I went to visit an old Wheel Horse collector and he showed me his horses. He had 7 there at his house and a few someplace else. Well, he passed away this summer and his son asked me if there was anything I wanted. I told him about the little one under the porch. We settled on a price of $150. It's not NOS .... probably looks that way because everything above the frame is plastic. (grille, hood, console and rear fenders) No rust on any of those parts! Some of the frame and footrests have been repainted. And the motor is not original. I had to put points in the motor and clean and adjust the carb. The steering needed tightened up. Clutch and brake did not work. But it's all getting better. Ummmm ..... plow and chains??? I could get done in ½ the time! There is a mowing deck for the Ranger ....... Grandson mowing ...... possibly. But dragging the wagon around would be more fun.

The Wheel Horse 420LSE Worker Story.... I bought this 420LSE number 77 late January of this year from a guy from Western New York. He was the second owner of the tractor as the first owner only own it for only 1 year. Well this tractor was used and abused by the second owner as he racked up almost 1400 hours on the 420lse never knowing this tractor was collectable and limited edition. So I get that call to come and take look at this suppose to be 420lse tractor on the coldest day of the year 2 degrees of course outside. He opens the garage and there it is 420lse all rough up and mean looking sitting there with a flat tire. I check it over and everything matches up like it's suppose to be and it came with the proper paperwork. The bonus is it came with a 2 stage snowblower. The story is he used it to cut the lawn of course and snow blow every winter. He said he always keeped it outside and never had room in the garage since he restored cars for his hobbie.The last 6 years he just used it to lawn roll his lawn. So the tractor had some dents,scratches and rust but still through all that it looked good to me to buy and take home. The funny part is I never got a chance to run it because it was so cold he couldn't even jump start it but I took a gamble. I even power washed it that night when it was 0 degrees I just wanted to get the salt off. So I decided to keep its patina orginal survivor look and did very little paint touch ups. The hood and rear seat pan I left alone they had little rust spots and scratches and the hood had a few dings. Alot of mice nest in the tractor. The deck was shot but i keeped the chrome deck wheels.The rims had rust damage because he had them loaded and they sat for the longest time. I repaired them and drained all the fluids out as i had to cut the tires off. I changed all the fluids, plugs,filters,etc. I did some wire repair and replace all the fuses. Alot of cleaning and detailing went into this tractor. Today I truly started it up for the first time and it ran awesome with no smoking or any unusual noises! It drove perfect and had tons of power. I was very pleased it turn out this good. The future for this 420LSE Worker survivor tractor number 77/200 is retirement he going to relax and become and Sunday driver. Everyone once awhile he going to pull a cart around to feel cool again. He's not going to win a beauty shows or get all the girls but he's cool looking with all his battle wounds over the years......

Today I bought a "Workhorse" GT-1848 for cheap just to get the snowblower attach. Came with a nicer 42" 3 blade side discharge deck (vs the current beat up but very functional 38" rear discharge) that should mount fine on my C-125. I don't have a lot of info on the Workhorse GT-1848. Not many out there. On the plus side the Workhorse has a twin 18HP briggs, hydro transmission and hydraulic lift (for deck and blower). Personally, the hydro-automatic and hydraulic lift are nice to have accessories. Other than that the geometry, PTO and attachomatic are the same. So it comes down to a Briggs vs Kohler... Which one? I like my C-125 a lot. I work it hard and the 12HP Kohler has performed flawless. So am I better off with the higher 18HP Briggs or 12HP Kohler? Anyone have experience snowblowing with a c-125 12HP Kohler vs 18HP Briggs? Can the c-125 handle the job? If so, next consideration is mowing with a 3 blade 42" vs the my current stock 2 blade 38". Does it not matter? It's raining now so otherwise I'd be doing a deck bakeoff in the dark Looking for advice.

Guys, I appreciate all the helpful tips and advice, and I think I have finally gotten the Onan a bit happy again. I was able to run those jet cleaner wires through the main jet a bit earlier today as suggested, and quite a bit of gunk came out. I actually went ahead and flushed the fuel line from the carb inlet to the tank, and thoroughly drained the tank and "sponged" it out a bit. Installed yet another fuel filter and wham...just as Nylon said...that fixed me right up. I guess carb cleaner didn't clear it completely the first time, but the wires surely did. Thanks JackC for the awesome fuel analysis and explanation, and thanks to everyone for your timely response to this issue. I sincerely appreciate all of you taking time to both reply and educate me on taking care of my 520 issues. I feel much more confident in taking care of the issue if or when it arises. Thanks again, and have a great evening!

I had both a 418-c and a 420-lse at the same time. You won't feel a power difference. Steve

Nice Driveway Steve!!

How about the guys that are into pulling? They have shops that do work for them. I prefer to find a good used engine rather than rebuild. I gave up on perfection years ago. I do not need to pay for an engine rebuild that will out last me. Just like I want my last check to bounce, I want my last engine to fail just before I check out. Just put plenty of straight 30W or 40W Dino oil in it and smoke the mosquitoes. There are also home based mechanics around if you can find them.

If you are talking a 5060 transmission, one axle is longer then the other...just so ya know. Maybe, that is why you have that slack...you have two of the short axles in there. The difference between the axles is only 1/4". I am editing this post because the stuff in RED is not correct thinking. RacinBob pointed me in the right direction on that. Thank You Bob. If you had both axles being short, it would appear in a difference in the length that stuck out of the axle housing...it would not be slack inside the differential. Sorry...being dyslexic gets me every time...I really have to take the time to look at things a bunch of ways before I type something.

Looking good!!

THIS IS TOO MUCH! DON'T HAVE TO PICK MARYLAND AGAIN! IOWA WISC INDIANA MICH ST. ( hairball blows a gasket! ) NEBRASKA OHIO ST. NOTRE DAME

If it will start the engine it will charge, what you need is a voltage regulator.

Good choice, my concrete driveway cost about twenty percent more than asphalt, but will last twice as long, no brainer to me.

VERY IMPORTANT!!! Everyone planning to attend this Meet and Greet please go to the "Red Square Herd" Section of "Shows and Events" here at Red Square and read the post from Linder. She is making an announcment that we all need to be aware of. Its all good news! I'm looking forward to seeing all of you at the Meet and Greet! PS, please let her know if you are planning to attend, also if you are bringing family. She is very excited and wants to have food for us.

Steve, maybe some back -row heckling will be in order!

Very Cool! Looks like there is a need for a replacement belt though...not for the tractor but for the fella slightly bending over in the start of the video

However, back in those days we were having some long and nasty winters and this was the 875's first real workout from my dad! Mom dads house out in the country! Note the groovy green paint on the house and that Nova in the drive! This tractor had already seen a pretty tough life in its short ten years but dad needed a work horse and it went right at it. Now is where I need some help from you guys! Dad can't remember where that snowthrower came from or even if it was a WH thrower. Does anyone out there know if that is a WH brand unit. To me it almost looks like a Cub Cadet unit but I don't know? Dad said it wasn't geared right and never did that great of a job moving the nasty white stuff. I know this is a fairly early pic because it still has the original muffler on it at this point. By the next summer dad would add the straight pipe to it...

Not showroom quality, but super nice to drive and pretty darn tough.

Early model 1955 RJ35 1956 RJ35 A few "modified" pics 1955 RJ 58RJ and 55RJ

Thought I'd put this up for consideration.

Awesome Pic!

Hi, Here five of my favourite pictures of my worker the 312-8. Hope you like them! Greetings from Belgium. :thumbs2: