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Thought I share some pics of the Homesteader Tractor I picked up this summer & my ugly mug here on RedSquare. I shared these on Facebook earlier this year too. A little history, The Homesteader tractor was made in Clinton, Arkansas in the mid 70ies by Bill Anderson. A side business to his trailer manufacturing. Made with 8 & 10HP Tucky power, 11HP B&S (mine), 16HP Kohler & a 7HP Lister diesel intended for the export market. They use a Peerless 2300 4 speed gearbox with chain reduction from the Peerless axles to the wheel hubs. The steering is just as crude with, but functional with two sprockets & a chain. Yes...those really are wheelbarrow tires on front & how they were made. The tractor came with a snowplow, garden plow, cultivators & what was left of 48' mower deck. I really enjoyed turning the garden with it after we were done for the year. The seat get's a little hot....should be an easy fix with a Cub style muffler. It's a tuff little tractor & about as simple as you can make one. Bill Anderson must have appreciated function over style.

So I saw a listing for a slot hitch plow and mower decks yesterday. The final pieces to my puzzle. The gentleman was looking to clear house so I offered to take the lot. i got more than I barganed for... 11 mower decks, 2 sets of wheel weights one with wheels attached, the slot hitch plow, and a pile of misc chains. A little over wealming but i am happy as all get out!!! (more pics to come)

Alright, couldn't sleep in. Had to get to work. Headed to ace hardware to get a round file to file the holes out on the deck handle and foot pedal so I don't scratch the crap out of the footrest rod on the frame. Got the wheels right too!

ha ha , it's the sunroom off the back of the house that I just finished remodeling for my wife last week. Still need to put the trim around the floor. I got heavy duty cardboard down and the tractor is squeaky clean so my wife was ok with it. It will roll out of the sliding door onto the deck and into the garage. Believe me, I'll try to keep it in there as long as possible, it's awesome to click the light on and see it when I get home and when I wake up in the morning with a cup of coffee.

thanks for the positive reactions guys. to be honest i would've came second if the single bottom plows were a seperate class because there were two of us with single bottom plows, me still being the smallest tractor tho. and about the backing out, i could've done that but i said to the guys i was going to compete with the horse and they all laughed at me, had to show them it would plow the bloody field that said they all were amased at what the little guy could do and got a lot of thumbs up

Just got this new (to me) Wheel Horse. I think it is a 702. I am going to do a complete resto on it, but I think it looks pretty straight. What do you all think.

I'm jealous. Those are some great looking tractors

Way cool. I like the pic of the tractor in the field, and of the WH nest to the big boys. I'd be certain that you gained a little respect from them as well.

This is a great bunch of posts on the RJ58 Wheel Horse tractor . I have two and enjoy them as much now as I did as a kid 55 years ago when my dad bought our first Wheel Horse tractor. I have a snowplow, mower deck and front cutter bar for one of my tractors. I also have an early Wheel Horse garden plow, cultivator and spiked tooth harrow I use on my other one. These things are working garden tractors -yes they look cute but they will do jobs well and way beyond your expectations.

Brian, I can tell you those wheels were for moving it around. I know because I built that frame and sold it at the big show a couple of years ago. I was in the process of making my own frame for a genny and then this one on my old C-145 became available so I snagged it. I added wheels to this too.

Sorry about the neck will figure it out o a tablet... OK give me crap....I is a WH tranny virgin.....did you do it right the first time!?!?.....get her mind out the gutter. ...?. yer mind not hers.......

That is a calendar shot with that last picture. Put a doily on the hood with a nice plant on it and keep it in there all winter.

Steve had been warned about the long term effects of Rock n rye......

Could just drive it in reverse... Man - Your "garage" is way nicer than mine!!!

In my book you won that hands down just for staying and plowing against those tractors , GREAT JOB !!!!!!!!!!

just a question, will there be a picture thread for the redsquare calender again this year?

i had my first plowing competition last sunday. ended up in last because i had to plow with the big boys anyway here's some pics of the day the first one of the day: my try on a opening furrow then i had a little hickup with the engine suddenly shutting down on me, wouldn't restart at first but after a couple minutes it started back up and ran strong the rest of the day don't have much to say about this one, just looked nice and here's me plowing

Holy schmidt ......11 mower decks?!?!?!?.....my problem with that haul is that I like to keep all of my horse stuff inside and a haul like that I would have to build an addition on to the the addition on to the addition on to the ...well you get my gist...nice score any way!!

Now you will have to come to the "Big Show" and sell off what you don't want.

Unfortunately you're probably gonna have to break the right side cover loose to get to that one. Don't feel bad. I had mine together and apart so many times I lost count.

This is my RJ-58 that I bought this one from RedSquare member Jdog_kustoms about four years ago... I bought a seat and both front wheels/tires for it. Other than that, I believe it to be all original otherwise except for the plastic gas tank which I intend to replace. This is as it sits today... Near as I can tell, the S/N of my RJ-58 is 4885 which is also not on "the list" in the link noted in above posts. There is no date code on top of the transaxle case so it would be one of the early RJ's. This tractor is currently located in York, PA.

Stevasaurus says, " I not only customize my WH GT's but I customized myself to fit the machine"!

as redranger said , those gas caps seam to be an odd thread the only flat steel gas cap i have found to work is an Arnold / Ace Hardware 72906. but they are still hard to find... i ordered several from my local ACE here is one on ebay for you to look at http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-1-2-GAS-CAP-VENTED-GC-150-72906-ARNOLD-ACE-/270963679171?hash=item3f16b19fc3:m:mDyEBOJFznqJ88Kn3KlYvkA

In using the 8 inch tri-ribs you have the choice of using the wider turf tire rims or a narrow rim if have a older tractor, or you can choose the rim you want, but they look different depending whether you had a 16x6.50-8 tire and wider rim or a 4.00 or 4.80-8 tire and narrow rim. The use of hubs is mandatory for the 10" or 12" if you use them because they do not come in a wheel that contains bearings. If you do opt for a hub I like BMIKarts billet aluminum 4 bolt hub as it use 1-5/8 precision sealed bearings. I used a 5.70-8 tire on this Wheel Horse as I wanted a tire that would match up to the Maxxis Ceros rear tire which is a dual purpose turf light AG tire, not a full blown bar lug AG. You have to be careful in purchasing hubs, the Bolens in the pictures below with the red rims has a 5 inch axle spindle, but the Wheel Horse only has a 4-1/2, the smaller tractor usually have around a 3-1/4 inch long axle spindle, that's why I use the billet aluminum hub on the shorter axles as it is 2-1/2 and I can use a 3/4" locking collar on either the inside or outside to position the wheel to line up with the rear tire which could be wider or narrower due to rims or direction the rim was mounted.

I agree, I don't think I would have stayed either, great job!

Not 100% sure on this, but I think even Wheel Horse changed them to metal in the last months of the Blackhoods production. Here's mine with a pan off a 520.

I would like to share this idea to help take some of the weight which the snowblower/thrower adds to the front, and add it to the rear. While also making the blower easier to lift. I know some of you use the spring to help with lifting, but most of its tension is when the blower is in the down position. I ran the cable directly through the cable tube and not using the rock shaft. Ran it it through a pulley (NOS idler I had) which is connected to the "attach-o-matic" and back to the bottom hole in the lift arm. While the flag is in the upper hole of the lift arm, the weight that is in the rear, is connected to he bottom hole giving the added weight a little better mechanical advantage. So the weight in the back is actually helping to lift the weight in the front.

River bend hose, about 1 mile away from the old south bend wheel horse plant built me a set for my c161 auto for about $125. They knew they were wheel horse when I put them on the counter. They have new style fitting combinations that replace the old , obsolete ones, and I was out the door in about 20 minutes total!

You da man!

I'll bet everyone there will remember you. How many others will be able to say that. And you got first place in your class.

I believe both that you mention will bolt right on. If you want a metal one from a 520 Ive got one you can have, just cover shipping. PM me if interested

Alright fellas this is as far as I got today. Just realized I got the rear wheels the wrong way.

You'd be surprised how much snow those little things can push. I see others say it will only push small amounts of light snow but that's not my experience. I was pushing some heavy snow in decent size amounts one year with my RJ. Have since sold the blade to AMCrules and he was pushing snow with it last year. I wouldn't bother with the snowblower unless you want it for looks. Those little 4 hp engines don't have the power. BUT, the blower you are looking for is a ST302. It has round sides so you will know when you see it. Borrowed this pic of another member's machine

If the frame is broken my guess would be it will be where the foot rest bar intersects the frame, cut out from bottom and very weak. The other likely area would be the transmission mounting plate. Either of these could be repaired easily with a little welding.

That is so cool !!!! Good job representing the WH Family......Big boys will remember that forever !!!!

damn those weren't aspirins

I had a C111, bought new in 1979 (the only year that WH made them). The gas tank was under the seat just like the rest of the 1978 thru end of production C series and 3/4/5 series tractors

You did a fine job of plowing! Your Red tractor is better than the Green ones!

I posted this on your other topic, but for the sake of all future viewers, I will post it here too. ----- You will probably be fine, and I also understand that you are unlikely to change your mind (and that's OK! ), but I just have to put some physics in here for anyone looking at this thread in the future. If you stand on the hitch (lets assume the hitch is 6" long from the hitch pin to the hole, and extends 5" under the transmission, I dont know what the actual measurements are) you are putting a pressure of about 240lbs on the bottom of the transmission (not calculating forces on the pin, too much work, but expect it close). If you put 150lbs out free hanging 24" from that hitch pin you are exerting a pressure of 960lbs on the transmission bottom. Yours will not be quite that high since your 150lbs is distributed along the length of the 24", but it will be close. Its like using a giant breaker bar on a frozen bolt. Also keep in mind that trailers aren't valid comparisons as they have their own tires on the ground, so they are putting their tongue weight right at the hitch (the same as the first example I gave you of you standing on it) And that doesnt include the possibility of bouncing... you would be looking that thousands of lbs of force.

God bless 'em all. OH! I love a parade.

...how to plant pumpkins on the fly.

Nice RJ you have there. This is mine that I bought from Jdogcustoms about four years ago. As far as I know, fenders and tool boxes were optional equipment on the RJ-58's. Yours looks great just at it is sans fenders

My hoobie-doobie is worn out from all the trips to the garage. Now I'm sitting here going through the old dealers manual and service notes and I may have hit on something. I know they are really drawings but it's very clear in the drawings that through 1962 the set screw was 90 degrees off the hub. From 1963 on the set screw is on the key. Not conclusive but pretty darn good evidence that Buckman was fired late in 62.

Parking brake looks good still trying to find bearings

@WHX4 There are several products out there like this, but I would suggest using glazing putty rather than the high build primer. The putty takes about a 1/2 hour to dry, and then you can immediately sand it smooth. Higher quality repairs, and much faster process than what you're planning. Also, I would suggest doing the sand blasting, ultra sonic, then lightly sand blast again. The "brownish" you're seeing is rust forming on the surface. It'll eventually work its way back out in about three years after the restore. I would do the last sandblast, spray them off with air, wipe down with Preps-All, and get them lightly into primer in about 15 minutes time. Then use the glazing putty to fill any small imperfections. That way the rust is gone for good, and the surface is smooth and ready for paint. Just a suggestion. ttps://advanceautopaint.com/shop/usc-red-glazing-putty/ My RJ rims started out like this: And ended up looking like this. That is the same rim and tire as above.

I have a pair of Carlisle 4.80-8 that I'd sell you. $60 for the pair shipped to you. Nice quality and look similar to your oem tires. Came on my 401. Nearly new. If you want something more original looking, check out Miller Tire. http://www.millertire.com/products/lawn-garden-tires/4-00-8/4-80-8-firestone-turf-guide-4-ply/

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!