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Sorry to hear this. With 20 years in the insurance industry I can tell you that most insurance companies treat modular homes differently than stick built homes, two different insurance policies. The construction methods and materials are different in each. The cost to replace is somewhat different. I'd assume they'd take care of you as the type of policy that was issued is not your fault. Sounds like your agent messed up. Glad to hear that everyone is ok and that you had insurance. Although I've never personally had a home fire, I fully understand what you are going through and dealing with. I've been through it many times with my customers. I've been on site before the fire was out and every time afterwards. The smell and taste are terrible...hangs with you for days. The timeframe to get back to normal seems to take for ever, but it will come. I hope your insurance company takes care of you like they should. I would not wish a home fire on my worst enemy or even my ex-wife. Although she would actually deserve it.

I want to thank my good friends Jeff (fireman) and Vin (Vins RJ) for stopping over an helping me get this 57' running that I got at the big show two years ago. We replaced the engine that was in it with a good running K91 that I bought there the same year. Both were sitting on the shelf for the past two years. IMG_2971.MOV Click on video at bottom. IMG_2970.MOV

Hi, my name is Dick Schmidt and I go by 953 nut, mainly because I'm nuts about 953s. This year my wife gave me a cool Wheel Horse Umbrella. I have one grand daughter, here she is at her first birthday party. and here we are ten years later. I purchased my first Wheel Horse 953 in 2002, already had a 1055. This past summer I per purchased a 953 project to be picked up at the "Big Show", but spinal surgery prevented me from going. Wheel-N-It (Van) and James came to my rescue and brought it to North Carolina so I could retrieve it after some recuperation. Thanks guys. and this is my membership card to the "Titanium Troopers Club"

Thought I would show my snowblower wing extensions I made. Helps keep tractor going straight and not getting sucked in.

What size clothes do you wear???? Reason for asking ... I don't have cash to send, but I am a big guy, and I have a lot of 2X, 3X and 4X clothes, not fancy, some near new, that I could afford to send if they have a value to you.

Yep! Very grippy.. Mike.........

I got my one of my sheds cleaned out this weekend and snuggled my RS-83 Senior in to it for the winter! No time to get it running yet, bummer! Now the weather has changed for the worse, it is 19 degrees out there now! Wahoo! Now bring on the snow!

I been wanting sum cheap transportation and was able to buy this little beauty it is a 1981 Chevy luv the man that lived behind me bought it in 1981 with 6,000 miles on it and it was his everyday driver till he passed away it has 138,000 on it now and runs good i plan on driving it to work for a while till i can get my wife's car fixed or find her a new one. Sorry about the poor pic

From left to right, my son, my grandson, and me.

My 1960 Suburban as I found it. This poor girl was in bad shape, nothing moved and calcium chloride had ate the front rims. A big win was getting the steering apart. Decided to make this a rat project, didn't realize how hard it would be for me to clean parts up so they would work and not paint them.

We have a section here on RedSquare that is titled RedSquare Member Pictures It seems like it's been a long time since it has been updated. We have many new members, and lots of members who just haven't posted their "mugs". If you have not posted a picture of yourself, why not? It's always nice to be able to put a face to a name. Here is the link to the section: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/forum/35-redsquare-member-pictures/?page=1

I'm thinkin the PO worked in a fab shop where he had access to the stuff to make the deck clip. Can you imagine an deck that would never rust?.....make mine a 60 incher! Also the job he did on the hood had to be a pro welder. Personally I wouldn't put a drop of paint on unless necessary. ..way too much character the way it is, but then again I've been brainwashed by others here. Certainly a one of a kind and very cool horse.

Really? What about the 550 ( 5 HP - Electric Start - 1960 ) and 551 ( 5 HP- Electric Start- 1961 )

...or speed nuts, Toro #107069.

This has been a great post, we can all learn a lot trying to sort out the model number and year of the . It is so cool that a third generation family member will continue to love the same horse. I wouldn't worry about the hood being another year, you know the history of your horse and that is a lot more than moist of us can lay claim to.

It's only 3 bolts, or a c clip for the front, to remove them. Remove them and take them in the house. You should be able to knock them out in a couple nights while watching the news. Throw a tarp down on the floor and go to it! I'd go with the correct 701 decals.

One thing to keep in mind about those attachment lists. They just show the part # used for that year and nothing about forward compatibility. Virtually all attachments for quite a few later years will hook right up to your tractor. Personally, I would prefer a 1964 or later snow blade. Along with the 701 I hauled to the big show I also took a BD-4271. It definitely has a cool factor but isn't nearly as stout as the later years.

That link I gave you to the manuals also has the attachment interchangeability with it. Check out the implement picture gallery (just below the Euro Section) to see pictures of all the attachments. BTW, I think I read where you want to paint the wheel rims white...they were painted Linen Beige from the factory. These are close matches. I think I am sharing your excitement!! Very Cool. Wheel Horse Linen - Duplicolor Wimbledon White (paint code: T205) (Autoparts stores) - Valspar anti-rust Gloss almond (Paint code: 21935) - Sherwin Williams - Controls Rust - Antique White (paint code 140-2486) - Rustoleum gloss Ivory (paint code: 249110) - PPG Wheel Horse Linen Beige DAR 8799

Hi Guys!! Back at work on the Monday after vacation for the Holidays. Mike, should I make sure that there are two pulleys on for it it run optimally? Steve, I will check on the plugs for the transmission as soon as I can and keep you informed. I'll see if the guys recall when they were working on it as well. I was looking around on the forum and realized that I also have the original trailer with the tractor! I kept seeing the 4-wheel wagon so I didn't think anything about the "wagon" we have. Now I realized it is known as a trailer. Can't tell you how many of us have had rides as kids in that over the years. It is at my parents camp so I'll have to take a trip out to check it out! Pictures will come! I am also thinking that I might like to have a snow plow for it. Do you know if there is a specific part # or model for the plow that I need to be looking for? I am just having a blast getting reacquainted with my Horse and learning so much! I did order a seat cover that would have gone on the '61. You guys are fantastic! I will make sure to keep pictures coming! Connie

This may be the bearing https://www.partstree.com/parts/toro/parts/107124/ Notice the tractors listed that used it. Don't have time to check it out right now. One of the HD kits Garry

The dual pulleys were to make up for a lack of ACR (Auto Compression Release) on the 1961 7hp Kohlers. In 1962 they came with ACR and a single belt/pullet sufficed. Mike.......

So sorry to see this. Best of luck dealing with the Insurance Co.

Depends on how much tearing down or taping up you want to do. Nothing looks worse than things being painted that aren`t supposed to be. Like tires, wires, fuel lines etc.

I do know I am the third person in the family to have the tractor. My Grandfather purchased it new. I don't have knowledge of any changes that were made by my Grandfather and Father. The hood is now clear. I started driving this tractor when I was about 9. It's a few years older than I am. I am just so happy to have it and have had the work done to get it running again. I know my husband knew it would make me happy, but I don't think he even realized just how happy. I want to work on getting the rims painted in white and I ordered a seat cushion in the red and white. I cant thank you all enough for sharing your knowledge with me and helping to guide me.

I too am going to wait on your comment

I now present, the "Bronco 12 Special". I have had this tractor done for a couple months now, but have been having too much fun playing in the garage instead of posting on here lately. I covered the build of mechanical aspects of this tractor in a previous thread. Since then, I've obviously spent some time on the cosmetic aspects of it. My concept when I started planning this over two years ago was to build a tractor that had what I felt were the ideal features of a show tractor; compact size, hydro drive and lift for easy operation, starter generator for quiet starts, and full foot boards and safety features so my kids can run it safely (with supervision). Of course, I wanted it to look good too. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I like the way it turned out. It's just a rattlecan paint job, but I tried to do what I could to make it turn out as good as possible. The slightly customized decals from Terry really help too. Oh, and the name. As the other thread explained, the tractor is essentially the rear half of a Bronco 14, the front half of an 8hp 4sp, and a newer 12HP Kohler that came in the Bronco, but had the S/G and tins from a 1056. I couldn't come up with a name that incorporated all of that, but "Bronco 12 Special" I felt hit the main points. I won't recount all the steps of the restoration, but will hit a few highlights: The tires. It seems like these threads often prompt the question, "what tires are you using?" The rears are Carlisle 23x8.50-12 Power-Trac's. They are mounted on Wards rims (John Deere 110/112 rims are the same I think) to tuck them in about an inch closer than the original Wheel Horse rims. They still give me about 1" between the tire and the drive motor. The fronts are 15x6.00-6 Vredestein's on the 8hp 4spd front rims. I wanted to go with some tri-ribs since they were cheaper, but I thought the 3.50-6's looked too small, and the 4.00-8's were bigger than I wanted to go. The engine runs great, but it did suffer from the all-to-common issue of the dipstick rubber having shrunk and not holding it in the tube. Rather than replacing it, I tried a different approach that seems to have worked. I got some 1 3/8" wiring heat shrink wrap and put it on the rubber "stopper" on the dipstick. It added just enough to keep it from popping out while the engine is running. I haven't run it alot yet, but it seems to be holding up. The hydraulic hoses as I got them were functional, but one had worn through and was patched together with a doubled-ended barb union and some hose clamps. Another hose on the cylinder leaked at the swivel fitting. Following advice I found in a thread on here, I went the Surplus Center route for replacement hoses, with 1/4" JIC 4 hoses in 12", 18", 24" and 30" lengths. The hoses worked great, but the same thread advised to get JIC 4 90deg fittings and then JIC 4 to 5 straight adapters to hook into the JIC 5 ports on the valve, cylinder and pump. I just couldn't make the turns tight enough coming off the pump doing it that way. I ended up ordering some JIC 4 to 5 (1/4" to 5/16") 90deg fittings from hydraulicsdirect.com. Even then, I had to enlarge the hole in the seat support to accommodate the longer coupler sleeve on the new hoses, but eventually it did work. Even though the suggested fittings could have worked on the cylinder connections, I got some of the JIC 4 to 5 90deg fittings there too for a cleaner install. To get the air cleaner to fit with the 12HP engine under the 8HP 4spd hood, I had previously mentioned using the carb and cleaner off of a 212 John Deere. This still was an awfully tight fit. By accident, I found that the air cleaner from a certain model of Cub Cadet was the same concept, but lower profile to give me a little more clearance. Both the Cub and the Deere breathed from the back side of the cleaner, drawing air from the flywheel blower housing. Since I change the orientation of the air cleaner, I had to fill that hole and drill holes to breath in from the front side. What drove me to look for a different air cleaner was trying to put headlights in. Even with the Cub air cleaner, I didn't have room for the stock headlight buckets, so I went the LED route. I fabbed up a plate from a sheet of aluminum that covered the opening from the inside, and stuck 6x6 LED panels on. Just going straight across the back side of the grill with the aluminum, and the lens on the front side, there was enough room in between for the LED's. The best part is, the LED's put out more light than the stock headlight bulbs. Not willing to leave well enough alone with the headlights, I went one step farther and integrated some amber strobe/blinker lights. For fairly cheap, I got a roll of cut-to-length amber LED strip lights and mounted a couple strips on the outsides of the headlights. They still fit behind the front lens, so unless they are lit, you don't know they are there. I wanted a similar, clean look in the back. It took me a while to come up with something, but eventually I found a motorcycle tail light that had integrated turn signals. It sticks out farther than a stock tail light, but that is mainly to incorporate a license plate light that points downward, which might be handy for shining some light on the hitch. The light used a single ground wire, and the strobe controller I had required individual grounds for each blinker, but it wasn't too hard to modify the circuit board to add individual grounds. I mounted the controller on the plate under the gas tank, easy to reach but not obvious that it's there. I wish I could say it's perfect, but I do have a few lessons learned that may eventually bother me enough to make me fix them. The transmission drips. Since Toro discontinued the 5999 gasket, I had to make my own and I think I used the wrong material. The 1/64 felt-like material I used I think wicks the Type-A trans fluid just enough to create a very slow drip. It's so slow, it's not a big deal, but eventually may bother me enough to try a different gasket material. Even if I did fix it though, the lift cylinder drips too, and I don't think there is anything I can do about that other than try to find a different cylinder. The muffler leaks. The muffler is a will-fit Gravely replacement off of Ebay, and after running it a little it has soot marks coming out at every seam. Not a big deal on a working tractor, but I want this one to look nice. I like the looks otherwise, so may eventually have to try a higher quality version. All in all, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I didn't get it done in time to take to any shows in 2015, but look forward to making it to a few 2016 shows with it.

Just picked this this up over the new year, think its a c120 needs some tlc, ( new bearing in PTO, wheel has has slid on axle, needs a new battery,) but seems solid, the decks going up for sale if anyone needs one, I bought it as a parts tractor but its too good to break, so its gonna be the main mowing tractor now, so I can have a dedicated Rotavator tractor,

Cement, Titanium, or plastic as in the case of Cousin Eddie, whatever it takes to keep us going! Eddie: Don't go puttin' none of that stuff on my sled, Clark. You know that metal plate in my head? I had to have it replaced, cause every time Catherine revved up the microwave I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for a half hour or so. So over at the VA they had to replace it with plastic. It ain't as strong so I don't know if I should go sailin down no hill with nothing between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic. Clark: You really think it matters, Eddie?

There's a good selection and yes, the Comfort Inn is a great choice. Very nice with a good hot breakfast to start the day. Looking forward to meeting you. Richard, I'm glad you can make it this year. The Mrs. and I will be there again and it will be great to meet you too.

My shop is so cluttered with stuff , I have to back out the door so I can look for something. I could build a 40 x 40 ft building and fill it up the day it was completed.

The 702 hood does have the indents for the square decals…. I'm not so much worried about whether the hood is correct for the 701, although I did see one for sale somewhere in the last couple of days. I would have to back track. I'm not sure it's important to me to have the correct hood. I don't know if it ever had the original 701 hood on it. My Grandfather and Father are gone now so I don't have anyone to ask. That's why all of you have been such a blessing. Thank you!!

I kinda like the idea of the 701 decals too. But, do you have the indentation in the side of the hood for the square decals? I can't tell for sure. I wouldn't worry about the hood being wrong. Truth be known, there's far fewer true 'originals' out there than most want to think. Going by the original parts manuals is the best way to know what was original but even then, it's not 100%.. With over 50 years of service, repairs, and part swapping there's some items that really can't be proven to be truly original. You could keep an eye out for the right hood but in the meantime you have a dandy 'era correct' tractor on your hands.

Welcome to the group. So glad you decided to become a supporter, too. It is amazing the knowledge within this forum. I think it is great that you have your original tractor from childhood. That is so rare these days. If you want to change the decals, look in the vendor section for vinylguy. You tractor looks great. That trailer is a pretty rare item, as most have rusted away by now.

Steve!! Thanks so much for the detail on the wheel color!! I do want to have the right color for them. I wouldn't have known if you hadn't picked up on that! I printed the manual you sent out so I would have it. I already talked to my husband about when we can paint the wheels. Looks like I'll need to wait until this next Fall after our busy season in Cooperstown has ended. I can't wait!! I may be able to talk him into getting it done sooner. I think he has a hang over from getting it to where it is now.

Well most of you guys prolly knows that my wife is a Jeweler and she makes a lot of real nice stuff to customer's.. and sometimes to me lol.. Here is what i got for Xmas in 2014. Over there you prolly call it "sterling silver" (925s) buckle that i have used alot. And in 2015 she gave me this.. Gold horse head as a pendant whit a black diamond in the center of the wheel with a gold necklace to

Only one belt won't affect the running, just starting. As the guys said, the starter has to overcome not having the ACR. The early 60's did have a different blade. The blade release to allow the blade to angle was different. The BD-4271 was actually listed for the 701. Starting in 1964 the blade release was changed and remained that way. They also mounted a bit differently to the rear axle. Check the manuals section and look at the 1961 BD-4271 and the 1964 BD-4264. You'll see the difference. You can use any of them designed for a short frame. Just make sure you get all the parts. The rear axle bracket is often missing. One of the many cool things about these tractors is that so many attachments will easily interchange over the years and a snow blade definitely will.

Thanks Mike!! Thanks Dino! Yep she does Craig.. i will do my very best to keep her.. lol Hey Neil.. well i can do some trading whit you.. one Rj for the Wife?? lol Thanks Jim.. yes she is talented she has been a jeweler for 16 years now Thats True!!!

I would still like you to check those plugs on the trans, please. If they are different, that would be the WH # 5007 transmission...only came on the 701 horse. Here is the manual... http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/1074-tractor-1961-401-551-701-da-om-ipl-wiring-snpdf/

I am so sorry to hear of your loss Blue. Thankfully you and your pet are okay, the rest will take care of itself.

Not here in Ct. Your mileage restrictions are placed on you by the insurance company if you go for classic/specialty car insurance. At least that's how it is with my Corvette. If I had bought regular car insurance I would have no restrictions. Mike..........

So that's how Skonk got painted!

Finally got back to this again......................been juggling 2 projects and one is wife mandated, I'm sure you know that's NOT the tractor! Pulled all the tins off and really found more crud than grass build up. The valley of the engine was just filthy. Here are some pics of what I found. Cleaned up: And current progress as of tonight. Engine is all bolted back in with new foam between firewall and engine shroud. I found the crankcase vent hose cracked in numerous places at the barbed fitting, so I have that ordered, along with a new air filter, fuel filter, and gasket between the air cleaner and carb. Might as well fill the flat rate box!

Nice modification work and thanks for sharing it.

So sorry for your loss especially during the holidays. God bless and so happy no one was hurt, I am constantly reminded we get one chance at this life.

I second these. Been running these for 2 years now. Great traction on turf as well as blacktop. Will go anywhere without spinning or ripping up the soil. For all purpose tires, they are great.

They probably just figured two belts were better. It only happened one year. The front axle is correct. I think you're right. A 701 with a later hood. No harm really. I was a kid in the early 60's but the Wheel Horse bug already had me. So many items were changed out over the years that it's impossible to know what was truly factory. Also, Wheel Horse was well known for using up parts and muddying up things more. Parts on these machines are so interchangeable over many, many years that Johnny Cash specials are very common. You've got a great little tractor there and about as correct as you'll find.

I run these and love em! Mine are the wider 10.5s. https://www.stopandgotires.com/tire/utv/utv?sku=510045&name=Carlisle%20All%20Trail Mike....

great idea

Adapt and over-come!

It's got to be a 702...I get goosebumps when I see one.