Leaderboard

Sorry about this Mike but had to make the new girl earn it's keep. This bush was fairly dead and pulled easy. Next one was rooted pretty deep so had to break out the heavy artillery! Mrs WHX says I look like someone else here with the sweat band!!! I said who do you think I got the idea from??/ Feel free to post here pics of your horses working guys & gals!

Seems like a perfect evening to me..

7-5-1946 Bikini introduced On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed “bikini,” inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week. European women first began wearing two-piece bathing suits that consisted of a halter top and shorts in the 1930s, but only a sliver of the midriff was revealed and the navel was vigilantly covered. In the United States, the modest two-piece made its appearance during World War II, when wartime rationing of fabric saw the removal of the skirt panel and other superfluous material. Meanwhile, in Europe, fortified coastlines and Allied invasions curtailed beach life during the war, and swimsuit development, like everything else non-military, came to a standstill. In planning the debut of his new swimsuit, Reard had trouble finding a professional model who would deign to wear the scandalously skimpy two-piece. So he turned to Micheline Bernardini, an exotic dancer at the Casino de Paris, who had no qualms about appearing nearly nude in public. As an allusion to the headlines that he knew his swimsuit would generate, he printed newspaper type across the suit that Bernardini modeled on July 5 at the Piscine Molitor. The bikini was a hit, especially among men, and Bernardini received some 50,000 fan letters. In prudish America, the bikini was successfully resisted until the early 1960s, when a new emphasis on youthful liberation brought the swimsuit en masse to U.S. beaches. It was immortalized by the pop singer Brian Hyland, who sang “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini” in 1960, by the teenage “beach blanket” movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and by the California surfing culture celebrated by rock groups like the Beach Boys. Since then, the popularity of the bikini has only continued to grow.

You got a good deal even if it does not run, which I think it will by the way. Here are some easy steps for bringing a wheel horse back to life that has sat a few years. Take the spark plug out and put a little marvel mystery oil in the spark plug hole. Pour about 4oz in there and just let it sit. Then remove the air cleaner assembly and backing plate being careful not to break the PCV hose in the backing plate. Then remove the float bowl from the carb, throw out the bad junk in the bowl and clean the inside of the bowl until it shines. Do not put the bowl back on yet. Get all the old gas out of the fuel tank and put in some fresh gas. Blow through the fuel tank until you have fresh gas coming out the bottom of the carb. Then put the bowl back on but not the air cleaner . If gas does not come out let us know so we can walk you through what to do then. Next if the engine oil does not have water in it or does not look like molasses then don't change it just yet. Only change it if it looks worse than just old oil as you will need to change it a couple of times after you get the engine running. Then with the transmission in neutral move the PTO lever forward and with your hand rotate the engine over several times to work the rings through any rusty spots in the cylinder. Then disengage the PTO lever. Next install a new battery, close the hood, and sitting on the tractor spin the motor over about 10 seconds to get everything used to spinning without and compression and to blow all the MMO out of the spark plug hole. Remember you will have to set on the seat, push in the clutch, and have the PTO lever disengaged . Ok now you are ready to start the engine. Take a small wire brush and clean the old spark plug. Install the plug. The actual starting procedure is best done with two people. Have a trustworthy friend sit in the seat. You are at the left front of the tractor with a can of carb cleaner. Do not use the environmentaly friendly kind. You need the regular high explosive combustible kind. DO NOT use starting fluid. This will damage the engine. High explosive carb cleaner is calmer and more like gasoline. Have the choke completely open, do not close the choke. Give the engine about half to 2/3rd throttle Have your friend turn the key to get the engine spinning and with the engine spinning give 3 or 4 quick shots of carb cleaner directly into the carb intake, when the engine fires continue giving shots of carb cleaner until the engine runs by itself on gasoline. Let it run at 1/2-2/3rd throttle for about 15 - 20 minutes then change the oil. Just use some cheap stuff first time around. The restart the engine and let it run 2/3 throttle for 30 minutes and change the oil again. This time use a good quality straight 30weight oil. Install a fresh spark plug and reinstall the air cleaner assembly with a new air cleaner . Enjoy your 312-8. The one you see in my avatar is one I bought new 25 years ago, and is still the favorite of all I have owned since. Van

I wanted to remove the steering wheel on the 416-8. No big deal .. right? I tried to punch the pin out while on the tractor ... 2x4 against the tree for support ... it had no thoughts of moving. OK... off with the whole column. I put it on the floor on a block of wood and there I could really wack on it. Still it was staying put. Now on to the press ... it just didn't fit in any safe position. That was all last evening. So this morning before work I went to the garage to look for a punch for the air chisel. But before I found one the vise caught my eye. I secured the column in the vise and started pounding on the punch. Not lightly ... see the hammer. Things started falling of the bench. (yeah ... I should clean it off) Finally I got it to move about ¼". Went to work optimistic. Got home, ate supper, went to the garage. Aww, this should be easy. NOT! After another good beating the pin finally gave in after a ½ hour. Victory is near! Now to remove the wheel .... it spun right off. That was the worst pin I have ever fought! I never put a pin back in ... a ¼" bolt works fine.

I received copies of these two pages in the mail today from Clyde Potts of Wooster, Ohio. Clyde bought an RJ 58 with a Schnacke Recoil on it and the seller provided Clyde with lots of original paperwork that was given to the owner when the tractor was purchased. I have a Schnacke Recoil and I have had some previous Schnacke materials for Clinton Motors but this is for the Kohler version. It is a good two pages to have posted permanently on the Red Square Wheel Horse website. It would be great as the second page says if you could still send in your Schnacke Recoil to the company as they were quaranted "indefinitely" against any manufacturing defect! This Schnacke Recoil Page is from t the Clinton Motors order sheet for replacement parts.

Any reply I could possibly come up with for this topic would be censored by the moderators and I would be permanently banned from this forum........ So NO COMMENT...

Don't know that model, but if it's an external drum with a band style brake, just remove the whole assembly, put it on your workbench, and beat the crap out of it ... you will want to replace the lining anyways!! One thing you need to get straight right away .. and it's important!!! YOU need to enjoy this!! So take all the advice you can get, but bottom line, is if today you feel like polishing the steering wheel, well, thats what you do today!! Get my drift!!!!

Print and save this. I read it, and agree with just about everything, except I would have included 3 -4 breaks for Miller Lite!!! Nice write-up!!!

If you have any old pictures of it, they are always neat to see. These tractors often played a pretty significant role in family life, and such.

Please help! We are stumped. My dad purchased his old Wheel Horse back in the early 70's when we lived in Winimac IN. To my knowledge, it has never had major work done. It has been in she'd for the last 20 years, which I believe was the last time it ran. We are wanting to get it running again, but we are very confused. Please help us identify this one. The first thing is it is an electric start, but has a 704 belt guard? The Kohler motor is a K161s, which makes it a 7hp, electric motor, but the model number on the motor is 28522E. The serial number plate on the mower says 54666. Most all of the 7x4 series that we see have half height fout rests, and this has full size. If anyone can help us find out exactly what we have, we would appreciate it! - Susan

Here's a few mods to my harbor freight blast cabinet. Added 6" to the bottom. Also taped a garbage bag over the door opening when doing my 1045 frame.

Get lots of your favorite penetrant on the frozen stuff and keep at it over the next few days while slowly trying to free things up. Patience is the key here. WD 40 might work but many of use here prefer something a little more high test. Lots of good threads here on that subject.

Got the front rims and the seat mounted. The seat came out a few shades off from the rest of the tractor, so I'm going to hopefully order a black and red pan seat cover from Buckrancher if I can. Other than that I think it's coming out nice!

Does look nice ...and the pics of the D are where??/

Susan, A little note on the number, for some unknown reason (at least to me) the 701 was an outlier on the numbering system. Your tractor still has the original engine and it has always been electric start. In later years the next to the last number did indeed indicate whether the machine was electric start, most of the time. Sometimes, it had something to do with the transmission, hydro, six speed etc. Confused, don't be it all made sense back in the early '60's!

Thank you all for the feedback and for the warm welcome to this awesome group! I was confused on the 701, since all of my research said the 0 was for recoil start. My dad purchased it in the early 70's when we lived on the Tippecanoe River in Winimac IN. All of the family photo's show the 704 and the hood decals the same, and it was never repainted. Matter of fact, the hood still has the "SOLD" in my dad's hand writing on the top in red marker from when he purchased it a the yard sale. I remember that he had to go back to pick it up with the truck. I'm glad to know what it is... and I thank you all for the help! Now the bigger project.... Let's get it running again!

If only some manufacturer had the guts to try, I think there is a market for quality garden tractors, and consumers would pay whatever they cost. Take Apple for instance. They were on the brink of total collapse in the mid eighties, then innovations such as products starting with the letter "i" like iPad, iPod, iTunes, and last but not least iPhones came along. Now, there are those who will pay whatever Apple wants for the latest iPhone. Even though they are made in China, that doesn't matter. It's all about marketing. That is where Toro went wrong with the Wheel Horse line.

Susan : It is a 701 -at least 90% of it is! I have two 701 Wheel Horse tractors -here are some pics

The main two things to identify a RJ25 is the hood not having a gas cap hole since the tank on a Briggs is mounted to it, no kill switch or evidence of holes where one was ever screwed to the hood since you put your finger through the hole to kill the engine with the tab instead, and last is the engine if the original one is still there it should be a Briggs Model 8 cast iron block 2.5 HP with the larger gas tank mounted to it. The rest of the tractor's details is hit and miss and is really irregardless of it being a RJ25 or not since these are the main know differences IMO.....I have a early 55 RJ25 I just finished restoring and took to the PA Show so I have been doing a lot of research.....LoL There is very little info know about the RJ25 and hardly no facts on it so it can be a real challenge to determine....

Looks like a 701 to me

Dad is finally getting a lite sleep, so I thought I'd post this. I finally got all of our horses tucked away in their new stall this last week. There might even be enough room for another horse or two next year at the big show. Maybe a front powered round hood or lawn ranger. Just don't tell the wife

With sadness I couldn't make the big show. It's a big disappointment but I hurt my back bad. I have been nursing it and had an injection but was only kidding myself when I thought I could make it. I couldn't have even made the 2 and a half hour drive to the show. Looks like I missed a great show and plan on being there next year. I need to get ahold of the Vinyl Guy to see if He still has my banner and if I can buy it off of him. I hope everyone had a great time.

Looks good but i see room for some shelves in the back to store the parts/tires and then you can pack a few more in there...

It was a good show this year, sorry to hear you couldn't make it, and next year will be that much better with you there! Take care of yourself, heal up and get ready to have a really great experience in a short 50 weeks.

Missed meeting you there too... take care of yourself, there's always next year.

How can you not like the bikini.

So its "measure twice, throttle three times"???

Hello and Enjoy the forum! Measure the gate opening and the total width of tractor with mower deck attached and then you will know how fast you need to go to get through the gate! As a young man I once tried to drive an 8 foot tall 1979 Chevy conversion van with luggage rack on top into garage with a a 7 foot door.......Bad idea......

I have a hammer just like that. I call it " the educator" in case something needs "teaching"

Nice effort - nice result!

paint to dry so I use the missus oven for a paint dryer.........

Good Idea Blue... cept I'd have to have a pic with the midwest gang, I was the only Wiconsinite there!. Still would have to have the big group pic tho. Still p's me off not enougn time to meet everone! So many great people & tractors & not enough time.

Great job getting everyone identified. How about instead of taking one really long wide angle shot, take several shots of smaller RedSquare groups with each group behind the RedSquare banner. I think a group photo of say RedSquare members from Pennsylvania would be cool. I still don't know who all my neighbors are.

If Reard did not earn the Nobel Prize its a travesty!!!1 A TRAVESTY I tell ya!

Happy Fourth Of July. had a great weekend with family and the horse enjoyed a patriotic day out by the lake

Guys, the original poster is asking on what his B-80 sold for when new in 1974, not what it's value is today. To answer the original question, here you go. A price list for 1974: It appears a 1974 B-80 was $965 new, I'm assuming without deck.

What you have here is a 701 with either a 704 belt guard or just the wrong decal. Who knows why? One or the other was swapped out years ago. You have a 701 dash, 701 gas tank, 701 hood, 701 engine, 701 double starter pulley, 701 steering. The only thing not 701 is the decal on the belt guard and seat. Here is a picture from the net of a 704....notice all the differences. 704 has a different hood, different gas tank, round steering tie rods, different "angled" hood stand. The "Wheel Horse" on the side of the hood is not original either. My bet is that your dad repainted the tractor at some time and put on new decals...maybe installed the 704 in error? You also have 1961 foot rests. One year only.

I've heard people suggest leaving them off to promote air circulation, but I don't buy it. Find them all and put them back on, then run the engine and feel just how much and how fast that air moves over the head and out to the right side. I figure Kohler knew what they were doing when they designed these things, and they have been around for a very long time. They do call them cooling tins after all.

Got my new tires today and got the engine mounted and wired in. Now I just need to put the trans in tomorrow but I can't drive it because I don't have all the seals yet. It's looking pretty good with those tires! The front tires are just extras I had for temporary use.

Guys, I've been following Aldon's most recent restoration of his "GT-16" with great interest and he did an amazing job as usual. About two years ago I located a GT-14 locally that had the Cat O hitch and the WW-93 weights. Other than that, it was/is in really sad shape. I have four children and each has their own garden tractor. The idea being that when they are each about 14 years old we will do a complete tear down and restoration. This way each one of my children will receive a basic working knowledge of mechanical things, electrical things, painting, assembly and disassembly. Hopefully, it will also be a fun experience for them. In the mean time, we have workers that will be fun to make memories on and use to do the usual chores. Anyway, the old GT-14 was purchased with the thought that it would be my youngest son Zach's tractor. He just turned three and this year has been really bugging me about it. He loves all things mechanical and therefore is all about tractors. I know that that tractor would take a ton of work just to get going and it would be hard for me not to do a full restoration if I got started on it. All my other kids tractors are fully functional albeit not restored yet. My oldest and I will start his next year. So, Zach has been saying all summer, "that's my GT 14!!! Why can't we drive it?" What do I say to the cute little guy? "Because the engine smokes like a diesel under load, or because the hydro has leaked nearly a gallon of fluid while parked in the last two years, or because the electrical is totally screwed up"? Nothing would make sense to him at this age. He just knows that his tractor doesn't work!!! ENTER BLACKBEARD! Not unlike some of you, we name our tractors that we are going to keep in the family. This tractor came up for sale locally just a couple of days ago. It is model number 7452 serial number 724916. We bought it from a guy named Todd who was the son of the original owner. The tractor seems to be well cared for although the paint is pretty thin. It has a several items that need work before it can be run but it seemingly much closer than my existing tractor. The PTO gave out about five years ago on Todd's dad and looks to have fried the wiring in that circuit completely (I'd be open to comments about that possibility...). The fuel in the tank is stagnant but other than that it is in very ORIGINAL condition for being about 46 years old. It came with the original owners manuals for the tractor, deck, and snowthrower. It also came with an old 8" furrow plow which is missing multiple parts. Todd said that he grew up cutting and blowing on that tractor. His dad passed away a couple of years ago and his mom asked him to get the tractor and parts out of the garage. He didn't have time to fix it up so he sold it to us... Here Zach and Judge look at Blackbeard loaded up and ready to head home. Zach is a big fan of pirate movies and when we saw that non original black painted hood, that was the name that came to my mind... Here's Todd and Zach at the "transfer of ownership"! Zach is so excited about his new tractor he can hardly contain himself. So, my plan is to take the PTO clutch from my existing tractor and remove the items that I want to keep from it for Blackbeard. Then I'll be selling that as a parts or restore...so if any of you who are in close proximity to east central WI are interested all ready PM me. My first question is, "What helpful hints do you have for removing and reinstalling and setting up the PTO?" I want to make sure that I do it right! That's one happy little dude! He'll be able to grow up using a WH just like I did!!!

So July 4th this year I finally took the plunge and purchased a Wheel Horse C-161 tractor. It came with the mower deck and a single stage snowblower attachment. It needs a little work to get back running. I was told it ran last fall but leaked gas. I need to fix that and the seat safety switch is bad. Overall it is in great shape for a 37 year old machine.

Here's the link for the summer show flyer. http://www.qvea.org/resources/summer-show-flyer-2016.pdf Bring a tractor to cruise around on (it doesn't need to be a trailer queen that you wipe down with a diaper.) Any make or models are welcomed!

Thats an old one and would look cool on the front of an RJ or Suburban!! ...just my would have to fab a bracket. What model tractor do you plan on putting one on erwine??

@Wheel-In-it I cannot thank you enough!!!! I am going to print this off and follow it to a T. The only problem I am having right now is the PTO lever is frozen and I think the parking brake is frozen on. I just put her up on jack stands and I am gonna crawl under there and find out how to release it. Any advice on that one? lol [You guys on here are amazing and dedicated. I have made such a great decision here! Thank you so much.] @gulftane yes they are close! I will go there for sure

Do you have the belt guard installed???

I will go along with shynon, get rid of those balance gears. Every K-series I have tore down to either refresh/rebuild, The balance gears were the first thing to go in the scrap bucket.

Erwine, I found this last week, it came with a bracket but don't know if it's right Bracket.

What is throwing us for a loop is that the 704 is for 7hp, 0=recoil start, 4=64. But this has an electric start and the Kohler motor seems to match the electric start , since it is a k161s (s for electric start) if it was a t, then that would match the recoil start. One other thing, the rear wheels are 3 lug. I'm hoping someone here can help. We want to get it running again. Gas tank is totallydry, and looks clean. We just picked up some new tires for the front. This tractor has been in our family for 40 years.I know that it hasn't been started since my dad passed 20 years ago.

Thanks for the manuals Gary. I'll start working on that soon. I got all the rest of the tractor together today and built my custom exhaust. Now I just need to build an air intake and find some new head lights.