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One of my first Wheel Horses was back in 2007. I bought it from a JD dealer in Iowa and a member of WFM brought it down to St. Charles, Missouri, where he was picking up a John Deere RF 110. It was a 1998 314-8. I used that 314-8 for a couple of years and sold it in 2009 to a missionary who was in Guatemala. And this is where the story really takes off. His son lived east of Greenville, Illinois and made bi-annual trips to Guatemala for his parents delivering supplies and goodies. The missionary was a retired airline pilot who felt the missionary call. He said they needed a good mower at the camp there in Guatemala and the old Craftsmans just wasn't holding up. He had a Wheel Horse a long time ago and knew they were stout machines and somehow he saw my ad on CL. So he wanted to buy it and he was going to get his son to bring it down to him on one of the scheduled trips. So, I sold it to him and trailer it to his son in Illinois who paid me when I dropped it off there. Today, I wonder how well that 314-8 is doing on the missionary field. From Iowa to Missouri to Illinois to Guatemala. That Wheel Horse has traveled and I bet it still is doing God's work. It was a nice tractor too.

In one of the brochures I've picked up there was a great illustration of the tractor sizes offered by Wheel Horse in 1965. Possibly shared already here, but here it is again.

How many have bought a Wheel Horse close enough to drive home. I'm buying one today that is located about 2 miles from my house. I don't have a truck and will be driving my new Wheel Horse home. I live in what is still considered the country. I had a great-uncle that would drive the same stretch of road every year pulling a load of manure for his garden with his Power King.

7-22-2003 Jessica Lynch gets hero’s welcome On this day in 2003, U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch, a prisoner-of-war who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital, receives a hero’s welcome when she returns to her hometown of Palestine, West Virginia. The story of the 19-year-old supply clerk, who was captured by Iraqi forces in March 2003, gripped America; however, it was later revealed that some details of Lynch’s dramatic capture and rescue might have been exaggerated. Lynch, who was born April 26, 1983, was part of the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas. On March 23, 2003, just days after the U.S. invaded Iraq, Lynch was riding in a supply convoy when her unit took a wrong turn and was ambushed by Iraqi forces near Nasiriya. Eleven American soldiers died and four others besides Lynch were captured. Lynch, who sustained multiple broken bones and other injuries when her vehicle crashed during the ambush, was taken to an Iraqi hospital. On April 1, she was rescued by U.S. Special Forces who raided the hospital where she was being held. They also recovered the bodies of eight of Lynch’s fellow soldiers. Lynch was taken to a military hospital in Germany for treatment and then returned to the United States. Lynch’s story garnered massive media attention and she became an overnight celebrity. Various reports emerged about Lynch’s experience, with some news accounts indicating that even after Lynch was wounded during the ambush she fought back against her captors. However, Lynch later stated that she had been knocked unconscious after her vehicle crashed and couldn’t remember the details of what had happened to her. She also said she had not been mistreated by the staff at the Iraqi hospital and they put up no resistance to her rescue. Critics–and Lynch herself–charged the U.S. government with embellishing her story to boost patriotism and help promote the Iraq war. In August 2003, Lynch received a medical honorable discharge. She collaborated on a book about her experience, I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story, which was released later that year. In April 2007, Lynch testified before Congress that she had falsely been portrayed as a “little girl Rambo” and the U.S. military had hyped her story for propaganda reasons. According to Lynch: “I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary.” She added: “The truth of war is not always easy to hear but is always more heroic than the hype.”

Hello all, I've been lurking around and reading/learning since aquiring a new to me C-125 a few weeks ago. Coming up on two weeks ago I moved to my new home and actually got to start working on getting the old girl running again. Story is that a good friends neighbor had the tractor for quite a few years, then stopped using it about 2 years ago in lieu of a commercial zero turn, and decided to move to California about a month ago. Knowing he had the tractor sitting in his shed, I asked what he was going to do with it. Took two weeks, but he sold it to me for $100 with a 42" mower deck and single stage snowblower!! Once i had a couple hours to start working on it I drained out old gas from tank, checked the fuel bowl which was clean and dry, replaced fuel line and installed a new battery. I also had to remove the tin from the engine to clear out a sizable mouse nest!! After doing that, she fired up and ran pretty well. After a 10 minute ride I drained the oil and put some fresh SAE-30 in, put in a fresh spark plug, checked the oil in trans, which was clean and had no trace of water in it. Heck, the rubber shift boot was even there and in one piece! only issue I've had so far is that it seems like it loses prime fuel flow after sitting. I actually put a boat pump primer in line that I had laying around and 1/2 a squeeze on that takes care of the problem. Is there a check valve in the fuel pump that could be bad? My lawn is a little large for the size and speed of this tractor (about 1.75 acres I mow), but I plan to keep it around for cart duty, the snowblower for the driveway, want to get a blade, and things like that. I have wanted a garden tractor for a lot of years, but this is the first time I've had enough property to actually put it to use.

You are exactly right, sorry about the type-o..... Must be the heat. lol Yep fixed the post type-o squonk. I was working on my 875 tonight and must been affected by the heat.... That's my story, and I'm sticking to it ....lol

Well I've been working 6 days a week so I had my uncle rebuild the motor in my daughters C-81(Rosie) and we got it back today.. She was very happy to say the least! We enjoyed it alil before I left for work today..

Hello: I came across a deal on a pickup load of D-250 parts wow I do feel lucky. May also have to get another D-250 to use the parts lol.

Looks to be 1965 models. Nice, thanks for posting this.

As long as the holes are already there, using stove bolts may not look too bad. They will sit nice on the hood, and you can get them from ACE or TSC.

I remember I had to get out the dictionary for the spelling of "Enthusiast"...I already had Red Square written down.

THE STORY: The horse has been more than a garden tractor for the last 40 years to our family, it has been part of the memories that have shaped our lives. As i dug through literally thousands of pictures and slides I found numerous pics like the next couple that I'll share with you here. These are just a sampling of the many I looked at... My dad had begun to fix up the old 1966 Scout here in about 1977! Here my mom is taking in the whole scene while dad snaps a shot of his handiwork thus far. Please take note of the tool box in the foreground that is the same one in the current pictures above. Also note the Iron Horse sitting just outside the garage door while dad was doing the heavy grinding and bodywork. Mind you, that every night that tractor was brought inside and protected from the elements. We boys were in big trouble if we came in the house to "chill out" during a rain storm and left the "horse" outside! This pic is a little older than the last one, probably around 1975, because the tractor in the background doesn't have the vertical pipe on it yet. Dad is working on his 1970 Kawasaki 500 Mach III bike. It was the first of the superbikes and was powered by a three cylinder two stroke engine. Dad said he was always wrenching on it, but it was a ton of fun to drive and really fast! That spot at the end of the bench is where the Iron Horse was "stabled" from 1975 until mom and dad moved in 1994. I remember when I first learned to drive it and cut the lawn that I was too scared and dad was too smart to let me back it in there. I would always turn it off outside and dad would bring it in and park it there. The welder was on one side and the work bench on the other. In 1982, dad and his brothers built an addition on to the back of our house. This is me standing in the newly laid crawl space. While working on that project, my oldest cousin David was using the 875 to roll dad's lawn. A discerning eye will see just the back of the tractor headed by the cement truck. My cousin Paul and I are standing there in our Bibs while my Uncle Rog wheels another load of cement to the foundation. My parents often kept guests at their house. I'm not sure why but it seems like in those days that they ended up driving the Horse more times than not! It was almost like a pseudo "go-kart" at times. Here one of those guests is taking it for a spin and discovering the quick take of speed of a hydro WH! I hope you enjoy these pictures and stories of how this little tractor was intertwined with the fabric of our life...

Did you finish off his cheese puff?

Take your battery and have it tested, see if it is in good shape.

I just had to share this! I think you'll enjoy the 5 minute show!

Yes , 64 would have had the 604 & 704

Great picture, with a lot of info. Thanks

Without spell check you guys wouldn't be able to even read most of my posts.......

psshhh... she'll come around. Bet there will be polka music at the wedding anyway.... never been to one yet they don't play the chicken dance!

No, I want pictures of you driving down the road.

Never had the fortune of driving a Wheel Horse home, but I have bought many an antique tractor and drove it home. Through several small towns even. Longest 5 hours ever on the worst trip.

Welcome. I have 3 grown sons and as you already know young hands love to be involved. Give them each some polishing compound and t let them go to town. Great opportunity for them to lear thinks like checking the oil, air the tires, etc. Most of al have fun with "there" new horse!l .

Great story! Do you have means to contact the son that took the tractor to Guatemala? Maybe he could provide "The rest of the story"!

Great story . About a great W/H and a goodly mission.

300 hrs. Going to zero turn.

If can 't have fun on this Forum ,you are just out of luck. True story I lost my wife in the house for 3 hours this week. It was nice and quiet.

With any electrical problem the first step is to inspect, clean and tighten all connections including grounds. Following this you can take a jumper cable from the battery "+" directly to the starter terminal to be sure the starter will turn. Next take a small jumper from the battery "+" to the small terminal on the solenoid to see if it closes.

Just letting everyone know what the issue was. I noticed when took it up a really steep hill i could hear the belt slipping after i changed the oil and filter. I must have put the wrong belt on. I put a 5/8 x 83 napa belt and the hydro is as strong as could be.

I am co-chairman of the garden tractor section of our local tractor and gas engine show. Time has seen the fall of several events, the club president really likes what the chairman has done for the garden tractors at our show. The three of us are in agreeance of bringing some events back, and promoting the garden tractors more. I would really love to see us get a garden tractor pull going. We already have full size truck and tractor pulls. We have a nice small weight transfer sled that I know garden tractors can pull. The logistics is there for this to happen. What I don't have is any knowledge of classes and rules. Could you guys help me here? I think initially I would like to keep things down to mostly all stock classes. One or two over stock classes could be introduced if those types of machine were to show. I want to get it established first and foremost to introduction of classes to fit everybody. East central Illinois area

Lets talk about WH seat material for a little bit. To me it seems like the original stuff was pretty prone to drying out and splitting apart. The Iron Horse was only 10 years old when dad bought it and yet the seat was already in sorry shape. The tractor had spent some time outside and the sun along with the elements had already done a job on this thing... From this angle it doesn't look too bad (Circa 1979). But same day, opposite side... I don't know if you guys have ever worn light fabric shorts while riding on a seat in that condition, but it can pinch you like a six month old baby! Mom wasn't a fan and so she set dad to the process of making a new seat cover. He got a hold of some very durable vinyl and made his own cover... This is the cover that was on it from 1980-2015. It was starting to crack and look nasty but it served its purpose well for a long time. However, It is now time to make something new. We took the old seat apart... Needless to say, the bottom of the pan wasn't looking great. I can't imagine what that would look like on a tractor that was always stored outside! We sanded it down and primed and painted it. I had bought dad a pristine condition sales brochure for the 875 for Christmas. After looking at the pictures of the original pattern, we decided to duplicate it as closely as possible. Dad is a master at fabrication of things and he decided to use a cheap fabric to make a template for the cover. Now, what to use for the actual seat material? I have a buddy who works for a major airplane manufacturer in our area. He told me that he could get his hands on scraps of premium leather that they use to cover the seats of 50 million dollar aircraft. I told him that I needed black and white. He was able to come up with the white right away but it took a couple of months to get some Black. Finally he had some for us and we are off and running. The mock up is on the right and the leather scraps on the left. We then turned the finished pattern into a local leather seamstress and they took care of the rest! It may not be a perfect original seat cover but it looks sweet and should be very suitable for the little work duty this boy will see these days! Nothing like a genuine leather saddle on a thoroughbred horse!!!

Crankcase pressure (piston going down) should push the reed out. Negative pressure (piston going up) should try to pull it closed. The assembly instructions are in a diagram in the K-Series Service Manual available for free download from our manual/files section.

Thanks for your input.

A couple of years ago I towed this B-100 home from next door with my golf cart.

Finally got all of our horses to our show. Right now we have about 130 tractors, 7 are lawn and garden tractors - our 6 horses and one green thing. I'm sure more farm tractors will come today and tomorrow. I'll try to post pics sometime between now and Monday. I also found out that the tri state antique power association in Gray, TN will be featuring lawn and garden tractors at their show at the end of next April! We'll have to take some of our horses down.

Great story, beautiful kids and countryside!

THE RESTO: My dad always worked The Iron Horse really hard but he took care of it just as religiously. The oil was changed every year, sometimes more often if needed. The hyrdo fluid was changed on a regular schedule. Every zerk got some grease every time we used the tractor whether it needed it or not! The hydro fan screen was cleaned of debris after every lawn mowing. This tractor received great maintenance from 1975 through today and it shows. Take a look at these 50 year old front end parts! The pivot pin and spindles are in good condition even after all these years and hours. The steering gear is fairly worn but still in amazing shape after how many turns that it has gone through. The front rims aren't in bad shape and so we elected to use a stripping wheel and a buffer to strip off the old paint. Dad is sending the rear rims to be sandblasted but since the front wheel bearings are still in great shape, we didn't want to chance getting sand in them. They look almost custom, like puller rims, with all the paint stripped off. We of course want to create that "little tractor" look and so the tires that have been on it since it left the factory in 1965 will now be relived of duty... We looked at several different styles but liked these the best to achieve the look we were going for (The original tire is on the right of course!) Dad is going to keep one of the originals to display on the wall. Although you cant tell it in these pics, the originals had a lot of dry cracking and checking... Something tells me that these new tires aren't likely to last as long as the originals even with far less use. I'm not convinced that the new rubber compounds are as durable and longlasting as the old stuff.Dad also decided to start prepping the hood too. A couple of things to note about this hood. First, you'll notice the bondo where dad brased the holes shut that he put in about 25 years ago for the headlights. Wait till you see the picture of this thing with my brother on it in about 1995 with those big ugly fog lights hanging off the sides of the hood! Next, if you are very familiar with this series of WH you'll notice that dad's hood bulges out on both sides quite a bit. That was done in about 1978 to accomodate the new K301 which repowered the Horse after removing the tired old 8hp. The 12 was a much bigger engine dimentionally and required several key adaptions, the hood tweaking being a key one! After dad was happy with the finish, he shot the first coat of primer to protect the metal from flashing until he was ready for final prep and paint.

Hot and muggy. Lost power on Tues at 5 PM and got it back today at 11:45 AM and my generator hates me. Got power starts and runs fine, no power I pull everything lose between my belly button and back bone and it still will not start. Time to start shopping. Thinking about a generator head and a Predator 13 hp motor. Don't want to hurt my Kohlers and due to a power outage. How are you doing?

Thanks for sharing. Kids love Horses don't they!!!!

Thanks guys. She has kept her interest in tractors since she was about 2-3 yrs old

I belong to the NYS Steam Engine Association. All I get are 4 newsletters a year. All the money raised goes to the Steam Pageant next month. I renew at the show just like the WHCC. My membership also covers my wife and I's admission every day of the show.

Nice tractor. $100 is ridiculously good deal.

Oh no, not another BEM (belt eating monster).

Im not sure if this has anything to do with it eating belts but do you have it on the right pulley groove?

Break them in young on the horses. They will be hooked for life.

Wow that's a nice looking can't wait for more pics

Good to see your little girl smiling eating a fudge sickle , pulling little brother ! Also like the New Idea 5212 disc mower/conditioner in the background . Put a couple of those together back in the day . One of the best hay cutters ever built IMO . by the way .

I'm into Chevy trucks.. I drove my all original 1970 Chevy Longhorn 5 hrs one way to the Big Show this year with ZERO issues. Here she is loaded and ready for the long haul to the Big Show. I'm also into vintage boats and outboards..

Thief!!!! Lol