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This weekend was my home town show weekend. Got to stay in my own town while others brought their goodies for me to see! Enjoy! This custom Wheel Horse sport utility vehicle was a work of art, Frame was stretched and the bed was a functioning dump bed. Powered by a 16 HP Onan and lots of great custom touches. My 953 street rod tractor is in the background. As you can see it was for sale and about an hour after I talked to the owner I saw another guy driving it; Big Red was SOLD! Here are a few more pictures for you enjoyment.

Finally got the engine in my daughters suburban after a year. Few small things left but end is in sight now.

I know this thread had gone off the tracks, but I think the memories it has evoked are priceless! Back when I was kid (1950's), I remember my dad driving into the little Sinclair station in town. The building was the size of 1-car garage, but the front was all glass, and that's where he sold tires, oil, wiper blades, etc. There were a couple of chairs where you could just sit and chat. Behind the counter was a pot-bellied stove that always had a pot of coffee on it in the winter. In the back was his office, and storage for some parts, oil, anti-freeze and such. Alongside the building was an outside hydraulic lift where they did their service work ("sorry ma'am, can't service your car today, it's raining"), and in the front was the island with two pumps. One regular, and one high octane. Kerosene pump was next to the building. On the end of the island was a water hose for filling your radiator. The "crank your pressure" air pump was next to the Coke machine. While pumping your gas, the attendant would bring a small metal trash can up to the window and ask if you wanted to dump your ashtray. Like Jeff quoted above, I was always fascinated by two things. The guy that pumped the gas had a large shirt pocket where he kept a squeeze bottle of windshield washer, and in his pants pocket was a wad of bills. Now I don't know if it was three inches thick or not because gas was only 22 cents per gallon back then.

Thanks so much for the pictures. I really like looking at old cars and equipment. You can see the pride that the original manufacturers and the restorers had in building or rebuilding the equipment.

Well her first show was good she had fun and liked that she got a ribbon for participating.

Well in my book if "as is" was dud you would be getting a check in the mail.

Hey Fred, we could see a lot better if you would clean the oil off the camera lens.

I am almost finished redoing a 953 that has been in my family since very early in its life. I have been searching for the factory headlight housings for appx 1 year. Hoping to make its first show at the end of this month but I cannot locate these darn housings. Any one have ideas. I did buy new lenses off of glen but no housings to put them on. Thanks in advance For any help!

Well fellow Horse Addicts, i young man pulled into my Truck shop at 530pm today Friday the 7th july, It has a new carb on it, its not Kohler, one of them 25 dollar specials on ebay, a piece of wire connecting govenor to carb, he said it only runs on full choke which it did, so i figure Saturday ill run a new fuel line & Filter but i gotta get carb parts, its a 12hp as you all already know, The deck raise dont work i seen and a few odds & ends, Heres sum picks, i paid 200.00, Good or bad, let me know your thoughts, Hey it was free delivery like 953nut said LOL

My haul today. Been looking for 2 years for a good one.

These are some pretty obscure pics. Apparently I need more practice at staging my tractor for a decent pic!!! @Shynon brought this one from Minnesota down for me today! I picked it up at the Portage show---which was totally awesome by the way! thanks Tom for a nice little tractor! I can't wait to give it to dad for his birthday!

A few more pics from today. This brush cutter on the Simplicity was a first for me.... reminded me of the Mad Max front tiller before guards were installed. Even Ole Saint Nick showed up with a bag -o-candy.

Emory has had a blast with it!!! He tells everyone who will listen about his tractors. He even had his cuz out riding on it before long. Great way to work his hand!!! Lots of good family time around the ole horses too! Great way to spend the 4th. Haven't been here since Thurs. Hope to get back again soon!

Thanks guys! Dad had prostate surgery Thurs, so that was the only time I've been in cell range until now. I'm tickled with the tractor, even though it seems to have a little bit of an identity crisis. Runs great! Haven't tried to start the tiller yet - needs a recoil spring. Talked with Oldredrider about maybe getting it going for me this winter. Emory is in heaven with our horses and has to go for a ride quite frequently now that we've got a good tank on it! Been busy tearing the 953 down for a repaint. I'll try to post some pics later on when I get a chance. Happy trails!!

Motor oil is motor oil. The internet says so!

During the 80's and early 90's we had a full service station in town . It was a 76 station and they hired local kids to pump your gas , usually 5 or 6 . The thing that stands out on in my mind was th trust the owner had with the kids . These kids all had a roll of cash and I'm talking like a three inch role of bills . The kids never knew how much cash they had (I ask a former employee) and at the end of the day most just took the cash home until the next day . I don't think this could happen in today's world .

I worked at a full service station for 9 years and loved it. But they shut the doors a year after I left for the service and now built a big fancy station with a dunking donuts drive thru. Know they struggle for buisness. Because people enjoyed the full service and small town manorism and common courtesy they would be treated with.

Yes dirt/wood hauling and snow duty. Hoping they steer better in the snow and hold better on the hills.

The GT-14 should pull a small locomotive.... What you've described is a worn out hydro pump and it probably can be repaired/ refurbished. I have rebuilt a few of these successfully. Not difficult to do, but time hungry and a lot of wrenching. The power loss is MOST LIKELY due to worn out parts in the pump and you only need to resurface some parts to get all the scratches and gouges out of them. Here are a few pics of what you'll get into:

That's something you just don't see anymore...a service station.

Yes that's the original seat. Here's when we started on it.

Emory's pride is showing. Won't be long before his cuz has one too. Rock the Ranger Emory.

I was hoping to get a couple of questions answered about my first Wheel Horse and also say hello. I bought my first Wheel Horse about two months ago and have been trying to get it back up and moving like it should ever sense. It is a GT-14 (Model # 1 0502 7 ,serial # 896942) but I am unsure of the year. The man I bought it from also bought it as a project but he did the tractor no favors by trying to repair the broken pump shaft by welding a rod to the end of it....and not very well. I was able to buy a parts tractor and put that transaxle in my tractor but I don't think it pulls like it should. I changed the fluid and filter and the tractor will pull quite a bit but it seems to be lacking some power pulling things up hills. I have a Ranch King GT that my WH is going to replace when it is done...well my Ranch King smoked a belt so the WH was put to work before I had it done and it was unable to pull the Ranch King up the hill in my back yard. It is a good sized hill but I would think that the GT-14 should have been able to pull 2 MTD tractors up that hill. It also had a hard time pulling my roller up the same hill. I did find that it I have the RPMs up and creep that it works better. I have the tow valve pointing forward and have tried it in different positions...no luck with it being 180 out. I can push the tractor without much trouble at all and from what I have read this shouldn't be the case. Could something like a spring be broken in the pump, or is this a sign of the pump needing some work? The broken transaxle that I removed was a 90 2062 and the one I replaced it with was a 90 2070...will the parts be interchangeable? I am hoping to take the broken one apart this weekend to see how everything comes apart (so I don't break the good one) is there something I should be careful of while doing this? I really like this tractor and would like to get the rest of the parts painted and put on it but I would like to have it working correctly first. The tractor also came with a snow plow and rototiller ( I think the double pulley for the tiller is the reason the pump shaft is broken). Sorry about the long first post but I figured I would just say Hi and try and get some questions answered at the same time. If you have any ideas please let me know. I wouldn't be afraid to take the pump apart if that would help but if you think it could be something else I would gladly try things before doing that. Here are some pictures of what it looked like when I got it and some as it is now waiting to be finished. Scott

This was given to me by a coworker. It would not roll over so he put in a new starter and battery. Still no go so he gave up on it. Problem was carb leaked gas into cylinder effectively hydro locking it. Rebuilt carb and machine runs very well. Deck was very crooked so I leveled that and it should be ready to mow now. I think my wife will enjoy driving this. She can't reach the pedals on the 520's with Matt's kit installed. Paint is good on tractor. Deck needs some work to make it look pretty. Cleat

Well, I found what we think is a 701 with the wrong hood and single engine pulleys at the show. Got it for $250 and am very pleased. Runs great with minimal smoke. Starts right off and is a blast to drive. I cleaned the paint with fine steel wool and a Brillo pad to get rid of that pink color! I repaired a square seat pan, put on a belt guard, and fabbed up a bar to mount a set of lights I bought from Ron Greco. I also bought the tiller at the show and had to hook it up just for grins! I might paint the both this winter, but kind of like the look of the 701, even though it seems to be an older repaint. You can see Emory with his lawn ranger in the back of one of the shots, he hasn't let it rest since we got home and I put a good gas tank on it!

Thanks Richard, that looks like a quality show.

The 12 hp is alive and sounds good. Now I will proceed with the rest of the build with all the neck breaking speed of a ruptured turtle. I need to build a stack muffler, make a new belt guard for the drive pulley and tiller idler pulley, make a belt guard for the hydraulic pump, make a brake lock lever and cover, and finish the hydraulics then I can start disassembly.

Thanks for all the replies. I was able to take the pump off of the parts transaxle but I had to cut the weld off of the end of the shaft first to get the housing off. I have no idea how he thought the seal would survive after he welded right up against it. I was reading the Sunstrand Hydro manuals (thanks 953 nut) and I think I will try the pressure test before tearing into my pump. I am just hoping the gauge form my little digger will work. The tractor does have a 3 point hitch that has no problem lifting me (230 lbs) up at idle and I have not noticed the tractor losing power after using it for awhile. The manual also stated " Close towing valve and try to push the tractor. If the tractor can be pushed, a malfunctioning valve is usually indicated." so I think I will look into this as well...the only trouble is I don't know which valves to start with Here are a couple more pictures of the transaxle parts and one of the tractor with my little digger.

From the way I'm reading what you have done so far is that your regulator is probably fine. As others have said, check all your connections. Countless times I've had this happen. It's not the resistance of the wire but rather the resistance across the total connection. That connector is in a pretty hostile environment with dirt and vibrations. They can and do get crudded up causing excessive heat and exactly what happened to you. The wire size, connectors, etc. were engineered properly by Wheel Horse but decades of service is going to take it's toll. Do yourself a favor and just repair the connections and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Bob and Doc nailed it.

Because the wheels "make" the vehicle... Cars, trucks, tractors whatever.

You won't regret running ags in the front - I'm a fan of them due to the extra traction in just about all conditions . It's nice to be able to angle a front blade and have the tractor actually steer it where you want to go , instead of the other way around . Sarge

Thanks Neil. She wanted to clean the wheels here before I put the engine on it

Beautiful day here in SC Pa. Hoping to pick up some parts this AM for my new winter project. Come on down to the show.

Go to Farmland Indiana. Rode there on the 1979 Honda Cb750. [yes I do like old bikes like my old Horses]. The guy insisted on filling my tank and even used a towel to make sure no drips on the bike. Besides that, there are plenty of Horses for sale in Indiana. Arcanum Ohio at Troutwine's car dealership still pumps your gas, and often ,one of the owners will pump it for you in his dress slacks and tie.

That is just an awesome picture , love it , made my day .

200 bucks for that tractor is a neck of a deal...i paid 400 for my C-125...fresh rebuilt engine but tractor is rough compared to yours

I put the bolts in yesterday and bolted the motor down. Then installed the coil and starter relay. Got everything wired and was going to try to start it up. Forgot I had drained the oil and only had 1 quart on the shelf. Stopped to get oil and thought about fuel filter and cut off valve so got them too. Took the wife out to eat came home and went to the shop to fire it up and no Gas. Both cans bone dry. But I did get the exhaust fittings in and picked up some parts for the custom stack muffler and the last hydraulic fittings.

Thanks for the great pictures , hope you are having a good time.

In our supposedly, service based economy... why can one no longer find...a station that provides a valuable service?

Ain't no big thing. Just doin' my job!

The lighting makes the paint look pink.

great seeing the kids with the wheel horse. thanks for sharing. Glenn

Awesome to see him riding! He teach them cousins anything about wheel horse?

That smile from ear to ear tells the story!

If that ain't calendar material , I don't know WHAT IS

I'm constantly amazed at how small they are! And still have a heavy cast iron front axle, heavy gauge frame and rugged transaxle! Hope to have time to get mine running...

Sweet looking ride Emory ! I wish I had known about your tractor we could have tried one of the hydro's .

While rewiring my 1981 C125, I often use my 1978 C141 for reference. When I peered under the rectifier a few weeks ago I saw the beginnings of the dreaded melted connector. While many of you may be right that a transistor inside the rectifier may be failing, another thing to consider is the connectors may be starting to fail and are going high resistance which will ultimately lead to a runaway thermal condition (aka a fire in the worse conditions) and an open circuit. I did check out the ebay rectifiers but have not done anything yet-just getting lazy I guess.

Welcome. couple more checks for your stator. when you get new regulator make sure it is well grounded,

Finally got her together! Everything went together well, adjusting the valves is a real bear on these. Grinding the valve a hair at a time is painstaking. So glad it's done. Need to run it in a little more then comes the transplant into the How you line up the timing marks. The mark on the crank gear is hidden by the ball bearing so they put one on the crank itself. Heavy duty Oregon starter. 4 1/2" long compared to 3 5/8 stock. Had to cut the tin to make it fit. Shes a runner!!