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6-4-1924 Cecil Elwood Pond was born Cecil Pond was an American businessman, inventor, and entrepreneur. He was the founder of Wheel Horse Products Co. Inc., and was the primary inventor of the modern American Garden Tractor and riding mower. Pond was born in South Bend, Indiana, to Elmer and Ann Marie Pond. He graduated from South Bend's former Washington-Clay High School, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1946, Pond returned to South Bend and in June of that year, married Betty Alber Pond. Mr. & Ms. Pond were the parents of three children: son Gary Pond, and two daughters, Linda and Constance. 1946 saw the beginnings of Pond's manufacturing future. Pond joined his father Elmer, who at the time was building two-wheel lawn tractors (which the operator would walk behind) from angle iron, surplus motorcycle and automotive parts in his garage. At first, the Ponds' company was simply called Pond Tractor Company; however, they discovered another family member owned a similarly-named company. "Wheel Horse" was then chosen, and the name stayed with the company even after its acquisition by Toro. In the late forties, military veterans returning from World War II began moving to the vast new suburbs then transforming the American landscape. Their suburban homes had larger lots that demanded more attention—and the Ponds' riding mower found many ready buyers as a result. In 1954, Pond introduced his first 4-wheel lawn tractor, an event which altered substantially the lawn care manufacturing business. By 1957, his Wheel Horse Products Company recorded sales over $1 million (US$8,425,355 in 2016 dollars.) for the first time. Just two years later, the company's sales more than doubled, to $4.5 million (US$36,529,110 in 2016 dollars). In 1975, Pond sold Wheel Horse Products to American Motors Corporation. At the time of the sale, Pond oversaw over 500 workers at his plant and over 3,000 dealers were selling the brand. Cecil Pond passed away December 30, 2011.

I've been working on my SK-486 and 1067 for the past three years. Slowly bringing everything up to spec and as close to "new" condition as possible. Everything works like it was originally delivered. Both machines have about 1,300 hours on their original engines, frames, transmissions (eight speed), and tires. The 1067 is 50 years old and the SK-486 is 35. I put about 15 hours on each of them a year, mowing and pulling. My plan is to have them 10 more years and then to pass them down to my two sons. I'd like my sons to get another 20 years of tinkering and light use out of them. So, what I'm wondering, does this sound reasonable and what more should I consider doing to these machines so they run for the next 30 years?

I noticed this Shaw on CL which I thought many here would find interesting. It is located in Orwell,Ohio and on Cleveland CL under farm & garden. A well preserved piece of history.

Picked this one up today. Overall not to bad. Im pretty sure its a 753. Either way for 80$ I thought it was a good purchase.

Well, kind of ..... here's a pic of my 1956 RJ35. The chain case is embossed "POND".

Although not made in tin , I had these signs made recently in stainless steel ,

Once again, thank you Glen Pettit... for keeping our dreams alive.

Thanks Dave. Can always count on you. Oldest grandchild is beginning to go around on tractor by himself, and just always thinking of worst case scenarios so they can be prevented.

It will drift very slowly to the bottom of slope...or may completely stop. Don't pull up the parking brake in a 'panic stop' as this will damage the internals and, eventually, ruin the pump and motor....ready for rebuild.

I thought I would share my story of the saga I've had with attempting to get my PTO and mower to work well on my 1977 B-80 that I've mowed with for 23 years now. Over the past 5-6 years I've had trouble with my mower deck bogging down in tall or thick grass, and sometimes the blades would completely stop spinning. I've done several things to try and fix this over the years. Check PTO belt tension and tighten Adjusted the clutch pressure at the trunion on the rod Swapped out clutch plate and hub from another tractor Cleaned and sanded the clutch facings of both discs and hubs Replaced the the housing rod hoop, the upper plate and lower bracket for the hoop as they were well worn (see pics) Replaced the clutch lever rod and the trunion Installed new PTO to deck drive belt last season (Wheel Horse brand belt) Each time I would make an adjustment or change a part it seemed to work great for a while. I was finally getting to where I had to mow the heavy grass twice to get it cut sometimes. (one pass with deck high and second pass with deck down in normal position) This tractor has had the clutch rod (from lever to plate on PTO) shortened by PO, it's obviously been cut and welded. I never thought anything about it until a couple of years ago when I got other tractors to compare, but this was not the problem as I put the shortened rod back on it eventually as it worked better. So, about 3 weeks ago I am mowing along and the blades stop spinning in heavy grass after it's done just fine the past few weeks. &$%^W*! I get off the tractor to check out the PTO and belt, etc., when I notice the roll pin is broken on the little red bracket that attaches to the hoop rod. I figure that must be contributing to the problem by not putting enough pressure on the clutch possibly, so I begin taking things apart and I reach down to check the belt tension and the pulley support (mule drive) was very hot. I had to put on gloves to remove it and after tearing it apart I discovered a pulley was locked up! I never had suspected a problem with those pulleys. It was the flat one that was froze up. So I grabbed a spare pulley support from the parts shelf, replaced the broken roll pin and now she cuts like a hoss! I was away on vacation a couple of weeks ago and didn't get the yard mowed for 2 weeks. It was tall and thick in many places, but she went through it like butter. It's like getting a new tractor to mow with! It's made me actually look forward to getting more seat time. I just love my . I've posted some pics of the busted roll pin and worn out hoop rod and brackets. The last pic is one of the trunion adjusted all the way up.

Got all the fab work done and all painted.

Just got this so looking forward to a good read. As I'm new to wheel horse it's signed by and includes an audi CD by Mr Cecil Pond. I as yet dont know who Mr Pond is but i will do some resurch and find out 🖒

Saturday I am picking up what originally was a model 551. It is far from being original at this point. It has a K91 installed, missing several covers, and someone cut the rear half of the hood off. So, which way would you go, try to scrounge parts for a 551 restore (H55 engine extremely rare), keep the K91, or some other engine? I will be repairing or replacing the hood, and finding the missing covers.

He said he never would... For your viewing enjoyment, LOL!

Yes I understand. I just got it a few years ago,and did what I could. I could have cleaned it up and made it look ALOT better,but I didn't want someone thinking they were getting a prized steer just to find out it was a pig with makeup!

THAT is a calendar shot!

Heck yea ... That's a smoking deal I'd jumped up outta my chair for that one !

Here you are Jim. My converted drill press. The first photo shows it fitted with the type of drill it was intended for. Low powered and with a 5/16" capacity chuck. The larger drill was too long to fit so an adapter was made which offset the drill to one side. The original top clamping bolt was reused, turned upside down with additional spacers and a bent metal clamp. By chance the lower end of this bolt, now the top, was internally threaded 3/8" UNF which made life easier. The black lower clamp was just part of the larger drills chuck end hand grip. Hope this makes sense. As mentioned earlier, although I managed to drill the axle and the adapter hubs the drill was too fast for the larger drill bits. The variable speed control didn't help much, nor did the slight side play on the slide assembly. Probably OK for drilling wood which these drill presses were mainly made for.

Thank you WVHillbilly520H for your input. Thank you also Sarge; for your experience, cautions and dangers. Maybe i'll just ask neighbor to make another pass or 2 with his machine to ground it up a little more. Maybe set it on fire after to turn it to ash and i can pick out any debris after a few good rainy days wash it out. Lol.

I grew up with a 110 almost exactly like that! They're not all that bad... Except when you have to change belts. Especially the drive belt. Or work on the variator. Or take the deck on and off and fiddle with the deck belt and the mule drive pulleys inside of the frame... Nice to ride, but when it comes to wrenching I'd rather work on my !!

The Baked Stuffed haddock is good but really any of Ray's fried seafood is delicious and fresh-and so was their root beer!.. and another sighting!

Well, I haven't posted a lot lately since life seems to have taken over. As many of you know, my son suffered a stroke before birth and technically has cerebral palsy. You would never know to meet him. We were lucky enough to get him enrolled in a medical study to help him gain use of his right hand through Virginia Tech and Carrillion Research center. He is one of about 140 kids from around the world to be chosen. He has a cast on his arm and hand he favors to force him to use his affected hand. We have had to move 2 hours from home 3 days a week. I thought it would be something fun for him to go get a cultivator from Limited12. Tommy has been a good friend for the last couple of years. When we got there, Emory wanted to look at Tommy's tractors. He really liked a couple of Lawn Rangers Tommy had. Before I knew it, Tommy and Emory were off talking about the tractors. They ended up flipping a penny for the tractors. Long story short, Tommy told Emory he would "sell" him both tractors for a penny! I couldn't believe how generous he was being. Needless to say, Emory was thrilled and can't stop talking about his tractors! I told a couple of girls I teach with about Emory's gift. One said, "That's proof that there really are truly nice people left in the world!" I know where a bunch of them are - right here on Red Square! I can't seem to get the site to let me upload any pics. I'll try again Sun. or Mon. when I'm back in cell range. Thanks Tommy for bringing a big smile to his face!

I refurbished my 1985 Side Discharge Deck model j05-42MS04. And my son started mowing with it this summer on the 312-8. I've read many threads about these WH decks mowing low but were Texas newbies when it comes to mowing with them So mowing low is a known issue but has anyone come up with a solution? Since these decks are free floating has anyone tried installing larger rear deck wheels?? I'm thinking larger front roller would not help since if. I understand correctly these should not always be touching. Im looking for ideas ? I need a picture of the finished deck but you can see from these pics I completely disassembled the deck, replaced all bearing and sliders etc. Took it to bare metal. Did some straightening And repainted it.

Very nice machines but I have found that garage kept tractors will fare the best. I think if you take care of them as you would a nice car they will last for another 50 years. I can see 2 tractors for sale and always tell you which one was appreciated and taken care of. And with anything mechanical some things will ware out. I think you already gave them a new life.

They sure look nice , well taken care of. AT least 30 more years.

I haven't seen one of those hand drill presses in years. Of course this is from a guy who used to drill holes in wood with a screwdriver and a hammer!

Caretaker said no "old squids" allowed up there.

Couldn't get him up on that antenna/mast?

Nice score. To me the running boards seem a little too high for comfort.

Where in Maine @AMC RULES ? My Dad was from Madawaska.

Nice unit. interesting running boards Engine is correct and original.

I would say a 753 too. A couple of funky mods but nothing you couldn't undo if you wanted. Definitely a smoking deal.

The best is to email me at aztractor255@gmail.com or call me at 1-717-821-2542 . I don't look at these post very often this time of year have to much else to do. I do have lots of parts for the C125 tractors and the K series Kohler engines.

I have not done a video on what amounts to your transmission, but enough videos exist in the reference section that would show separately the differential, the rest of the transmission of a 6 speed, etc. The difference between a 6 and 8 speed transmission is really in the hi/low mechanism...they work the same and are similar though. The one video that I do have of the hi/low mechanism will be close enough to walk you through it. This stuff is really pretty easy...just take good pictures as you take it apart. If you take good pictures, we can help you with any problem you have.

The biggest problem you have with so much vegetation is that you use so much power spitting the excess out of the mower. It is pretty hard on belts as well I have had luck with using a large leaf blower clearing the already cut stuff away or piling it up and then dragging it away with tarps on to a trailer. Maybe there is even room on the lot to make a compost pile? When it is just lawn grass, I mow it high and then use the blower to move it after drying out for a day. The next mowing usually finishes the job. What you Don't want to do is mow wet grass high and then try to chop it up fine right away. Makes a mess. I have the biggest blower that Stihl makes, but that just means that I can make bigger piles. Good luck. I am sure you can figure out what to do. I recently mowed a lot with grass higher than the hood. First pass was holding the mower with the handle raised all the way up in the transport position. I found that I was going over hidden fallen limbs as much as 2" in diameter . i was able to then pick up the limbs and get the lot mowed without getting caught in the blades

When clearing lots , it's not a bad idea to have someone ahead of you walking the area you're going to cut to watch for large, heavy debris - that can destroy deck spindles and break blades . I've cleared quite a few overgrown lots over the years and it's tough to see exactly what the deck will hit from the seat of the tractor . Slow and light passes is best to chop the stuff up and I've even had to use a second unit with a blade to push piles out of the way to get through the stuff it was so heavy . Unknown properties that are overgrown become garbage collectors and can have anything you can imagine hidden in that brush/grass - pieces of steel , concrete and things like that can destroy a deck and potentially hurt someone nearby - even across a fair distance when a blade shatters so be aware of those things . I hit a steel coil "load lock" made from 1/4" flat iron once , broke 1/3 off a blade and shot that through the deck as well as a steel building on the neighboring property - thankfully no one was hurt . Used to have pictures here of mowers brought over by friends and neighbors for repairs after hitting hard objects , water shutoff curb valves are always the worst as they are hard cast steel and capable of bending a crankshaft in a push mower , not to mention the hole in the deck from the broken blade and it's owner with an ER visit . Just some heads up stuff , there's a reason to use industrial brush mowers to clear lots like this and avoid damaging equipment not designed to do this work . Be safe and might want to wear safety glasses to avoid the ricochet of stuff hitting the front tires and getting you in the face - just had a small rock hit my glasses last week and left a nice chip in an expensive lens . Sarge

I wouldn't hesitate to "chop" that up with my 520/48" combo, but only with a set of used blades that was ''sharp" that way if you do find something "hard" it's not ruining your "best" set of blades, and yes go slow deck gauge wheels to highest level and not a full swath then go back over it lowering the gauge wheels in steps to where it's acceptable to you, just my , Jeff.

That grass needs cuttin. Couldn't figure out how to turn the deck on?

Funny thing this one was from WI

Can we get a mod here... to move this it it's appropriate forum....please? http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/forum/6-other-brands/

Dell, I know a guy who has a nice Lawn Ranger Emory would love.

Got a little further today. I got the motor finished up, foot rests on, wheels primed and painted (well, fronts anyway - just primed the rears as I hope to get to mount the ags I ordered last week mounted), and the grille and hood mounted. Hope to have it finished by Wed. I've actually got 2 GT14s. One is all original and the other is powered by a 13.5 horse predator. Both transmissions are in great shape. Below is a picture of my wife riding the original GT14 and Emory beside her on his lawn ranger.

The only two deeres I would own would be the old round fender 110 or a 420 but then again I would never own one of them either...

Vin- You do realize I am a mod here and have ways of making this thread go away don't you ... lol. I had to confirm my feelings about those green machines. It has been confirmed.. they are all junk.

If your model # is 1-0301, your 72 Raider 10 is the same as mine. It is the #5086 transmission...8 speed with a 4 pinion differential with 1" axles. The symptoms that you describe are almost certainly a sheared wood ruff key...probably one of the hubs. check those 1st and then check pulleys.

The way I look at it, they are our machines to enjoy. I've seen several at the Big Show the last couple of years with custom paint on them. Paint is something that can be changed back to original fairly easily and it gives you the chance to freshen up hardware if you wish. I like them in their work clothes, rat rod style (oiled or clear coated), and shiny all!

Tyler, the one thing I feel your father needs now is reassurance that you and the rest of the family will do well after he passes. That and the fact that all of you love him will make him rest a bit more easily. He has been your provider and protector all your life, let him know that he raised you well and the family will miss him greatly, but will make it. Dear God, Help Bill Elschide discover your peace. Let him receive your comfort. Help him to be at rest knowing that you care for him, and that you love him. Calm his soul as he move into the afterlife. May he spend eternity with you; may he live forever in your presence. Amen.