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10-11-1960 Construction began on the 515 West Ireland Road Wheel Horse Factory The rapid growth of demand for Wheel Horse Garden Tractors was too much for the building that Pond had occupied for twelve years. On October 11, 1960, construction began on a new 46,500 square foot steel frame and masonry exterior factory building situated on 36 acres of land on Ireland Road, South Bend, IN. The new factory was ready for occupancy in August of 1961, the move from the old Pond factory on South Dixie Way (near Pond Street, wonder if this was one of the subdivisions built by Elmer Pond) took place in time for the next year’s production. The 1962 models were the first built in the new plant on Ireland Road. They included the 502, 552 and 702. All three models featured the new front mounted engine and cast iron cased transaxles. The business was acquired by American Motors (AMC) on May 24, 1974. The company paid $30 million as it expanded into non-automotive markets. In 1982, Wheel Horse was spun off from AMC to Munn Investment Group. During this time some cosmetic changes were made, but frame and attachment design remained the same. In mid-August 1986, Wheel Horse was sold off from Munn and purchased for $8 million by Toro. Tractors were built under the Toro banner for the next two decades. The Wheel Horse name was eliminated from production after 2007. Today the building is occupied by Lock Joint Tube, a specialty fabricator of metal tubing products used by diverse industries such as office furniture, automotive, health care, display fixtures and exercise equipment. Chandler Sales and Service located next to the old South Dixie Way factory is thought to be the first Wheel Horse dealership.

My son,grandson and I had a great day Saturday. This it is a large show and we spent a long day there and I wish I had time to go back and talk to many people I met there. I took my 1985-312-8 pictured below, but was so busy I forgot to take a picture of it there. There were about 20 garden Tractors at this show which is the largest showing I've seen in Texas so far. The Club owns 48 acres with lots of permanent displays, and is working or a complete Cotton Gin display.. They also have an area where they hold a plow day, antique planting corn day, antique cork harvesting day, etc.Someday I want to be the first Gt to show up at there plow day! I know it's green, but my18 mth old grandson Jeremy had a good time on this old JD, With it's loose steering he could really work that big wheel back and forth.. This was his first of many shows to attend. This owner from Johnson city, Tx had 4 WH but I never got to meet him Jeremy checked out member Motor12's beautiful RJ there . This meticious C145 was from Houston area, and had several enhancements. The Kohler engine screen was stainless expanded metal. The inset taillights looked cool This poor 312-8 was for sale by a vendor for a crazy price, needless to say it didn't sell. This was the only Case GT there It's green, but I like the loader! A nicely restored Panzer, but I like them in turquiose This was a great condition original Gibson Super with hood This giant 4 cylinder Hit & Miss was run several times during the day. it originally powered a geenerator that was mounted with it, but not operational. Being a power plant guy I would love to see one of these old generators restored and operational. This 14" dia. piston is bigger than a 5 gallon bucket . Lots of engine in a large shed, some working, many awaiting restoration This large horizontal Hit & Miss also originally powered a generator I was intriqued by the mechanism inside the flywheel which I suspect was some sort of speed governing mechanism. Here's the great looking olf GE generator it drove This large engine was hooked up to an air supply and slowly rotated all day long. There was also a large number of small hit or Miss engines. This restored Titan drove a flat belt powered air compressor, This is the first Cockshunt I've seen it Texas. It did very well in the Antique Tractor Pull Oliver was the featured tractor of the show and there were many! The Cat club was new at the show this year & there were a few track machines. This old Cletrac was an interesting display. it reportedly didn't run when brought to the show. Several guys tinkered with it and it was running by early afternoon. After lots of hand cranking, they hooked it up to another tractor and pull started it. The owner then drove it around for quite a while. This was a unique display an antique Car Club was also at the show. Does anyone know what model this old Case is? Thanks for joining me! IMG_4464.MOV oil pull.html

I have seen this topic,,,,,time and time again,,,but.....I made a discovery in my own garage,, I had a can of Rustoleum Sun Rise Red..........I opened it and it looks Like one of my 857;s It is a remarkable match,,,,,,,,,,,,i painted my weights and the color was spot on,,,,,,,,++ Just giving my input,,,,,,,See you on the other side @!!!!!!!!!! 857Horse in Va

Finnaly found a complete wheel horse snow cab, not quite ready for the snow but when it comes this will make it a little more enjoyable.

I noticed on the Red Square website at the top of the page the "My Old Machine" link that was added. If you click on that link you currently can see a Wheel Horse tractor with a Sickle Bar Mower that the owner made a front pulley drive plate set up to either replace or use in place of the original plates used by Wheel Horse. This is where the Sickle Mower gets its power from the motor off of the PTO to a drive pulley and makes a 90 degree turn with a belt linked to the sickle bar mower wobble box. I call this to the attention of sickle bar mower attachment owners as this is significant in my opinion that a replacement or updated plate/pulley setup can be made with a lot of off the shelf available parts. I have a set of plates that need the pulleys, bearings and 3/4 inch shaft on it to create a pulley drive plate that will work on a Wheel Horse 42 or 50 inch Sickle Bar Mower attachment. The http://myoldmachine.com/ link has some good information and photos on it. Here are some photos of my plate still in primer: And here are copies of the pictures posted on myoldmachine.com for the plate replacement. This should be very helpful to you folks that have a Sickle Bar Mower but no drive pulley plates. I have seen several Sickle Bar Mowers sold and bought that did not include this needed part as the seller may have kept it on the tractor and it became detached or lost with the original Sickle Bar Mower after detaching.

My 50 inch Sickle Bar Mower i rebuilt and placed on my 1964 Wheel Horse 854 tractor. Yes this plastic red guard is sold by HCminnis (red suaure name D.J. Harrison from Coatsville, Indiana)

Dick.....Does this mean you are bringing back your on this day threads everyone so much enjoyed?!?!?!?

don't sound like a bad deal, I personally don't think you will go wrong at the price if you are capable of doing some of the repairs your self that need done. at that price you are almost buying the attachments and getting a free tractor. there has been several 2 stage blowers listed in my area in the $ 650.00 range and they have disappeared, so either they were sold or the add was pulled, this is just my opion and you know what they say about them they are like a body part that everybody has eric j

I've bought and sold used cars,trucks,motorcycles,lawn equipment,construction equipment,farm equipment all my life.I've seen some low hour,low mileage,shiny paint equipment that was not mechanically maintained and it was pure crap.Have seen high hour/high mileage equipment that had regular maintenance worn paint from lots of use and this is the equipment I would prefer.Also equipment that has lived outdoors it's entire life presents a whole other bunch of problems.

This has nothing to do with common sense. A tractor can have low hrs. and look good and still be junk internally. Not looking for an argument just saying do your homework...

Yes indeeeedyy. And sickle bars make our tractors look "mean" going down the street while people stare, not that I look for trouble or anything lol.

Just wondering what I should ask for it? I don't need to sell but would for good fair price. Never seen one for sale so idk what to ask for it. Might put it on auction page..

D.J. Harrison sells the sickle bar mower guards. He is HCMINNINS on red square send him a pm. They are great and not expensive, Jim! We do still have the 50 inch Wheel Horse Sickle Bar Mower made for the 953/1054 and GT 14 tractors Steve! Here are pics of that tractor and sickle mower.

@Stormin people seem to have found your sickle mount

This old dog is learning some new tricks. I try to follow all this type posts for this reason. I have great admiration for highly conscientious work of the type I have seen on so many projects, restorations, customizations & alterations.

Can't go by hours. Ask @ericj. I have a '94 with 253 hrs. and one rod was in pieces....Got it that way

Stripped it down this morning and did a bit of painting. Put it all back together tonight and found the blade was sticking. Paint had found its way on to the slide. Removed the blade, cleaned it up, replaced and left it running for 15 minutes with a light application of thin oil. Maybe try it on some grass tomorrow all being well. It cuts paper.

Can hardly describe how proud I am of him. First kid to play college sports on either side of my fam forever. Started on the O line and won a 6A championship at Carmel last year. Zero thug and zero tats although thats where he was headed with the non-parent mother of his before I won sole custody of both kids.....and she paid me for the privilege. If you are a Dad please fight your ass off. It cost me 30K but I won big league. He just changed the oil in his car and didnt push back too much when I told him to vacuum out his car cause it was a mess. I dadded out and detailed the rims on his car.....I hate brake dust. He had a 3.7 GPA at graduation. Well see when I get mid term grades from college but I'm not worried. He is fascinated by my 50 YO Wheel Horse tractors. Gawd he is awesome.

A couple of years back, I acquired a 1962 Sickle Bar. Serial number A-40719. No mule drive with it and in my wisdom I thought I'll make one and fit it to my 1979 C-81. I refurbished the Sickle bar some time ago. Unfortunately, due to my computer giving up the ghost, I can't access any photo's and Photobucket won't let me access what I have in there. I had to change my e-mail address due to Freeserve/Orange discontinuing things. There is an topic on our sister forum www. My Old Machine of the earlier work done. Last week I decided it was about time I dug things out and got stuck in. So here we go. First thing I did was make a couple of pins to mount the frame at the rear. Save messing about with nuts and boltsI know only one is shown, but I did make two. Here they are fitted. Next on the list was the mule drive. I got some plate, 22m bar, bearings and pulleys with taperlock bushes. Then measure up and fabricate the plates. Then build up the whole assembly. Below all bolted on. The sickle bar was then fitted and a way of holding it vertical solved by a ratch through my bits and bobs. One problem here was the lift lever under the tractor. Where it curved down it fouled the belt guard and top pulley. Sorted this by disconnecting it and fastening it up out of the way. A shackle and two links of chain took care of the rest. On to a clutch to mule drive belt tensioner. My first attempt was unsuccessful. I had an Idea it would be. The belt kept running of the bearing shown. That was all I could find at the time. Eventually I remembered a box of Husqvarna bits tucked away and found a suitable pulley for the idler. Here it is set up and all runs well. The next thing to do is give it a proper trial and all being well, strip down and paint. I still need to make a handle to lift up the cutter bar when down. The original fouls the footplate as it was meant for a machine that didn't have footplates.

My 19 year old son and i are undertaking the complete redo of a 1966 model 606 tractor, It is in relatively good shape needing only a few parts, and most likely an engine rebuild, then sand blast new paint and new decals.. we r from Brooklyn Ct, and all my son wants to do is enter it in The local fairs. He is a high functioning Autistic young man who had a dream of having his own WH Then he was given one for free and now it is time to get it going..Looking for any help at all on these tires we have the front ones......please feel free to e mail me at Reflex1957@yahoo.com

The starter wiring passes through the PTO switch, could be it needs to be tightened up or replaced. Check out the wiring diagram. Tractor 1989 300 & 400-Series OM Wiring 810569R1.pdf

Actually Briggs says not to use the metal deeper gage to set the air gap on the Magnetron. They sold a plastic gage to set these. A business card will set it close enough. We had this stuff at work so I had access to the stuff.

I sold mine to member here on RS. $300 range it was missing the foot pedal stuff.

I made one a couple years ago, need to update it as the Suburban changed hands and I have added several since then.

...OH my this will be my second time missing out on this . Guaranteed you’ll get more for it than you payed for the whole package !

Seller was asking $800 for 520h w/ 44" blower, basically unused plow, f/r wheel weights, chains, aux fuel tank, 9/17 battery, and cab (minus one door). 600 hrs and change. Compression 127/125 psi. The bad: One tire doesn't hold air for more than 2 min. Doesn't run on idle circuit (bounces off governor). Some wire-nuts on the electronics (someone's been in there). Has been exposed to elements.. has sat unused for years. Hydro was low. Spins the tires after filling. Need to print off the manuals. Fwd is not fully engaging hydro cam. I'm guessing I need to lengthen the tie rod between motion control arm and brake pivot.

Think they are 6-12s.

That rod is 3/4" Craig.

There's speculation that their diet has an influence on hide color. Deer along the river or a large creek area have a darker black tint to there back vs deer in large pasture and wooded area have more of a red tint. The speculation is the minerals in there diet (creek bottom vs pasture) affect hair color

Lane, I saw that thread a while ago. Great workmanship! That gent is very skilled. Great looking sickle bar he restored!

All of the above is good advice....How well it was taken care of is a good bargaining chip. If in doubt Steve take lots of pics and report back.

If you have a press , but not the skills to build a hydraulic brake - look here .... http://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-Press-Brake-Kits_c_53.html Specifically for working on what we'd need the most in a brake , this model should suffice - http://www.swagoffroad.com/20-TON-Finger-Brake-Heavy-Duty-DIY-Builder-Kit_p_86.html Just a thought ... Sarge

Really neat info. Thanks for sharing Richard.

My 520 and 417 both have over 2000 hours and run strong with no smoke.

My youngest son was a foreman there for several years in the late 80's...when they moved production to Mn. he went to Clark in Berea , KY... he was the reason I bought my first Wheel Horse 312-8....I have had 3......one at a time..lol

Hardly a day goes by when I don't drive by that plant. It will always be 'the old Wheel Horse plant' to me. I'm happy that the 'new' owners continue to maintain the grounds in a fashion that would make the Ponds proud.

A bit more info you can use. Click on the picture. Garry

Great "Basket Case Save", my kind of project

I'm not a biologist or wildlife expert Jim. But the deer tend to turn a dull gray in the winter and get a brighter reddish coat in the summer. http://www.theanimalspot.com/whitetaileddeer.htm

Here's a few I "shot" last month in Cameron Co. Jim.

That surely is a nice 701. It has got some things wrong or missing as others stated. But surely worth saving.

Thanks Sarge, believe it or not the hoses are not hitting the linkage. Spent quite a few hours making sure nothing touches. It was a chore because you can’t get the original hose ends that wheel horse used had to go to the next size up which made things a little more difficult. But nothing money won’t fix. i fell in love with GT14 the first time I saw one at the big show. I had to buy two so I could make one. I had to make all of the bushings and spacers for the old girl. This was definitely more of a challenge to restore than the C120 I did a few years ago.

7416 appears to be still available from Toro if you can not find used. http://www.partstree.com/parts/toro/parts/7416/ Garry

Finally got round to trying out the sickle bar this afternoon. To say I'm pleased with it is a bit of an understatement. Tried it on the overgrown bridleway past my home. Thick, heavy, long wet grass. Did two passes. One down and one up. 1st gear low box and lowish revs. Result below.

You have a 3 amp charging system so a 6 amp diode is a suitable replacement. Do you still have Radio Shack or another local electronics supplier? Wired stator to diode ->I- diode to ignition switch Garry

Very cool! Carmel eliminated my high school, Penn, in the semi-state that year. Yea, that stung a bit but only at the time. A success story like this lasts a lifetime and sure brings a smile to my face. Makes a parent realize what's really important in life. Congratulations.

Your engine numbers are on this page. Click on the picture. The tractor parts list you can download includes the engine parts list. Garry

Got back out to the shop today and fabricated the rotisserie and mounted the 953 frame. One support is an old home built engine stand and the other is just an angle iron lagged to the wall with a pipe welded to it, nothing fancy, but functional. I used a hydraulic lift table to bring it up to the proper height. This will save a lot of bending and crawling on the floor. Easy access for removing the stuff from below I used a contour gauge duplicator to get the shape and contour of the fender area to be replaced, then I made a template out of MDF so I can check the pieces as they are bent. Some laborious cleaning is next,