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There have been some great threads in this section of the forum lately. All of us understand that what initially brings us to Red Square are these little red tractors that we care about so much. Sometimes we are looking for help, sometimes to help others, sometimes to find parts or obscure machines, and the list could go on. I came on here to document for future generations the restoration of a tractor that had been in my family for over 40 years. But I think what most of us have found, is a group of great guys that really are fun with whom to share our lives! Sometimes close enough that we can hang out in person, like my local circle of buddies here in Cheese country! Other times we only get to connect via phone calls, texts, private messages, etc but we build friendships. I really have enjoyed this unexpected benefit to the RS. So, topics like @Professor1990 started about what we do for a living or some of the cool ones that @ebinmaine has started about pets, machines, life have really been interesting to me. I have decided to share with you guys one of the coolest activities that our TeenGroup does every year called “Share the Joy”... All of us know that humans can be pretty selfish and as a youth pastor, I’m looking for ways to challenge my teens to look beyond themselves to help others. About 15 years ago, when I first started helping with the teen ministry at our church, the young youth pastor we had at the time instituted an activity that we continue yearly called “Share the Joy”. He challenged the teens to save up their own money, at least $5, and bring it prepared to buy gifts for a less fortunate family. It showed them the true spirit of Christmas which is giving without expecting anything in return. The activity blessed my heart so much that every new youth pastor we had after him, I’d encourage to keep it as an annual tradition. Once I became the youth pastor, I determined that we would always “Share the Joy” before Christmas! So, how do we determine what families to choose? We look for a special needs case, and in today’s society you don’t have to look far to find those. Last night was our annual “Share the Joy” and here is how it runs and who we chose... We start with the selections. The families must have children because it is the parents that we are trying to encourage but the KIDS that we are trying to bless. Here are the three families we chose: FAMILY 1: they are acquaintances from the community. I had hired the father and his father in law to subcontract some work for me about 12 years ago. Apparently, he had been going through some very difficult times in life lately and decided that life wasn’t worth living about a month ago when he attempted suicide. His family was home when the gun went off and I can’t imagine the trauma that they all went through that night and every day since. Dad survived and is recovering but has a long way to go. They have two older teens and two younger children. FAMILY 2: They are new to our church. A young family with two little children and one on the way. They have had a very Difficult year financially and moved up here close to her parents to see if they could get a fresh start. They know very few people here and are trying to get settled in. We felt that a special Christmas encouragement was in order. FAMILY 3: The father if this family is the employer to one of our teen youth workers. He is only about 30 years old but was diagnosed with a brain tumor about a year ago. It was a scary time for the family but he underwent surgery and all went great. About a month ago, he again started having some weird symptoms. He went back in to see his doctor and he found another tumor, this time more aggressive than the first. If things don’t change under the Great Physician’s hand, I don’t believe that he will be with us next Christmas. He has two young children and a lovely wife. Once we have the families selected, we write the age/gender of the children on the white board in the TeenRoom and as our teens come in to start the activity they write their name under who they would like to buy for. Sometimes we have to move a name around because everyone wants to buy for the 14 year old! We keep it anonymous to the teens at this point. We don’t want their judgment clouded by who they are specifically buying for. Next we all hop on the bus and go to a local retailer. I tell them to sit by the other teens that are buying for the same individual as they are... And discuss what to get. Sometimes they pool their money and buy an expensive gift. Other times they buy smaller individual gifts. We only give them 15 minutes to shop which makes it more of an adventure. After arriving back at church, it is a wrapping frenzy, much like Santa’s workshop the days before Christmas The kids pick some really cool stuff. At this point we give them the first name of the child that they bought for to write in the gift but in the from spot they write “TeenGroup”. They enjoy the whole atmosphere of this activity—lots of singing, laughter, and joy! most have told me that it is their favorite activity of the year! Once all gifts are wrapped, we practice three or four traditional Christmas carols acappela and then head out for our destinations It is hard to describe the spectacle that ensues when over 25 teens invade a house bearing gifts! Santa doesn’t have anything on us! We may not have a flying sleigh, just an old church bus. We may not sneak in and out at night—quite the opposite really! But the gifts are anonymous and often fill the area under their tree. I of course have called to make sure that the families will be home. Then we arrive, singing as we enter, place the gifts, I say a few words of encouragement, give a card to the family signed by all teens and workers, then I pray with them, we sing two more carols, wish them merry Christmas and we are off to our next stop. The last stop of the night was at our gentleman with cancer. He was apologetic but couldn’t invite us into the house for fear of catching something. He starts chemo next week. The Lord had caused it to snow lightly and the air temp was a perfect 25 degrees with no wind. We stood out there in the glow of those Christmas lights watching the tears well up in the eyes of the wife as we sang Silent Night in harmony. I thought to myself, “Now this is Christmas in the spirit of that Holy Gift come down from above about 2000 years ago to a stable in Bethlehem!” Before we knew it, the night was over but I pray that we were an encouragement to those families dealing with struggles this Christmas season. I also hope these teens never forget this special activity and make it part of their adult lives in some way, shape, or form. God Bless them, EVERY ONE!

My Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said I would let her know. Sooooo, after a little digging I found a set of wheel horse wheel weights on Craigslist for a very reasonable $80! These were list in the Columbia area, Sturgeon to be exact and it turned out to be a family friend! Here is a pic.

I was at Home Depot hunting up a new led light for above the stove and to act as sort of a night light in the kitchen - the last florescent one burnt out after only 1yr , their quality is getting worse in the ballasts so led is the go-to replacement these days . The store's Consumer Electric brand has an interesting small led task light with magnets , 3 different light levels and the best part - 18650 lithium battery with an onboard micro usb (USB-C) port to charge it . Also has a nice led light on the end to indicate charging/battery condition . The area my main tool box sits is not lit very well and it's tough for my old junk eyes to see into the drawers to dig out what I'm after - this lamp works excellent . The blue tape is to keep the glare down since it's designed for 180* light output . I've let it run on low for over 6hrs so far and it's still not showing a low battery indication , which is good . Helps a lot at night when I'm working on stuff , which seems far too often . I've found this thing to be a lot more handy than I thought it would be - great for working on the tractors and other vehicles since the light output is so white and it's battery lasts quite awhile . I hate AAA or AA powered lamps - buying those stupid alkaline batteries to me is a waste when the lithium technology is getting cheaper by the day as well as gains in capacity . Pics are on low setting - on high it's nearly blinding , even for my blind eyes....lol . Only drawback is the battery can't be removed , but I see access to it's internals and I'm sure when the battery goes south I can easily replace it - probably a standard 18650 cell with tabs included and those are easy . It would have been better if they put an access cap on it so the battery could be swapped out as I keep quite a few really good quality cells (Orbtronic) and chargers here for the Fenix lights I use so much . But , less than $20 - not going to complain as this thing works great . Oh, they also include 2 small pads with adhesive that the magnets will attract to for mounting it on non-metal surfaces such as wood - with 3M adhesive to boot . Wish I'd kept the box as they are a bit tough to find at Home Depot but we have some errands to run and I plan to get another one - this one will probably live right where it's at - tired of using a flash light or my head lamp to see inside that dumb old Crapsman tool box .... I own more flashlights than anyone I know - this eye problem doesn't help and light transmission is very poor at best . I tig weld even at fairly high amps at a shade 9 on the Optrel at most , I did have it on 10 once for doing 5/32" 7018 stick rods , some low amp stuff I go clear to the bottom setting on the hood which is around 7.5 or so . If anyone ever has any questions about good lights I can help - have had to learn a lot just so I can see even in direct sunlight ... Sarge Sarge

Awesome thing you’re doing @PeacemakerJack ! I’ve been here for a hour now trying to figure out how to word the thoughts in my head as I’ve been on both ends of the stick. It can be a simple thing. One year my family went to our local outreach and asked about any elderly people on the list. The lady behind the counter said you know we have two that have asked for the same thing now for couple years now . One was a Kings James bible with enlarged print and the other was a lady’s fall jacket. That year they got their wish. Just a simple jester can bring a smile to one person or a whole family. So during this holiday season if you have the means to help please do . The gift of giving is the best gift of all and the best feeling you can have . Merry Christmas and spread the joy and happiness this season!

Thank you for sharing that Josh. It is pretty special that your whole group gets to meet the people you are helping. Buying for "Toys for Tots" and pulling a couple of cards off of the "Giving Tree" at the Mall is something everyone can do to help and get into the spirit...but what you guys are doing really makes it personal and very special. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you.

When you here stories of other people's misfortunes during the holidays it certainly makes me grateful to have what I have. I think a lot of people don't ever think that their situation could be worse. I realize I am never going to be rich but embrace that fact and enjoy the simple things in life.

I took Shirley's Raider back to her this morning. She and her husband, Richard were happy to get it back.

See Slim...you are richer already. Merry Christmas.

Thanks everyone, getting a little easier. Hey Tuneup I know where you are located, I work at Yancey Bros in Austell. I took off work at lunch when it looked like the weather people under forecast the amount of snow. I got about 10 inches at my house. Here is a picture of our H2 hummer. Pictures will have to wait on the 552, working over time all week. I'm not adding a snow blower, I'd move further SOUTH!

Hi everyone, My name is Ian, and I'm a Wheel Horse newbie. I've just bought a Raider 10 8-speed on fleabay, but am still waiting to collect it due to circumstances beyond my control. I think it's a 1972 (ish) model and am itching to get it home and start playing! It has a roller with it, and a 42" (I think) side discharge deck. Have been studying the manuals and have read "From the Horses Mouth" to try and learn all I can about these fantastic little tractors. Hopefully I'll be able to post a few pictures soon! Best wishes and Seasons Greetings to you all !! P.S. photo of my Raider from fleabay

The 74 75 B80 where not short frame. They were mid frame this I learned by one of the most knowledgeable whellhorse guys I've ever heard. I think the plow will work fine. This is a quote from him. The first long framed Wheel Horse models came out in 1966. Here is a list of short frame Wheel Horses. 1961 - 701 1962 - 502, 552, 702, Lawn Ranger 1963 - 603, 633, 653, 753, Lawn Ranger 1964 - 604, 654, 704, 754, 854, 1045, Lawn Ranger 1965 - 605, 655, 855, 875, 1075, 1055, Lawn Ranger 1966 - 606, 656, 856, 876, Lawn Ranger 1967 - 607, 657, 857, 867, Lawn Ranger 1968 - Commando 6, Commando 8, '500' SPECIAL, Lawn Ranger 1969 - WORKHORSE 700 Other tractors like the 1974 and 1975 model B-80 were considered a mid frame. Wild Bill in Richmond, Va

Handy for pulling a yard tub or just to hop on and go for a joy ride! I am with the keep it orginal but keep it in good mechanical shape crowd now but its yours so do what you feel is best for yourself.

Yes I did! As you said, the starting is much better. I made a simple "L"bracket bolted to the frame to keep it low and tied it to the lighting circuit so it will turn on and off with the key. This spring I plan to clean it up and paint it, for now it has become a part of my snow team.

This is what God wants and what Christmas is about. It's got to make you feel good inside.✝️

Caught the sun yesterday and here are some pictures. #1 group shot, #2 Standish, Carmel & Arundel, #3 Canaan, & Livermore, #4 Biddeford. Enjoy!

Awesome story Jack!

I rather have wheelhorse parts over that sweater which I will never wear anyways....

I decided to not work over today, just short of 40 hrs this week and we paid for all day tomorrow.Here are the pics of the 552 I promised. I am going to make room and put it in my basement to keep it out of the weather for now. I know dad has had it for a few years but not since new. I am a purist at heart but the restored tractors look so cool. For now I will get it running and decide later but probibly leaning on a full restore later on next year. Thank for the input, this place is great.

Y'all got some splainin to do!

Amen and amen!

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum and this is my first post. My father passed away in November and he left me a 552 which I picked up over the weekend. To me is seems to be 99.9 percent all original. I know he was having carburetor problems with it and I found it disassembled and in a box on his work table. I guess my first question is where can I get a rebuild kit for it? I did not take any pictures of it yet to post because it was raining in Georgia on Sunday, but I will. I will probibly never mow grass with it but I would like to get it running again. Thank in advance !! Stephen

The GT14 project has continued, albeit at a slower pace due to some pauses waiting for parts, seals and gaskets during the reassembly process. You would think that would leave more time for posting updates, but instead I seem to have been finding other projects to fill the gaps instead. I'm happy to report things are finally all back together and functional. Given the wear on the GT14 pump slippers and plate, I proceeded with the plan to swap in the Charger pump/motor unit. This did require swapping the motor drive gear over from the GT14 unit to the Charger one. Thanks to some of the info on here, it wasn't too difficult to do. While inside the motor to swap the gears, I noticed the difference in the amount of wear was not as obvious between the two units as it was on the pumps. It all went back together fine, just took some care to keep everything clean and put back together the way it came apart. Before putting the pump back together, I went ahead and did a gentle polish of the slippers and port plate. It really didn't take much to get the scratches down to where only a few of the deeper ones were left. Since I used some heat to get the pump fan off the shaft, I went ahead and replaced that shaft seal before putting the fan back on. The transmission case also need some work before it got reassembled. I swapped in a B/C series cast parking brake pawl since both the Charger and GT14 ones were severely worn. The intermediate shaft bearings needed to be replaced on both sides, and since the gasket between the two halves is NLA, I had to make one of those. I cleaned out the good inlet screen from the Charger and installed it. For mounting the pump/motor back on the transmission, I probably could have made that gasket as well, but opted to get one from my Toro dealer. I have started a habit of tracing any gasket I get before I put it on, just in case I need another one someday and they aren't available anymore. After getting the trans back together and bolted back to the chassis, I still had some work to do. I had swapped the acceleration valves to try them in the GT14 before, so I needed to swap all those pieces back. By now I had plenty of practice with those parts. Since the Charger was manual lift, I also had to swap over the hydraulic lift spring and valve, and remove the plugs from the ports before I could hook up the lines. Finally, it was time to refill with ATF. I took a long time filling a little bit and then spinning the pump by hand to try to work the air out of the system. Eventually I got nearly all 5 quarts into it. After a few days passed, I was happy not to see any little puddles of oil underneath, so I must have done OK getting everything back together. The final step before being able to put the rest back together and test it out was fixing the tensioner pulley/parking break lever. Recall that this tractor had no pulley when I first took it apart. Fortunately, the rest of the lever/linkage was there, because it is unique to the GT14. I swapped the pulley from the Charger, and then welded up the arm on the transmission to take out the wear that had accumulated over the years. I also had to replace the peg that contacted that arm, because it was worn a good part of the way through. Of course, with the tensioner in there properly, the belt that came with the tractor would no longer work so I got a NOS 8334 belt off Ebay. Delivery took a little longer than expected, but when it did finally come, it fit perfectly. At last, I got it all back together. It was time for the moment of truth. I started it up, slowly engaged the drive belt. No leaks or bad noises so far... pushed the lever forward... it moves! I started driving it around to the back yard for a more thorough test. Just as I got to the back yard, the tractor abruptly stopped. I disengaged the drive belt, took it to low idle and slowly re-engaged the belt listening for any bad noises. None were present, so I tried driving again. It moved a few feet and then stopped again, although less abruptly, and then just as quickly started again. After that instance, it didn't happen again. I suspect maybe there was just some air in the system that had to work it's way out. I drove it around some more in forward and reverse and everything seemed good. If I "floor it" from a stop, there is a slight hesitation before it fully starts to accelerate, but I can live with that. I tried backing up the hill that it stalled out on that started this transmission project. My heart sunk when it stopped at nearly the same place as before. Fortunately, my spirits quickly rose again when I realized my progress halted not due to the transmission, but because the tires were slipping on the damp grass. Further testing convinced me that things seemed to be working as they should, so I consider the repair a success.

Alright guys we’re going to have to start a Chevy A/G body section with all this talk. I have to wipe the drool off my screen and yes swivel buckets came in 1973.

Ya it's a headscratcher for sure. Does anyone know how many produced that year. Not like they're rare. 97 had silver graphics. I don't know. It's a 72 base monte and no swivels, they came in 73 I believe. In front of that is a 86 ss too

What about a '78 'BU with a little 400 SB?

I sorta feel if gave BRF a BFH I may end up SOL cuz the plow and tractor would be MUBAR

@ebinmaine If the plow does not fit get out your BFH and make it work or send it to @Big_Red_Fred for modification.

LMAO

Gosh Stormin, I assumed he was from Somerset, Pa. where I was born. Either way Ian, to the . Great machines...the Raiders.

@Ian_Courts Welcome to , You are off to a good start a and a roller. Careful they are additive start with 2 and end up with a dozen.

@953 nut You know my hearing aids have not helped my typing. I am starting to talk like @squonk .

I agree, the best time to run a Wheel Horse is clearing snow. A lot more fun than mowing. From our first snow fall about a week ago. Not enough to challenge my 520H and a two stage. Got that cab three years ago, I'm not going back.

Sometime between the original set ups shown in the post above and the modern front mounted mule drive Wheel Horse used this forerunner of the new mule drive. Does yours look like this???

Super nice rig! And I hear you on making these last. My plan is similarly!

Looks like you got a little white stuff there Aldon. You are not going to like it when the other white stuff (road salt) is on that new rig! That's why I parked my new rig in that big tan shed for the winter or two and will run the old one. Try and make it last a little longer that way. My new truck is supposed to carry me through retirement. I since put a nice Leer cap on it. OH NO!!! Karl's Christmas theme is snowing on them !

Crappy weather since I took ownership of the beast. But today was a pretty nice day albeit around 20 degrees. A couple non dealer lot pics. Note the size difference with the Tacoma:

Take a look at this post, it should answer your questions.

Many of us own that we have very little history on. In my opinion it will always remind you of your dad if you keep it as it is now. Keep it running and bring it out to tractor shows as a survivor with a story to tell.

It sounds like it will be a purpose driven tribute tractor to dad. IMHO it’s future is up to how you best feel that it will be a tribute to him. There is monetary value to the 552 but it isn’t a great amount like say a 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible. I feel the greatest value of that tractor is the history that it has with your dad and family. To me it’s sentimental value is of the greatest importance. So—-that being said, if you feel that it best connects you to him to keep it original, do that. If you feel that a restored tractor better honors him, do that. still lookong forward to those pics!

....Just some extra pics of my survivor 1057 . Some pics would help us help you .,

It is always scary when they get a lot of snow south of the Mason/Dixon line! Up here in the “Frozen Chosen” we are used to dealing with it and prepared for the most part, I’ve been south when they get hit and it usually isn’t a good situation! That’s a lot of snow for your “neck of the woods” for sure! You don’t need a blower but a blade would be a good addition cause you can use that for dirt and gravel placement as well!

@A-Z Tractor Thank you sir for continuing to keep myself and my dads build going. you keep coming up with the parts we need at reasonable prices and we appreciate it! If anyone needs a part, he hasn't let us down yet! More-so than any other forum that Ive visited — seems like everyone here is a great group who are eager to help and try to have a good time while doing it. I like logging in and seeing the themes change too, Kudos to whomever takes the time to do that

Some pics here would help but sounds like a PO somewhere over the years adapted a late style deck to an older tractor with a front mount mule drive. The original would have ran straight down to a pulley system below the PTO. Here are some pics of what it would have looked like with the correct deck as in the manual above. This is a 1067 but same tractor only a six speed. Different size mower decks as well as the PTO were optional on all tractors. I might add there are some extra springs in these pics that were added by a PO for belt tensioning.

Since it runs try adding a healthy dose of Seafoam to the fuel. It may clean up on it's own. If it still persists after that tank of fuel rev it up and close the choke to see if the increased vacuum applied to the carb will draw out any restrictions. Open the choke again before it rolls to a stop so it keeps running. Garry

You have a good Mom!

heres a update

My Anniversary ser# 6900619, my dealer said it was delivered in '97 and I bought it March of '98 when the xi series was rolling In, but with the mystery maybe with that higher serial number the factory ran out of "Gold" hood and fender decals but had the rest ,stranger things have happened, Jeff.

Great write up and thanks for the product suggestion if you can pin point the product packaging please share! Magnetic LED lights are extremely handy ...and I feel the same way you do about having so many flashlights, I have one entire drawer of my tool box stuffed full of LED flashlights & work-lights and my wife just rolls her eyes. If they are incandescent they get donated - Ive fallen for those LEDs! What sold me on them was not only the brightness but like you I also found mine still on and shining bright a days after accidentally leaving it on! ...I actually prefer the AA type though because I can use the lithium AA's in there. Happy lighting!

I would start by pulling the tank off and clean it out really well. Then replace fuel lines, filter and go through the carb. If the throttle shaft is loose you can put a bushing on to stop it and that will keep it from sucking air. The bushing Dimensions: 1/4" i.d. x 7/16" o.d. x 1/8" height. Randy