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Ex wife

Today the postman brought me a masterpiece, a @BOB ELLISON seat cover for the 1055. Fits like a glove and looks great.

The fact there are still people mowing with 40 and 50 year old machines is why they are gone. Once everyone has one, who will you sell a new one too. Same goes for all products really. Randy

It hurt to live it. While I have two wonderful kids from her and did have some good times, I questioned a lot of our marraige. I think a lot of what I went through in the first prepared me to appreciate more of what I have now.I believe God uses our trials to help grow us. I now have a wonderful woman in my life and have a smile on my face (except when remodeling) That said, PAINTBALL was my major money taker followed by RC boats, woodworking, and mountain bikes. All Fun for sure but I built my guns and bikes more than I got to use them. But oh man what a rush.

I Guess the only thing we can do is just enjoy them for what they are. Keep them running by what ever means possible. Enjoy the ride.

When Toro shut down the Wheel Horse Classic production line in 2007, they also stopped making lawn and garden tractors altogether. They still make zero turns, commercial grade landscaping equipment, walk behind mowers, and a few other things, but they got out of manufacturing L&G tractors. When they did this back in 2007, they turned to MTD to make a line of lawn and garden tractors. They have since then severed that contract with MTD, or let it expired and are (Toro) no longer a player in the L&G market. Their decision to get out of manufacturing L&G tractors probably had a lot to do with manufacturing costs and return on investment. Whether we like it or not, the Wheel Horse Classic was expensive to buy compare with Husqevarna, Sears, MTD, Murray, etc., and it was expensive to make the Wheel Horse Classic since it's design was old, and probably had a lot of expensive manufacturing processes. They probably look at their market share, their business plan, where they want to be in the future, and decided the L&G market wasn't it.

Ho acquistato questo trattorino. É un modello che conoscete?

There is a lot of potential there. I see a wheel horse tractor that is sick but a little pepto and a good enema it will be good as new.

:-). I was going to refrain from bringing that up until you did. Right there with your brother! Back in the mid-80s I was one of those irritating little jerk kids that rode around town on one of several BMX bikes - making traffic..... ummm.... not particularly happy. :-). In 1988 I got my first road bike. A 12-speed Detel. Spring of 1989 I got my first mountain bike. A Shogun. I still own it and ride it occasionally to this day. I now have something like 11 bikes in my shed. I'm pretty sure. All except one is up and running and rideable. I've learned over the years that, for me, most often the building of a hobby and the anticipation of being able to use it is better than - using it.

I did mine in my pajama bottoms and a coat sitting in the cab

I found this posted for sale on line. Should this poor horse be rescued or put down honorably?

.....Ditto Well this thread is in bumps and bruises and since that's all she ever gave me .....

One word CHINA! People think cheap is better, buy and throw away generation. I am 66 years old and I grew up like many of you laying on the ground beside your dad ( my dad just passed away Feb.18 at 931/2, a WW II, U S Army, combat medic ) working on whatever,so we didn't have to spend the money we didn't have on a new one. I still have that outlook. Too easy to just buy a new one. Old Bob

Here's the main reason for the chassis swap. Note the huge improvement of steering radius that I'll achieve between the 502 and 604 chassis! This is full lock for both tractors. And as a side note, the steering shaft gear and fan gear are the same for both tractors so the steering angle is all in the front.

I would have to put my dream car, a 1946 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet at the top of the list. I always considered it to be a styling masterpiece and the ultimate Street Rod Kool Kruiser. I managed to obtain one (a project) in 2004. Had another guy's project in the shop that needed to be finished first so it sat for a year. I began grafting late model suspension and drive components to it and was making good progress. We decided to move to North Carolina so everything was put on hold while I built a shop at the new house. Following the move there was a lot of settling in and other priorities that kept me from making any meaningful progress on the Continental. Then we decided it was time to build our new house which kept me occupied for over a year (no regrets, love the new house). About the time we completed the house our church began a major renovation project which I agreed to supervise, once again, no regrets. When the church reno. was completed I began work on the Lincoln, along with some Horse Play. Things went well until my back gave out. Following spinal fusion surgery and rehab I was no longer able to do the twisting and lifting required for a project of this nature. For a couple of years I held onto hope that I would be able to get it built but about a year ago I sold my pride and joy at a substantial loss. I had realized my dream of owning one, I just never got to drive it! It went down the road to a new owner, hope he will have the pleasure of completing it.

Thank you everyone! Too many to quote. Once again a combination of several great suggestions and excellent information has pulled me through. The Bronco is riding once more! In a nut shell it was a mixture of excessive moisture and bare wires in tight places. I ended up pulling the ignition switch and cleaning it on the wheel, as well as cleaning all the terminal connections to the back. Then I cut out and replaced the single lead coming off the bottom of the coil and it's 2 branch connectors. Sprayed a little electrical contact cleaner/dryer on the chasis grounds and under dash, gave it a bit and turned the key. Back in business. Thanks again! Ps. Be ready for the 416-8 questions this weekend! Picking it up today.

Dan...what an excellent thread. This should go for about 69 pages. I'm going to give this some thought before I show how stupid I can be...or how much I have learned the hard way.

I plan to do a paint job on the seat body once it warms up a bit and then glue it up. I've had good luck with 3M High Performance 90 in the past, holds up well even out in the sun. The number 90 indicates the temperature in centigrade that it will withstand.

Told my friend who had one of those that they should come with their own credit card.

People don't want to work on anything today, the throw away tractors fit the bill nicely. Even if the best Wheel Horse ever made was still in production, it would die from neglect just the same.

Really cool pic here Chris.....

I think the hardest part would be to get people to realize the quality of what you built, and how dependable it is. Because the people who know how good they are, already have one or two of them And don't mind busting knuckles or so on to keep them alive. Unfortunate to say but people are more comfortable with buying throw away junk now days. Putting work into things to make something nice for yourself is just not as common as it use to be. I know there's a lot of Horse-a-holics here, but there are way more people out there that make our throw away society a success for box stores.

Lane posted a WH ad from about 1960 when they sold for $300. That would be $2600 today for what that's worth. Without knowing......as with many family businesses they may have gotten an offer from AMC in 1974 that they just couldn't refuse. Also they may have just wanted out of the business after decades.

My 1977 Avion class C RV. Money pit extraordinaire. t I will always remember the feeling of punching the throttle of the Dodge 440 hemi, hearing the 4 barrel Holly carb take a breath and feeling like...

Haa, me too! Might've had about a total of 15 - 20 minutes flying time (if you can call it that) before smashing them into something! The fun part was building them anyway but still...

Welcome to Red Square I would use 90wt oil, year around, seeing you are from Indiana...it will take about 2 qts. The light switch might be had from one of our vendors, like @A-Z Tractor check out our vendor section. You could also post in the "Wanted Classifieds". Check out our Manuals section for the manual for your horse...find the part number...maybe the part is still available from TORO. Somebody here probably knows what the part number you need is crossed to something from NAPA or Autozone.

My friend and I were talking the other day about nightmare projects we have gotten into that we wish we could take back. Feel free to come clean if you dare.......just two from me but there have been a few more. Project.....a 26' cabin cruiser that was a total POS that I thought I could turn into a nice weekend boat for my young family. Effort....2 years and who knows how much wasted money on a fail. Result.....scrapped it for the value of the trailer. Project....payed 400 for a 70 Raider 10 from some pig farmer in Bainbridge and got totally taken...my bad. Effort.....countless hours and 1100 bucks and the POS never ran right. My first WH and it hurt. Result.....sold it for a 200 just to make the pain go away. The good news is that I am much smarter now.......

I just finished clearing my driveway for the umpteenth time and as usual the WH handled the 14" of wet snow like a champ. I can't get over the simplicity and effectiveness of the design of these tractors. I keep seeing posts about tractors that have been in families for multiple generations. And restorations that continue to perform like they did when new. I haven't had the chance to get one of the books on the history of the WH so I'm in the dark about it some. So my question is, Just what caused this design to be set aside. Was it the cost to manufacture, peoples lack of understanding of the longevity of the tractor and its implements, Competition from "cheaper" designs? They're so easy to work on and attach implements to. And there literally is countless "testimonials" to their durability. There used to a be a Toro dealership not too far from me that was the "GO TO" place for parts and such (Grassland). Its still there but the wheel horse presence is all but gone. I realize there are people who are making new parts for the tractors but what do you think it would cost to remanufacture an equivalent in todays market?

Wash the mold off & get rid of that snowblower motor and that could be be a perfectly good tractor.

Why do people insist on doing that?

It will undoubtedly have some PTJDD but we never let a brother behind! I wish this were closer:

Where is it at? I'm up in Petoskey right now and the little woman is up a few $ at the casino. I could drag it home with me behind the Lexus and at least put a tarp over it so people quit pointing and laughing.

Arrived today Bob...

Same here. Never marry a wack job or as our British members say "a nutter" .

The biggest problem for most of us is that we don't give Got the credit for our successes.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to this. Take a look at Case/Ingersoll. Case sold their L&G line to Ingersoll back in the early to mid 80s. Ingersoll did not change the design of the tractors, but kept them pretty much intact except for engine upgrades throughout the years. The tractors became more and more expensive and therefore, less of them were sold. Ingersoll went into bankruptcy a few years back (circa 2005 or so). A few years later, Eastman Industries bought them and kept the design intact and began manufacturing them again. Right now, I'm not sure where they're at. Dealers are sparse and few and far between. They had eliminated some unique attachments and prices are still very high. But, the tractor is pretty much bullet proof like they have been since day one back in the early 60s. The problem is, no one can afford to buy them or don't have the understanding of what they're getting for the price.

Times have changed, most folks work a lot of hours and give their off time to other things now. Less and less of the newer generations are taught to work with their hands - the market has changed to reflect that. We have been taught as a society by marketers to spend money instead of repairing things and become a disposable consumer source of income. Parts are becoming non-existent for many items now, they would rather we just replace with new and drive us further in that direction as much as they can. The few of us left that don't follow that mindset end up in places like this. Wheel Horse, as a brand contributed to it's own demise in a way. They lasted too long and since the design included retrofitting kits to the mix they made themselves somewhat obsolete. It's not unusual to see mid 60s tractors wearing late model attachments, which didn't help sell new machines. Very few brands built their equipment backward compatible, it's what kept them going with a larger market share. It's a shame someone else didn't buy the brand in '73 and keep it going in the original direction, I'd bet they would have been a bigger player today. Sarge

They don't make 'em like they used to... There's a fine line between quality product and range of longevity.... It is probably true that they out qualitied themselves! All I know, is I'm thankful that I found my first Wheel Horse on CL and took a gamble at bringing it back to life as a worker back in 2013, now I'm finally getting around to a partial restoration after these 4-5 years of modifications. And to think, I really only bought it because I needed to mow my yard! Little did I know, the various attachments and true quality goes on for a long time!

http://www.elecdirect.com/media/specsheets/Cole-Hersee-Standard-Heavy-Duty-Rocker-Switches-Pg-73.pdf Cole Hersee supplied the original rocker switches Cole-Hersee-Standard-Heavy-Duty-Rocker-Switches-Pg-73.pdf

RC Helicopter.... I kept all the receipts while learning to fly it... I could hover "nose in" at eye level about 5' away from my face.... You would not Believe how much it cost me to learn how to do that. I stopped when I started riding motorcycle, (smart move eh ?) But I loved flying the helicopter plus it changes the way you "think" about things...Even did a "Waltz" with the local Electrical lines (Big ones...) once, but I digress.....

Pete, you've kind of answered your own question by asking the question.

3/9/2018. 5 AM to 5:45 AM snowblow 8 " heavy snow, no wind, 28 degrees. 5:45 to 6:30 scrape. 1 1/2 gallon gas for 2 520H. 80 degrees in cab with left door 4" open.

Nuther winter calendar shot there Paul. Is it legal to have that much fun up there in the Catskills? Maybe Wheel Horse should include the hat and gloves as required items in their snow blower installation kits. I just got back from my local Toro dealer where I got the last remaining official Wheel Horse Snow Blower attire. Now If I can get this cab off this 520 I should be qualified to join the Pau's @pfrederi real man's cabless blower club. Any you sissies with heated cabs wanna join, get them cabs off.

1961Chevrolet Corvair. A hoot to drive but what an engineering disaster and money pit.

When you remove the "slush" for the rear end it is best to jack up the front of the tractor to ensure complete draining. If it is real bad you will want to run a half gallon of diesel in it for a few minutes to flush it out.

I have several but what sticks out are the ones my wife reminds me of! Like the 70 something Power Wagon that I told her I got a good deal on, and I worked on it all..... the...... time. Now when I say I am going to look at something to buy, she says, "remember the good deal truck?" yeah

C120 Frank-n-Tractor Picked up this 74 C120 for parts. When I got it to the shop I started to take a closer look and under all the rust there was some good bones. I also picked up a fake M12 Kohler, (one of those marked 301 that has a 10hp bore), that needed some love. Working on the engine and ready to test run, I decided to put the engine on the C120 and maybe, at the same time, see if the hydro transmission was good. The M10 was a carburetor nightmare. It had a Walbo fixed jet that would flood at will, sometimes run perfect then the float would stick open and the smoke rolled. New float components just lessened the problem slightly. Ended up changing the carb using one from a Kohler K301. Ran fine and the test of the hydro proved it was in great shape. With all that, I decided to fixer up a bit, kind of a tinker project. Changed the broken steering wheel, change left rear tire, (all tires hold air now), install a Briggs wiring harness, cabbaged some seat supports from the junk pile and added a newer seat pan from a GT1100. The old seat pan was BER. One of the owners had installed slide latches and mounted wooden blocks on foot rest to support the old seat pan. Creative! The dawg gone thing runs good! Not sure what I am going to do with it but it is a hobby. I’ll post more photos as I get more time to tinker with it.