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Something REALLY different in my front yard this morning! Here in N La gas well drilling is nonstop. So, early this morning an Asplundh tree trimmer truck pulls up and asks me if that nice cleared spot in my front yard could be used to land and refuel their pipeline helicopter trimmer ---- needless to say.... Hell yeah!! They were were changing out the bottom blade here.....

Im excited to have just aquired this early RJ58, serial #1099. It's a little rough around the edges but has some neat early characteristics such as the RJ35 style front wheels, slab hitch and leather shifter boot. Ive never seen this style of big, round rear hubs before. I assume these were used on the earliest RJ58's? I ask because my other early RJ #1789 has the more conventional, triangular looking 3-bolt hubs. Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the earliest known RJ58 serial number is currently? Thanks, Rob

Unfortunately the camper is winterized and I am home for the winter. Got spring fever already. Was sitting on the patio looking at my 312-H and had a thought about a reusable magnetic sign that would fit the side plate.

OK folks, bear with me here for a little reminiscing... The year was 1969, I'm 12 years old and in love with my Dad's '61 Suburban (truly why I still love these darn Horses today!) Cutting the grass on our 1/3 acre when the engine stops...with emphasis. No slow down, no smoke...just running fine one second and not the next. I'm sorry to say this today (and then, for that matter) that I had NO idea why it would do such a thing. So I push it back to the garage and for the first time in my life think about checking the oil in the engine. If I recall correctly, the dipstick in that Kohler was like an NPT pipe plug with the stick on the inside end of it...so it required a Crescent wrench to check. Did that and....what? Where's the oil?? No oil. Well, Dad's not too happy about this, considering I just shot our 8-year old Wheel Horse in the gut; I'm feeling really bad too. I loved that machine; actually my first love for any machine. So my Dad goes out and buys a Snapper riding mower. Can you believe that?....no character whatsoever and it doesn't even look like a tractor. Fortunately, he did not trade in the Suburban, so I decided to fix it myself one day after school. Unbolt the engine, bring it down into the basement, lay out some newspapers on the floor and start taking it apart. (I guess in hindsight the newspaper was rather superfluous since there was no oil to leak out.) This was my first foray into how internal combustion engines work, no shop manual or anything so detailed and unnecessary, and it was the birth into my now-lifelong love affair with gasoline engines. Anyway, about a week later and my Dad has bought some needed gaskets plus a few other parts my supreme knowledge indicated needing replacement, I put it back together since most parts really looked pretty good, put oil in it and...three pulls on the recoil and she STARTS! Hallulah! We kept that mower for a year or so, until my Dad wanted it out of the garage (remember, that darn Snapper now ruled our big 1/3 acre estate) True story....but here's the epilogue... Since that time, I've been a professional mechanical engineer at GE Aviation for 42 years (jet engines), owned 59 automobiles, 4 boats, countless RC aircraft, 5 Cessna airplanes, plus my current airplane I built myself over the course of 7 years. My personal mantra is "If it doesn't burn gasoline, I'm probably not interested". I now own two Wheel Horses and one '78 Cub Cadet (sorry), but I honestly trace my love for engines and machinery back to that one little 5 HP Kohler engine that made me think I was the Master Mechanic of lawn tractors. What I would give to have her back today. True story...first time ever written down. I figured you guys would understand.

Finally got pictures. My shop is a mess right now.

If the price is right grab it, the person that told you that is probably trying to get it now!!

Yes, I got it at the Wheel Horse Show. A guy happened to be walking by with it as I was telling Craig @AMC RULESI was looking for one I painted it and put a new decal on it thanks to Terry @Vinylguy

Terry, the sign is well done but you know we are mostly in the accumulation mode, not selling.

@Vinylguy maybe something like a tractor sign. Maybe even like the BlackHood Club member type logo

Got the 8n delivered to our plot of land today. Did some brush hogging and got the rest of the 10 tons of gravel spread out. While my friend owned the tractor, he repainted it, converted it to a 12 volt electrical system, and put new tires on it. He used it in his business to mow and keep the parking lots graded around his warehouse for the last 15 years. We named this tractor EJ, because when I owned it, it had great patina. Most of the paint was weathered off and it had a coating of rust. It had the look of E J Potter's Allison aircraft engine powered pulling tractors. He didn't seem to bother with paint on his tractors, but they were consistent winners. E J needs a little work fixing a gas leak and tidying up some wiring. Probably going to change oil and transmission oil too. I noticed today that the hydraulics seemed slow. I'm guessing that the gasket in the hydraulic pump is needed. Anyhow, it is nice to have E J back in the family. We will send him off to winter storage later this week and start looking for parts to work on him next spring. I'll post a picture or two in the near future.

They were great... ...still have ours too. Terry!

I've heard....and wish I could make it! That gauge makes me smile. It serves no purpose other than a plug; apparently a previous owner lost the plug, but had this gauge laying around with the same pipe thread.

Actually it was told to me buy another person trying to sell one of his models that was a 1993. The price is 500.00 670 hours on it looks good?

Reading all this advice has been a highlight the last few days! Awesome stuff.

once again—sounds exactly like something I would say☺️

Wheel Horse holds an interesting spot among GT’s in that they had very few changes among their basic frame work from the 1960’s through the end of the classic series run in 1998. Sheetmetal changed, some attachment points changed, engines got bigger, safeties abounded, but structurally many things stayed the same. That is due in large part that it was difficult to make a substantial improvement on the simplicity and durability that the Ponds engineered into those early tractors. Many guys on here have found ways with minimal fabrication to attach later model attachments to earlier tractors and repower old tractors with newer engines. Regarding Toro’s ownership, it is important to understand that any Wheel Horse after 1974 (when the Cecil Pond sold the company) was built with a large conglomerate owner at the helm. However, AMC carried the torch well concerning the overall product quality. I believe that Toro (purchasing the brand around 1987) was the real saving grace for Wheel Horse that continues to this day. Many of the popular GT brands of the 1960’s have ceased to exist and the only way to find parts for them is to search and search because they just plain “went out of business”. The fact that Toro still owns the name and continues to carry many parts for these old tractors is awesome. Although I wish that there was still a garden tractor named Wheel Horse being produced by Toro, I’m thankful that they own the brand and not MTD (who ran many great GT brand names into the dirt!) The short answer—most any of the 1970’s-1990’s true Garden Tractor Horses will be formidable machines if they were taken care of!!! Good luck in your search...

Finally got around to reworking the wiring harness on my dads C141.. This is something that's been long overdue. As long as I can remember, it's had a jumper from the battery to the coil, and he just jumped across the starter to crank it. Much of the insulation that was exposed was cracking and falling off, and the safety switches were in bad shape from battery acid. Some of it was even melted.. likely due to the fact that the ignition switch had an M on it! Probably a contribution from yours truly when I was around 10 y/o. Starts with the key now, but it doesn't charge. I'll have to see if the stator is putting out voltage. No picture of my wiring handiwork for now, but here's one we found recently of me on it, circa roughly 2004. I would've been around 7 at the time.

WOW! Almost 5 years ago... ...last time it was out.

About five or six years back Terry made up some nice refrigerator/tool box magnets for everyone that renewed or became a supporter. Great quality and is proudly displayed on our refrigerator. @Vinylguy

The template will fit all 300 and 400 series for sure. I forgot about the member magnets made years ago. Good idea to represent at shows

Everybody's entitled to their opinion I guess. Like any brand of machine or any other product there are some years and models that are stronger, or longer lasting or more capable then others. I think to generalize something like that is ignorant and uninformed and flat wrong. Wheelhorse went through different periods of ownership and several different body styles. NONE of them were junk.... In a general manner of speaking if someone is trying to sell you something and they refer to it as junk you need to run away.

If you want this horse you'll need to pry it from my cold dead hands!

Maybe "Not For Sale" ? Of course we will need a left and right version.

Blast from the past here Terry... have always wanted one of these early release, Red Square forum decals for my collection. Or, at the very least...a newly created version that features our beautiful RS forum header.

Me neither. Maybe ACME SNOW REMOVAL Ideas welcome.

Very cool idea! I'd buy one, but I really can't see me selling any of my Horses!

Maybe a safety switch, take power from battery straight to starter see if she will kick over that way.

Two things: 1. I want a set of those mugs @pullstart!!! Source? Cost? Inquiring minds want to know! 2. First batch of Terry’s masterpiece banners arrived!!! Thank you @Vinylguy??? Can’t wait for the remaining decals!!! You May note that the SL & WHW has been renamed to the SL & WHN...No, there was no corporate takeovers or bankruptcy proceedings...just got to thinking that the Great State of Michigan is more North than West and so I made the unilateral decision to change the RR’s name...As the only shareholder I am comfortable with the decision... First run tomorrow afternoon with the little guys...will advise on their QA / QC feedback...

Yeah that's fake news...mine had it's original decal...just couldn't read it until it wes removed from the frame and turned over. It's #1188. which is #5 on the list.

The early 58s did come with those round hubs. I still have my first one and sold another to AMCrules a while back. Unfortunately, neither had an ID decal. Clay, RJ35hunter might have a good idea of when they changed to the 3 ear style hubs.

Hadn't given it any thought yet but I will figure it out. Each set will be made with the support members username

Eric I could not agree more.

So cool!

Don't believe a word of it. Toro stayed with the same design until 2007. The worse part about the newer ones is the electrical but that's not Toro's fault. It's a byproduct of all the safety gizmos they have to put on them.

Well, it’s red... It’s sitting on a piece of bubble wrap and cardboard in the truck... I won’t forget it!

Have wanted one of these for a while now, prices are on the up ! 1983 big red 200e high n low box ideal for moving logs and stuff in the trailer.... very original (still has plastic protection on brake levers) all original paint, plastics are mint , no cracks

Caleb, your father is beginning to rub off on you!

I'd like to add into the mix that there are lighter duty LAWN TRACTORS that are good enough quality on their own but probably should be avoided. ANY of the 200 series and also the 1978 and up B series.

Have you tried the direct jump from the + battery post to the starter post as suggested above. It is best to locate the problem. Adding new parts that may not solve a simple connection problem can be expensive and frustrating.

As far as Toro’s involvement... The quality didn’t change, the nostalgia did... and the addition of more wiring and safeties as time progressed.

That is why I posted the entire thing.

Even though the red text is applicable to Randy’s situation, the whole read is worth it

I see “Horse Magnet” from @Vinylguy and I think to myself... “If I buy a horse magnet, how many MORE are going to come home to greener pastures?”

Found out it was a 10/32. We are gonna do just a little customizing “bling” here since the tank will be a non stick item and we will have the original on the shelf. Stay tuned to the Comanche thread for the result...Plow Day is coming fast!!!

No twitting ... I have no idea what that means @ebinmaine!! No FB ing and no links to out side ads. Good news is anything is open game ... as well as other hobbies, your interests and complaints about yer MIL or BIL in the non tractor section if anybody will listen. Read the forum rules.... somebody post a link for me this stupid tablet.. and we'll all get along fine..... cept maybe for @squonk who thinks the Packers rule but has alot of NAPA part numbers memorized, so we put up with him, @pullstart, who has a few damaged brain cells but we keep him around for his outstanding fabrication skills and his wallet. Then there's. . Aww never mind ther in the same boat as I....

I have been slowly improving this "Heavy Chevy" to run a bit better and haul a bit more wood or mulch ect... Ended up replacing the exhaust manifolds as the left 1 was cracked (a bird poop weld repair that didn't work) new water pump, T-stat, and hoses, removed the A.I.R. pump added braided plug wire heat shields, replaced the sticking dump hydro control cable and added more side board standards another board higher , also can't forget my new LED back-up lamps.

Did you listen to a thing anyone has posted? Not to be rude, but it seems that you asked for suggestions, got them, and instead of trying to diagnose, you ignored the suggestions and threw parts at it. It's likely very simple. Jump across the starter solenoid. It's been suggested 4 times already.

This it what they will look like if you replace with AG style...

when I was a boy back in the seventies I thought the same thing about the truck brand White Freightliner took me a few years to figure out why in the world they made those things in a whole bunch of different colors that were not white

The early models like BD-4267 used a rear axle hitch that mounts ahead of the rear axle. You can see what it looks like in the illustrated parts list. Click on the picture. Garry