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Hello everybody.. Im new to this forum and im new to tractors lol.. So forgive me if i offend anybody with my lack of knowledge. I inherited this wheel horse from my grandpa..1963 model 953 i think (man shes pretty) but i know nothing about it.. i heard about this forum from a shade tree legend!! Guys dont let me down.. Questions Should i sale it,if so whats a good price? What piece do i need to put a push blade on front? Gas tank is a little rusty any suggestions?? Thanks for reading

i went to town and came home to find my tractor up on blocks and the wheels and tires gone, lol hahaha, no i dropped the old ones and the new ones at the tire shop pick them up toorrow made for a funny pic thow

Put a shine to HHHOOOWWWAAARRDDD!!! #5 today.

I only name mine when there is a problem. The names are not printable on a family forum.

Ok, here we go. I’ll see if I can get all this done in one shot, without help. My 502. My first Wheel Horse, I guess my first ever “tractor”. With the Cherry Bomb stack and the flapper on top, it just kind of happened hat it can Putt around. Putt Putt I had a C-101 next. @AMC RULES I believe suggested the Screamin’ Eagle after the 101st Airborne. Great idea, but it ultimately was sacrificed for parts on three or more other tractors. now, in no particular order... ”Frank,” Mrs. P’s “1073” Custom big block round hood automatic. It’s a Frankenstein build. She named it. ”Jane” the Commando 6. It was a clean spray bomb painted tractor but not much special about it. Plain Jane if you will. Named by Mrs. P and Mrs @WHX24 at Portage, WI. My 552 “Poppy”. When I saw the CL add, it had a 1” black pipe stack. I figured it had a loud poppy bark. Unfortunately the stack never came with the tractor and it has no real bark to speak of, but the name stuck. @953 nut Richard built “Hot Wheels,” the 953 with the cool flame paint job and Mopar (I think I remember correctly) chrome hub caps. The kids named it, seemed fitting like a Hot Wheels toy paint job. My Raider 10, “Leroy.” Big and Rich had an album “Horse of a Different Color” and in “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” they talk about riding up and down Broadway on my old stud “Leroy” and it seemed to fit, since it’s painted an ugly maroon color. It’ll likely be parted out for other projects at some time. Rylee’s 401 from Uncle Jim. We put a set of 23x10.50-12’s on the back and she named it “Fat Bob.” Once was Rylee’s, but now mine, the 1076 “Filly,” was named from a long reach. The Philadelphia 76ers, 1776 was the beginning of the United States of America, a filly is a young female horse and it was my young daughter’s tractor. I have since gotten rid of the automatic transmission and a 3 speed is bolted to it as a roller. I kind of like the look... might build a long frame square hood round fender machine out of it. “Stormy” is the 1056 with the FEL currently on it. That was a temporary plan by the way... I had been playing with the new acquisition in the shop and happened to have a “Dark and Stormy” in my hand, then landed on the hood for some wrenching and Stormy stuck. ”Scoop,” the C-161 Briggs twin black hood is the machine that the FEL came on. My intent was to fix up the engine to quit blowing oil everywhere and get the loader back on it, but I believe with the current “Duke” project FEL, it might be fixed or sold as a project. It’s been on the rack since the day I pulled the FEL off. ”Duke” is the 520Xi that is getting the loader I nabbed from @HorseFixer last year. I figure it’ll be a no bull kind of machine with plenty of power and stubbornness. Love you, Man! The RJ-35 is just “Thirty Five.” I don’t know if I’ll ever have another one like it, but it seems too close to the Pond Wheel Horse heritage to really stray too far. The Pond Ride Away Senior is Mrs. P’s. She is reminded of her 97(?) year old Grandmother “Shirley” when she thinks of the story of living through the depression, coming out strong, never stopping and having a little bit of rough class. There’s a picture of her in her 20’s with one foot on the bumper of a car, her forearm resting on her knee. The bumper had a downward dent like something heavy fell on it, but it was right where her foot was placed. It was like that dainty lady who could up until a year or two ago out haul anyone carrying firewood bent the bumper herself! We still refer to it as “The Senior” but I think she was firm on naming it “Shirley.” ”Rebel,” the 953. We broke state lines during the COVID shutdown to pick it up. A rebel doesn’t care about rules. Apparently at plow day, it didn’t care to work either and burnt up the wiring harness. It’s salvageable and will plow again! ”Joe,” the 1054. It has a unique drab green paint job, but it’s a patina’d work where most all the panels have been sprayed a different shade, along with sun fade too. It will likely get a big engine and be a plow mule till death. Then it’ll resurrect again. ”Chief,” the C-160 auto was at the time the largest engined Wheel Horse I had. It has some cool marks on the hood like a cat walked across it while the paint was wet. When I was wet sanding it, the marks came out like scars from the past. No chief got to their position in the tribe without scars. ”Big Junky” is a 1067 I believe. Everything on it is a hodgepodge and worn and broken and cobbled. It’s a big pile of junk. ‘Nuff said. “Steve,” is no longer with us in this herd. It’s a C-81 that @jeremi3210 picked up as a pulling tractor last fall. I named it as such, because at the 2019 plow day I was talking with @stevasaurus about these tractors having names. He states they already have names. 502, 1076, Raider 10, etc. I replied that we name the tractors so the girls will easily understand which one I’m talking about as they were pretty young and could easily mistake model numbers when we started this hobby. I then told him my next unnamed tractor would be in honor of him! “Screamin’ Jimmy,” Rylee’s Commando 800 had a governor issue when we first got it running. It would run away like an old two stroke Detroit if you weren’t careful with the throttle. It has a pretty “in your face” appearance as well with wide axles, wide tires, a big tall hood riser, blue and black skulls and flames airbrushed on it and now dual stainless stacks. This was tractor #2 in my “little blue truck” haul in 2018. It’s @Bear G’s fault that my madness started that weekend. I helped fix his trailer and he insisted I take his $100 bill and buy something for my kids. Thanks for the idea buddy! He was quite concerned after I bought a tractor and already had Putt Putt to bring home and only had a 5’ box. ”The Polished Turd” is now @Tractorhead’s 656. It was very rusty and worn and I asked @stevebo to teach me how to wet sand and buff a tractor. I mentioned that you really can polish a turd, as it came out so much better than it was before. It was tractor #3 in my “little blue truck” haul in 2018. After the wet sand and buff job, I believe @fast88pu tuned the carb in about 3.4 seconds flat. What a runner! ”Barney Fife,” is Jada’ 857. It is a very quiet running tractor with the starter/generator and a big ole muffler out the side... not quite fitting for “Barney Fife” and his rambling mouth, but it was sold as a “barn find” machine at the Big Show. It was tractor #4 in my “little blue truck” haul in 2018. I purchased this from a fella after the show was over who was camped out next to @dells68 in the second to the last barn but had spent the weekend in the hospital after setting up his shopping area and broke his foot jumping out of his truck in the hotel parking lot. I really didn’t have any purpose for it at the time, except to see if I could tear just one more apart one nut and bolt at a time and pack the pieces into my already full Colorado. He lived about 45 minutes from me in Michigan and offered t9 haul it back home in his box truck, but it was more or less the challenge I was looking for. After all the excitement at 2018’s Big Show, I can’t say how many raffle tickets I purchased for the raffle tractor... but if I would have won that, I’d have been searching for a trailer to haul the stuff home at that point! I can’t speak this much about toy first big show without mentioning a few more names. Along with the ones I have shared stories about, meeting so many new friends was really the highlight! Barry and @Tgtack let me crash their party all weekend and invited me to eat with them as often as I was around. @Achto, @PeacemakerJack, Uncle Jim and @Coulter Caleb made me feel at home in their camp too. Next door I had good chats with @AMC RULES, @Lane Ranger and Rodney too! Chatting with @rjg854, @phil bowling, Joette and @wheelhorseman and their kids Scottie and Travis, even making friends with @squonk (I know I might get flamed for that one! ), shaking hands with the @Vinylguy himself and thanking him for his awesome products, and especially dinner with @19richie66, Karen, @dells68, Becca and my buddy Emory catching fireflies! Wow I think I’m pretty fired up for the 2021 Big Show! ok. I did all that by memory without reference. I might have missed a tractor or three. Hopefully not people. Brain hurts, time for some shop therapy! What’s a book of a post like this without some pictures? edit* had a great time with @Aldon at the hotel, and a great time with @Racinbob cleaning up our mess

I don't know why I bought it. Certainly not looking for a project and I don't have any weeds to mow, but it is kinda cute and it's all there and all parts move. I just neeed to find some spark.

I knew that apples were a natural source of B Complex Vitamins and Probiotics but yours appear to be high in iron too.

Low profile, out of the way, plus I can still see all my gauges. If I choose to mount a light bar, it might interfere with the hood but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

It's missing the headlights, seat back and has the wrong decals but why sell it unless you just plain don't want it. If I inherited something that nice from my Grandpa no way I'd get rid of it unless I was desperate.

I'm gonna go ahead and save you some time and tag the 953 expert @953 nut I'm not a 953 expert for the first two questions, but as far as tank cleaning goes there are a lot of options. If it's just rust you can fill it with evaporust and let it do it's thing. I've had luck with that. If it's varnished you can fill it with M.E.K and let it sit for a while to dissolve the varnish and then coat the inside the WD40 so it doesn't flash rust. Youtube has lots of videos for different ways on doing this.

Some really funny looking Apples on that tree!

That Kohler isn't dead. "We can rebuild him. Make him stronger, better, faster. We have the technology"

well i got my motor oil changed out and the trans. filter and oil changed out and it runs so much better before i did the trans.id push the lever all the way forward and it start out slow then after about 15 to 20 ft. it take off real fast now its nice and smooth from slow to fast al my back tires came too so my next step is pull off all 4 wheels and head to the local tire shop and today my 4 chrome hub caps came in too now just waiting on my head light lens

We name our Wheel Horse tractors for the place they came from: Iowa, Tipton, Canada, Oklahoma, Brown County, Georgia, etc

When I ordered wheel spacer for my C-141, I ordered a set of 4. So I a couple of spares. I couldn't see letting these go to waste, so I used them. I even mopped the floor to give it the wet look, for a little added affect. The tires on the rear are 26X12-12, Carlisle Tru Power. They are massive for a regular ol' garden tractor. I think I am going to like them !

Those are "Early Horse" apples! I can STILL taste them! Hours later!

953's are kind of sought after, in fact @953 nut has a big infatuation with them. The one you inherited looks very nice. Here are the manuals and attachment guides for your tractor. If you can flush the fuel tank with it still on the tractor, this would be the easiest. Other wise you will have to remove the transmission in order to remove the fuel tank. This is one PITA item on the 953 and the next year newer model 1054.

Moved “Duke” around and swept underneath, then cleaned up some unused tools. The loader frame is mostly complete. Now it’s time to focus on hydraulics. There’s a pile of steel tubing, old and new hoses, old and new valves, and cylinders torn apart needing new o-rings.

POPS Skittles Hank Buttercup Blaze Lil’ Red

Sounds like you need more attachments. "Sickle Mower" "Grader Blade" "Dozer Blade" "Tub Puller" etc.

Assuming you have a Wheel Horse it's most likely an easy fix. Look down the shifter hole. The forks need to be positioned like this. If not use a screwdriver and move them there. Insert the shifter with the ball in that rectangular area. Run the dog point set screw into the hole at the front of the 'donut' ring. Snug it up until ( 1/8" allen wrench) you start to feel resistance as you shift it through the gears. Then back it off a fuzz, hold it in place and tighten the lock nut. The locknut isn't shown but it's a 1/4"-20 nut and takes a 7/16" wrench.

Funny thing, is one of Ryan’s boys grabbed ahold of it first! He was a mess and a half, even after I pilfered 159 of Uncle Jim’s rags!

Let you guys in on the joke ....last year plow day Dan and I were adjusting a plow that @pullstartbrought and someone suggested some anti seize on the adjuster threads. I handed a bottle to Dan who graciously applied it generously to the part that often serves as a carry handle. Did you have gloves on when you picked it up Kev?!?! Prolly some pics somewhere in the plow day thread!

Your Grandfather loved you enough to give you his pride and joy. Once you have driven it around and learned how well built they are you will begin to understand why he treasured it. The value is in the enjoyment and pride of ownership. The attached Wiki will tell you a a bit more about this model. The snow blade that was sold with the 953 was a 54" wide blade, is that what you have.

All my tractors have names, there's even decals that identifies them. 854 Commando 8 Raider 12 16 Auto Ç160

OK...here's mine...702, 876, 857, 1972 Raider 10, 1976 B-100 and an REO-65. They are all named "Sweetheart".

I sprayed in a bedliner on my old ranger. I bought the gun and it works like a dream. My wife was even impressed because she is usually just tired of me messing around with my little truck. The gentleman that I bought this truck from was older and eventually could no longer drive. Unfortunately he parked it under a tree and a lot of debris accumulated in the bed that actually had some rust issues. Other than that the truck was from Arkansas wit zero rust through. I patched the holes and then sprayed the bedliner on in three coats and it really turned out nice.

Scarry how your apples turns out this year.. must be a special sort of. did you taste‘em😂

So Mike, ya think I can keep up using my walker or will I end up like this?

We had a National Mower at the golf course to trim around trees. Snails would line up to race it!

If you get one make sure it has trailing wheels does a much better even job. This is a very old real york rake. rial number. When I called the company the guy said he had worked there 30 years and the serial number predated him.

I helped a neighbor repair a roof at his mom's house. Doing a good deed may have its rewards. There is a 2wd F-250 7.3 liter Diesel in the driveway next door. I think around a 1991 with the square flat headlights. Most of it is very solid, with rust over the rear wheels only.The guy wants to sell for an insane low price, but i think he waited too long to get the title transferred from his deceased father. So it will need to be inspected before title transfer. With dead batteries, that would mean a tow.The inspection station is about 20 miles away. then there is insurance, so a logistical nightmare. I might be able to take my batteries down there and see if it will start. I think the 7.3 is a non-turbo engine and it has a great reputation.The truck is solid with 150k or so. If that engine runs, it would be impossible to not be a great deal. Wife is not happy , but she is coming around.

Time to put back together

"Them thar toenails look a bit thick! Honey ,get out the 3 horse toenail clippers! "

Here is a thread that will cover the problem you are running into.

I like to reuse Things in a Way they don‘t imagine what they can simplify for you.. A Basic Sicklebar Mower with a defect Engine becomes with a few pieces of Steel and a added Hydraulic motor a complete new Challenge, that works like a Charme.. Sorry for the Woobly Vid, i mounted the Gopro on a bad vibrating section.

Heal up soon, Mick! I hear say though that chicks dig scars!

I'm figuring that's the 417-8. Sounds to me like the dog point set screw wore out. If so, easy fix. Please take a picture looking down into the transmission. Also one of the shifter. I have some of those set screws here and can Mail ya one.

@JAinVA Been so long without sun all day I leave ruts in the yard moving a tractor for the spring servicing . I am thinking about pontoons on the tractors.

Yes and probaly not the problem but good catch on the sparking you do not want that to happen. That's what I was getting at Richard .... does the pump move fuel. Another thing Mach does it fire when you try what we call hand feeding? That is by a shot of bang juice down the carb? Just for grins try a new spark plug... cheap and easy. BTW next time you need a carb or pump rebuild consider sending it to one of us. I know @ebinmaine likes and does a mean carb and I can handle a pump. Bet we'd both do it for parts kit, shipping and a beverage.

You mean this one It's 6 ft wide with the drop down grader blade. And you can adjust how deep it will dig. You can even adjust it so one side will dig deeper than the other side, besides angling left and right.

If I snuck over there and swapped decals, would you be confused?

I slept at the Blue Sky something. Never again, very glad to get home and sleep in my own bed.

Set up the bird bath fountain I made from spare pump and parts from old fish tank... 5 gallon reservoir in garage with hoses to bird bath makes maintenance a lot easier...!

@Jesse Rieberthere is a serial number/ year chart in the front of the Kohler k Series Service Manual. The 1st 2 digits '90" indicate it is a 1978.

Please don't get discouraged. Most anything on these 50-60 year old tractors can be easily repaired . Many repairs are as easy as this one by simply tightening or replacing a missing bolt. Post some pictures and the ID plate of your tractor and we may be able to offer some preventative maintenance that may help prevent any future problems.

I've got one just like it. In the 50's through 70's my uncle built those and ran their service department on week ends. All my cousins worked there also over the years. Due to this affiliation I also have two 84 inch cut Triplexes and two 30 inch riders. The offset on your sickle bar allows cutting under fence lines, so that is handy. That's about all I use it for. The Triplex cuts grass like crazy, but one needs engine work and the other sat outside for 10 plus years before I got it, and a couple years since, so who knows. I've got Wheel Horses that I enjoy working on and cruising on, so the Nationals sit.

Take a picture before you remove the belt..

Then to the dump. I don't burn all of my wood but turn it in to this. Straight off my bandsaw mill. Ya build, you use it.

One end of the spring hooks on the pin on the end of the bent bar. The other end hooks on one of the bolts holding the guide. Use the one with the double nut. It is easier to hook the spring if you unhook the belt from the left pulley. Then push the idler pulley to the right streching the spring. THen roll the belt on to the left pulley.