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Good news, guys. The name Wheel Horse and the logo will live on, with new Wheel Horses tractors and implements being built. MTD has purchased the Wheel Horse name and logo from Toro, and will start building new equipment with the famed Wheel Horse name and logo. Ridney Dongerfield, a spokesman for MTD, said, "Wheel Horse never got the respect. MTD is proud to announce that Wheel Horse will be joining our line of garden equipment, joining names like Troy Bilt, Cub Cadet, and Bolens." The new Wheel Horses will be built using MTD's reputation for quality products and is expected to look similar to a Yardman, but with the famed Wheel Horse logo, name and color scheme. Prices to be similar to a new Cub Cadet, with several models being planned. Models will include tractors with various deck sizes, engine sizes and features. Expect new tractors to start appearing February 30 of next year.

Put the new shoes on the horse today since the wheels were good and dry. Wheel weights back on tomorrow. And a nice straight hood is in the works. Some minor body work and then prime and paint. Old one has major damage.

April 1, 1965, The Sound of Music first came out in the USA with its world premiere in New York City on March 2, 1965, as a limited "roadshow" release, with a wider nationwide release on April 1, 1965, marking its debut in theaters across the country.

It needs to be put back together.

I see it came with a boat anchor for your next lake trip.

HORSEFIXER ON YOU TUBE

I found a chunk of 1/2" thick x 2" wide steel bar and made two more spacers. I now have the rear hitch spaced down 7/8" I now have 4-1/2" of lift on the blade and still have some down float when fully lowered as well. Not a lot when compared to my big tractor and it's cat 1 three point hitch but better than it was. Hopefully now I can move it around the yard in the summer without ripping up too much sod.

I have 3/8" thick spacers. Maybe I need to make thicker ones.

Wishful thinking but MTD??? Should be JD that will reaally get blood boiling!

A bit of a shocker for sure. I can remember when Duke was VERY active on the forum. I pray his family is comforted during this time. Regardless of what his health was, this was way too soon!

Today I put the 417-A with blower away for the year, so I had to move some tractors around. Figured I’d snap a few pics, couldn’t wait for side shot Saturday to post 😂 Sorry for the grease on the front wheel of the 418-C I removed it immediately after I took the picture 😂 I figured I’d say that before one of you wise guys said something about it!!

Here we go, got them both done. Going to pull the front axle to check on the axle pin and spindles see if I can tighten things up.

Go to Tractor Supply and get a 5L820 and a 5L810. Use the one that fits best and return the other and you'll be fine. It's a Hydro so you don't have to worry about clutching.

The external characteristics for “6-speeds” are: - 1-2-3-R shifter - Hi-lo shifter - No top-side hole for a dipstick - A 1” pipe extension on the oil fill at the lower left rear of the transaxle (allows filling oil to a higher level) - 5/8” (0.625) input drive shaft but it’s shorter than later 8-speeds’ (corrected 6Apr26 -- thanks @kpinnc) - A brake drum that brings the brake band to within an inch of the rear axle housing casting - A brake drum that turns clockwise when the tractor is moving forward There was at least one “8-speed” that also had a LSD--I think it was the 5073. This had a topside dipstick port and the brake drum was farther from the rear axle and turned counter-clockwise and had a ⅝” input shaft making it externally indistinguishable from an open-differential 8-speed. As for the rest, the link to the thread in @953 nut’s post (above) has the relevant information.

Actually, the seat shown looks like the one I put on all of my builds. These have several different armrest mounting points. I get these now at Princess Auto but I used to get them at tractor supply before they closed. Arm rests are very hard to find new now it seems.

Absolutely beautiful machines, and a little grease will just earn you a pass from Pete!

lol I appreciate that. I was contemplating buying another one for my 73 WH because it needs a new seat bad but I don’t wanna drill new hole in the fender, I was also thinking of using the U-shaped seat spring mounts which should bolt up, and making a cross bar and bolting a ford 8N seat to it because I like the red and white seat covers available for them. Just haven’t decided yet.

Put new seat on the newly acquired 312-8. This seat was not a direct fit for this tractor. It had a bunch of holes but they were about a half hole off . Easy enough to fix because the previous seat already had an adapter on bottom and it fit new seat great. This is a very late model tractor and dont really know if all the 300 series has the same seat bolt pattern. I am very pleased with the seat it has the heavy rubber type cover and sets very good.

There fixed that too...

Not a real Lead Sled but a lead plow horse for sure

EXACTLY. HAHA. 😂

It does 😀

Glad you said something Cleat. Thought maybe we have to have another ungly seat contest Black duck tape is all I can tell ya Don. Sometimes hard to find a replacement that takes those arm rests. I've learned to live with ugly seats.

I didn't take it that way, no problem. The "give up" corner is full for now, so keep

Looks like it should be a 1971 Workhorse 800

Even if this was true I don't think I'd want to buy them since they would be made by Made To Die

If anyone has any pictures of Duke please add them to this topic . Pictures of either the 520 - H or the C-120 Snowchucker projects would be nice. He also had a nice 417- A he did a refurb on . I know he had a lot of older WH tractors as well. I will try to add pictures as I come across them if I can. I think he would like that. Thanks Guy's.

April fools

Ha Ha, I'm glad that terrible mess was taken care of. The poor seat needs some love. On a positive note, I like how high your blade lifts on the 418. My 520HC does not go that high before it contacts the tractor (where abouts I can't remember right now).

I made an @Achto, Wisconsin approved bench mill/lathe combo out of a death wheel on a hand grinder and ran it atop a skill saw blade. I trimmed up a yank start ring and installed it on top of the cooling fan screen. The larger diameter makes starting easier and the recoil has given me fits since we put this tractor together. In preparation for the plow day next weekend, I replaced the clevis hitch with a slot hitch, so I can run a longer plow that I have available.

Definitely has more traction than the right wheel I had on it.

They finally caught it. It's all safe & sound. I ever mention that I can't eat kangaroo meat? It makes me jumpy

So sad to hear. I really need to finish the front end loader he started, I’m so close. He was one of the first few semi-local guys I met in this hobby, and we talked for about 2 hours it seemed while I was picking up a tiller from his house. Momma wasn’t quite impressed with our ability to never end the discussion, and neither were my young kids in the Suburban

The only guy I ever knew that had a Hula dancer in the cab of his snow chucker.

The mid-hitch on my 854 (pre-Attach-a-Matic) is pesky to operate when mounting the mower deck. Small, awkward levers plus clevis pins to lock closed or open. As well, I’m nearly done adapting a heavy Allis-Chalmers mid-mount grader and I’m concerned that for doing real work the factory hitch might not be strong enough. I have a couple of recent mid-hitches off of 500-series tractors and am contemplating an upgrade! Has anyone gone this route? Would it make more sense to find a way to strengthen the factory hitch? From measuring, I know these are not a direct replacement. The newer hitch’s: - Overall height is ½” less (4.5 vs. 5.0 inches) which moves the “mount point” a half-inch higher (the fore/aft position is the same). To keep the deck happy, I’d cannibalize another pair of side plates to add the ½” to the height. - Right side plate doesn’t have the pivot shaft for the PTO clutch/idler pulley’s support arm. I’d add that. - Clearance to the tie rods might be tight where the locking mechanism juts forward (lengthening of the later frames put more distance between the hitch and tie rods)

I recommend getting out a voltmeter and start testing. Battery first and then onward.

Yes, that is them. I don't know why they are called spacers in the parts diagrams but they are indeed bushings.

Because of the fact that the controls are contained in the sheet metal which is the steering tower and base, you really are better off finding a manual tractor. It's not just about swapping transmissions. You also need all the linkage, sheet metal, etc. Possible? Definitely. But there are easier ways to get a manual transmission.....

Much appreciated John. It's a skill set I'd like to develop more in the future for sure.

Green, red, yellow, blue, they're all the same, all can do the job, all can break down, and all can cause you both joy and pain. I see beauty in every color, every brand.

Got the second coats of paint on the top frames and lids, along with some other things. Wheels are assembled half way and first coat of flat white. The little valves are second coated gray and the end caps are silver. Small tool box recoated, handle and hinges have been highlighted with silver paint. The glad hands holder at the front of the tank is painted, silver accented, and glued on. The gray round pieces are the air brake "cans". I may run some red and blue airlines too.

Had to do some unplanned scratch building this morning. The grey piece with the hole in it is the base on top of the tanker that holds the fill/vent door. I have two doors but for some reason couldn't find the other base even though I have THREE extra kits for parts. 🙄 So..... I found a hunk of sheet styrene the right thickness and made a base. The hinges are made of another door hinge like the one pictured. I sliced off the ends, trimmed them, and glued it all down.

On these old tanker trailers the attached pieces like a bumper were variables. They could be straight across or have a downward slope at the ends as seen above. They can also be hollow C channels as above or a solid piece. I prefer the look of the downward angle and solid. I made a bumper out of sheet styrene. Another new experience in tools. I used a razor saw for this. Started by scoring the cut lines into the styrene. Then, saw cuts. 42 TPI made for precise hobby cuts. This scales up to approximately 2.75 to 3 inches thick. 15.5 to 16 inches tall. Width would be 100 inches.. ish...

Picked up this "Conversion Kit" on fleabay. Not super common so I was happy to see it. On the tanker I needed to come up with a hose transport tray/shelf. After staring at countless pics of 1:1 scale trucks an idea started to form. These are pieces of styrene L from a box store used for edges of tables or other furniture. I ordered a couple different sizes and experimented with the right visual. The part being attached to the trailer side is 7/16" by 5/16". The outer piece that's glued to that is 1/4". I'll cap the open ends with a tiny piece of scrap. The rest of the pics are basically a visual mockup for my own aesthetics just to see how things will be lining up later. The truck being used is a parts rig from ebay. Glad I did this simply for the reason of lining up the landing gear alone. The kit directions have it a hair too far forward. There will be a minimum of 3 outlets on this tank. Front, center bottom, and rear. Possibly more at the bottom. That isn't the norm on a modern fuel tank but this is not a representation of a modern tank or a fuel tank.

Should this happen, video will be on the agenda! @ebinmaine That shape seems also like the lower part of a bowling pin. Probably much easier come by. I’d take a detour on your way home from work and check out a thrift store or two. Portland seems to have a bunch!

How do you feel about getting your wife to give me permission to use that?

More reference pics of the tanker as I remember it. Note that the rear axle is definitely past the rear of the actual tank.

Dad was certainly surprised! He had no clue that we had gotten him the tractor. He really seems to like it--sorry to all those who called dibs. I showed him all your comments and he got a kick out of them. Happy 65th dad! Surrounded by the grandkids opening the typical gifts. Dad read the note before pulling off the tarp. Thanks to uncle Roger for bringing it up secretly into the garage while we were eating supper! Looking it over with great surprise! He likes it! Thanks to all who contributed to make this a reality. I'll be posting a video link here soon. I'll Also be sure to keep updating as we do odds and ends to it like AG'S, seat work, paint the rear rims,etc Then he took Zachary for a ride just like he did with me on the 875 over 35 years ago! I love the legacy...

Here's an excerpt from one of the engine builder guys: The 12 and 13 fin 16hp Kohler blocks - The 12 fin Kohler K-series and Magnum engine block models K341/M16 (16hp) have an indentation in the cooling fins (clearance for a straight oil fill/dipstick tube) and a threaded hole towards the bottom of the cylinder. This block have a thinner cylinder wall than the 13 fin block. This block is most common, and used mainly for light duty lawn and garden equipment applications, and can be safely bored up to a 3.825" [pulling] piston without danger of seriously weakening the integrity of the cylinder wall. But the 13 fin Kohler engine block model K341 (16hp) have a thicker cylinder wall. This block is somewhat rare, and used mainly for heavy duty industrial applications and can be bored for a much bigger [pulling] piston, up to 4-1/8". Both blocks originally have a STD cylinder bore of 3.750