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Well I have been tossing this idea around for awhile but put it on the back burner. Actually had it rekindled yesterday when a member messaged me about purchasing a 42" RD deck. We had the conversation that the tractors we love so much will be around for many years but the mower decks are getting to be like hens teeth. Those that have them want lots of money for scrap and sometimes we are forced to buy them because we need them and then spend tons to repair the rust holes and busted spindles etc. I'm seriously considering taking a 48" SD deck shell to start with, tearing it down and taking all the appropriate measurements and building my own version of it using 3/16" and 1/8" sheet steel. Cutting it with a plasma cutter and MIG welding it like the 60" decks that Dixie Chopper made for the 520's. I haven't decided if I will use the anti scalp rollers like the 60" or ones like the smaller 42" and 48". I think the smaller ones will be much easier to find parts for and I can make the brackets and weld them on the deck. Possibly moving to 42" SD and 42" RD decks once I get the 48 down and functional. I think they could be a huge success as the really would have nothing to do with Toro (so theres chance of copy-rite issues). They would be hand made and merely fit Wheel Horse tractors and allow us to keep using them for decades to come. Is there any input from the folks on here? Not really going to be a full time gig or anything but I think it would fill a void that will be upon us soon. Cost would probably be around $500 maybe a bit more but that would be with brand new spindles, bearings, and blades. I tried to buy a 48" deck shel about 7 years ago and it was $500 for just the shell. They haven't made deck shells in years so they will only go up in price I feel, if you can even find them. Throw some thoughts at me, good or bad, no worries. I wont be insulted unless you do it on purpose. I'm just gauging the public opinion. I'm going to do one for myself anyhow after the 416 is done and sold.

Lots of good places, shop for the best deal for what you want. Morrow Tire sells a lot of reasonably priced stuff on ebay. Or google a few of these.... Cedar Rapids Tire, Tires Unlimited, Brutt Tire, GCT Wholesale (Greater Cleavland Tire). Even check the prices at your local tire shop (if you have one)You might be surprised... most of them have a lawn/garden catalog behind the counter. Via Tapatalk 4

I have owned many of Kohler and Onan powered Wheel Horses. I personally think they are both great motors and the both have their pros and cons. I am confident that the twin Onan has more torque than the single Kohler however....most wheel horses handle the application (mowing, tilling, pushing snow, etc) where the hp or torque is not noticeable. I would think the only places you would even notice the hp/torque difference is in heavy snow with a 2 stage snowblower, or running a larger deck with thick grass....and going fast. I could also make an argument that a 310-8 or a 312-8 will do anything the larger hp models do....except on the think grass and snowblowing....just not as fast. Another small example is of the torque advantage is in stock class tractor pulling a lot of clubs use to allow any 16hp in the class (singles and twins). The Cub boys kept getting beat by a 416 (onan) which was held 1st place for two years...they decided to split the class because of the torque advantage. Here is my pro/con list: Onan Pro - full pressure lubrication....allowing you to mow hills and ditches with a better lubrication system....this is the best advantage for Onan in my opinion. - torque - a little better, but not a whole lot - smooth - very well balanced and low vibration Con - Valve seat issue - Onan's biggest con - Not very rebuildable - Expensive parts - Fuel consumption - smaller dealer network for parts & service Kohler Pro- Rebuildable - Easy to work on - lots of OEM and aftermarket parts and dealer network - Cons - splash lubrication - Kohler's biggest con - not as smooth (more vibration) Both are great motors with their own pros and cons......I prefer to have both 2 Onans (520-8 and 520-H) 4 Kohlers (C161-8, C161-8, 314-8, and C-165-8) and I have 2 K-341's sitting on the shelf just in case the right chassis rolls into the garage.

Hi All, I thought I would start a thread for the 401 that I bought last week and picked up yesterday. I have been wanting a 401 for a long time and am so happy to finally be able to have one! This is my first RJ/Suburban and I already love it alot! It is a nice, orginal tractor and also came with the plow, inside wheel weights, and tire chains. Am planning to restore it this winter and hopefully will have it done by next spring. Thanks to Jim Meyer for selling me a great tractor! Here are some pics of when I unloaded the tractor today and also after I power washed it and also of it in it's new stall . I will be sure to keep you all updated on the restoration! Hope you enjoy the pics! Taylor

Took a little trip down Burnley way this morning. Six hours and 240 miles later, I arrived home with this sweeper in the back of the Land Rover. Tomorrow if it stays fine, it will be put to use.

Bigger engine swap might be more cost effective.

I bought sum at a local tractor show for 25 a price if there is any shows happening around your area its worth looking I'm in MO

looks like the opening credits to a Scy- Fi channell movie. "The Invasion of the Tecky's!"

'Ow do, Arid. Welcome aboard.

welcome back

Maybe try this if you have not already. If you scroll down to the bottom of this post to 'Reply to this Topic'. Start your Reply or Thread, then CLICK on the 'More Reply Options' button in the bottom right hand corner (next to the red 'Post' button). This will give you a Preview and below at the bottom left hand corner, you will find 'Attach Files'.....click on 'Browse' to search your pics on your computer. When you find the one you want to post, click on the 'Open' button and the link will appear in the Box next to 'Browse'. Click on 'Attach This File' and your pic will (should) link to your post at the bottom. Place your Cursor in the Post where you want the Pic and then in the picture bar Click on 'ADD TO POST '. The link code will then appear in your post. Click Preview to see the picture and layout of your Post where you placed your curser. Your pic size limit is also shown in the 'Attach' area at the bottom. I think the Forum adjusts the picture size. Oh and don't worry about the condition of your Tractor in the Pics, we will all have seen worse.

oooppps the Pick

Hi there I'm from the UK and recently won at an auction a Wheel Horse tractor which I believe to be a 1960 Suburban. I have attached a few of photos which someone can perhaps verify for me? I had never heard of these tractors in my country so when I saw this up for sale i just had to buy it. My plan is to restore it for my, sorry I meant my kids, use........... I've had a good look over it and all seems to be there except the charge coil(?) which runs off the ring gear and is mounted just below the fuse board. Does anyone know the proper name for this part and where I might be able to find one as my chances of sourcing parts in the UK is next to none! I also think I may be missing the cover plate to the pull start. At the moment I just have an exposed pulley and a loose piece of cord to turn over the motor. Is this standard or am I missing something else here? The engine plate has the code H55A which having researched this is a Lauson engine, right? If any of you guys on here can help me with identifying my tractor and the parts I need that would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Andrew

I should add one word of caution, be careful if you use it. There is not a spring trip option on this style of blade. If you hit a stationary object or a substantial driveway crack, or something straight on... you will stop.... and hard!

Thanks, it's one of my favorites. There is a pedal that goes on the right foot peg that the chain hooks to. When you depress the pedal, it pulls the indexing pin on the blade. The rope connects to the top outer edges of the blade. You should see either holes or S-hooks there. To angle blade, depress pedal to pull pin and then yank the rope either direction till it locks back in. Pic below is example of setup.

I would agree that you have a 1960 550 Andrew. Andrew's pictures cannot compare to Neil's picture, as that picture is a 1961 551, in details, they are very different tractors. Major identifying differences between the two are. 1960 - bent steel clutch pedal 1961 - cast iron pedal 1960 - lever throttle/choke under steering column in square hole 1961 - round push pull throttle/choke controls to the left and right of steering column in hood/dash and a large round hole under steering column held insert plug with ignition switch. 1960 - diamond plate steel foot rests 1961 - cast iron oval foot rests 1960 - three piece transmission(iron center with steel plate sides and round axle tubes) 1961 - two piece cast iron with square axle tubes 1960 - battery sat in tool box under seat, solenoid mounted to tool box 1961 - battery spot formed into hood stand/frame in front of engine. 1960 - full "firewall" style hood stand in front of engine 1961 - open with frame work for battery placement. different engine spec numbers were posted earlier. @spinjim If you have a battery box ahead of the engine, you probably have a 551. Are there pictures of your tractor on the forum? Here is a good picture from the gallery showing the "firewall" style hood stand. No place for a battery there. and this pic shows the 551... open hood stand with framework to hold battery.

For reference, my electric start 653, and recoil start 603, side by side Uncle Buck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdReuUtTvqI&list=UUd_ptV1TUpPlW1VhCjxez_Q

Looks like you got a keeper. I wouldn't worry about the trans, you know there's plenty of guys here who can help you out with parts if you break something. I enjoyed using my Suburban 400 in the snow. I used it one season for the novelty and looks from the neighbors. In my experience it did great. As you can see here, it worked good in about 3-4" of light powdery stuff. I just wished I'd have put on the pedal and rope to angle the blade... it was a little annoying getting off and on just to angle it by hand.

Your right on the blade. I looked at my information on the metric spindle it's 50 to 90 ft/torque. I use an air impact and and don't have a torque wrench, but I've never had a problem with loose pulleys.

They only made two model years of Wheel Horse Snowmobiles. 1970 and 1972. With only 100 miles, you got a pretty good price. It's common around me to see them sell from $50-500 depending on condition. There's a restored one on CL for around a grand.... but it just sits there. They're not rare, but they're not common either anymore. They're also not high on vintage sledding guys collectible lists.... but then, back then there were over 300 different companies with their fingers in the snowmobile business. Looking forward to pictures. Feel free to drop me an email/PM if you need copies of any manuals/documentation. I have PDFs of all of it.

Great job, thanks for getting involved.

Sounds like a Mutha Thumper cam in there Craig, it sounds wicked. I know that bad boy would have no problem adding some air under its front tires. I only wish he hadn't teased me so much and just laid down some black stripes! Beautiful ride indeed.

Here we have a Suburban with a Lauson Engine & electric start . This is also a good example of how tour tractor shold look when completed ( click on Picture to enlarge ) if you save the picture to your desktop on your computor you can scroll in to get a closere view of things

thanks to all who gave advice, it was very helpfull. i will get some pics up as soon as i can. this site is very helpful!!!

I have done a couple of K-241s with the Ebay seler kits and have had good results. Go for it!

If it was me, I would clean it the best you can, wire wheel what ever, use a rust stop product, to keep the rust at bay, do all your priming and sanding then just before painting use a seam sealer for autobody use to keep moisture out, do top and bottom side of the seam, on top wipe all excess off, with just enough left to fill the gap, no welding needed, much faster, but this is me.

Nice tractor. The easiest way to identify a Lauson is to look for the large indent that is directly beneath the pto, you can't go by just the tins since these tins will also fit Tecumseh engines.

Even though I'm constantly looking for round hoods now, I can't resist the '74 to '77 B/C series. Anyway, when I picked up the tractors on Sunday, the C-120 appeared to have a decent engine and a bad transmission. So, I dragged out the battery booster this morning, got some power to the coil, purged the air out of the fuel pump, checked the oil, and powered up the starter. After about 30 seconds of cranking to feed the carburetor, she fired right up. Actually sounds very good. No unusual noises in the valves or connecting rod. Ran it long enough to try to engage the transmission. Nothing. I am a little suspicious of the parking brake lever though. It does not go all the way down, so later tonight when I have more time I will pull the belt cover and take a closer look at it. Over all, I am happy to at least have a good running K301S. No telling what I might turn this one into. Maybe a surprise is in store for the next WHCC show, hmm?

Does anyone else have this type of steering wheel on their tractor? (no interest so far . . .?) A replacement plastic insert with Terry's decal would very likely look even nicer than the original metal insert, But, we would have at least 10–20 hours into it plus $50 in Silicone & Resin, and then add the cost for making the decals. There would have to be at least stronger interest to justify this, otherwise it's best to just work to save and restore those two original metal inserts. To make almost anything, there is a lot of time in planning, solving and making the first one, especially if molds have to be made. To make just two may cost $200 each, but to make a hundred may drop the cost per piece to just a few dollars, and to make a 200,000 on a big automatic machine may drop the cost to 15¢ each. There are a lot of remanufactured parts available for some older cars because the need and potential sales will justify and make it worthwhile to remanufacture them. Many times we will restore a tractor and do a beautiful job, and then sell it almost at a loss, barely paying for materials, because we love doing this work, and restoring Wheel Horses out of our respect of them (it's a hobby, an interest & a social thing). Glen

Van, I get what you're saying. I think the key switch has an internal fault, causing this. According to what info I can find, this key switch is grounded through the case to the tractor, so any internal issue could be causing this to happen. Further diagnostics and time needed.

Well I bought the snowmobile and came with paperwork. He said it only had 100 miles on it and own it since 1972. I'll post pictures later.

More pics to follow.

Welcome to RS, as Mark say's "GT's are great tractors"... Love mine

Hei Arild, this manual: Garry gwest_ca lists item number: 280, pn: 8285 as tire 27" x 9.50"-15. It's for a 1972 GT14 1-0502, Should be same or near, doesn't list hub or wheel hub hole size but should be very sug or tight fit. Hope that helps. Tak Use this one from Garry gwest_ca, has picture of parts and si 1971 GT14 1-0500: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/2217-tractor-1971-gt-14-1-0500-tiplpdf/ Same line item number =280, pn: 8285

lane, both the jd314 and cub 682 i have needed some steering work when i got them. both boxes were an easy rebuild. the majority of wear is in the adjustment 'pin' that moves in the worm gear. the bearings on one of mine needed replacing as well. there is a thrust bearing kit that can be used on the cub and jd boxes but not sure if that would work on the wheel horse boxes as the look slightly different. just found this thread you did last year on the subject.....

I've also been meaning to get pics of my e-tank up here.

I guess I will add my 1996 314-8 50th anniversary model she's a worker and mostly original I added a seat lift and 520 rims with 23x10.50x12 super lugs and three rib fronts tires Brian

I have had so many requests for sets for the 90's Wheel Horse tracors That I have decided to ad them to my site. There are a ton of tractors that need new decals and they are no longer available. http://www.redoyourhorse.com/servlet/the-298/WHEEL-HORSE-CLASSIC-DECALS/Detail