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Thought they could earn their keep... The horses too Here's jakes freshly restored C-121 on sickle duty gratuitous pic of Finn stripping the quads back brake drum - start em young GT14 got an airing - there's another story and was put on roller duty of course we needed to let our hair (whats left) down....

This tractor started out as a 1056, swapped the 10hp for a 16hp, the 3 speed for an eight speed, modified the dash tower, added lawn ranger fenders, replaced the hood, slammed on about 280lbs of rear wheel weights, 30lbs of front wheel weights, and a custom 50lb weight out front. It's sporting firestone flotations in the rear and firestone tri ribs up front, a NOS 1054 hy pump, and a custom shortie hi/low shifter to fit the pump on. A special thaks to @wheelhorseman1000 for the briny clevis hitch, lift cable, hydraulic cylinder rebuild, and custom hydraulic lines. Here it is a 1056 modified so hard the only original peices are the frame and front axle. Now all I need is for the crops to come out so I can go plowing Sorry phone doesn't rotate pics

Only 200 produced in 1986. 420LSE. List price was $7995.00. about $18,000.00 in today's dollars. I wonder how many are left.

I bought this C-101 from the original owner. It came with the original manual and two full color catalogues. The first is titled "Wheel Horse '78 Product Line Highlights" and the other is just "Wheel Horse '78." If it would be valuable for the community, I could scan them. The original owner garaged the machine for it's whole life and blew it off after every use. In 1992, it was rebuilt with a bored out cylinder, and for the last 10 years, he just used it as a snow plow. It came with two 42 inch side discharge decks, a snow plow, and a cart. Total price was $750. I am really happy with the purchase. I was looking for a riding mower, and my budget was around 1500. This is so much cooler, and it left room for repairs. Wheel Horse was the most interesting vintage tractor, and I discovered the brand when a CL flipper was bragging about his find. His CL post lead me to look into the brand and ultimately joined Red Square. Thank you to everyone who helped me find my wiring bug! I wonder if there should be a trouble shooting guide based upon all the info shared in that thread. I shared some nice Wheel Horse videos on Facebook, but the attachment size limit is too small for all but one video. . Tractor 2.mov Tractor_1.mov tractor_3.mov

Beggars can't be choosers.... lol I asked a friend at work if he had a dump cart I could borrow? Man !! it was almost the right color. But had a different name on it..... Do you think my friend would notice if I returned the cart with a slight "improvement"??

There is an easier way to do it that requires no wrenches. Check the battery voltage across the battery posts. Start the tractor. Check the battery voltage again. If it increases from the not-running state the charging system is working. Garry

I have become a member now anyway, thought I might as well. Here you go... As I said it is rough

I've been meaning to post some pictures of my "User Name" tractor and myself for some time, so here goes. My user name started on an early Oliver tractor forum years ago. An Oliver 2-44 is a early-mid 1960's backhoe loader tractor. It is the Industrial version of an Oliver 550 farm tractor. i acquired it as scrap in 1993 with a torn up shuttle transmission (The shuttle had a forward and reverse stick that gives you 6 gears in each direction) The tranny case was cracked, so I found a transmission off a 550 farm tractor (which unfornatly didn't have the shuttle feature) and split everything apart and married it back together. I grew up on a farm and worked at a Ford tractor shop back in high school so I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into.,,,, quite a garage and shade tree project! While it was apart a neighbor/contractor had a large sand blaster rented, so the tractor and loader got a blast and paint job. (that the loader frame hanging from a cable and come-a-long between the trees) I got a job location change and sold the house so I had to hurry up and get the tractor back together so the backhoe did not get painted. No comments about the green riding mower, I had never even heard of a Wheel Horse until about 2005! I moved to a channel on a lake, so when the lake was lowered for cleanup after a winter flood, my Oliver helped me do some retaining wall work. She now stays at our family farm or my in-laws farm. Together we've put in 4 septic systems and other weekend farm chores. I call her my "Beast" because she has 60's vintage "power assist" steering and with a full loader bucket, she's a Beast to steer. empty she weights in at 9900 lbs My 3 boys in this 1998 picture are grown young men now. @stevasaurus these boys are still a wonderful source of a lot of my garden tractor project delays. My oldest son moved from Austin to live near us (and the lake) this year and brought us our 1st grand baby boy. So there will be a new Wheel Horse driver in a few years. After an October tractor Show my restored 312-8 will become his worker (another reason for even another tractor project) My 2nd son "WakeBoarding Santa" graduated from college, and we moved him to New Jersey recently to do a year or two of missionary work at Seton Hall College My youngest son is a student at the University of Texas in Austin. Of course my wonderful wife has quite a job keeping her "4 boys" in line.

Nice !!! I likey ...

Last of the round hoods The 854 seems to be popular

burnt my finger badly on the GT14 choke cable at the weekend how I hear you ask... well the fuel had leaked out over the last 4 months through a split pipe so I refilled it, as I was cranking it through I though I could see smoke from the carb So I stopped, could see anything but lifted the hood and cranked again - yes it was the cable smoking... So I did as any fool would and checked if it was hot! Turned out despite there being a lot of metal on a GT14, I had a poor earth for the starter and the path it chose was the choke cable!!!!!

Hi all! Just joined the Wheel House family over the weekend and I have already learned a great deal from this excellent forum. I think I have a late 1956 or early 1957 RJ-25. It has a Briggs and Stratton model 8 engine but no serial number on the body. It has Wheel Horse embellished on the front and Pond stamped onto the drive train. I have read that there were no Briggs model 8 in 1957 and Wheel Horse was not embellished on the front until 1957. It has been restored so it is possible someone put a different engine and body together. Or could be left over parts being used in the new model year. Any thoughts from your collective wisdom appreciated! Thanks!

9-15-1962 The Four Seasons earn their first #1 hit with “Sherry” They were the godfathers of Italian-American soul, and though their roots were in old-fashioned doo-***, they left that style for dead on a Newark street corner when they combined Frankie Valli’s macho falsetto and the Jersey-thick background vocals of Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi with a driving R&B beat in the style of Motown or Phil Spector. While their trademark harmonies may not have been as sophisticated as those of, say, the Byrds, the Four Seasons had a sound fresh enough to remain current even after the arrival of the mighty Beatles. Indeed, the Four Seasons, along with the Beach Boys, were one of only two American groups to enjoy significant chart success before, during and after the British Invasion. Their hugely successful career reached an early high point on this day in 1962, when the song "Sherry” became their first #1 hit. Frankie Valli (born Francis Casteluccio) had been hard at work trying to become a star for the better part of a decade before the Four Seasons achieved their breakthrough. They had come together as a group in several stages over the previous four years, changing their name in 1961 from the Four Lovers after failing an audition at a New Jersey bowling alley called The Four Seasons. It was keyboard player Bob Gaudio who wrote the song that would launch the group’s career. He later told Billboard magazine that he banged out “Sherry” in 15 minutes before a scheduled rehearsal. Without a tape recorder, Gaudio explained, “I drove down to rehearsal humming it, trying to keep it in my mind. I had no intention of keeping the lyrics, [but] to my surprise, everybody liked them, so we didn’t change anything.” “Sherry” was released as a single in August 1962 and made it all the way to the top of the pop charts just four weeks later, on September 15. In the next six months, the Four Seasons would earn two more #1 hits with “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Walk Like A Man,” making them the only American group ever to earn three consecutive #1 hits. “Rag Doll” gave the group its fourth #1 in the summer of 1964, and many other Top 40 hits followed in the subsequent 12 years before the Four Seasons made a triumphant return to the top of the pop charts with their fifth #1 hit “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” in March 1976.

I might not sell it to him, if he asked me a question like that. Nice 857

I agree with the mod its better to just check with a volt meter plus from what I've read it's not good on a charging system to run without a battery hooked up anyway. I would buy that 857 regardless if the charging system worked or not it looks good.

If the o-rings that you are trying to replace are in fair shape, you can take them to NAPA Auto Parts and they can match them up for you. I just got o-rings for my loader there. They carry a full complement of rings that are made for hydro fluids and/or oil.

Troy, I like Loctite PST 592 on the threads. It's excellent for contact with petroleum products. There's many other good products though. As far as honing the bushings I didn't use any lube on it. Being bronze it really doesn't need it but if you want to go ahead and lube it. It's not like honing a brake cylinder. The emery I wrapped it in was 180 grit open mesh. The open mesh allowed the stones to hang on better than cloth backed. I finished up using just the cylinder hone but probably didn't have to.

Well... I got the issue solved. My father in law had rigged it up and did it the wrong way which created the issues I was dealing with. As a result, the 1/4 20 threads were shot. I was given this tractor when we bought the farm, by my mother in law who had kept it in her garage. So, today, I went to the farm and checked to be sure the 1/4 20 was wallowed out and it was. I have a bunch of taps so I went to Lowes and bought a 5/16 x 18 stainless allen head bold and a nut. I went to my house and used the grinder to grind down the threads on the end of the bolt which was a 1.5" bolt. I had to remove the sheared off bolt in the shifter which only took about 10 minutes. A dremel tool, a diamond tip bit and a small flathead screw driver and waaa laaaa... it was out. I checked the end of the bolt to be sure it was the right size and taper. When I thought it was about right, I carried it to the farm where I keep the 604. I used my 5/16 x 18 tap and carefully plugged the hole with a paper napkin to keep metal filings from getting int he transmission. Then I carefully tapped the hole to the size needed. Since the hole was wallowed out, the tap went in nicely and cut new clean threads. When I thought it was deep enough, I removed it and inserted the new bolt and nut. They went in nicely and the nut had sufficient clearance to turn to tighten against the case. I backed it out and inserted the shift lever and then the bolt. Everything tightened up nicely and a few minutes later, I was firing up the beast and checking how it shifts. Needless to say, it works like it is supposed to work now. Thanks for the advice. I have also bolted some metal electrical support stock to the front end, and made a bumper out of some pressure treated 2x6. It's purpose is to hold additional weight to keep the front wheels on the ground when plowing. In the first pic, I had rigged up the seat, but since then, I have fixed the seat properly. It has a back rest that goes with it but I see no real purpose in having it on there at this point. So it's in my shop collecting dust. I may reinstall it later.

Hi gang. I am new here and love this place. I have owned my wheel horse C-81 for about five years. I love it, the grand kids love to drive it. But I HAVE to sell it. I found it in the woods with a tree growin out of it and I got it to where it runs but I can't finish the project due to having to take care of a aging parent. I just wonder where to sell it? Here Craigslist? How much to ask or it? Tires work because I tubed the rear ones but they are rotted. New points, plug, condenser and re-wired without the safeties. Head replaced with used one and gasket. 8 speed manual with 8hp Kohler that runs strong. No lights, amp-meter bypassed as it was a problem. Pulled he voltage regulator out, removed mud wasp deposit, cleaned board, checked , re-coated/resealed and it charges great now. New battery. Mower is really rough but works with a new belt. Seat cover is shot. All the tin is good. Everything else is as It was when I found it just cleaned up and running now. It mows.PTO is fine. I just have no idea on price. I don't want to sell it. It's my lil toy. But I go to auctions and I'm sure I will somehow sneak home another... Thanks for any help given. Scott

Don't forget the 520-8. IT'S rare and hard to find with production at 225 units. But I found one, lol. Glenn

An older topic with the same question... you'll see answers from older collectors who might not be around RS much anymore.

Look !!!! Its smiling ..lolollo

he wont notice. Glenn

Looks better already!

Oh, I agree with you. I am happy to pay fair prices, been into cub cadets for about 20 years. It just cost probably double here than what things go for back east where the tractors are much more prolific! And compared to what you can buy today new, it is a bargain. And I have found good deals, just have to work a little harder. And tell more people what your looking for. Found most of my deals from people I know, or they know. Oh, and my first WH won't be my last, the hydro on what I believe is a 1277 is really sweet. I like the hand lever much better than cubs lever on the dash! Randy

RJ58 & RJ59 are really hard to tell apart, only a serial number would tell the truth. I'm sure that is long gone. 58's seem to be easier to find. Interesting set up with the motorcycle clutch, looks like some one was building a hot rod.

The Vredestein V61 actually come in a 15x6.00-6 to fit your current 6" wheels. Having both Tri-Ribs and the V61 tires on different tractors, I prefer the V61. Actually, if the front tires are in decent shape and hold air I would just keep them. Depending on the snow, the blade is going to go where it wants to. But once you get the feel for it you learn to compensate. I agree with Paul. Those look like Cub Cadet wheels.

Update #2 I rebuilt the carb got a new set of points and condenser. Put it all together and made the preliminary adjustments and with little help she sprang back to life. moved closed the tow valve and toyed with the motion control lever it grumbled with little movement. Toyed with the tow valve once again and she took right off this time! I then leveled off on that project to tackle another (off topic) pulling the transmission on my 655 due to leaking axle seals

I have used the 3 and 1 oil and have not used any also. Actually, you will have to experiment and see what works best for you. I find a variable speed drill running slow works better then on the fast speed. I like RacinBob's idea of the mesh. You are looking to smooth it out after sanding/grinding...it does not have to be perfect...but looking at the quality you do Troy...I'm sure what you do will be fantastic.

This conversation reminds me of the passage in the "From the Horses Mouth" book where it states that the rear wheel "pawls" were designed allow free wheeling when going down hill. Sure hope all of these RJ-35s have the optional brake kit!

I helped a guy with a C-101 that would spark from the throttle cable each time you went to start it. The owner had tightened the clamp on the engine and added a grounding clamp where the cable entered the hood stand. The sparking stopped, but if he cranked the engine for more than a few seconds, the plastic coating on the cable started to smoke. It was then that I found that the engine cradle ground wire was loose, not making good ground contact, and the throttle cable was acting as the engine ground.

One of my brother's recently bought a John Deere Lawn tractor from the dealer, it cost him right around 5 grand. He went to the dealer because he knows what they sell at the box stores is crap and the dealer at West End in Danbury treats him good.. Sure I tried talking him into buying a mint low hour Wheel Horse for much less but the green is what he wanted and cost wasn't an issue. While at his house one day he asked me if I wanted to try it, I'm not one to insult and he has been very good to me thru the yrs so I hopped on and cut some grass with it. I will say this, that machine had it all, plenty of power and comfort, smooth as all hell and it cut grass like no tractor I have ever owned. I checked it over pretty good and the tractor is built very well. I don't recall the model of the tractor but this one was built to last much longer than 5 yrs. My brother takes great care of his stuff and keep things for the long run. He still has his 1986 Toyota 4x4 pickup he bought brand new that is still in real nice shape. I must admit that for a grass cutter his new Deere was a pleasure to use, not for me but my brother likes it and that is all that matters....

Couple of times a year I give the hubs a checkover for getting loose. Saves tearing up an axle! Usually do it when transitioning from summer to winter duty and again in the spring.

Thank -you for taking the time and also letting us into your life..... and thank-you for the great pics ,,,,,, We also are proud of all our sons and grand sons...... this is a few pics of the members,,,,,,others were playing out in the street,,,,, Howard 857 horse in VA

Keep them so they earn thier keep. The tractors that is, not, the mrs. Lol Glenn

This is a quick easy way to push these around if they aren't working correctly, but when you get it working right you shouldn't have to remove the belt to push it, you can push it or pull it just a foot or so and it will kick into neutral and roll freely until you engadge the speed selector again to lock in the pawls to drive it....this is for sure a aggravating part of these, but we still enjoy them! LoL

it it was that gunked up, it truly is best to disassemble and clean. You might get away with leaving the shift forks and reverses gear in if they move freely after going through the parts washer. @stevasaurus I' done a test dry assembly on mine for practice, but I've been waiting for a welder friend of mine to take the spare RJ brake side plate I have and move the brake band tab to become a suburban side plate. I should hurry him along but life has really gotten in the way of any significant tractor project work for several months now.

They are real cheap (10 bucks) on Troy that's where I got mine to do what you are doing. It took a long time and they were fairly tight. The stones like to fill up with bronze material so stop and clean them often If you go that route. In fact mine was so tight I was worried I could not push the roller across the shop floor as I can easily do with my other 'Burbs and RJ's . Steve says just a little tight & the axles need to wear in to the new bushes. He was right..... a little seat time and all was well. I have a post on how to put the cluster gears in backwards so be sure you don't do that. Shouldn't need any sealer on the case bolts but I suppose a little BLUE Loctite wouldn't hurt. If your like us figure on taking the tranny back apart at least once to fix your screw ups.... some of us more than once right Bob?? I tapped in a magnetic drain plug just cause I could. By the way I think @Racinbobhas a patent on the axle flip by the way here's my restore thread ... might help you out might not... tranny work starts on 47

Welcome! Others will tell you everything about it but for now I will just admire it. Nice catch! Both the tractor and the inevitable Wheel Horse fever that will come with it!

picked up this early RJ today serial #1516 today from @fireman this is a real nice tractor, with RJ-35 front rims. Got the oil bath and schnacke with it too. I plan to restore this tractor! Thanks fireman I'm very happy with the purchase! What do you all think?

Great to see it running, also glad to see the safety gear on the children. Storage size is limited because of the cost to the web site; if you become a supporter the limitation goes away. It is very affordable and we really want to see more video!

Presuming the engine ignition system has not been updated (notice I didn't say improved) to a magneto; yes you need a battery. The automotive style ignition coil requires a 12 volt source to create a spark.

The backhoe was my "crane" to lower things into the channel. I used the trencher to dig a proper concrete footing next to and under the bottom of the existing retaining wall. The original wall was poured by the previous owners contractor when the lake was full. So the concrete at the very bottom was quite poor quality from mixing with water and being poured onto mud in the bottom of the forms.

In the back yard, the 1987 /310 is pulling the aerator just ahead of seeding.This 29 year old 310 has never let us down . 1700 hrs and it's running strong as ever. In the front yard the wife is cutting the grass with the 2004/315-8 we just acquired. Couldn't be more pleased with this machine. Tomorrow will be the 310 in the front yard for aerating and seeding. It can easily do the work today but "I" need a rest !

Didn't get notifications for your replies but thank you all for your stories and compliments about respect. Loved reading about how times have changed. Thanks!

Ok, Thanks Jim. I'll use what comes with the hone and see what happens. Didn't make it to Auto Zone tonight, but I'll stop there on my way home from work tomorrow. I can contact Jake directly, as I'm already working with him on some other parts and pieces.

With parts that can be bolted on there is no telling what was done by previous owners, the important thing is that you like it, very nice early RJ!

Congrats on the lights Terry! The old 110 is looking good, Thanks for sharing. Nice looking '65 110 Ken B!

1960 Suburban 400 Rat Rod

I have just sat here and read this entire thread. I have been a machinist for 17 years and have been lucky to work on some pretty cool stuff, it takes a lot to impress me engineering wise, and im certainly inpressed, my wife is not however as I kept shoving my phone in here face saying "wow check out what he did here" lol. I love how you used the u joint to crate a knuckle. One question have you hung anything on your three point, and how did the steeing pump handle the weight?