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This receipt for a Wheel Horse purchase in 1960 was posted on Red Square several days ago! i was up in Lake County. Indiana at my mom and brother’s and stopped by Terpstras. This was the Wheel Horse ( now Toro and other outdoor equipment) dealer we used when i was a kid. The Terpstra’s place was only about a mile from our house and it was a feed , seed and farm store before they accepted their first Wheel Horse but they were an early dealer! If you search Tersptras in the Red Square search box more old posts will come up! Anyway Tuesday i stopped i to the store and showed Don Terpstra , the son of William Terpstra, the original owner, the 1960 receipt photo. I emailed it to Don and he was pleased to see it! Don showed me a photo of his dad William on a wagon with a four horse team ( 4 Wheel Horses linked together) . He told me Wheel Horse in the early days loaned this four horse rig to dealers to promote Wheel Horse sales! I have seen several over the years and i always thought they were homemade rigs set up for parades. But Don indicated at least one set was made by Wheel Horse and this was probably before they had their factory building on Ireland Road in ghe south side of South Bend . The RJ picture is the one they still have displayed in the store ( the original feed and seed part of the building). It was sold by Tersptras in 1959 and traded back in later. The Terpstra family restored it in the early 1990s and Don said they just used what extra decals they had at the time!

This is a gang I’d join if I were closer…

Finished the headlight mod.

Took Artie out for a ride yesterday. Need to drive it more battery was low.

Continued with the deep cleaning of the C-85. A few before and after pics:

So yesterday I met up with @Pullstart to swap a couple tractors... I'm looking at another restoration, only this one runs, has good tires, and overall seems in pretty good shape. LED lights even work... In keeping with my budget (think Ramon noodles), I have already fixed the seat at no cost. Will be changing the oil in motor and trans, doing a thorough cleaning, replacing the shifter boot, and then seeing what direction I go from there... This one may just stay in its work clothes... Some pics:

We have 7 grandkids, so my wife "Nanny" declared we need a larger dining room table so everyone could sit together. So now you know what I've been working on for the last month! I did some measuring and determined a 10 ft table would fill our space. We did some looking, but really didn't find anything we liked, and the prices were high. she asked if we could build a granite table for less that the store bought one. I had suggested I have some heavy antique cast iron legs and could build a metal frame for the granite. When I calculated that a 42" x 120" granite slab would weigh 1225 I knew this frame needed some engineering. I had a "strength of Materials" class back in collage 50 years ago. I remembered the basis, but never used the calculations part of it. It occurred to me that maybe AI could help me with the calculations. So I dug out my old textbook. So I use the free version of CHATGPT and asked if it could do steel design calculations. Of course it answered. I gave it the granite size and weight, the cast iron legs size and weight and asked it to design a frame using rectangular tubing. I went through several calculation iterations, giving it more information as I remembered various inputs it needed. I also asked it to include a safety factor in the design, Then even asked it to do a tipping analysis of what it would take to tip it over. During this process it told me it could make a drawing, build me a metal cut list, specify the welding requirements and even suggested designing some under table LED lights. First it told me I could download this design package at a "link" that didn't work Then it told me it could put it all on a USB and mail it to me and I pay for the USB and shipping using PayPal I asked it for its PayPal address and it gave me a copy of the instructions of how to set up a PayPal account. I again asked it for "its PayPal address and it finally told me it couldn't have a PayPal account because it was a computer. It did make a a simple sketch of the frame using "dash" lines to draw the frame and a material cut list. As this point I texted my techie son and he said it was having "AI Hallucinations" telling me it could do the mailing when in reality it couldn't A friend from when our sons were in Scouts together has a metal roofing and light fabrication business. I cut out the parts and laid it out on his large long flat fab table. I started to tack it together, but his guys are such better welders that me and they just took over. I payed him for a days work by one welder, a great deal. I had access to some leftover (low cost to me) 1-1/2 x 2-1/2 11ga steel tubing. so I asked AI to use this for the design. Cast leg set weigh 70lb each. its solid and heavy. The legs set have a 4" wide top that already had bolt holes in them. The legs bolt onto this flat plate. I welded the nuts since you can't get to them once the granites in place. After Sunday evening dinner with my sons and families, I had them help me haul the steel frame inside and bolt it together. Granite delivered and set in place by 6 guys yesterday. After they set the granite in place, my wife exclaimed "it's Huge" So I think I did good! I briefly wondered if I mad enough brownie points to buy another tractor- Not My existing 8 ft table and chairs are going to one of my sons. The granite guys were great, and carried it out and put it on my trailer. New chairs are expensive these days #200 - $300 each and up. I came across well build commercial used chairs at Restaurant Supply Businesses. We found a simple design we liked advertised on Facebook Marketplace and I bought 14 for $20 each. So my next project is to sand and paint the chairs a medium gray to match the colors in the granite,

Haha, thank you John. RedSquare was originally started by Chris as a High School project. Chris decided to make the forum about Wheel Horse tractors and choose “Forumer.com” as the free platform to build his project. When setting things up, he had to choose a color theme for the forum, and the “Red” choice was called “RedSquare”, so he picked that. Now this is speculation on my part, but because this was just a H.S. Project, Chris wasn’t going to put too much effort other than to pass and left the default logo on the forum as the theme name “RedSquare”. When I took over, I had wanted to rebrand, to just be WheelHorse Forum, so I put it to a vote. Much to my surprise, RedSquare was the members choice, so RedSquare it is. Since then RedSquare is the name brand for Wheel Horse forums, and will likely stay.

Had a few out stretching their legs.

I brought an RJ home today. 5 hour round trip. Older restoration, hasn’t ran in years, piston is free. I’ll work on this in my spare time …. The gentleman threw in what he said was an original fabricated slot hitch. Can anyone confirm this? I know the front wheels are not correct, saw that right away. Its granddaughter approved !

My wife prefers her 2013 Subaru over my recent Volvo--smaller, more nimble, and less “helpful” stuff. 😁 In that vein, she shared this image with me today...

So I picked this up from my neighbor for almost nothing. It's a 2011 Honda PCX 125 . He bought it brand new when he lived in Cali. Then he moved to AZ where it was last registered. 10 years ago he moved here to NY where it has been parked in the garage ever since. 10 years of bad gas, 10 years never been started, 10 years of dust. I rolled it over to my house and my cousin and I started removing all the plastics. Let me tell you, that alone ain't easy. Siphon out what was in the tank. Flushed, rinse repeat, repeat, repeat. Put new gas and battery in it. Turned key, nothing. Checked all safety switches and the key and kill switch. Turned out bad kill switch. Made a little jumper wire and it was cranking with spark but not starting. Not getting fuel. Pulled the fuel pump out of tank and ordered a new motor fior the pump and kill switch and fuel injector. Parts came in and we put it all back together. Had some few extra screws when finished ! Ya know how that goes. Anyways it's running like a champ now. I have owned a few motorcycles in my day. Riding this is nothing like riding a motorcycle. Being it's automatic im always looking to clutch, shift, use foot brake. None of that applies on this. Also the sitting position is strange. But is it fun ??? Heck yeah !!! Today i take it to get inspected. When title comes in most likely sell it, until then....... que the Born To Be Wild music. 20250808_192300.mp4

This came from a local former Wheel Horse collector. I’m awaiting his name but I heard he was on this site. The gentleman who built this or owned this passed away in April of this year. former owner/builder: Thomas Evans Edit: Found Him Member Name: TJ out of Burlington, MI.

I bought my first Wheel Horse over forty years ago when I was in high school. I remember going to the dealership, walking around looking at all the Wheel Horses, talking to the owners and the salesman. They had A LOT of them! At one time they were the largest dealer on the east coast according to them. They had a showroom with large plate glass windows like a car dealership, and it was full of new Wheel Horses! I can even remember seeing a 420-LSE in the showroom wishing I could have it, not knowing that one day I’d actually own one. I was addicted to these tractors at an early age. Before the internet I remember thinking that I can’t be the only one who likes these tractors so much and wondered how many other people were out there like me? Then I bought my second one when I was about twenty years old. Shortly after that I inherited two from my step grandfather who introduced me and my dad to the brand. Then came the internet and the Big Show and that really fueled my addiction to these tractors. At that point there was no going back! I started buying more tractors, implements and memorabilia. And then came the game changer, Red Square 🟥 This is when I met all of you nice people. People with so much knowledge about these tractors it’s amazing. It seems that guys have their niche as far as the different eras and wow, they have so much information it’s unbelievable. Never here will you get a snide or condescending response or comment from a question. Folks who are like that are quickly made unwelcome or simply banned. It seems that the people here are all pretty much like minded and truly enjoy keeping their tractors going. I really have made a lot of friends over the years because of these machines and Red Square. Having easy access to other enthusiasts makes it easy for me to want to keep this hobby going. The guys here appreciate the durability and simplicity of WH’s and realize that “They just don’t make em like this anymore!” Anyway, thanks for reading my long winded response. As some of you know I love talking about these tractors and could go on and on!………….

My el cheapo HF sander took a crap while sanding all those park bench boards. So, I spotted this one at the auction this morning. Plugged it in and it ran nice and quiet so I thought I might buy it if the price was right. When they put it up, they sold it with this scroll saw that I did not need. Both are USA made Craftsman Sears Roebuck/ Simpson MFG all metal 2.25 Amp. The sander even has an oiler port. The Scroller Saw is 1/2HP with variable speed and rotatable blade. These things are heavy at 8 and 10 lbs each. Oh, and the price was right at $2.00 + 12 cents tax for the pair.

If anyone has any doubts about this being the best community around, check out the Max Nunn and David Star/Howard stories. https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/search/?q="max nunn"&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy Another one to read is about David Star, who donated a kidney to Howard @857 horse

@kpinnc Well said, I have used my wife’s account to access a few Wheel Horse sites on FB. I was amazed at some of the responses there. Some were downright rude and others were giving out information that was incorrect. I never commented on any of it and decided to just come back here where the people are nice, knowledgeable and we even have a good time poking fun at each other. @Ed Kennell @wallfish @squonk @SylvanLakeWH @ebinmaine seem to be the ring leaders in the poking fun part. Oh and very good with other words of wisdom!😂😂😂

Uncle Jim! Dang you’re old! But I love ya anyway! Happy birthday!

Believe it or not, we have all our legal ducks in a row if something were to happen to us…

Mental illness mostly

Rest In Peace & Thank You For Your service to this country!

It's barely getting into the 90's so I replaced the worn bearings and leaking seals in the two stage in case the snow is right around the corner. I had some Ace International red that was dark and didn't gloss at all. I went back to Ace and bought more that had the same part number but a bright red cap, it was real close to Toro red and worked well.

Another fabulous trip up north! We stayed here in the area of the red circle for 3 nights. Just drive in. Find a place to set for a bit. The moderate drought here had the roads a basic dust bowl. Here's a few views from low altitude of Big Spencer Mt. This, believe it or not, shows a beautifully constructed rock staircase. It was done maybe 12 to 15 years ago by a group of college age volunteers to prevent erosion and keep good access to the mountain. This is Mt Katahdin from Spencer. This is not just any old mound of dirt. It's the largest 🐜 🐜 🐜 ant nest we've ever seen. About the size of an average sedan. Whilst perusing and exploring the forest we found a mud puddle with several excellent animal tracks. Here's a nice bear 🐻 track. There was also moose deer and others... This is what a bear 🐻 does in the woods... One of our 3 piles of firewood. We noticed it looked like a beaver house and Trina decided it needed a birch flag. We have another 3 nights of camping this week! More pics soon.

Wow, looking through this 9 years later, sadly seeing some names in Green, it brings a tear to my eyes and pride to my heart. If you had posted in this thread, stop in and just say hi, we had some great times!

Rust-Oleum Regal Red seems to be the choice of many Wheel Horse owners. As far as the engine, the only area that gets hot enough to discolor the paint is around the exhaust. Decals from redoyourhorse.com (our vendor Vinylguy), may be a little pricy, but they are good, and as far as I know, they may be your only source for some one of a kind decals like dash panels and engine spec plates.

Spare front axle cleaned up and painted. I will do the same to the one from this 416 and use the best one on final assembly.

Today was paint day, I was also getting used to and dialing in my new gravity feed Husky paint gun. I got it in June for my birthday. The panels overall are going to need a little sanding and touch up especially the rear pan and guards as they were the first thing painted. The hood turned out great and no runs overall. It’s a learning curve. It beats using a spray can too.

Wheel Horse Enthusiasts... A bunch of crazy people in many locations that all think along similar lines. ...Maybe that's just me. I will say this about the group here: decent men and women who act like kids at Christmas when we find the "next" coveted machine. People who recognize rugged but elegant (as opposed to simple) engineered and built machines. Feel free to go onto other brand forums and see how the membership treats one another. That was what my "decent" comment above was about. You won't see such silliness here. Whether it's the forum or the mentality of the members or a little of both is debatable, but it makes a difference regardless.

The good thing about stone surface table (which yours's s beautiful by the way) is it's less likely to absorb oil or carb cleaner when making WH repairs!

Back in the 60s, 70s and early 80s we sold Jacobsen Chief tractors and later after Ariens brought the New Holland lawn and garden tractors, their tractors too. So we were already handling some pretty nice tractors and then in the early 80s we took on Wheel Horse. I didn't know anything about W/H but soon learned and figured out a lot! By this time we had dropped Jacobsen (mainly because of a switch in distributors, about the time that Textron got involved with them). Ariens didn't have a small garden tractor, like the C125 and the C-series turned out to be our biggest seller. I quickly grew a love for these tractors, they were a great size, great price and rugged. When I went to the W/H School of Business in South Bend in 1989 they advised that their garden tractors were lasting an average of 23 years with average use and care. Back then our competitors were mainly JD, Cub Cadet, Bolens, Simplicity, and Sears. Some of the customers I talked to and lost told me later that they were sold on JD because of their reputation, so I didn't have a cure if someone needed to have green paint. For others comparing W/H to Sears I would ask them to compare the weights of the two and for some that helped justify the price difference. I've been out of the W/H business for a long time and still love them! I have 4 complete tractors and a couple of parts tractors, not nearly as many as many of you, but I love my little fleet! C-85

Wife filmed me on the C161, using it to move some organic horse exhaust residue 💩💩💩into a tidier pile. att.L6F5u4DmgN6xiVpmbebhMDvjtwZ4oXCAV_vQ9Nx-41k.mp4

Greetings all. Long story short, while cleaning out storage garage of Father in Laws estate we found a Wheel Horse Lawn Ranger. I rescued it from the junk pile everyone wanted it to go to. But now I have a dilemma, been sitting a year in my shed! I am over my head as far as skills go with this. pull the rope and it does turn over, that is good. But I fear much work is needed, since no one had a clue he had this, betting it was covered for at least 25 years or so. One voice says run, another voice in my head would like to see it functional again. Questions 1) Where / who would be able to tackle this? 2) Maybe should be #1: Is it worth sticking $$ into? I'm willing to pay to have it done but want cost to be low enough so I do not end up sleeping in garage with it. It is a cute mower, but not that cute. Would prefer anyone within a day trip travel of Wis. First wish would be running and 100% operational, second dream is a repaint etc., again, is that worth it? Obviously I cannot get a quote from the pictures here, but anyone that has done anything similar? What should I brave myself for? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks in advance for any ideas and/or help in this quest. -Paul

Most of us are Russian assets and just pretending to like American made tractors. For authenticity of an answer it's probably best coming from @Sparky or @nylyon. I'm aware of the story but short on the details.

I'm a retired ski patroller. Cravats were a staple item in our packs. Used for arm slings and wound management... never thought of putting one around my neck, although perhaps Mrs. Sylvan has once or twice...

Get some steak sizzling over an open flame because August 18 is National Fajita Day. It’s a day to celebrate the authentic taste of the Southwest with the fiesta of flavor known as the fajita. Throw in some awesome black beans or even add a little hot sauce, guacamole, sour cream, or cheese. The combinations are endless. It’s National Fajita Day so you know what you’ve got to do (eat fajitas, obviously).

Chicken or steak ???? My answer is - YES please.

There is your plow mule for next year

How much would you like to bet that most people don’t know August 14 is National Financial Awareness Day? It’s more important than you think. And plus, what’s more fun than financial independence? First off, think about that great feeling you get when you don’t have the looming specter of debt hanging over you. Also, sound financial decisions can really make a difference down the road. Remember, retirement is a time to take all those vacations you couldn’t when you were working the daily grind. Because money is important to our overall peace of mind, Financial Awareness Day is a great time to review where you are now and where you’re going financially. Don’t let bad financial decisions ruin the best years of your life! Start saving, investing, and building up that nest egg on National Financial Awareness Day on August 14. Investing will make money do the work for us, which will result in less time spent working and leave more time for us to enjoy our lives. David Ravetch, a senior accounting lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, says, “We live in a world of financial illiteracy.” What he means is that most of us have not acquired the knowledge and skills that are necessary to make informed and effective financial decisions with our existing financial resources. It seems overwhelming, but everyone has the capacity to learn sound financial principles and save up. Just making small changes to our daily habits can reap great financial benefits. Finances can be quite straightforward once we distinguish our wants from our needs and take inventory of our spending. Joining an investment or money management club or consulting a financial advisor is encouraged, and books and blogs on personal finance are promoted.

Parts for your next custom WH build

Hawaiian Shirt Day is celebrated on the third Friday in August and this year, the day falls on August 15. The celebration marks the official day that Hawaii joined the U.S., making it the fiftieth state in the U.S.A. The day commemorates a long-standing effort to gain statehood for the nation of Hawaii and is also celebrated as National Statehood Day on the island. Hawaii was annexed by the U.S. in the 1800s and for a long time was a territory of the US, its inclusion in the U.S. has since transformed the island, often being punted in massive Hollywood films, Hawaii is the perfect tropical destination for families and thrill-seekers.

@Achto lost his wallet on the plow field now he has a money tree. He was planning for the future but then bought more horses ...

Happy Birthday Jim! Maybe a new wardrobe to celebrate!

There's a wealth of knowledge on this site. Not only tractor knowledge but check out other threads such as bumps and bruises, gardening and others. I am amazed at the wide and varied topics and advice given. AND, once you begin to know the guys, you'll be hitting the "" button. It's about as close to sitting around the "liars table" at local restaurant as it gets but with folks from all over our wonderful country

Ohio has a sales tax holiday and TSC has a sale on heating pellets. The limit is 500.00 So i bought four tons for five hundred and got some rewards points Stacking them in this heat was two tons a day. Not bad from an old guy

That's a really good idea. We might not be able to change the world but we can change "our" part of the world.

Like a plow day with mowing decks!

I thought the bearing grease covered front wheels on my C-85 were a bear to clean…I was WRONG! The grass stains on the rear wheels was so much harder to get off. Eventually using a toothbrush, Simple Green and Dawn dish soap I prevailed!