WHY? MORE WHEEL HORSES

[bambooheels 0]

i seem to see more of these wheel horses in certain areas, PA, OH, and Indiana, why is that, ive researched it, e-bay, google, even craigs list. whats the deal? were they more popular in certain states? :thumbs:

[Kelly 1,033]

I live in MI. and have had good luck finding them more than 25 in the last 3-4 years with in 25 miles of my house, and I know where there is another 25+ that aren't for sale or more money than I can aford. Just my two cents.

[bambooheels 0]

oh i agree they are everywhere, however i just see more currently available in those areas when i search

[Rollerman 290]

Despite the fact they were built in South Bend,IN...I have read more were sold east in OH & PA....especially PA.

Seems like 3 out of 5 Horses on ebay are in PA.

[SunDown 0]

it seems to run in hot and cold areas outside of the above states mentioned. I mean, most cities have a toro / wheel horse dealer, but it all depends on how agressively the units were sold as to the saturation it seems. In central IL there was a awesome dealer that sold and serviced the heck out of wheel horse...Stokers Service (out of bussiness now) and you will find a lot of wheel horses in a 100 mile radius of that dealer, even in the heart of john deere country.

I now live in des moines and while there is great service and parts avail locally, the dealers just didnt sell or couldnt sell the things here?! I sure dont see many around this area at all. Matter of fact, there is one here in my neighborhood, but thats the only one I have seen in the des moines area. Considering mine is a transplant that seems kind of weak.

[wse100 0]

I am still learning about wheel horse....But I just talked to a man who used to work for the company here in south bend. He told me wheel horse focused on marketing east of the Mississippi. He also told me that the only reason wheel horse didn't get bigger was poor planning and a poor dealership network. Then I told Him I had one and now he wants to come over to my garage and play. He told me when they were built they were the "top of the line" as far as garden tractors go.

Maybe there are more horses in the areas where they had strong dealers? Just relaying the information.

[CasualObserver 3,411]

Well, you have to consider... 3 out of 5 people live in the east of the Mississippi. It pretty much doesn't matter what you look for, most of it can be found in the eastern half of the country! (Well... except open space!! ) And if you look at the population maps... the majority of those people live in the eastern half of the eastern half. It's kinda funny if you ever look at the atlas in your car (you know, when you're bored, riding on a trip ) you might notice that a similar phenomenon even occurs in the states. The further you go west in a state, the fewer the towns become, until you get out to the west coat.... where the population is concentrated towards the water side!

Here's a couple of population maps for examples

[DMESS 24]

The greatest concentration is most certainly IN, MI, OH and PA. The New England states seem to be well stocked also. I'll assume NH/CT had a strong distributor or group of dealers because they seem to be well populated. I've even noticed a lot of RJ-35/58 era machines from this region so I believe they were doing well right back into the 50's. Now you guys in IN and MI seem to have all the lever steers, Walk Aways and Seniors, but this makes sense given the fact that the Ponds were still relatively small scale at this point. Interesting enough though our one Senior did come from North Carolina! I figure it had to be a transplant turning up that far south.

I would assume our IN collectors can't throw a stone without hitting a Wheel Horse being the "birth" state and all! :thumbs:

[kpinnc 15,621]

Interesting enough though our one Senior did come from North Carolina!

Apparently, I'm currently living under a rock. You, Bill, and Nick have talked about picking up Wheel horses in NC.

By any chance was the tractor picked up close to Salisbury?

Kevin

[DMESS 24]

Apparently, I'm currently living under a rock. You, Bill, and Nick have talked about picking up Wheel horses in NC.

By any chance was the tractor picked up close to Salisbury?

Kevin

I think it was close to Ashville. It was up in the "higher elevation" where they get snows in the winter. Old boy used it to push snow. We TRADED him a 1979 C-81 with a snow plow. He thought we were CRAZY! Hehehe... :thumbs:

[BPjunk 184]

OK you guys are on the right track ...... but.

Pennsylvaina sold more Wheel Horse garden tractors then any other state ...... I know I know ........ but Bill they were made in South Bend Indiana.

You look at a 400 acre plot of ground just 60 miles south of the city of South Bend and you will have one farmer working this plot and he might have 2 Wheel Horses.

Now you take a 400 acre plot of ground any where around Pittsburg, Erie, Harrisburg, Scranton, Philadelphia or Allentown and you will find a housing development with 35 to 40 homes on it. In these homes will probably be around 8 to 10 Wheel Horses.

Ya' jus' hafta' do the math!

Bill in Richmond, Va.

[kpinnc 15,621]

I think it was close to Ashville.

Oh well, I only knew of one sold anywhere near here.

Thanks Dustin.

Kevin

[Curmudgeon 28]

I know where there will be about 7 for sale in Michigan soon. Along with a bunch of attachments and tubs of parts..... Plus some non-Wheel Horse stuff.

Yeah, gotta get around and make a list.........................

[JosephC 0]

I will put my .02 in I live in northcentral PA about 50 miles from the NY border. At one time we had in the 80's, about 4 Wheelhorse dealerships within 30 miles of my familys home and there were 6 more dealerships within 50mi. This is one reason that there are so many Wheelhorse tractors in PA. Another reason is that a lot of people could not afford John Deere green or Cub Cadet yellow so the next best choice was Wheelhorse or Simplicity. My family has John deere green till my father got sick of the so called deere dealer jerking him around about replacement parts along with poor trade in value of his tractor. It don't sound like much today but $50 or $100 differance was a lot.I better quit ranting before I get my self in real trouble.

[WVeeder 1]

Mass here, and There are 3 people on my road with orginals. mine being a 1967 t867, my next door neighbr has one, i would say around the same year, haven't exactly gotten that close, and some dude across the street, i am thinking it was mid 80's when he got his.

[Torino 15]

I always look on e-bay for garden tractors and those areas are good for all kinds of garden tractors. I am always amazed at what is available in MD to for such a small state. I live in VA and you would think there would be alot more GTs here that MD but a least on e-bay it is the other way around.

[glenn27 71]

Interesting reading here..... :whistle: