New to RedSquare-finally got a horse

[alco2nr 0]

Greetings, all! After searching for quite some time, I acquired a Wheelhorse in April of 2011. It's a 1962 model 502. The only attachment is a plow arm (no blade) with the auxillary hydraulic pump and lift cylinder. It wasn't in great shape- surface rust just about everywhere, 4 flat tires, locked up trans, carb rusted solid, Etc. I noticed that the hood was missing, so I asked the guy who owned the tractor about it and he thought a moment and said "It might be around here somewhere" He went into the garage near where the tractor was sitting and began searching. after a bit, he spotted it up on a shelf. He climbed up and came back with a nearly perfect hood! Apparently for reasons unknown, his father (who bought the tractor new) removed the hood shortly after purchase and stored it in his garage. WOW! I made the deal, the two of us loaded it in the back of my pickup and I went home. I backed the pickup to the door of my garage and began dismantling the tractor in the bed. As each piece came off, I cleaned and bead blasted it. After an afternoon's work, I had a pile of cleaned and stripped Wheel horse parts. The only parts I didn't bead blast were the engine, trans, and hood. I tackled the trans first and found that the pivot pin for the shifter had loosened and the bottom of the handle was out of the gate. The trans was in gear and moving the lever had no effect. I removed the lever, reset the gate to neutral with a prybar, reinstalled the lever and adjusted the pivot pin. The trans now shifts fine. I drained the water out of it (the tractor had been sitting outside for several years) and added gear oil to the correct level. Test operating the tractor will determine if I have go further. The frame was bent and cracked at the transmission mounting plate and there had been some pieces of strap iron welded on to attempt repair. I cleaned everything off, straightened the plate, vee-ed out and welded the cracks and then cut a piece of 1/4" steel 6 1/2"x6 1/2" and positioned it on the front of the trans mount plate and ran a continuous bead of weld all the way around. I redrilled the mount bolt holes and mounted the trans with longer bolts. The seat pan was rusted through but the area was smaller than the reinforcing plate. I cut the bad spot out and rewelded the plate to the seat pan and installed new carrige bolts. When it's painted and the new cover installed it will look fine. The front spindles are quite worn and will be replaced with a good used set. There were a few cracks and dents in the seat box and fenders and the hood needed a few minor repairs. Up to this point a fairly simple and straightforward restoration. Weeell, last year I picked up a Generac 560cc V-twin which is virtually identical to a 20hp B&S Vanguard and I wondered how it would fit the WH. (See image attached) I had to make some modifications to the belt setup, add a Delco 1 wire alternator and convert the engine to run on gas. The project is nearing completion, I've had the engine running and the sound is unreal! I should have a progress report in a few weeks.

Attached Image

[mavfreak 11]

:woohoo:

[smoreau 658]

Looks good and a lot of people would love to have that hood good find and you will find lots of great people here at RS

[VinsRJ 721]

:woohoo:

[shootinok 15]

Awesome looking little rig!

:woohoo:

[rmaynard 14,911]

:woohoo: Nice little horse for your first.

[MikesRJ 552]

:woohoo:

[JimD 3,345]

:woohoo:

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 132]

convert the engine to run on gas.

What did the engine run on before? propane?

[Horse'n Around 22]

Howdy :woohoo:

[TT-(Moderator) 1,128]

:D

I like the big V-twin & the stacks.

Not sure how the little kick-up at the top front of the belt guard is going to work out for you though. You'll probably end up having to split and raise the entire top edge of the guard (from the hoodstand forward) so the belt runs in a straight line from the engine pulley to the tensioner pulley.

[AMC RULES 36,945]

:ROTF: Looks badass. Hope we get to see/hear a video of it running too. Keep posting your progress. :D

[312Hydro 473]

Good lookin' tractor and that's a great job so far with the engine. Nice score on the hood it looks great. :D

[alco2nr 0]

Thanks, Rich.

I didn't prep the hood for paint because I wasn't sure if I could get new decals. The old ones are in decent shape and I wanted to save them. Well, I just got my new decal kit yesterday (from Midwest Custom Graphics) so now I can strip the hood too. It's got at least one spray can paint job on it. Nasty orange peel! I want it SHINEY ! I've seen a few custom tractors with "flipped" front axles. That is tempting. It really looks awesome! I've decided, though, that it's a bit too much work with everything else that is needed. I'll leave it closer to original at least for this year. I would like to take it to the Alexander Steam and antique tractor show in September and there is still much to do.

Ed

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

:woohoo: nice you got there

[DavidD 0]

:woohoo:

Interesting on the engine, looking forward to a video of it running. Good luck with the restore.

DavidD

[Suburban 550 28]

:D Awesome looking 502. :woohoo:

[shorts 182]

:woohoo:

[Kelly 1,028]

:woohoo:

[rydogg 186]

:woohoo:

[W9JAB 156]

[JC 1965 1,528]

:D Hello and :woohoo:

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,587]

:woohoo:

Mike...........

[CasualObserver 3,406]

:woohoo: Sweet looking project!