Cecil Pond Passed Away Yesterday 12/30/2011

[neil 2,398]

Hi Gary

My name is Neil From UK & i would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Euro Horse ( Redsquares European Section ) to wish you our deepest sympathy at the loss of your Father.

I also, like many others was never fortunate enough to meet Cecil, but with the Help from Micheal Martinos book i got the chance to have an insight into the history of your Family , to which i found extremely interesting.

It would have been a wonderful Honour to have had Cecil visit Redsquare and to say a few words but sadly this never got to happen, but we feel just as Honoured to have yourself as a member and hope that you visit this site on a regular basis .

On a lighter & more Humerous note

I looked at the pictures above and it kind of reminds me of our Royal Family Prince Philip & Queen Elizebeth of England being carried around on a charriot on one of their tours and being presented with gifts from their Loyal Subjects Thank you Gary for taking the time to visit Redsqure and allowing us futher history in to your family

God bless

Neil

[AMC RULES 36,945]

Gary was your time working in the company during the AMC years, '74-'86?

[Gary Pond 20]

I'm not sure how to reply to individual comments on your blog. I can read the posts but don't understand the mechanism to correctly respond.....so please excuse my lack of propper etiquite.

No, I did not work for AMC. When Wheel Horse was sold, I moved my family from Georgia back to South Bend, IN where both my wife (at the time) and I were both born and raised. We had gone from South Bend to Bedford, NH to Merietta, GA and our son and daughter had transitioned from New England accents to Southern accents. 1st grade was approaching and we decided we wanted them to be educated up North and near grand parents and aunts and uncles.

Cecil was under contract to work for AMC for 5 years, but that was hard for him to do and I don't think he lasted more than about 2 or 3 years. The big corporation methods were far from the way he did things. Lets just say that they had a parting of the ways. LOL I have joked that the only reason AMC bought Wheel Horse was for the box seat tickets on the 50 yard line in the Notre Dame football stadium and the basketball box seats.

I say that tongue in cheek because I can't remember seeing any real engineering changes to the products after Cecil sold. It was like, all the following owners just milked the original designs for all they could get out of them. And naturally we all could see the slide from #1 down and down. My guess is that now John Deere is #1.

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,121]

Gary - You have the etiquette pretty well, you can use the (Quote) button to quote a post, but you're doing fine. And thank you for contributing, it is an insight that only you could have to share.

You bring up a very interesting point on the lack of innovation after the sale of the company to AMC. Most (or at least me) have attributed this to why mess with a good thing, but it would have been interesting to see what would have been had your family still owned the company? There is little difference (aside from sheet metal and other minor upgrades) between a 1972 and a 2007 model. I'd be willing to bet that even the tooling used for the last model was built by someone close to you too. By the way, if you are interested, Toro put together a powerpoint showing the last Wheel Horses off the line and the tooling used, it is in out files area of the forum.

Had your dad shared any plans with you prior to the sale on what the next design would have been? That would have been a great thing to see.

[Gary Pond 20]

Gary - You have the etiquette pretty well, you can use the (Quote) button to quote a post, but you're doing fine. And thank you for contributing, it is an insight that only you could have to share.

You bring up a very interesting point on the lack of innovation after the sale of the company to AMC. Most (or at least me) have attributed this to why mess with a good thing, but it would have been interesting to see what would have been had your family still owned the company? There is little difference (aside from sheet metal and other minor upgrades) between a 1972 and a 2007 model. I'd be willing to bet that even the tooling used for the last model was built by someone close to you too. By the way, if you are interested, Toro put together a powerpoint showing the last Wheel Horses off the line and the tooling used, it is in out files area of the forum.

Had your dad shared any plans with you prior to the sale on what the next design would have been? That would have been a great thing to see.

No new design thoughts that I was aware of. I think my Dad was pretty well burned out and ready to move on. There was a financial chrisis in the early 70's that caused one of the banks that Wheel Horse borrowed from to call their loan. Back then a bank could only lend 1 million and we had 6 million in bank loans, meaning 6 banks. When one loan was called it created a house of cards and they were all force to do the same. Wheel Horse was financially strong but not under those conditions. It took my Dad a year and a lot of Valium to pull back from the brink. My Grand Dad Elmer said, "How much is enough? This is not worth killing yourself over.....sell it." So, now you know the rest of the story.

[AMC RULES 36,945]

Sounds like current events, when talking about the banking industry Gary.

How's the old saying go..."the more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Thanks for sharing your insight. Would really love to hear more of the story from your perspective.

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 132]

@ Gary Pond,

Very interesting. Thanks!!!!

[Gary Pond 20]

Sounds like current events, when talking about the banking industry Gary.

How's the old saying go..."the more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Thanks for sharing your insight. Would really love to hear more of the story from your perspective.

A big thumbs up to History. If Americans were better schooled about History, I would think that America would not be in the trouble that we have gotten ourselves into (both parties). Spending ourselves rich, deficit spending, printing money, expanding government "make work jobs" for votes have historically never worked.

Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Small Business made America great, not Government. I pray we make it back before we kill the Golden Goose.

[wh500special 2,054]

Gary,

It's nice to have you on the forum sharing so much about your family. It is greatly appreciated!

I had the pleasure of meeting your mom and dad a few years ago at the show and got to talk to them at length over a couple of hot dogs and coffee. We hardly talked about tractors. Instead we talked about our families, travelling, and of South Bend. They both seemed like wonderful people and were as easy to talk to as any of my friends I'd known for years. Their pride in their family showed.

Your father's was the only autograph I ever asked for and probably always will be.

Thanks for the additional insight into the history of the company and best wishes!

Steve

[AMC RULES 36,945]

Sounds like current events, when talking about the banking industry Gary.

How's the old saying go..."the more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Thanks for sharing your insight. Would really love to hear more of the story from your perspective.

A big thumbs up to History. If Americans were better schooled about History, I would think that America would not be in the trouble that we have gotten ourselves into (both parties). Spending ourselves rich, deficit spending, printing money, expanding government "make work jobs" for votes have historically never worked.

Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Small Business made America great, not Government. I pray we make it back before we kill the Golden Goose.

Gary Pond for president.

Gotta be better than that Romney guy, who's dad helped drive AMC into the ground.

America is all but six feet under now. :teasing-poke:

[speedyleedy 205]

I second the motion " Gary pond for president " sound like you have a good head on your shoulder's ! :dance:

[Gary Pond 20]

Sounds like current events, when talking about the banking industry Gary.

How's the old saying go..."the more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Thanks for sharing your insight. Would really love to hear more of the story from your perspective.

A big thumbs up to History. If Americans were better schooled about History, I would think that America would not be in the trouble that we have gotten ourselves into (both parties). Spending ourselves rich, deficit spending, printing money, expanding government "make work jobs" for votes have historically never worked.

Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Small Business made America great, not Government. I pray we make it back before we kill the Golden Goose.

Gary Pond for president.

Gotta be better than that Romney guy, who's dad helped drive AMC into the ground.

America is all but six feet under now.

Let's all keep doing our best to educate friends and family about what made America great and current events politics. I'm praying that we can pull ourselves out of Energy and Financial trouble. Canada got itself in trouble and their people worked together with a common sense plan that has worked. We the People can do this, but NOT with the group of corrupt immoral professional political mafia currently in office (both parties and not all members are guilty).

[Gary Pond 20]

I second the motion " Gary pond for president " sound like you have a good head on your shoulder's !

Don't want to BE a politician, but I DO want us to elect new honest "For the People" politicians that will apply common sense to solve our problems. In my opinion our biggest national security issues are Energy and Spending. We need to be Energy Independent and not import from those that don't like us and we need to live within our means and not borrow money from our potential enemies. Leaving these two doors open is suicide.

[Wheel Horse Kid 104]

Sounds like current events, when talking about the banking industry Gary.

How's the old saying go..."the more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Thanks for sharing your insight. Would really love to hear more of the story from your perspective.

A big thumbs up to History. If Americans were better schooled about History, I would think that America would not be in the trouble that we have gotten ourselves into (both parties). Spending ourselves rich, deficit spending, printing money, expanding government "make work jobs" for votes have historically never worked.

Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Small Business made America great, not Government. I pray we make it back before we kill the Golden Goose.

I agree with all you have said Mr. Pond and I respect you very much for it. I am 15 years old, and I worry about what kind of future I will have if America keeps going down the road that we are traveling.

I think that one of our former Presidents said it best: " Government is not the solution to our problem government IS the problem".

Yet, it is hard for so many people in Washington to understand this principle. They think that government can solve everything, but as you and I both know, it cannot.

I just hope that the American people will change the direction our country is going before it is too late. I also feel and strongly believe that we return to the principles that our country was founded on, we will return to greatness once again.

It is up to each and every one of us to make sure that we return to greatness. I am only 15 years old, but I am going to try to do everything that I can to help return America to what she once was and what she can be again.

Taylor

[AMC RULES 36,945]

:woohoo: How hot is that?

I think with Gary and Taylor on the same ticket, we can do this. Time for a change indeed. :handgestures-thumbup:

[can whlvr 991]

great story about wheelhorse gary,ive been on redsquare since 2008 and i dont know about quoteing or links either,so dont feel bad you learned the quote allready ,im kinda grateful that amc and the later owners didnt change too much,yes they cheaped out a few things along the way but they still are the best for money tractor out there,till 2007 anyway

[MalMac 1,328]

Gary I got to meet your Dad several years ago. We used to have a Wheel Horse dealership we ran out of are farm in Northwest Indiana. While I was young on summer vacation from school I got recruited to help assemble new tractors from the crates. One day I was busy assembling and in walked Cecil with sales rep. Guess Cecil was making the rounds to some of the dealers that day. My Granddad introduce them to me and said that he recruited me for some extra help because sales were up. Cecil then spoke up and said " Good work for the young man, helps the family out and keeps him busy in the summer." Boy did my Granddad jump on that and the next few summers and school breaks I was working at are dealership along with farm work.

[Gary Pond 20]

Sounds like current events, when talking about the banking industry Gary.

How's the old saying go..."the more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Thanks for sharing your insight. Would really love to hear more of the story from your perspective.

A big thumbs up to History. If Americans were better schooled about History, I would think that America would not be in the trouble that we have gotten ourselves into (both parties). Spending ourselves rich, deficit spending, printing money, expanding government "make work jobs" for votes have historically never worked.

Capitalism, Free Enterprise, and Small Business made America great, not Government. I pray we make it back before we kill the Golden Goose.

I agree with all you have said Mr. Pond and I respect you very much for it. I am 15 years old, and I worry about what kind of future I will have if America keeps going down the road that we are traveling.

I think that one of our former Presidents said it best: " Government is not the solution to our problem government IS the problem".

Yet, it is hard for so many people in Washington to understand this principle. They think that government can solve everything, but as you and I both know, it cannot.

I just hope that the American people will change the direction our country is going before it is too late. I also feel and strongly believe that we return to the principles that our country was founded on, we will return to greatness once again.

It is up to each and every one of us to make sure that we return to greatness. I am only 15 years old, but I am going to try to do everything that I can to help return America to what she once was and what she can be again.

Taylor

Thanks for your story and comment, Taylor. You are way ahead of most young people. We need more educated Americans like you.

Gary I got to meet your Dad several years ago. We used to have a Wheel Horse dealership we ran out of are farm in Northwest Indiana. While I was young on summer vacation from school I got recruited to help assemble new tractors from the crates. One day I was busy assembling and in walked Cecil with sales rep. Guess Cecil was making the rounds to some of the dealers that day. My Granddad introduce them to me and said that he recruited me for some extra help because sales were up. Cecil then spoke up and said " Good work for the young man, helps the family out and keeps him busy in the summer." Boy did my Granddad jump on that and the next few summers and school breaks I was working at are dealership along with farm work.

Great story. They put me to work early also. Looks like it didn't hurt either one of us. LOL

[Gary Pond 20]

How hot is that?

I think with Gary and Taylor on the same ticket, we can do this. Time for a change indeed.

Not me. Taylor is our hope and future.

[boovuc 1,090]

Gary, Thank you for sharing the story on the contributing factors that brought about the sale of Wheel Horse. It's amazing how extreme borrowing goes in the US. Back then, you had to go to many institutions to borrow. In our latest financial mess, one bank could shower you in more money than you could ever pay back in default. The "70's" were a mess financially to many individuals and businesses. Very much like what we are experiencing now with the exception of our debt ceilings and the lack of banking oversight.

My condolences in the loss of your father. He was a great business man and from what I could tell in my readings, a great man overall. They were the greatest generation and they are passing before us in record numbers. Let’s pray we have more leaders, entrepreneurs, visionaries, inventors and a working class that has the courage and where-with-all to get things done like our father’s generation had.