My modified 857 at work and play

[ronhatch 405]

Even though I've had my 857 Wheel Horse for 15 or so years, I am new to this site.

The 3 pictures show some of my modifications. They are taller front spindles, larger rear wheels, spring seat, individual fenders, rerouted drive belt and modified belt guard, and in the summer, the lift handle for the snow plow is used as a hand clutch, which is great for the grandkids.

I don't have a mower deck for this tractor, but I am looking to either up grade the engine to a 10HP - if it will fix - and buy a 42" side discharge deck. Has anyone out there tryed doing this? OR, I may just sell the 857 and buy a 10 or 12HP Raider or Charger and have fun restoring/modifing it.

Is there a site that documents the different models and the changers the factory made down throught the years? For example; when was the deck drive moved from behind the front wheels to in front of the wheels and why?

I also own a '64 110 JD, a '66 B10 AC, and a '89 4016 Ingersol, all restored and used daily/weekly.

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,651]

First off !

Those rims look great with the two tone red/silver. What sort of rear rims are those? Automotive rims?

Mike.......

[dclarke 4,011]

Ron, I like the modifications to your 857. What are the rear wheels off of? I'm working on an 857 now, making it into an 867. I can't answer your mower deck question but someone will chime in with an answer shortly. You'll find lots of help here, these guys are the best! Glad to see another member from Illinois. When you get a chance, post up some pics of your other tractors.

Denny

[Kelly 1,028]

I like it, I'd like to see more pics of the fender mods you did, I like the bigger tires and wheels.

Putting a deck on that might be a chore with the lift, it has from the larger tires, and that being a short frame tractor a 10hp or larger will not fit very well, it can be done the 1055 and a few others had the 10hp engine in the short frame but it take a hand full of the correct parts to do so, and they where only used one year, and they are getting harder to find, I might have all the parts but would have to look, 1972 they started putting the deck belt tensioner up front, but I can't say why for sure but it is a simpler and better set up.

[rmaynard 14,932]

That is one fine looking tractor.

Sent from my MB520 using Tapatalk 2

[squonk 39,021]

Love the Tractor! If you sold it, I'd bet you'd be kicking yourself later!! :bow-blue: :WRS:

[krazy_horse 59]

Great looking tractor,a bunch of happy kids and you have a beautiful home!! krazy_horse

Edited December 18, 2012 by krazy_horse

[rustyoldjunk 127]

That is a great looking tractor.You have done an sawsome job on it and even with the larger rear wheels it still looks very well proportioned.i would really like to see more pictures and close ups of your modifications.

[Ken B 3,116]

That is a great looking tractor! Sell the John Deere instead.

[roscoemi 245]

Nice tractor! Kids are having almost as much fun as grandpa. Kinda like the Farmall decals too. :hide:

[AMC RULES 36,955]

Really awesome looking photography as well Ron.

:WRS:

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

:WRS: Awesome looking tractor!

[jay in nc 209]

wonderfull tractor a mini farmall H with the 2 tone red & silver wheels. those front wheel drive car wheels painted like that realy promote the illusion of an H or M i love it! i've done one of mine with yellow-orange wheels to mimick my massey-harris tractors. oh BTW Jay

[neil 2,398]

would like to see more pics of this tractor, maybe some close up shots of how you did the modifications

love the big rear wheels

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

Beautiful tractor, Beautiful home, and Beautiful grandchildren

Thank you Ron for sharing these pics with us. I too would like to see more pics of this fine machine. I recommend you don't sell the 857. Let it continue to bring joy to your life for a long time. As a grandad myself, I see an additional Six Good Reasons for you not to sell the 857. Those children are getting something from you they will never find in a video game, facebook, or television. One of those children may have claimed the 857 already and you don't even know it. I mentioned to a friend (in front of my 12 year old grandson) that I was thinking of selling my 1975 Cub Cadet 1650, and he told me real quick the Cub Cadet was HIS tractor, and I could not sell it. Somehow I will find room for another Wheel Horse, and you will too.

Van

[varosd 1,185]

:text-welcomeconfetti: great pictures! and your grass looks like a carpet!!! :D

[danjmah 71]

Beautiful Pictures! and of course a great tractor too!

[KATO 115]

That is a great looking tractor! Sell the John Deere instead.

And buy the Raider to restore also with deck of course

OH and :WRS:

[KC9KAS 4,741]

:WRS: Glad to have you with us!

Nice mods to your GT.

[bmuone 15]

Fantastic...I had to look very close at that second picture to make sure it was not me and my bunch.....but the tractor gave it away. :)

[JC 1965 1,528]

Hi Bob and I also like the big wheels and tires. What size are they? Really looks great !! Don't sell the tractor, keep it so it can be past on to your grand kids. It's not just a tractor to them it's a part of their childhood memories. :hide:

[ronhatch 405]

Thanks for all the complements. It's nice to have guys that can appreciate all the work and effort (and love) that goes into a project like this.

NO to seling the 110 JD. It's an early model that still has the tube front axel, the 3 speed trans, the 3 bolt rear wheels and it mows well. It was the first tractor that I restored about 17 years ago and it still is a good looking machine. See picture.

The B10 AC /Simplicity does a great job mowing plus it has some advantages, but it has some disadvantsges too.

See picture.

I just sold a CC102 because it didn't mow very well, especially after the grass started to lay down about mid summer. It also steered hard and the clutch was too heavy for my bad left leg. They certainly are a HD unit but, I guess I'm not a big fan of CC even after all the modifications I did to it including moving the front axel forward, raising the front using longer spindles, modifying the seat , fenders and steering wheel tower to just name a few of the changes. Hey, I had fun doing it!

See picture.

I will say, the WH is my favorite becacuse of the solid and simple engineering, which means it's easy to work on and, like the early round fender JD's, they look good..

The 14" rear rims are from a GM car. I picked them because they looked a little like IH rims from the early 60's. The muffler is home as well and cost me about $15.00. As to the rear fenders, I simply cut the middle section out the the stock unit and replaced it with vertical14ga steel that attaches to the remaining fender and the square axel housing.

I was toying with the idea of moving the front axel forward (see picture of mock-up) for a number of reasons. It looks a little "short coupled" now, plus I would have room for a 42" SD deck with a roller. All of my mower decks have rollers installed for that "ball park" look.

I never mowed with a WH. Can someone tell me how does it mow compared to a Simplicity/AC?

Thanks again for all the kind words. Enjoy the pictures.

[Ken B 3,116]

I agree with you on the Cubs, they don't cut grass very well. I owned a 66 Aliis Chalmers B10, that tractor was a beauty. Though the Wheel Horse does cut better than a Cub any day of the week, it does fall short of the cut that you get out of that B10. I don't think anything can compare to the quality of cut from the B10, After seeing that your John Deere is the early 110 with the fiberglass fenders I wouldn't get rid of that one either. Its a beauty! Something about your 857 though, with the changes you made it looks perfect.

[leeave96 487]

Thanks for all the complements. It's nice to have guys that can appreciate all the work and effort (and love) that goes into a project like this.

NO to seling the 110 JD. It's an early model that still has the tube front axel, the 3 speed trans, the 3 bolt rear wheels and it mows well. It was the first tractor that I restored about 17 years ago and it still is a good looking machine. See picture.

The B10 AC /Simplicity does a great job mowing plus it has some advantages, but it has some disadvantsges too.

See picture.

I just sold a CC102 because it didn't mow very well, especially after the grass started to lay down about mid summer. It also steered hard and the clutch was too heavy for my bad left leg. They certainly are a HD unit but, I guess I'm not a big fan of CC even after all the modifications I did to it including moving the front axel forward, raising the front using longer spindles, modifying the seat , fenders and steering wheel tower to just name a few of the changes. Hey, I had fun doing it!

See picture.

I will say, the WH is my favorite becacuse of the solid and simple engineering, which means it's easy to work on and, like the early round fender JD's, they look good..

The 14" rear rims are from a GM car. I picked them because they looked a little like IH rims from the early 60's. The muffler is home as well and cost me about $15.00. As to the rear fenders, I simply cut the middle section out the the stock unit and replaced it with vertical14ga steel that attaches to the remaining fender and the square axel housing.

I was toying with the idea of moving the front axel forward (see picture of mock-up) for a number of reasons. It looks a little "short coupled" now, plus I would have room for a 42" SD deck with a roller. All of my mower decks have rollers installed for that "ball park" look.

I never mowed with a WH. Can someone tell me how does it mow compared to a Simplicity/AC?

Thanks again for all the kind words. Enjoy the pictures.

Ron,

Here's what I think I know about Simplicity vs Wheelhorse cut and Cub Cadet - I've got all three and my Dad has a Simplicity Prestige.

Let me start with the Cub Cadet. I've got an IH Cub Cadet 109 and it cuts great, but I had to set the deck to the highest setting, about 3 inches to get a decent cut. I also put a factory speed-up pulley on my 44 inch 3 blade deck and leveled it. That combo works very well, but in as much as the deck hangs from the tractor, on lumpy ground or hill sides, the cut can be somewhat off side to side. If I lived on level property, it would be perfect - but is pretty good with the set-up I have. One thing I've never got with this tractor is a slipping belt from the engine to the deck. Maybe if I had more hp, I would have it. The 10 hp engine has done everything I could ask of it.

I feel the Simplicity and Wheelhorse decks are VERY similar in design. Both are ground supported at the rear and held in place to the tractor at the front. I get really great cuts with the Wheelhorse, especially on lumpy, hilly yards and the side to side cut is perfect - just like the Simplicity. Again, I am mowing at 3 inches with both tractors, anything closer and I get some scalping due to the largeness of the decks. To me the BIG difference between the Wheelhorse and Simplicity mowing decks are the rollers across the back of the deck on the Simplicity, which gives a nice strip - sometimes, depending on the amount of clover and crab grass mixed in the grass. The other difference on the Simplicity and Wheelhorse decks appear to me to be the blade overlap, which I think Simplicity has more. I will say, however, the Wheelhorse decks are much heavier than either the Simplicity or Cub Cadet decks I have. One thing that bugs me about my Wheelhorse decks is that I can fairily easily slip the drive belt to the deck. I'm going to try some new ones next Spring, but presently, that is a pain sometimes. One thing I don't like about the Simplicity deck about the rollers across the back of the deck is they can be a nice target for a root or rock when backing up. Only having two wheels on the Wheelhorse deck solves that potential problem, or at least minimizes it. The yards I mow just don't have the grass quality to stripe, so I don't get worked-up about that and the rollers on the Simplicity deck. In fact, there is a fellow who mows a large yard near where I work and he does it in a rectangular circle, vs going back and forth. When he finished mowing he has a VERY visible two stripe yard. Half is one wide stripe in one direction and the other half is a stripe in the other direction. I feel if you ain't going to stripe, then the even carpet look is what I want to see - and get with my Wheelhorse.

I agree with you that the Wheelhorse tractors are simple in design. Without a doubt, they are my favorite. If I had to part with some of my fleet, the Wheelhorse tractors would be the last to go.

None of my business, but you got to get rid of the Farmall hood decal and put a Wheelhorse hood decal on it!

Now I have a question for you. It looks like you are pulling a core aireator with that Wheelhorse? Is it a Brinley type like is sold at Lowes, Homedepot, etc.? Looks like it's doing the job - do you like it?

Thanks & good luck,

Bill

Under Edit: My Wheelhorse tractors are of the newer vintage vs the older rounder hoods, they are a 314-8 and two 520H machines.

[JackC 616]

"I will say, the WH is my favorite because of the solid and simple engineering, which means it's easy to work on and, like the early round fender JD's, they look good."

"Solid and simple engineering, ...and they look good."

Well said from a guy who has owned and worked on some of the best brands.

But, Farmall on a Wheel Horse? We have to deduct a couple points for that. Let us know when you get that fixed.