1960 wheel horse suburban 400 bought at auction

[Luke 9]

My nine year old boy and I bought a Wheel Horse at a local auction for $300 (after taxes and fees) about a week ago.  It was his first auction, and he was fascinated with the experience. He sat on the tractor the entire bidding process like he already owned it.  At the time, I knew nothing about Wheel Horses. We liked that it looked like a miniature tractor, and not a riding mower. I liked the small side shaft Kohler.

 

After some internet research I figured out it was a 1960 Suburban. It included an attached belly mower, and seemed complete at the auction. I later learned, the belt and exhaust shields are missing.  It is also missing the air cleaner and filter. The note on the hood at the auction said "good engine and trans". Well, the carb was frozen solid. It had red paint all over it and crap inside it. I hate it when people spray everything with paint, even if it's not supposed to be painted, just to make it look "good". We had to rebuild the carb. We did get the engine to start, but still need to adjust the carb to keep it running. We did not have the engine running long enough to try the transmission, but should soon. The rear tire had a hole in the sidewall, but Dad had a set of correct size rear tires behind his garage. He has had them for years. He didn't know what the were for, but kept them anyway. One front rim is rusted clean through. I have a cheap set of Tractor Supply wagon wheels on the front, until I can source a suitable, correct replacement rim. We needed to be able to roll it around while working on it. The throttle cable and lever is there, but the choke cable and lever is missing, along with the indicator plate,  It also does not have the optional fenders. Previous sales on eBay have sold Suburban parts for around a $100 a piece. Well that adds up quick, especially on a $300 tractor to begin with.  I saw what looks like a 61 Wheel Horse on Craigslist, and considered buying it just for the front wheels, fenders and the one belt guard it had. I'd then sell the rest to try and recoup the difference. But, my wife thinks spending $450 for another tractor, just to pull parts off it, is not a good idea. She is probably right. She wants to spend money on redoing some rooms in our house, which desperately need it.

 

I'll post some pictures soon. We plan to get it running and driving first. Then I plan to completely disassemble it and paint each piece separately. I want it to look better than factory new. It would be nice for my boy to drive it around the tractor show. We don't plan to add any attachments beyond the mower deck, I would like to find the belt guards, exhaust shield, air cleaner, throttle plate, and front rim. We do have some metal bending machines in Dad's garage, so we may make the shields if I cannot find them. Safety first, especially  with a kid on it. I would also like to find the optional rear fenders and a front weight box. I read that these "nut roasters" can flip due to lack of weight up front. Any help with cross reference part numbers, interchangeable parts, production numbers and suggestions would be appreciated. The replacement parts don't have to be "numbers matching", but should look like they belong on the tractor. 

 

The majority of the early Wheel Horse tractors I've seen, have metal seats with Swiss cheese style holes in them. My seat is solid, without the Swiss cheese style holes. Can anyone tell me why? Was it a one year thing; a dealer thing, a supplier thing, or just a replacement seat?

 

Luke

NJ

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

  That sounds very similar to the situation I was in a couple years ago when I got my 401. I was 9 when I got the 401, and my front wheels were junk, along with one of the rear tires. The 401 made my wheel horse addiction began, and wheel horse will always be in my blood! LOL

 

Any pictures of your tractor to share?

 

 

~Jake

[VinsRJ 721]

Sounds like a nice project!

 

As for the seat... during the transition period of 1959 into 1960 model, WH did use a solid seat pan. From time to time you will find a late model 59 RJ with a solid seat pan and then again you will find a early 60 Suburban with a solid seat pan.

[Luke 9]

[Luke 9]

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

Very nice looking horse! That is way nicer than my 401 was, but it did run and drive. Looks like you have just about everything there, other than what you said. New air filter assemblies can be bought for around 50 bucks. And if you want a reproduction belt guard or heat shield a belt guard is 50, and a heat shield is around 25. If you are interested in finding more about these parts send me a pm.

 

~Jake

[Luke 9]

[Luke 9]

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

Oh, never mind on the air fliter thing. You just need the cover, and the actual filter. A cover is around 20 and a filter usually is about 5 or 6 bucks at a parts store. Your throttle cables look like they might not be the correct ones as well, but i they work, thats probably fine unless you want it 100% original.

 

Jake

 

 

Thought you and your son might enjoy seeing what I ended up making of my 401 that my dad and I restored together. I did just about everything other than spray the paint, and we had someone else rebuild the motor and tranny, and finished it when I was 11 years old. I am 13 now. I am working of finishing up the a set of fenders, belt guard, hitch, and a tombstone weight for it this spring.  ~Jake

before picture

after

 

 

 

 

[Luke 9]

Which years/ models had the same front rims as my 60 Suburban? Also, which years/ models had the same belt guards? Are all the fenders & under seat boxes the same for all years of the "nut roaster" tractors? I am considering buying reproduction parts, but may purchase a complete tractor if the price is right, and all the correct parts are there.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

 ,and thanks for the photos.

I know you put some wheels on just so you could move it around, but the right rear tire is backwards.

[wallfish 16,052]

You can find rims on anything that uses 4.80x4x8 tires. I found a nice set from a yard cart. Some of the bores may be a little short but you can shim them to fit, some may be to long, I used a small pipe cutter to shorten them.

The belt guards are the same for 1960 400,500 and 1961 401,551. The same for the tool box and fenders plus RJ-58/59. Yes, all nut roaster fenders will fit 

You can try sending a PM to member rwilson, he was making reproduction throttle/choke levers for the 400 but not sure if he still has any more.

 

That's a nice find. At least the hood isn't hacked too bad. The original throttle/choke levers fit in the square hole and are a single piece, then they are covered by the ID plate.  Looks like someone cut a little around the hole to make what they had fit. Another member here was making repros of the ID plates but again, I'm not sure if he still makes them or not.

[Luke 9]

 ,and thanks for the photos.

I know you put some wheels on just so you could move it around, but the right rear tire is backwards.

I have two good left side rear wheels, and two right side rear wheels that need work, hence the one backwords wheel. I could say i did it on purpose to help backing up, but the truth is, I am waiting till I'm ready to paint to remove the tires and correct them.

[Butch 194]

Curious Luke was the auction in Vincentown?

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

You can find rims on anything that uses 4.80x4x8 tires. I found a nice set from a yard cart. Some of the bores may be a little short but you can shim them to fit, some may be to long, I used a small pipe cutter to shorten them.

The belt guards are the same for 1960 400,500 and 1961 401,551. The same for the tool box and fenders plus RJ-58/59. Yes, all nut roaster fenders will fit 

You can try sending a PM to member rwilson, he was making reproduction throttle/choke levers for the 400 but not sure if he still has any more.

 

That's a nice find. At least the hood isn't hacked too bad. The original throttle/choke levers fit in the square hole and are a single piece, then they are covered by the ID plate.  Looks like someone cut a little around the hole to make what they had fit. Another member here was making repros of the ID plates but again, I'm not sure if he still makes them or not.

Not to argue with you. But just wanted to say that the 551 used a differenent belt guard. They look the same. But the 551 guard is about a half inch narrower as it used the two piece tranny. They can be made to work on the 400's 550's and 401's though as they are held on with bolts and spacers.

 

~Jake

[Luke 9]

Curious Luke was the auction in Vincentown?

Allen's Auction in Vincentown area. It was a two weekend auction, but I missed the first weekend. We walked around the whole place, but we were not impressed with much of the junk up for auction. We only wanted the tractor because it looked cool. I had no idea of it's sale value, but was willing to bid more than $300. I think there were two other interested parties, but they stopped bidding at $270. I heard someone say it aint worth that much.  My boy and I were happy with the price. We paid $300 after taxes and fees. From what I can tell, that's still a good deal. I see them sell from three to five hundred all over. Another father aproched me and said he and his boy bought a Wheel Horse at the first auction. It sounded like a good deal. His boy was very happy with it.

[Luke 9]

The tractor is now running. It moves in 1st and reverse, but I cannot get it into second or third yet. The brake/clutch pedal also sticks in up or down position. I guess it needs a new spring and some oil.

[RThomas 1]

Luke,

 

check out my 1960 Suburban 550 I posted last week.  It's in another thread from earlier.

I'm working on getting new rims as mine rusted clear through also.  What are you using for your front rims right now?  And what are you gonna eventually use?

 

Ron

[Luke 9]

Luke,

 

check out my 1960 Suburban 550 I posted last week.  It's in another thread from earlier.

I'm working on getting new rims as mine rusted clear through also.  What are you using for your front rims right now?  And what are you gonna eventually use?

 

Ron

The front wheels are from Tractor Supply. They are cart wheels, and are the same size tire. They are about $20 a piece for rim, tube, tires and bearings. They are good for rolling around, but will require spacers, and may not stand up to regular tractor use.

[953 nut 52,297]

Great buy for $300. You could have some fun with it and make it a rat rod, take an old wash tub cut in half for rear fenders and trash it up then take some "before" photos with your boy riding it. Years from now he will love them!

 

Good luck and keep us posted.        

[953 nut 52,297]

Just saw a pair of fenders and the tool box for a 551 newly listed on Ebay, happy biding!

 

[smoreau 658]

This is my 400 and it has the same rims as yours from TSC. The PO had them on it with spacers. they work just fine and painted off white, they look just fine to me. nice find!!

 

[Jake Kuhn 1,547]

This is my 400 and it has the same rims as yours from TSC. The PO had them on it with spacers. they work just fine and painted off white, they look just fine to me. nice find!!

 

Scott, Thats the wrong picture....Wheres's steve?

[smoreau 658]

You mean this one

I also got him riding a walk behind

 

You have to click the pic to enlarge it. sent from my phone. I haven't downloaded these to photo bucket yet.

Edited April 15, 2013 by smoreau

[Luke 9]

This is my 400 and it has the same rims as yours from TSC. The PO had them on it with spacers. they work just fine and painted off white, they look just fine to me. nice find!!

 

Well, now I know exactly how the guards and shield should look on the tractor. The bearings on the Tractor Supply wheels looked cheap to me. I was afraid they would fail under pressure.  I guess they will hold up if you can run the tractor with implements attached.