1960 Suburban 400

[wrightorchid 261]

I vote for bringing it home.  Most of the hard work has been done, tires, and paint/body work takes a bunch of time and money.  If you bought an unrestored one for 300, and got it to this condition, you would have far more than 200 additional (and a good bit of time) in it.  Looks like a fun parade tractor at this point, but many do work them.

[cdsl810 181]

OK... let me catch my breath...

I just returned from visiting "the barn" that he has all the 400 parts stored at. I drove an hour to get there so that I could carefully check everything out--myself. Everything belonging to the little 400 was kept in it's own small covered trailer inside the barn. He turned the latch, and I swear I heard an angelic chorus singing as the doors swung open.

It looks like everything is there (except maybe some minor things like springs and belts). The parts that are not already installed are just simply not cleaned up and painted yet. And, tucked way up in the front of the trailer what did I see...? The original mower deck, in it's unaltered, unrestored--but looks to be all there--condition!

BONUS!!!


Regarding the front tires: they are not filled with anything (including air); the bead is not sealed on either rim. The liquid seen in the picture was just oil that he used on the spindle. That will be replaced with the correct grease when I turn around the front axle. Regarding the cut hood: yep... kinda sucks... and there is a little jagged section in the cut right near the bottom of wherre the ID plate goes. But certainly not a dealbreaker. Which brings me to my final point...

There WAS a deal made. The 1960 Wheel Horse Suburban 400 is MINE!

I will be picking everything up this evening.

One quick question: should I put gear oil in the gearbox prior to rolling it onto the trailer? Or am I just overly concerned about rolling it a few feet dry--they obviously weren't, because they rolled it out of the garage? What type of oil is used in the Uni Drive?

BTW, good thing I was smart enough to put a deposit on it yesterday. They have had 15 people today wanting to buy the tractor. One of them offered twice the asking price. I'm glad these nice people are honest.

[WHX?? 51,780]

Congrats...nice score on the    I wouldn't  worry about gearbox oil till it goes under power, will ok for just rolling on a trailer.  I believe it takes 80/90 lube. Go to the manuals section here and download the owners manual for it, it says in there what it takes and more, let us know if you can't find it.  Also might find reading for the deck there. Post lots of 'specially the deck.

[Racinbob 11,938]

Here's another control plate decal by Terry. The serial # was completely gone and I didn't want a random one.. I flipped the original plate over to get rid of the pitting, made new levers from 3/4" stock from Lowes, and new levers from Glen Pettit. You've got the heat shield and belt guard. Any other that you might need won't break the bank.

[WHX?? 51,780]

Sweet Bob .. love the allen hardware! I saw that on another of your posts... Wish I could clean my levers up like that but tryin to stay orginal. We are gonna have to start our own Suburban club complete with secret handshake!

[Racinbob 11,938]

Actually, those didn't clean up Jim. I was missing one lever but was able to straighten out the one I had good enough to use it as a pattern. I made a jig to hold the three pieces and went at it with a benchtop belt and disc sander. Basically letting cdsi810 not to worry about some of the missing items.

[DennisThornton 4,771]

You did good!  Pretty sure you know that now!

[AMC RULES 37,196]

One can only hope...  
you captured the obligatory pict needed for this thread.     
http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/32872-whats-in-your-mirror/

[cdsl810 181]

Someday, for me at least, is today. You know how you see something really cool and think to yourself... "someday".

I picked up the Suburban 400. To my surprise, I think I scored BIG. This turned out to be the best garage sale find EVER!

The tractor came with two big boxes full of of nearly every part necessary to complete the restoration. And the original mower deck. And a snowblower. And a plow blade.... And 200+ pages of documentation in a 2 inch binder containing every record of every part purchased for the restoration, even with a mapquest page for each purchase showing exactly where the part came from. He claims that he has a rear plow for it too, but it's mixed in with his other tractor stuff--he said it's mine when he can dig it out. He has parts diagrams, and a copy of the original owner's manual. He obviously cared about this little project.

I guess I can stop bitchin' about my Craigslist Nightmares and all the $#!T I dealt with recently. The Wheel Horse karma has come full circle. This more than makes up for all of that.

Here are the only pictures I can post today. I had to quickly unload and squeeze everything into the garage before a huge storm hit.

[slammer302 2,156]

If you can get the mower deck mounted and working they are great for mowing and make a yard look good I love mine congrats on the new horsey

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[cdsl810 181]

I forgot to mention that the reason the hood was cut is because the PO's PO had an 8hp motor stuffed in there. Talk about a nut roaster! Luckily, when the PO bought it, the PO's PO still had the original 4hp Kohler. Anyway, I have both engines too as part of the deal. I'm not sure if the 8hp runs. He said it came from a larger model, same year.

[DennisThornton 4,771]

You hit the jackpot!

[AMC RULES 37,196]

Funny how the smallest ones...
always feel like the biggest scores. 
Congrats on your new  baby.    

[JeffreyLKY 43]

There will never be a day that I have this sort of luck.  Congratulations on this find.  It's so awesome that the seller was so honest and up front with you.  Good luck with the future restoration of the Suburban!

[cdsl810 181]

Funny how the smallest ones...
always feel like the biggest scores. 
Congrats on your new  baby.

   

I feel like I hit the lottery or something.

I'm already planning a weekend of horssembly (see what I did there)

[JPWH 6,361]

What a great find. Great horse with accessories and great honest people to deal with. Both seem to be scarce these days. Seems like people these days are more concerned with making money than friends. Money can be had easily enough friendships are few and far between and should be cherished.

[wallfish 18,131]

Nice to get the extras to go with it. That definitely made the deal sweater.
Just some observations on CORRECT parts for your information, not bashing what you have.
I never had a 1960 deck so I can't tell what's missing but that does appear to be one. I just know they connected to the rear hitch as part of the lift mechanism. That will certainly mount on there the way it is though.
The gas tank is not for an RJ or a suburban
Not too sure about that blower. The blower I have for a suburban has round sides and is 32" wide. Model ST302 which is a 1962 made to fit earlier models. Those little 4 hp engines probably can't handle it anyway. Never actually threw any snow with it but always wanted to give it a try.
That wire foot pedal on the deck can be used for the snow/dozer blade to pull the index pin so it can be angled from the seat using a rope.
They didn't build an 8hp tractor in 61 so that engine must be another year, if it runs, that's a $150 - $200 value right there

[DennisThornton 4,771]

Here's another control plate decal by Terry. The serial # was completely gone and I didn't want a random one.. I flipped the original plate over to get rid of the pitting, made new levers from 3/4" stock from Lowes, and new levers from Glen Pettit. You've got the heat shield and belt guard. Any other that you might need won't break the bank.

That is just first class!  Man!  That really sets the bar high!  Too high for my class of work but I'm glad to see it being done by someone.  Guess I'm just glad to know it can be done!

[cdsl810 181]

The blower has a designation of ST-302, 30" Snowthrower, July 1960, Serial Number 31078. That's what the documentation I have shows, and the Serial Number on the blower itself matches. It definitely measures 30" across too. If it's not the original one then that's OK. It looks like it hooks right up to the Suburban though. The mower deck does have the rear lift attach on the left side of the deck. Everything on the deck and the blower spin freely, and despite their patina, I could probably lubricate, attach and use them. There are no missing parts as far as my limited eye can tell--except belts.

The tractor is missing a couple things, however. If the gas tank is the wrong one, then I should try to find the right one. That is the tank the PO removed when he began the project, and was not purchased later by him. The gas tank mounting straps were unusable he said, and I don't have any--he threw them out. And I can't find the idler pulley setup anywhere. There is, however, a double pulley with a long shaft in the box. I was thinking that it has something to do with powering attachments. I'm going to need help identifying some of the parts in the boxes, but I have matched up several of them to the parts diagrams already.

[wallfish 18,131]

The Blower has a tag ST302 on it? Or that's just what the PO wrote down?
I thought the ST302 looks like this, which is completely different. Might have a manual around here somewhere. And you're right, it should be 30" wide not 32 like I posted before.

Post up what you are missing, I'll look around for an idler pulley setup.
Tank straps would be unusable with that tank but it's pretty common for them to break off at the spot welds on the hood anyway. You can find that stuff on that auction site.

Edited August 16, 2015 by wallfish

[cdsl810 181]

It looks like I have an ST323 Snowthrower. The PO gave me the wrong one. I found a serial number list in my giant stack of files he gave me. 31078 fits the production numbers for the ST323. He listed the wrong one in his seller's notes to whomever ended up buying the tractor.  I asked him about it this evening. He said the same thing... "you're supposed to have the round one." He doesn't have the other tractor, so maybe I can talk him in to giving me both blowers. The ST323 fits the Suburban, however... just wasn't an official attachment for it--it came after they stopped producing the Suburbans. The tractor it belonged to he said was a 604, if I'm remembering correctly.

[wallfish 18,131]

ST323 may bolt onto a suburban but will need a homemade lift tube to raise it because the lift mechanisms on the tractors are completely different. The engines are in different places but not sure if just using a longer belt would hit the front axle or not. The ST302 was also made after production of the suburban tractors in 1962 but made to fit them with just a special lift rod and mount bracket plus a longer belt. The ST3072 is the same exact blower but made with parts for the 1962s

If he does have the 302 blower and you go to get it, look for the mounting bracket. They always seem to end lost because they were left mounted on the tractors. You can see it in the pic. It raises the blower's pivot point above the frame rails to match the height of the 62 tractor frames. The lift rod looks like 2 flags welded to a tube and you can see part of that in the pic too.They used a foot pedal to engage the belt similar to that wire foot pedal you have but made with bent flat bar.

Edited August 16, 2015 by wallfish

[AMC RULES 37,196]

For reference...         
here's another ST-302 blower.

[wallfish 18,131]

Here's what the critical part for the idler pulley looks like.It connects the pedal linkage and the brake band. The 400 didn't use an adjustable rod to connect the pedal but it's a good idea to use one. You will constantly see 400 tractors with the pedal so far back towards the trans, it's a pain to engage it.
This one is going to be rusted on the shaft tight and the roll pin is going to be stuck. I find it easier to just cut the shaft to get off and weld it back together

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,490]

31078 is a 1961 serial number.
Have seen 1961 serials range from 2294 to 60695.

1960-61 model ST-30 for the mid-engine models
1961 model ST-307 for the 701 tractor

In 1962 the attachments got a A-xxxxx serial number.
In 1962 the tractors got a 62-xxxxxx serial number.

Garry

Edited August 16, 2015 by gwest_ca