Dodgy Misinformation from the 80's

[DevonianHorse 250]

Hi all, 

 

Please note,  I am almost reluctant to post this- I hope it will be taken as it is intended: in good fun. To clarify, I adore Wheelhorse tractors,  my first ever lawn tractor is the 1975 C-100 I bought when I was 14, I still own it and it is my number 1 most prized possession. I found this in a Westwood (a British lawn tractor make) brochure I own from the early 80s, and the tractor that Westwood is using as an example of a dated and useless machine is clearly a thinly-veiled parody of a Wheelhorse- in fact it is basically the same model as mine. That said, I like both Wheelhorse and Westwood, Westwood did make some tough and cool-looking tractors, however this is not good on their part, Wheelhorse is superior mechanically, which makes this all the more entertaining. I think I can like both but still have some fun at the farcical nature of this piece. I thought some of the folks here might enjoy debunking this  

 

 

Edited January 27, 2019 by DevonianHorse
Removed duplicate image

[AMC RULES 36,945]

Engine cover is interesting.

[DevonianHorse 250]

1 minute ago, AMC RULES said:

Engine cover is interesting.

Yes, I suppose they couldn't make it too obvious who they were referring to, then again it is clearly a Wheelhorse. 

[AMC RULES 36,945]

Could've been offered as a factory option for cold weather use.  

[rmaynard 14,870]

That is a great find. Thanks for posting.

[Razorback 1,032]

I went and looked at the current Westwood site..... all that fancy equipment just to mow grass? No tillers, cultivators, or ploughs? (Check out the Towball under Accessories...)

 

I do like the grass bagger, though. Neat design.

[DevonianHorse 250]

I would like to address a couple of the points in the image above, I think all the points are effectively incorrect but these are the most so, in my opinion. 

 

1) It says that these tractors (Wheelhorses) are a rare sight these days, that was back in the 80s. This is wrong because in 2019, there seem to still be a decent number of Wheelhorses around in England, even with the rust-conducive climate. I would say Wheelhorse is one of the easiest vintage lawn tractors to get hold of in the UK. They seem to be pretty well known over here too. 

 

2) "Heavy and Crude steering", of all the older machines I have driven (Wheelhorse, Lawnflite, Al-co, Westwood), I would say Wheelhorse has the most precise steering. 

[JoeM 7,614]

They have and interesting deck set up they call "vector flow". out blades are contra rotating. I bet it works good with a mulching insert.

https://www.westwoodtractors.com/garden-tractors/?c=cutter-decks

The Westwood XRD is a new generation cutter deck built on the same platform as our legendaryVector Flow system.

Always looking for a better cut!

[Lee1977 6,211]

What did they replace it with. Those glorious all sheet metal garden tractors made by Husqvarna didn't get built until the 90's. 

[squonk 38,862]

A lot of the older Westwoods look identical to the cheap riders that Grants,Montgomery Ward sold with names like Monte Carlo and Dynamark

[Lane Ranger 10,474]

Interesting that the Ariens  Compnay  (a U..S. Company with longtime history of making mowers)  appears to be the owner of Westwood.

 

https://www.ariensco.com/

 

 

https://www.ariensco.com/brands/

 

Edited January 27, 2019 by Lane Ranger

[DevonianHorse 250]

Here's my 1979 Westwood Gazelle, as mentioned above, it looks very much like a Dynamark. Has never heard of a Monte Carlo until recently, but yes, some of those look very similar. 

 

[boovuc 1,090]

There is one thing they hit upon that is correct but mostly for all lawn tractors of that era and beyond.They are/were LOUD! Not just the motor exhaust but all the mechanical noises like the belts/blades, valves, pulleys, springs, shafts, etc.

Yup! Westwoods then looked like the Dynamarks here.

The sheet metal over the motor is interesting as was pointed out on the first post. It's the first thing that caught my eye on the picture. I wonder how that sheet metal would have worked on an Onan WH???

[clueless 2,898]

6 hours ago, DevonianHorse said:

Here's my 1979 Westwood Gazelle, as mentioned above, it looks very much like a Dynamark. Has never heard of a Monte Carlo until recently, but yes, some of those look very similar. 

 

Looks like my father in laws Dynamark back in 1978. lasted about 9 years.

[Dan.gerous 2,696]

On 1/27/2019 at 3:23 PM, DevonianHorse said:

I would like to address a couple of the points in the image above, I think all the points are effectively incorrect but these are the most so, in my opinion. 

 

1) It says that these tractors (Wheelhorses) are a rare sight these days, that was back in the 80s. This is wrong because in 2019, there seem to still be a decent number of Wheelhorses around in England, even with the rust-conducive climate. I would say Wheelhorse is one of the easiest vintage lawn tractors to get hold of in the UK. They seem to be pretty well known over here too. 

 

2) "Heavy and Crude steering", of all the older machines I have driven (Wheelhorse, Lawnflite, Al-co, Westwood), I would say Wheelhorse has the most precise steering. 

I agree, my wheelhorse steers like a F1 car compared to the Westwood, and Laser that I have. It's also so much bigger, robust and just feels better quality.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Dan.gerous

[c-series don 7,776]

Did Wheel Horse ever catch on to this? Looks to me like there’s some serious patient infringement going on there!😂🤔