stevasaurus 23,120 #26 Posted January 30, 2019 Well, I have to hop on this band wagon. I inherited the 4 horses that my Dad had...502, 702, 857 and 72 Raider 10. They were in the pole barn and hadn't run in almost 20 years. He passed in 2003, and I got to them about 2008. They were buried. I found Red Square about then, and the rest is history. I have bought and sold a few through the years. Sold the 502 to JoeBob and the 72 Raider 10 to Skipper in Denmark. I still have the 702, and the 857. I won the Raffle tractor at the Big show in 2010...a B-100...and I bought an 876 from Smokin'Joe. I am down to 4...kind of where I started...I was up to 7 at one point...I could not get to the fridge in the garage. That was unacceptable!!! 8 9 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wminmi 13 #27 Posted January 30, 2019 Good question lol For me, it was back when i was somewhere around the age of 5-6ish My grandfather had brought home a really small rider that he got from a guy he worked with. It didn't have an engine on it and from what i remember it looked really old. My grandfather put an engine on it (no clue what it was) and let me ride it all around the yard. All i remember about the tractor is the engine mounted right in front of your crotch...i remember this because i got hammered by the spark plug wire a time or 3 lol Fast forward many years later.... I was picking up some parts from Jake Kuhn here in town and saw a RJ he was restoring. Brought back some great memories...and I told Jake the above story, and mentioned that I wouldn't mind getting another. Few days later I got a '60 suburban from him lol....and a week or 2 after that picked up a RJ59 from him as well that i'm planning to restore That is how i got into WH.....photo is the suburban that started it all for me lol 7 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjg854 11,951 #28 Posted January 30, 2019 I was looking for a project to tinker around with after I had rebuilt a 1947 Bolens Huski Gardener, 2 wheeled tractor that I plowed the driveway with. I found a 68 Commando 8, that I liked the looks of. I bought it pretty cheap and I found out why, but that's basically how I got interested in Wheel Horse. They are simple well built machines. And with so many attachments, one tractor just isn't enough 5 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHGuy413 2,771 #29 Posted January 30, 2019 Wow this thread took off! Awesome stories! Keep them coming! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,743 #30 Posted January 30, 2019 21 hours ago, WHGuy413 said: ...my dad's 73 12 auto. I don't remember it before he did the Briggs swap but I know I had seat time then...he tore this ole beast apart fixed anything broken re painted and added the 18hp briggs...I'm gonna restore this one just the way it is now. Wrong decals and everything cause that's how my dad did it all those years ago. When you have a machine that has that much history with your family, I think it is really cool to retain as much of those original cues as possible. The quote “necessity is the mother of invention” applies to a tinkering man. Such was the case with my dad. His 875 was bone stock original when he purchased it in 1975. By the late 80’s, it had a lot of modifications performed by my dad to suit his purpose much like your dad did on his 1973. When we restored it, we could’ve returned all those items back to original stock, but we wanted to retain them because they are what tell the story of that machine in our lives. Dad recalled why he did most of them and shared it with me. If you care to read the whole story, it is recorded in the restorations threads here on the forum under “875 Iron Horse”. I support your decision to restore it like it is... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Super-C 4 me 612 #31 Posted January 30, 2019 3 hours ago, ohiofarmer said: Two words----just wow! And I thought that I was buying "too many"---- I like to have 2 of everything! 😜 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHGuy413 2,771 #32 Posted January 30, 2019 14 minutes ago, PeacemakerJack said: When you have a machine that has that much history with your family, I think it is really cool to retain as much of those original cues as possible. The quote “necessity is the mother of invention” applies to a tinkering man. Such was the case with my dad. His 875 was bone stock original when he purchased it in 1975. By the late 80’s, it had a lot of modifications performed by my dad to suit his purpose much like your dad did on his 1973. When we restored it, we could’ve returned all those items back to original stock, but we wanted to retain them because they are what tell the story of that machine in our lives. Dad recalled why he did most of them and shared it with me. If you care to read the whole story, it is recorded in the restorations threads here on the forum under “875 Iron Horse”. I support your decision to restore it like it is... This one is still a worker. I wanna make it look as good as it did when dad did his restoration on it. I'm not sure when it will happen but it will. The family history of this tractor keeps going. My oldest son (the one in the picture I started this post with) plowed snow with it when he was 5 years old. I was right near by and he was at an idle. He loves that tractor. 7 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roadapples 6,983 #33 Posted January 30, 2019 12 minutes ago, bmiller0457 said: I like to have 2 of everything! 😜 Better hope the wife doesn't see this.... 3 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHGuy413 2,771 #34 Posted January 30, 2019 3 minutes ago, roadapples said: Better hope the wife doesn't see this.... Just do what I did. Get your wife into these tractors. She now has 3 of her own. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roadapples 6,983 #35 Posted January 31, 2019 I meant 2 wives.... 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,585 #36 Posted January 31, 2019 28 minutes ago, bmiller0457 said: I like to have 2 of everything! 😜 Hence the new nickname “Noah” 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Tuul Crib 7,338 #37 Posted January 31, 2019 27 minutes ago, roadapples said: I meant 2 wives.... Two wife's? How do you find time for your machines?! 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roadapples 6,983 #38 Posted January 31, 2019 Refer to post #33 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCM 10,032 #39 Posted January 31, 2019 I remember going to the local WH/ Ariens dealer in 1973 with my dad when I was 15 to purchase a new 7 hp 24 inch snowblower, while he was making the deal I strolled over to the WH section and looked over a C series and thought to myself that for a small tractor that was a serious piece of equipment and knowing I had to let my imagination run wild, I knew better than to mention that we could use that to mow our half acre.I want to say in the late seventies dad mentioned going back to the dealer to buy a riding mower,I could not even imagine having a WH in the family,it would be like the brother I never had.When we arrived at the dealer he by-passed the WH section and went straight to a Snapper rear engine rider with what looked like handlebars in place of a steering wheel? it took a few minutes to talk him out of that and said if we can not get a WH can we at least get one with a steering wheel, the decision was made to buy an Ariens rear engine Fairway which my brother in law still owns today.Anyway my WH dreams came true 1989 with the purchase of a 312-8 the one I really wanted was the 520-H which was next to the 312-8 but was 4700.00 and the 312-8 was 3400.00 that was a lot of money in 89.I am grateful to have a nice bunch of WH tractors but hope to find a real clean 417-A someday, right place at the right time, they are very addictive. Thanks for this topic. 5 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Super-C 4 me 612 #40 Posted January 31, 2019 2 hours ago, roadapples said: Better hope the wife doesn't see this.... Fortunately for me there isn’t a mrs. but I guarantee if there is a future mrs. she will like 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris G 3,347 #41 Posted January 31, 2019 For me it started when I was really young. I grew up on a farm and was I guess you can say obsessed with the tractors. Well when I was 4 my grandfather pulled his John Deere model G with a wide front end in the barn to restore. Well I spent every second I could in the barn with him and my father well they went through it. Well I ended up loving the machine even more after I witnessed them restore it. It was already my favorite cause I was able to drive it due to the hand clutch. Needless to say my grandfather and dad got pretty wore out of me asking to drive it all the time. So for my 5th birthday him and my dad got me a 1960 suburban 400 with a wagon and then I officially took over every duty on the farm that me and the little machine could handle. And that's it, since then I have had tons of machines of various makes and models. Of which have came and gone. But there has always been a wheel horse or a few in the garage since then. Even when I was in the service I had several wheel horses at home in the shop. 9 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 10,446 #42 Posted January 31, 2019 In 2005 my oldest son was interested in mechanical things and a friend gave him a non running but solid 312-8 with deck. He tinkered with it fixed wiring and carb and he got it running. After a while took it to farm to mow trails to deer stands. In 2014 my son had gotten married, bought a house. I had realized how solid the 312 was so I did a restoration and gave it to him. By the time I had it restored I had bought a C160 for me and it grew from there 4 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ericj 1,578 #43 Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) I guess mine started when dad bought a 73 12 AUTO. Me and my brother went from fighting dad about having to mow the yard with the push mower, to fighting over who was going to mow the yard with the tractor. I won becuase he got his driver's license and a girl friend shortly after dad bought the wheel horse. Dad later bought a D200 which we used for the 1 acre garden dad use to put out. Most of the work falling on me to use the tractors with. I put that old 12 horse through h-ll and back. Dad traded the 12 AUTO in on a 417-8 with electric when the old 12 kohler got tired. The shorter story fast forwards to 1996 when I bought my house. My little brother had bought a 416-8 a couple of years earlier, SO I just had to have a wheel horse myself. I didn't think I could afford one, or at least a new one. I bought the Toro rear engine rider. HMR1200. It was a good mower but not a Wheel Horse !!!. I was at a customer's house one day doing a service call on his oil furnace when I saw a poor old wheel horse sitting in the weeds by the wood shed. I asked and he told me the story on it , I then asked if he would be interested in selling it. He stood back and rubbed his chin and asked how about $ 50.00. I didn't even hesitate and said sold. Turned out it was a 74 C120. I brought it home and somehow managed to get it running with the some help. I then found a mower deck and later a snow plow, and a snowblower. The snowblower wasn't for a C series so I adapted it to fit. Well every time I tried to use it, it would break. I would have to lay out in the snow and swap back over to the plow. I kept thinking wouldn't it be nice to have a tractor for each. So I bought a 75 C120, but it had issues ended up blowing a rod. After I finally saved up enough money to commit to rebuilding the motor, my wife came into some money and agreed to buy me a brand new 1999 314-8. But I guess by that time I was hooked cause I kept looking at customer's house for old wheel horse tractors to buy, Here and there I would drag another one home. As I learned more I started to work on them myself. Now I have somewhere north of 30 running tractors and not sure of how many non running tractors. I don't count non running one lol I still have both of dad's tractors, his 417-8 and his D200 which had sat in the barn for 19 years or something like that, till I rescued it I enjoy dragging a dead horse home and putting my skills the the test to see if I can get it running again. I do tend to specialize in onan powered tractors. Ever since I first heard my brother's 416-8 run and it reminded me of a muscle car with cam sitting there idling I was hooked on them there onan's eric j Edited January 31, 2019 by ericj 3 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LengerichKA88 1,883 #44 Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) On accident would be my answer haha. My Father in law had mentioned wanting to do some small engine repair work to have something to do (he’s retired), and I found a WH on Facebook in decent shape, with a deck for 200 bucks. I sent him the link with a message saying “There’s a project to be had there.” I’d never heard of Wheel Horse, but once I did some digging and found out they were made here in Indiana, it piqued my interest. This was late August last year(2018). I started doing little things on it here and there,and eventually started looking for a dozer blade to push snow. I mentioned this to my FIL and he started looking for one as well. Enter our Charger 10, which we originally bought solely for the blade, but for a few bucks more than the going price we got another machine too. Now I don’t want to let either of them go, so I’m making sure they don’t go anywhere: I made an offer to my FIL for what he paid for both tractors, both decks, and the dozer blade plus 25 (it was his gas that got em here). He shook his head and counter offered. Usually the one coming out of pocket with the cash is the one trying to work the price down, but we agreed on $450 for the lot. I guess I qualify as a Horse Thief now 😂. I hope to have them around round for many years to come, and have plans for restomods for both, but we’ll cover that later haha. Edited February 3, 2019 by KyleLengerich Added photos 5 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 71,219 #45 Posted February 3, 2019 On 1/30/2019 at 9:22 PM, bmiller0457 said: Fortunately for me there isn’t a mrs. but I guarantee if there is a future mrs. she will like I'd have to agree that that is muy importante... Trina has two tractors here in Maine already and another one waiting in Massachusetts thanks to @Herder and @WHGuy413. Who knows how many we will end up with in the permanent Fleet but she really does enjoy taking them apart and putting them back together. 7 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stepney 2,351 #46 Posted February 12, 2019 Well, let's see here. I was brought into WH's when I was about 3 years old, my Grandfather had a '68 Electro 12. He lived in MA at the time, and the few times a year I would visit, he would take me for rides 'round the yard, till I was old enough to drive on my own for the first time .. put it into a large bush at about 4mph. When I was about 8 or 9, the ignition switch broke and no shop claimed they could fix it (Looking back, I find that remark hilarious). So my grandfather bought a new Scotts and retired it to the shed. When he moved up to Maine with the rest of my family, he brought the old E12, but left all the implements for scrap. It sat in the yard for years after that. Somehow it didn't get much worse then it already was. In the meantime, I had a visit to a local museum, and was introduced to hit and miss engines. When I was 10, I bought myself one. Around the time I was 12-13 or so I got myself a '67 Cub Cadet 102 for riding at shows, but wanting the E12 running never left me though it was in a really poor state, grown into brambles in the yard. I spent years on and off trying to get it going to no avail. Turns out the mag was dead. One night it came to me, that the magneto fired K301 in the Electro was the same engine otherwise as the Battery fired K241 in the IH Cub. I went home one day and tore the IH to bits (Parents weren't too proud of this..) and hauled the parts up to my grandfathers, reassembled it as it was on the Cub, and the machine fired right up and drove into the garage. Kept it in somewhat regular use till 2016 when it developed a crack in the block and also seemed to have broke a ring. After that it was too weak to really move and the smoke to this day has been unmatched. From that point when I got it running in 2012, I got a lead on a 1975 WH B80 from a local man. I saved that from the crusher and got it going enough to ride around. It was torn down for overhaul but I was really too young at the time to do much with it. This later became @ebinmaine 's Patriot Horse. Between 2013 and 17 I've probably had about twenty other WH's come and go. The old '68 E12 has since been repowered with a K-341 from a C160 and that smartened it up just enough to have the rear end let go. She's still here, patiently awaiting the last of a mechanical rebuild. 2 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 71,219 #47 Posted February 12, 2019 8 minutes ago, Stepney said: This later became @ebinmaine 's Patriot Horse Thanks for sharing the early (to you) history of that tractor. 10 minutes ago, Stepney said: old '68 E12 has since been repowered with a K-341 from a C160 And I have the rest of that rig as the chassis, steering and transmission for my Cinnamon Horse. Cool stuff !!!! 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
formariz 11,995 #48 Posted February 12, 2019 It all started here on a visit to the local lawnmower repair shop in 2005 where the 753 was proudly displayed. It just gravitated to us or us to it i am not sure which. We knew absolutely nothing about it or wheel horses. However its looks character and all original patina just went right into our hearts. Little did we know at the time that it would eventually change our lives for ever. 2 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 27,803 #49 Posted February 12, 2019 September 2015... My brother gave my then 16 year old son the C-105 for him to use for his 6 year old neighborhood lawn care and snow removal business... Son “retired” from lawn business at 18 to go to college, so I have inherited the WH... She still sees active duty plowing snow and helping with chores... Pics are of my son on the summer day we brought it home, him plowing, and me more recently doing “chores” with the nieces and nephews... Life is good on a ! 3 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PeacemakerJack 10,743 #50 Posted February 12, 2019 6 hours ago, formariz said: It all started here on a visit to the local lawnmower repair shop in 2005 where the 753 was proudly displayed... @formariz thank you for sharing your story and the especially this rare one of a younger Billy Crystal on your Wheel Horse! I had know idea that he was into them 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
