Wheel Horse ZTR inquiry

[MOWNIE 0]

To all the Wheel Horse lovers and experts. Help me steer one of my colleagues in the right direction, if possible. He has been asked, by a third party, to "look at/inspect/repair/replace" the two hydrostat pump/motor assemblies on a Wheel Horse ZTR mower. Here is all he knows about the machine (so far). The pump/motor assemblies were taken off the machine by the "third party" and brought to my friend. Third party does not know (supposedly) the model number or serial number but states that "Wheel Horse only made this ZTR for one year". What my friend would like to know (or find out) is what brand of hydro pump/motor unit did Wheel Horse use for this "alledged one year build" machine. Does anybody know if Wheel Horse offered more than one model of ZTR and what those model numbers are? We think that maybe some other owners of this model, or technicians working on some of them, may already have the needed information. He was just presented with the the 2 drive units on May 28 and we are just now beginning the search. I posted a similar inquiry on a different forum in order to, hopefully, reach a broader audience of owners/technicians.

[Nick 13]

Its going to be hard to narrow things down with only the possibility of a one year product, if thats even true. Without looking around more the only model I can think of that was built and sold by Toro/WHeel horse for one year was the 1997 model 222 Zero turn. It was an upgraded 724 that had dropped the chain drive for wheel motors. After that the big Zs were all from the Exmark design with a Toro deck.

Getting the actual model and maybe serial number off the Z might be best.

[MOWNIE 0]

I will press for the owner of the machine to get the Model Number or Chassis number from the machine (as I have already requested him to do). If the Model # & Serial # were originally shown on a decal, and that decal is missing or damaged, did Wheel Horse typically "stamp" the numbers into a frame member? and if so, where would they have stamped it?

[Nick 13]

Im not sure of the model number location on the Z. A dealer should be able to quickly identify the machine for you and they should even be able to identify the parts. There hadnt been that many different models under the Wheel Horse or Toro/WHeel Horse names. Full size units your only looking at the 700 series with an Eaton pump. The smaller 600 series zero turns arent worth fixing if you need to buy the complete new drive system. For what the parts cost you could buy a new timecutter Z for a little more cash.

If nothing else works out try to post a picture of the Z or maybe even the parts. Someone might be able to identify them for you.

[wh500special 2,341]

Not much info to go off of here. There are pictures in the picture gallery of my old 724.

Most of the Z's had their model tags under the seat. Which was nice because it should be preserved from the weather. The early 700 series had the tag stuck to the sheetmetal on top one of the gas tanks and was a little more prone to being lost to mother nature. Also look for a tag on the cutting unit if you can't find one on the tractor itself.

Other than the 222 and 600 series Nick mentioned, most if not all of the 700 series used two Eaton 7 (or 700, I can never remember) hydro units. These aren't the most robust transmissions out there and were prone to being abused in this application. They are replaceable and last time I looked there were new ones available on eBay for $400 to $700 each. The right and left units are different from each other in that one spins CW and the other CCW.

The 700 series included the 718, 720, and 724. The 718 and 720 might be one-year only models but I don't recall. The 724 enjoyed a pretty long run. They were all Dixie Chopper designs with some uniqu WH features.

If the tractor needs one or more transmissions I'd be apt to scrap the thing out since you'll be sinking a lot of money into an old machine.

I have no idea what the 5018 tractor used. It had a vertical shaft Briggs and otherwise looked the same as the later 700 series. The 600 series had an integrated dual hydro transaxle assembly that seems to be the ***** in the armor.

I had a 724 for a while and it was a nice tractor, but after blowing the transmission on the left side a second time I dumped it in favor of somethign more modern. At the time they were introduced they were state of the art, but by today's standards they are dinosaurs. Being that they were intended for commercial use you can bet that the survivors are all pretty well used up by now. None of them were bad designs, but lots of hard use has not been kind to them.

get the model number and go to toro.com to look up parts diagrams. If you can't find a tag snap a picture or two and we can ID it for you.

Steve

[MOWNIE 0]

Sorry for the long wait in posting the vital numbers.

Here is what the owner of the machine furnished to my friend.

1988 Z 1240 E 0230306 .