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Hello all, my name is Rick Robinson and I have just been bitten by the the Wheel Horse bug!! My father taught my how to mow the lawn in the early 1970s and my very first tractor experience was on a "Wheel Horse". As a 7 year old boy who loved anything that had 4 wheels and a steering wheel this was a thrill. Then in about 1974 my dad traded the old Wheel Horse in on a new Penncraft 8 H.P. tractor from JC Penny. I actuall cried the day the old Wheel Horse left our house on someone else's trailer. I don't remember the year or model tractor we had, but that ol tracter left a lasting impression on me. I am a Corvette & Classic Car Dealer and got a lead on a old Corvette that had been sitting for years that was available. When I drove to the gentleman's home, I couldn't help but notice how neat and well kept the property was. Well, I looked at the car but sitting in the corner was this beautiful Wheel Horse tractor. He told me he bought it new in 1965 and always kept it nice. He updated to a new Wheel Horse in the late 1980s, but couldn't bring himself to sell the old 65. I bought the Corvette and told him if he ever wanted to sell the 65 Please call me. Well, about two weeks ago I got the call! He and his wife sold the house and were going to relocate in Arizona. So I am now the owner of this extremely well kept, original 1965 855. The hood and seat pan and some sheet metal were painted in the early 1990s, but the original motor, tires etc. still remain. I just need a decal set. Oh, I hope someone here can shed light on this, but Jim, the original owner said the wheels on this tractor were silver when he purchased it new, but I have never seen this before as I thought they were always a off white color. So that's my story and I look forward to growing in his new hobby. Thanks in advance. Rick

Thank guys, here are a few more pics. Yes TT , Jim had the lights installed before taking deliv. when he purchased it new. He also replace the seat with a newer genuine Wheel Horse seat, so I would really like to find a original seat. I also have ALL the original paperwork and maint. records since day 1, Not pictured is the original mower deck which is in beautiful, near perfect condition. I will be ordering decals from Terry very soon. Thanks again guy's.

here is what started out as a suburban rat,from this to this

Ya the fenders are now on a black hood someplace, but I never seen a set of plastic ones on a older tractor, they are even uglier than on the C-xx5 tractors.

At the least, if you put a grader blade under it's middle, when the welds do go, it won't snap all the way to the ground!

I finally had time to work on the D 180 that I received from a guy in GA. Oh ya did Imention that it was FREEE I wont ramble on about what needed done and what had to be done I will just let the pix do the talking. :icecream:

Literally, a friend of mine who works at a landfill where I used to work called me. He said an old wheelhorse tractor came in a dumpster. So, last week I went to pick it up. I walk into the shop and there sits a RJ58!! It was rough, but in restorable condition. The worse part was that someone cut the back of the hood off to put an 8hp Briggs on it. I was lucky enough to find a real nice one on eBay. So, another project begins....

Well it was 50 Deg. here yesterday so I worked on getting the team ready. I have made some up grades since last year. The 1st is I went from 8.50's on the 76 which is the plow tractor to 10.50's. I loaded them with beet juice. The tire, wheel, & juice add up to 103 lbs each. Also got a new set of chains for the 10.50's. 2nd is I picked up a tall chute single stage blower from Kelly awhile back. Got it mounted up on the 75. I have a short chute, but am not a big fan of the cable turn. Have a few things to do to the blower yet. I want to install a new chain, fix some dents in the auger, & then lube every thing up. Hope we get a little more snow than last year. Used the plow 2 times & the blower 1 time last year. Not alot of seat time.

I had a couple of C-111 tractors. Kind of wish I had kept them. The briggs engine is strong and very easy to start, but mine vibrated a lot - to the extent it would work the air cover off the air cleaner. The aluminum block make the front end lighter in weight and the tractor was a dream to steer. The tranny is an 8 pinion and has 1-1/8 inch axles. Mine had a 36 inch rear discharge deck and gave the best cut of any tractor I have owned. They are a good tractor for the $$$'s in my opinion.

The checkered flag Kohler decal was associated with snowmobile engines. I saw those tractors on Craigslist and hope you didn't pay what they were asking for them. :disgust:

Keep oil in that Briggs and it will last as long any other wheel horse engine...I sold one to a friend and got it back after his wife forgot to put oil in it and put a nice "window" in the block I used it before selling it to him and it started easily and ran great. Teckys are a great engine in my opinion, I have a few horses with 6hp teckys 604,653 the 604 has a belly grader and I have used it to move many loads of gravel and it will push a pile until it is rolling over the back of the blade and not miss a beat and usually starts on the first pull they sometimes need a carb adjustment but if used and taken care of they usually don't.

Why is everyone so hard on the tec. motors? I have one in my '71 workhorse and have had no trouble with it. It's only an 8hp so I dont expect alot out of it but it does more than an 8hp should as far as I'm concerned. I also have a c-111, the briggs is ok< i need to give it some attention though before I can be to judgemental of it.

I disagree. The first two printings will remain expensive...and may even fetch higher prices. Wanna know why? Because Wheel Horse fanatics will want all three editions, especially those who are just getting their first look in this upcoming third edition. These are the same people who paid $200 for a toy hobby horse that had Wheel Horse on it, or over $100 for a plastic six pack cooler that had the Wheel Horse name on it. Collectibles and collectors are just funny that way. And don't be misled, there's a lot of collectors with plenty of disposable income. As for whats different, if I remember correctly, there were several extra pages of pictures thst weren't in the first, and the nudidt lady was censored. I don't think there was much text that changed, if any. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Are you talking about the tractor or the 5 week old baby??

Browns get a road win, first this season! Woo Hooo!! Somebody needs to start a Cheese-Head thread.

Good to hear! :handgestures-thumbup:

Team Varos is ready for Winter! Oh yes, Trevor is also ready...Woof!

Like the fellas have said, Welcome to !!! That's a fine looking machine you got! And welcome to Horseaholics-not-Anonymous. Meetings are ongoing here on the forum and cater to all manner of addictions - round hoods, square hoods, maroon stripers, pullers, customs, rats, and on and on. All are welcome, and, "My name is Duff...and I'm a Horseaholic!" Duff :thumbs:

I bought a GT-1100 with a Briggs motor figuring when it blew I would put a Kohler on it. I stuck a 48" deck I had on it and was amazed how well it did. I still prefer Kohlers but that Briggs was a great motor.

I recently purchased a snow cab from a private owner, for my 416-8. I finally got it all cleaned up & assembled, & I'm not sure how to mount it to my tractor. I'm really trying to avoid drilling any holes in my tractor if that's possible.

Nice looking tractor! Here we all have WHD (Wheel Horse Disease), welcome to the infirmary! My first Horse was a basket case! Sure glad it was dropped off in my driveway. Forget the model but, was a pull start. If I remember a Briggs. Rear discharge mower. Was a great machine.

After experimenting with a few different headlight options we like the HL-5's the best!

Consider doing a "reverse Phone Lookup" with the White Pages, sometimes a drive-by if they are close. 'Most common misspelled item in the classifieds, one's own phone number'. Good Luck, and stay on it. They may have used their cell phone number in the ad, see if you can text a message to them.

i have one, and I like it. the short block had been replaced on mine, and has a ball bearing on the flywheel side of the crankshaft. I did not use the external bearing when I rebuilt the engine. No problems yet. The exhaust port threads on mine were boogered up from the factory exhaust shaking, so I used B&S 691874 muffler and 795036 deflector. This muffler bolts directly to the block, and the deflector shoots the exhaust out the right side. Works for me, and no louder than the OEM setup.

:text-yeahthat: Jo's covers are very well made.

I had a bad taste in my mouth about the way this thread ended, so I gave it a few days and then I went back and read this thread from start to finish. It really was a fun thread this year...all the way through it. I guess we had to know that, with the passionate fans that participated, the thread would take a turn south when an undefeated Ohio st. was going to meet Michigan. (the Biggest Rivalry in College Football). Heck, it over shadowed the Illinois vs Northwestern game by a ton this year. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I had a good time this season, and look forward to doing again next year. It does make the season interesting. On a lighter note...as bad as I was picking games this year, I did notice that in October, I did predict a Wisconsin vs Nebraska Championship game...with Wisconsin winning and going to the Rose Bowl. So...I guess I win all the marbles... :) Congratulations to Wisconsin...and I pick them to beat Stanford on Jan. 1, 2013. and since Bob took his spread sheet and went home...we will never know who won all the weekly picks. :banana-guitar: :banana-guitar:

Dont spend hundreds of dollars on used copies of the first printing.. not worth it..because a 3rd printing is in the works! As soon as the new printing is out, prices on the first edition will drop from $200 to $400 (which is insane) down to $40 - $60 or so, (where they belong) I was fortunate that a Redsquare member, after reading previous threads about the inflated prices, (and how I said I would love to own a copy, but there is no way im going to spend $200 to $400) was willing to sell me a copy of the 1st printing for a *reasonable* and realistic price about a year ago! just a normal price, (about what it would have originally sold for) and none of this inflated B.S...thanks! just goes to show the friendliness of the RedSquare community, and that some people aren't in it for the money.. I was very grateful.. and it sounds like the 2nd printing, due to quality issues, isn't really worth the money, at any price.. So I wouldn't buy that one right now either.. just wait for the 3rd printing..it will be worth it! Scot

Very nice fine and I think those old briggs engine are just as good as the Kohler. They are lighter in weight and not as much torque but they are good for wat they are. Way better than a tec in my book.

Who rebuilt the carb? If the main needle valve is not cleaned inside of the tube, you will have rough running. Also, is there any slop in the throttle shaft? Was a new bushing installed when the carb was rebuilt? A carb that is just cleaned and has a "rebuild" kit installed is not really rebuilt. There is a bit more to it than just replacing the float valve and bowl gasket.

Yep. black-hoods are my favorite's minus the nasty fenders. I have swapped all mine to metal ones off a 300 series. Some people love those Briggs motors and some hate em. Its probably a good motor, better than a Tecumseh any day! Mike..........

Looks like they had a lot of neat old junk, I like them places, reminds me of home.

Traction devices for the dirt floor............ Sorry no idea, buts Jims sounds good.

It's not hard to figure out where the original fender went. Those 'Tupperware' fenders were definitely a bad idea..... and we all know who was in charge of Wheel Horse when they appeared. :silence:

Pennsylvania and New York IS northeast of Nebraska :ROTF:

Come on out I'll let ya loose in the barns for a bit.

What Rock Farmer said. But then again sir, we aren't in the northeast. We are in Canada according to the rest of the country..

All- Thought you may find this interesting. This was an email from the previous owner. As I said he was a really nice guy and straight shooter. Hi Steve, I'm so happy that you are enjoying the SR. I knew she would run fine. I enjoyed meeting you and couldn't be more pleased that she will be shown at the shows. After talking with you , I consider you "OLD SCHOOL" which is refreshing nowadays. As for the paint, I don't recall that it was ever painted or primed. In your picture where you oiled the right hand side of the hood is the color that I remember . For history I believe the tractor was bought new by Joseph Ventura of East Bridgewater, Ma. He owned and operated the Shawnee Nursery on rt. 106 "Plymouth St" . Bob Andrews,my dad, bought the property in 1960 and with it the SR. He was a gentleman farmer as a hobby and enjoyed many years driving around the property on the SR for relaxation. The tractor was never really worked hard. When he passed in 1995 I brought it here to Middleboro and until about 3 years ago I also enjoyed driving her around my property and talking to the many people who would stop to check her out. I can't count how many offers to buy her that I have had over the years. Well, that's my story and I'm very very happy to have you as the new owner . If I come up with any more info I will get it to you. Thanks again, Bob Andrews, Jr. Bob, My buddy and I were able to work on the SR and get her running perfect. I changed the tires with a set I had on another machine. They are the exact match. Here are a few pictures of how she sits now. In a few hours I plan on taking her for a ride. Believe it or not we were able to date the engine to a early production 1956 engine which leads us to believe that it is a 1956 model. The hood has been primered at some point. I am considering removing the primer back down to the original patina. If you don't mind, can you send me any other information on the history of the tractor? From a collector standpoint it would be great to know who the original owner was then you and your dad's full names and when he purchased it. I do not think it was used all that much.

.. by the way, this is the stuck tranny that I need to rebuild. .

This is a really interesting thread. This summer, I purchased a 1961 Suburban in really bad condition. However, I have enough here to save this tractor from going to the scrap yard. In fact, already bought parts I needed (wheels, tires, hood, belt guard, engine) to turn this tractor into my next resto project. Anyway, the tranny is locked up. Gear lever is in neutral, won't go into any gear, and engine pulley/axles won't rotate. Thinking the bearings are frozen since I drained a lot of water out of it first thing after I got it home. Apparently, I will have to tackle my first transaxle rebuild to get her running again. This thread has given me the motivation to believe that I can start taking my tranny apart and bebuild it.

OK guys, update time: Picked up the 416 this morning. Brought it home and gave it a good bath, and then another bath, then a blow drying with the backpack blower. Then followed that up with a WD-40 bath and rubdown. I removed the seat for this due to the seat has some cracks, and I did not want to get the foam wet. Then it was time to grease everything that had a fitting so it would steer and roll easier when I pushed it from one place to another. Then it was pic taking time, and it looks pretty darn good eh? :)

IT'S ALIVE !!!!!!! Had to clean the points in order to get spark. Here is a video of it running for the first time.

I do have a used one like the one in the picture i posted Brian

That wrecks that idea...... that tag is from a K-91 with gear reduction. (apparently from an Eska snowblower) Do you have pictures of the magneto? The hoodstand is a 'home-built' replacement. Not a bad job either, but definitely not OEM.

I had a 1979 K-91 that I believe had that magnet style. (been a while ~ sorry I can't quite remember) @Ken: can you post the spec and serial number from your engine, and/or does it have a silver ID sticker vs. a metal tag?

I may have a good used one I will look Brian

Use the German torque setting built into your arm.... Gootentite! :)

Ken, Check this bad boy out! I just came across it while looking for something else. Could be someone from here but I have never seen it before.

Massive Attack - Live With Me: !

Charlie, is this baby going to make it to the show?