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So I was watching this little Toro Wheel Horse 8-25 on Craigslist for a couple of months. It looked to be in decent shape in the (tiny little) pictures in the listing, but the ad said it wasn't running, and the owner thought it "might need a new starter" and "might need carb work". You know, the typical scenario all CL hunters eventually face where you have to decide if the guy really doesn't know much about engines, or he does but wants to "play dumb" to avoid revealing known issues. When the price dropped to $100 in November I reached out to the guy figuring I might as well at least go look at it, but I got no reply. I didn't give it too much thought and shortly thereafter the ad went away. Jump ahead to last week and I see the ad has reappeared. Now the price is $60. So I reach out and this time he promptly replies. We aren't too far from one another, so we set up a time and off I go, figuring that if he hasn't sold it in all this time the photos must be misleading or someone else would have bought it long ago. Well, I get there and sitting in the driveway is a rock-solid little rider, a little dingy and dirty, but overall in great shape. I figured I could afford to roll the dice on a $60 crap-shoot so I loaded it up and brought it home. The carb did in fact need some work. The fuel inlet was cracked to I had to extract the old one and press in a new one, as well as tanking the carb and replacing the usual parts. Although it was a pain in the rear to get to, all the starter needed was a new pinion gear. I added an inline fuel shut-off and a new fuel filter, and presto....running tractor! So right now I'm all-in at $88 bucks and I figure if all else fails, I can get that out of the engine if I have to! (I did find one issue with the tractor, but I'll save it for a separate thread.) These photos show the little fella' in just the shape I found him. Aside from a tiny bit of surface rust along the edge of the deck, there are no significant blemishes to mention. Anything you see on it is just dirt that I haven't been able to wash off yet 'cause it's too dang cold! Most of the Serial # sticker is unreadable, but I believe this is a 1999 model and it's pretty clear it was stored indoors most of its life. (My phone's camera wasn't cooperating all that well, so I apologize for the cruddy photos. I'll post more when I get the little tyke all cleaned up!)

Hope I dont get stoned. I do about 3/4 mile of drives and usually split duty between the 310-8 and the B. I usually do mine and the neighbors with the 310 and the MIL's 2 with the B. But it was cold and windy so I just stayed on the B today and gave the WH a rest. Really didnt have much, bout 3 inches. The B doesnt do as nice a job because it has skids which are all the way up but thats OK. Wish we could get some heavy stuff here but not yet.

i just picked up this 551. gave it a bath and now to see if i can get it running (been sitting 5 yrs). hopefully it won't be to hard.

Hi there! I'm a new member, a 40-year old guy from Sweden and mybe i should post in Euro Horse only? Anyway, here comes some pics of my D-180 and what i have done with it. Got it in a pretty worn shape after it hasn't been used for 15 years. Started with welding a new gas tank (old was missing) and mounted a new, better seat. The 18hp twincylinder engine leaked gas through the pistons down to the oil pan and got a honing + valve job, together with new piston rings and all parts in the ignition. After a 3-point hitch build for the rear, some grinding, painting, decals and some new lights in stainless holders.

Just thought id say hi. Im in northern Indiana. I don't have a lot of wheel horse stuff. (I collect them all) I do have a couple. I have a rj 58 currently and also part owner of a custom suburban. (split three ways between my dad, brother and I) It was a father son type project. It was done almost 12 years ago. Im old enough now that im the care taker of the tractor. I go to some shows around here so you may recognize it. Not what everybody likes but its what we like. Sure does get a lot of attention.

Finally got Marvin up and running with a rewire. Found house wire, wire that is used to connect resistive heat strips, scotchlocks,and fuses used as wire splices all inside the harness. The Big-Block is singing once again. Glad my neighbor is lazy about shoveling so I had something to "roadtest" it on. Also posted a pic of the cleaned up wire and harness.

Most of the ones I've had wouldn't run in summer either!

Some new picture with the loader. What do you guys think about it? Have not used the loader much yet but the snowblade a lot more...

I've started the rebuild of my RJ58 and the CBR32 sickle bar that fits it. I've been collecting parts for it for a few years so I thought I'd get started on it. I didn't take many pics of the tear down, mostly just close ups for reference. I've got the engine tore down and cleaned up, ready to go to the machine shop. This one will get bored .010 and the crank will be turned .010. I got the parts for the engine today so I'll be able to take it to the shop this week. While it's at the machine shop I'm going to have them bore and tap the exhaust port to 3/4" N.P.T. Any opinions on which rim is correct for the RJ would be appreciated I picked up new blades for the sickle at the show in Le Sueur last year, I finally got those changed. Now I need to get it and a bunch of small parts sent to be plated.

Given the storms and the flooding we've been having I was amused to spot the following impromptu sign on the A36. The village of Wellow is officially twinned with Couffe, in the Loire-Atlantique region of Western France, there's an official sign a tad further down the road but you've got to love this one. Andy

this is a mayfield merlin only 109 ever made between 1966-1968 the green is before i restored it

Hi everyone, just came in from plowing 6" new snow out off my drive and my neighbors mail box.10 degrees out but who caries. That little 1979 c-101-8 loves the snow. Just thinking out loud why can't they make tractors like that any more? The only other thing I have that is worth more is my beautiful wife, but she is a little older model. Have a great winter all and be safe, we all have something or someone that needs us. Bob from western Pa.( Just to clarify the young lady in my member picture is my daughter! )

It's nice to know grandpa's Wheel Horse is still being used after he's gone.

My dad and I bought a blast box at an auction today and i tried it out on a few parts.

Any wonder they can't get them to run?

Heres my D-180 from 1975, that i have renovated and build some custom "things" on. For example new gastank, seat, lightning and stainless holders for them, 3-point hitch at front and back, hydraulics with 7 functions and its own pump, new bigger Ross steering box, side exhaust systems with mufflers etc. I have also built tools for it as a snowblade, a loader, counterweight and have also a forklift built going on.

Minor setbacks... You know you can't keep a good down.

I know trying to get any governor To stop "hunting" will drive you Crazy! Reminds me of trying to Set the injector rack on A Detroit Diesel. It's the domino effect. You Change one setting and then three Other measurements are out of Spec. Good Luck. Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

Awesome score.

Thats a little beauty , dont look like it would take much to get her going, deck looks good too great find

Are those white wall tires on the front! or are they painted on?

I used a similar tractor around my house pulling a cart and stuff. I worked the pants off it. It was so impressive it made me look up Wheel Horse and 9 tractors later I write this message.

Snow,grass, landscaping, hauling garbage. Its all good.

I wondered what that blue haze was over the horizon to the northwest. You're only about 15 miles up the road from here. Congrats, Don! That's a real nice item you have there.

Imagine that ... leaving your welder out by the sidewalk were anyone can trip over it !

My tractor is from HÃ¥kans son-in-law! HÃ¥kan lives just 3-4 mins away from me, very nice guy and they have ALOT of tractors and attatchments aswell!

You guys that like plowing snow, come on up to Norton Shores, MI. We got plenty of it. I'm ready for spring.

Im the wet blanket at this party,,, Id cut grass all day everyday, but ya all can have the snow.

below is a cut and past from the owners manual for automatic transmissions During cold weather, start the engine with the parking brake engaged; on C-Series models also lift up the transmission clutch lever. Run the engine at full throttle for two minutes to allow engine to warm-up and then engage the transmission clutch by pushing the lever down. For temperatures between 0 and 30F (- 18C and -2 C) allow the transmission to run in neutral for 5 minutes before attempting to set the unit into motion. For temperatures below (-18 °C) allow the transmission to run in neutral for 10 minutes before attempting to set the unit in motion . Failure to do so may result in extensive internal transmission damage.

I made this post to show you the final result of the front lights. I tried to respect it as was the original one. To finish definitely the restoration just missing tail light and decals. These would be the last step.

May as well use that Ironing Board Ian !. It will be no good for a 'Surf Board' and trying to 'Hang Five' . Let me know the part number of that iffy High Speed Needle, I may have a good clean, used Spare. Edit :- Forgot to ask what is the diameter of the Pulley?. I may be able to resize it for you.

I just love reading your posts. You are so descriptive of your trials & tribulations! Glad you have some type of belt gaurd...Keeps the pants & leg injuries to a minumum!

Ian, Love the fishnet belt guard! "Honey, where is my ironing board?"

An interesting story comes to mind when talking about hands. In 1975, I went to work for an office equipment company in Baltimore. One of the three owners of the business was an inventor. He had several interesting patents. One day a salesman came into the office to discuss a business arrangement with this owner. Our business at the time was the exclusive distributor for dictation equipment and calculators to such hospitals and colleges as Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, and so on. We also had exclusive distribution rights on the entire east coast for Norelco. He offered him the exclusive rights to market a new product. Said this product was going to revolutionize the medical industry. The owner rejected the offer saying that this product would never catch on. What was it? Disposable latex gloves.

We're getting a little dusting today. I'll have Mrs. Funengineer take a video later today or tomorrow. Depends on how much snow we get.

WH stickers, and red spray bombs are cheap.

From there begins the process of restoring and painting...

The first thing that I repaired, was the seat. And I have to find a replacement for the Choke and Throttle cables.

Reputable Economical Dependable Satisifying Quintessential Ubiquitous Ameliorating Reliable Eloquent

I guess I'm lucky. I've worked with harsh chemical all my life, never using gloves. I have been told many years later that the chemicals that I used are metabolized by your liver, and that I will suffer the results of my misuse later in life. So far, so good. I have a physical every year with blood work specific to liver function. Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning the mishandling of chemicals, I am just saying that I don't know if I have problems waiting for me later on, but as of now, I am okay. Having said that, I do wear latex or nitrile gloves now when working with most liquids that are known to be harmful. As I am on the slippery side of the slope of life, I don't want to speed up that slide.

The decals vinylguy (terry) made me look absolutely amazing. Here's a few.

Didn't GT's use a longer frame plow, or did I just make that up You are making me feel like I'm neglecting mine, it's sat snug on the trailer out of the way for a while. No doubt sulking with me because I'm spending so much time in the workshop with my other woman

Work in progress! Have replaced the sloppy steering box to a much stronger (and bigger..) Ross gear from a bigger Volvo BM tractor. Much work was needed to be able to get it into place... Cut down the housing and it's attachments, steering shaft, gear shaft, pivot arm, shorten and bend the drag link etc. but it now seems to work ok! In this picture you also see the hydraulic pump, tank and motor i've mounted under the tractor. Hope this also will work out ok... Bought an old front end loader but it were in pretty bad shape and also needed to be rebuilt. Cut down the frame and bucket to suit the wheel horse width better.

This is last years team, same team for this year plus a C-145 with single stage tall shoot. (not pictured)

They call those stacks, gotta get the little rain guard flapper for the top too... makes the little tink...tink...tink sound when running at idle.

All parts from McMaster-Carr, and not that expensive! ~Duff

Throw in the B's too... my Kwik Way came off the 520 and went onto a B80 with no changes to bolt positions or anything.... About twenty minutes and it was loosely on the tractor and only needed to be tightened up. Tony