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Hello! I joined this forum pretty recently and I'm probably not the typical forum visitor. I build scale models - usually 1/25 cars - and I've been working on an Electro 12 model. BTW, many of the model cars that I build are my favorite car and another South Bend native - Studebakers. I found this site while searching online for reference photos and manuals. It's a great place with a lot of excellent resources. Reminds me a lot of the Studebaker Drivers Club forum where the members have always been very supportive of my model building. Makes me want to have a real Wheel Horse (and a Studebaker). Anyway, this is where it all started: Probably not many people are more interested in the Wheel Horse than they are in the Indy Car but I'm building the tractor and may never build the car. The tractor in the kit appears to be Charger but after looking over this forum for a while I decided to convert it to the Charger's cousin - a 1969 Electro 12. I had already built the engine as it came in the box but I realized it wasn't correct for this tractor. This is what the first build-up looked like: So I stripped the paint off and did a conversion: The next order of business was building a mower deck since the kit didn't have one and what good is a Wheel Horse without it! I downloaded the manual for a 5-1422 (Thank you, Forum!) and started scratchbuilding. This has been a lot of fun! Here are a few shots from the build-up and the finished mower: The paint is Duplicolor Bright Red which is a GM color. I bought some IH Red at Tractor Supply but didn't really like the drying properties of the paint. The GM Red matches it very well and in fact I brushed on a little of the IH color as touch-up paint in a few spots and can't see the difference. Duplicolor is my preferred paint. It dries fast and hard. There's certainly more to come. I hope you enjoy. Most of the other major components are under construction right now and will be ready to post soon.

spent a relaxing afternoon putting together the 8 speed. i think these transmissions are my favorite mechanical item on these tractors to rebuild. simple and compact, i like doing them much more than any engine. this is my second unidrive, first was the 3 speed in the 1057. the 8 speed really isn't any more difficult, just a few extra pieces inside.... i used the manual and followed along step by step with assembly. when i stripped it down the manual was used as well...... before starting on putting it back together, all burrs from gears were removed, all shafts polished and everything was cleaned in diesel. heres some pics of the assembly and finally bolted to the frame. i guess i need to go spend some money on some tires now for the 12 x 8.5 rims, then the 416-8 will be on all fours for the first time...... axle bearing and seals going in. i ended up putting two 11050 seals back in, much the same as was previously except the oem seals were plastic and the 11050 seals are steel. the seals are approx 0.120 wide so i sunk the inner seal to approx 0.200 so that the lip of the outer seal wouldn't interfere with the inner seal body once the axle was inserted in it and pushed it open more. both seals in place...... input shaft was used to push in input seal. I've found sometimes these smaller seals are hard to get started properly, it helps to also file any lip off the leading edge of the steel part of the seal and also make sure the bore in which its going is burr free. the input shaft helps to get it started right and even and push the seal home flush. seals all in the right hand side of case (smaller half) ready to be flipped over and build the internal part of the trans.... trans all ready to be sealed up, gears and shafts all installed and all positions tested to make sure its going to be a successful rebuild. notice the stool is being used again, Steve..... left hand side on and ready to be bolted down. i couldn't find a torque setting for the case bolts in the manual, so i used the case bolt torque from the eaton 1100 manual, basically the same castings. that was 30-35 ft lbs.... transmission finally bolted up to frame....... all in all was a most enjoyable afternoon!!!!

The 3 speed...4 speed...6 speed and 8 speed transmissions all have the same gear ratios...that is...the high range of the 6 and 8 speed transmissions are the same as the 3 and 4 speed. 1st gear is 66.8 2nd gear is 42.4 3rd gear is 24.6 and reverse is 51.5 in all of the wheel horse transmissions. The low range ratios are the same in the 6 as well as the 8 speed transmissions. low 1st gear is 267.2 low 2nd gear is 169.6 low 3rd gear is 98.4 and low reverse is 206.0. If one tractor is faster then the other, it is because of engine or input pulley sizes, or the size of the tires could change the speed, or your engine RPMs. The internal gear ratios are all the same. Advantages... If you are in low 1st gear, you have time to unmount the horse, go into the house for a cold beverage and come back and get on the horse and the horse only went 10 feet. One other application for using a low range gear might be using a snow blower.

I like driving my 857 3-speed because it is 6/10ths of a mph faster.

Hi 3rd is the same ratio as 3rd in a 4 speed. All the extra ratio's are in the low range, slower than 1st in a 4 speed. I have very seldom used the low gears in any of my 8 speeds. Tilling and using a sickle mower are the only tasks I can think of where the low speeds are necessary. As Martin just said, the strength factor is mainly in the axles/differential package. Both 4 and 8 speeds come with either 1" or 1 1/8" axles. The 8 pinion diff is generally considered the strongest, followed by the 4 pinion, 10 pinion and the bevel gear diff which is considered the weakest. I have heard that there were some 8 pinion diffs produced with 1" axles, but I have never seen one. My opinion is that a 4 pinion diff is plenty strong enough for all the normal tasks. As far as I know, all 10 pinion and bevel gear diffs came with 1 1/8" axles. So my thought is that unless you are tilling or using a sickle mower, there is no real need to change to an 8 speed.

Many thanks to everybody for the very kind words and warm welcome to the forum. I didn't expect all this! I hope to get a lot done on the weekend so this is probably a good time to respond to some of the questions and comments. Is the spec plate painted or a tiny chrome and black decal. It's a homemade decal using the computer and inkjet printer. I make most of my own decals (all of them for this project) based on images that I find on the internet. After printing the decal I applied it to bit of adhesive backed aluminum foil and then to the engine. What did you use to build the deck? The deck is almost all made from various shapes of styrene stock available at most hobby shops. It took sheet stock, rods, tubes and quarter round of various sizes. There's also a little bit of 1/32" brass rod used. By the way, do you have any full size Wheel Horses? No. In fact, my lawn has so many obstacles that using a riding mower might be more trouble than it's worth. On the other hand, I could ride around the neighborhood on my Wheel Horse if I had one. I love cool mechanical devices and it would be a lot of fun to have an Electro or something. I have a hard time working on a full size one. MIne only has to look like it runs! What else have you built? Mostly cars in 1/25 scale and a few 1/32 scale. I love Studebakers but build lots of others, too. Here's a few samples: I call that one the "Cowboy Cadillac". 1963 Studebaker Avanti 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner Customized 1953 Stude The "Slant Six Slingshot" 1934 Duesenberg Okay, I'm not showing you the ones that didn't turn out so well! Thanks again, everybody.

The Isle of Man UK TT Motor Cycle race Known as The Greatest Show On Earth . Every year this event takes place Well worth watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D09yD0MN4Vg

can't say i agree with this statement. if all external things remain the same, the gearing between the non hi/lo boxes and hi/lo boxes in the hi selection is the same. am i wrong here transmission guys?

Denny and Craig Beat me to it! Ha this Red Square gang is loaded and ready!

Nice mower! Mine gets used a few times during the summer, but I wish it was back on a hydro tractor or 6 / 8 speed. The 3 speeds are geared too fast for thick weeds or working around steep banks.

Hi folks, Fellow boarder Jason M asked me quite some time ago for more information on my generator mount. I thought that if I posted the information here it might benefit others and provide the basis for some sharing of further ideas. My 'design' is hardly unique as I studied posts by others who have done this before me and got some ideas from them that made mine better. Here's a picture of the generator in action during a one day outage this spring. Detail in the vicinity of the quick-tach. The washers that locate the attachment point are welded inboard of the frame rails. Here's a side view of the frame. Offset of the generator head from the respective frame member. This is not a critical dimension as long as you leave sufficient allowance to align the generator pulley with the PTO pulley. In my case, I originally aligned the generator pulley with the smaller outboard groove in the PTO pulley. Unfortunately that resulted in frequency less than 60 Hz. I switched to the larger inboard groove on the PTO pulley and frequency was good at 60 Hz. I was lucky to have enough space on the generator shaft to move the pulley over without having to drill the mounting holes again. Here is the width of the frame. The dimension is not critical as long as it is wide enough to clear the mount point and narrow enough to clear the front tires at full turn. Length of the frame from mount point. to front edge of generator. Bottom view. Here is the belt I use. Do note that the belt length will depend on the length of the frame and as the belt wears in, the generator will drop a bit. Experience: I used it during one outage early this year when we lost power for about a day. I do not have a transfer switch so I just ran extensions to refrigerator and freezer and fish tanks. I did not run it continuously but ran a couple hours on and then left it off a couple hours. With the pulleys I have, I need to run the engine at full throttle to achieve line frequency. I wanted a pulley that would achieve that for me as that's where the engine makes maximum power and the only place where it has a chance to get anything close to full output from the generator. And in fact, I am only set up to run it at considerably less than full output. It uses a lot of gasoline (IIRC it was several hours on a full tank.) The one thing I do not know is how well the engine will regulate speed at less than full throttle. For the loads I ran, speed regulation was pretty good at full throttle. I've probably left some details out so ask away if I've left any questions. Edit: I see that the generator is on sale right now for $290: http://www.harborfreight.com/10000-watts-m...head-45416.html that's only a few $$$ more than I paid for it. (I used the 20% off coupon which is now disallowed for generators among other things. and when I bought mine, they were $299.) thanks, hank

Well i got the call that a guy was going to scrap this beatiful wheel horse tractor. I called the guy who own it and with dealing back and forth on a price on price we finally came up with a deal. He told me if i called in couple days later he would of taken the tractor to the scrap yard. The tractor is looking rough but has a lot if potential to become alive again. The rear deck is in great shape and all the spindles all move freely. The snowblower is locked up and has some small rust holes but seems with a little tlc it could be a good worker again. The left over tiller shield is in good shape the gear box was open up for sone reason. Otherwise im keeping the D200 tractor and decks and the snowblower and tiller parts will be up for sale. Today was a good day......

click on the pic

Brutus Maximus.

Yeah that was a good worthwhile save. I hate seeing these good old machines go to the scrap yard. It really makes me kinda angry to see that happen.

Has Jeanine seen what you have done to her favorite rug?

Can you imagine if the Big Show was this weekend??? Snow plowing competition, jousting with snow blowers, huge bonfires, roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate, chile by the cup at the concession stand, hot toties, angels in the snow...OMG...where is my lawn chair??? Where is the snow chucker?? Listening to "California Dreaming". It would be like being at Scott's Meet & Greet"!!! Snow skitching behind a horse. We need to celebrate winter with the horses. What do you think. :banana-skier: :banana-skier: How about Wheel Horse Hockey???

Cup holder!

I needed to wait tell there was enough snow so it would look cool Gabby was outside playing with the warmer temps, so I finally got some videos

Very productive too.

Not creepy... I'm taking all my tractors with me.

Hers the wheelie bars all paintes

My 875 would win the snow plow competition just kidding would lose bad Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk So stevasaurus do u not like socks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Icees Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ended up using the one with the extended handle as I believe it will be easier and safer to use. I have the grip on order for it.

I like the 8 speed and it's hi/low. Low range is handy for trimming while mowing in very tight places, when I use to have ramps for truck loading, I use low range. I generally moldboard plow in 3rd gear low and low range is handy when creeping the tractor around in the basement. I've used low range for pulling woven wire tight on a garden fence installation and it's handy when blowing deep snow. One of my disappointments with my IH Cub Cadet is that low range was an option, standard I guess on 10 plus hp Wheelhorse tractors - another Wheelhorse advantage.

This tractor has had a stack on it for about 25 years now. Has not broke or cracked. Most Kohlers the nipple is so rusted into the block you can not get it out. I'm no expert but just my

I like them, just a little too ambitious at the moment... :)

That is cool! The 5.2L I have is also quite the sleeper. Mine has a 3.5" lift so it is not as "predictable" at speed and I have little seat time. It is my Wife's winter car to replace Her 02 Mustang GT. I got this for $700. Has 150K on it. PO thought the trans was bad but it was a bad u-joint. I have a 242 transfer case I got for $50 to replace the full time 249. Jim

Thanks for posting this video , you could have just saved me & my familys life Thank you

There may be a difference in the input gearing due to the pulley sizes, I've never done the math. Internal gearing is the same. A little early in the morning for me, but I'm thinking that .6 mph is 10%?!!

Old boy scout trick was to use a 9v battery and steel wool to start a fire.

Craig, There's a company near me that has been making tents since 1875, they might have something. Search " Armbruster Tent Maker"

(I am hoping to save the admins some work by posting this myself. If an admin would like to sum this up better, feel free to delete) Karl (nylyon) has enabled a new feature (in this section only) to mark the best solution to your problem. This is done on a trial basis to see how you like it and to see how feasible it will be here. Please put any and all feedback in this thread: When you post a thread with a question or problem, please go through at the end and mark the best answer. This will make it quick and easy for anyone searching the forums to know that the thread contains an answer that was satisfactory to the OP. Hopefully this will cut down on duplicate postings and simplify searching a bit. IF THERE IS MORE THAN ONE 'BEST' ANSWER: Either choose your favorite, or multiquote them in a final post along with some information about how you solved the problem and mark your own answer as the best. Please make sure that you are ONLY MARKING GOOD ANSWERS that you follow through with. If there is no great answer, DON'T MARK ONE. This is not a requirement. Thanks and I hope everyone likes the new feature! Rocks!

My opinion is, nothing. Run it at 3600 RPM as designed. This is not a big block like the K241, 301, 321, and 341 that can be run at higher RPMs with proper modification.

Hey Mike. What amazes me, is those things were a buck back in the day. Today, they are still a buck..lol. I guess that's why HWs are made off shore. I had the California 8 Set also. Fun, until the Ol Juice machine ran low on battery power. Here's a few of my Sizzlers. Boss 302s Pink TA, Pink Cuda, along with a Club Kit I managed to nab. Fat Daddy Ram Rocket,and Steering Trailer. Very tuff piece. And I do have one Camaro, in blue. Thanks again. Frank

I ran out of room last fall when I added my 4th horse. Initially I planned on keeping it under a tarp in the back yard (you might consider that for a worker) but in the end I worked out a deal to keep the machine with blade in the neighbors nice warm garage and let him use it to clear his snow in exchange for the storage. He is a great guy, very mechanical and takes good care of his stuff so it worked great for both of us. There is usually a good answer like that if you look hard enough. Just a thought.

you can not do the one TT has a picture of unless you can re rivet the bearing cage back together the old style that Charlie is talking about uses a bearing cage shield that goes in from one side I have taken some apart but found that unless the bearing is really really worn bad you will not be able to rebuild it by replacing the balls as the bearing does not use .250 dia balls the stock bearing uses .247 dia. balls (proprietary) when you try to use .250 dia balls the bearing locks up and you can not space them out to reassemble the cage in the bearing ( in other words you loose all the clearance in the bearing between the balls and races) Brian I think the bearing in TT's second pic is the old style

Yeah Dino, I like the snow after being stationed for 3 1/2 years in Louisana and that bloody heat and humidity. We have had two melt offs this season and still have this, I would have a phd (piled hi-er and deeper) if that never happened. My boy P'Chop is loving plowing on his Ranger even if the Techy is past it's useful life span, he prays for it to start every day while awaiting spring rebuild on it. As the banks are taller than he is, all he can do is stage piles for me to get rid of with the blower. As SousaKerry says we usually get pounded in Feb so this may get a little interesting, but the lake levels should be up this summer!

I like the car and all but l like the girls more

we have a lot like the first post,add some wind and its been a nightmare,my county(dufferin)is under a state of emergency,and im in Ontario where were kinda used to 3 or 4 feet of snow

Been collecting diecast my whole life...storage tubs, and bins full of MOC HW's, and JL's here. Most of my Spectra Flame collection consists of about twenty, loose Open Fire Gremlins, but they're squirreled away so far, I can't even put hands on 'em anymore. Then, I was off the deep end for the longest...collecting all of the AMC slots that Aurora had to offer too. Of course, any of the loose RWB cars...are going to be the special one's in my collection. I then, one day...discovered AMC was the parent company of Wheelhorse tractors, and I've been adding heavy red metal to my AMC collection ever since.

Congrats, nice score Kevin.

Well, its hard to say what you don't know... But the collective knowledge of this forum has blown me away. If you ask a specific question in the right section then I'm sure there is someone here that can help you!

WELL ... You Guys asked for it ... So here ya go... enjoy...

Did he say snow angels?

My son's partner gave me the following photos taken around 1980ish. Her family owned Hasley Manor and Morton Manor on the Isle of Wight at that time. Her uncle is tending his horse while her grandfather looks on at Morton Manor Another uncle cleaning the wheel of his steed at Hasely Manor. Please don't bother sending begging PMs - the money in her family all went a long time ago! Period photos of WHs like this seem quite rare so I thought I'd share them. Andy

Yes, it's not good weather for painting and drying outside.... So I've had to come inside Missus is just about used to it.

Maybe a Redsquare decal or fridge magnet could be sold on Ebay to promote the site