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So I get the 857 out yesterday to aireate (sp) the back yard. I have been using this horse to move snow the last couple of months with no problems. Well, the belt is sticking a little, so I was gettingsome grinding when shifting gears. Today was a nice day, so I decided to take off the belt guard and take a look. Guess what, the belt has some chunks missing, the input pulley was loose (just sliding on the woodruff key), and the pulleys had some of the belt shavings in them. So I cleaned the pulleys with mineral spirits, tightened the input pulley set screw, and put on a new 70" belt that I had hanging there...cleaned the belt guard and put it back together. I am in awe...the advice that I have been telling everyone with this issue actually worked for me!! I went around the block looking for any snow to move (none to be found)...stopped on the front sidewalk (and with all the traffic watching) I did a little dance with the horse going back and forth in all gears...no grinding at all. I got some thumbs up also from the traffic stopped at the light. It is a really good day. Just thought I would share this with you all. Mineral Spirits on those pulleys and a good belt...what a difference.

Just got my repop aluminum tombstone weight back,had a buddy of mine polish it, planning on putting it on my 701 I think he did a great job...

I understand that rock n' rye works just as well. The thing is, you don't put it on the pulleys (if you know what I mean).

Good deal... thought you were going to tell us it ran you over.

remember grasshopper, one can accomplish many great things as long as you are not watching paint dry!

Practice the rear back flip dismount till you land on your feet 95% of the time. Then work on the TOM MIX style over the rear mount..... Only way to mount a HORSE with style. Wifey will be impressed.

I just got done driving the 417 and 416 around the yard. Parked them in the barn and was getting ready to close it up for the night. I was finishing my can of beer, looking at the black hood just sitting there. I said what the hell. Cranked her for about 15 seconds. Something sounded a little different. Cranked her again for about 15 seconds and Hot Damn! She started to run! I sat down and throttled up. The 16 horse shook at idle but at full throttle she smoothed right out and was quiet. I took up and down the driveway going thru all the gears : everything was good! I didn't do anything but clean out the tank, flush the lines, and put in a filter. I changed the spark plug, cleaned out the bowl and sprayed the crap out of the carb with cleaner. She sounds good with just a few small backfires at full throttle: I will adjust the carb tomorrow.

Well, I finally quit talking about it and bought one. Ordered it today and should be delivered Thursday. I have several tires that need some attention/replacemnt, so this will make the job much easier. I wanted one that I could use for motorcycle tires also, and this one fit the requirements. Hopefully in the next few days you will either hear me bragging about my investment and not crying about getting screwed!

I am posting this here because I believe this has general interest. My wheel horse collection has grown to the point where I either needed to put up a building to store them or find another solution. Putting up a building is a permanent solution and would increase my real estate taxes. Instead, I decided to purchase large enclosed dual axle all aluminum snow mobile trailers with drive in drive out ramps on the front and back to store my collection. No building site work or permits needed, no increase in real estate tax, and if my therapist can somehow convince me, or my heirs, to reduce my collection, the trailers can be sold. The trailers can also be locked and they look good compared to other storage options and they are less expensive than some of the similar sized storage sheds I have looked at, and, they can be easily moved. I also have plenty of property in order to put them out of sight if I choose to do that. Due to the above and other reasons, I now have a number of trailers of different sizes and tongue heights to move around my properties. Some have high tongues and some have low tongues. Thanks to other members who make some great hitches for us, we have several options to mount hitches or receivers on the backs of our tractors but not as many options for the front of our tractors. I was looking for a 2 x 2 receiver for the front of one of my tractors. One of our members, wildcruiser, makes front hitches (see one of his hitches at eBay auction 141257584969). I consulted with widcruiser to see if he had or could make up a front hitch with a 2 x 2 receiver. He came up with a hitch for me that works perfectly for my needs and he will be offering them through his eBay store and at the show in June. I could not upload all the pictures that I wanted to show so here are three to illustrate the new hitch from wildcruiser. One of the pictures that I could not upload shows a very tall 9 inch hitch for my larger trailers. I intend to use the hitch to move empty trailers around which should be well within the load limits of the hitch and the front tachmatic. Some load testing may be needed to advise as to the limits for its use. For example, you may not want to try to use it to winch your truck out of a ditch or use it to pull a tree down using the front of your tractor. The hitch is perfect for my needs and my thanks go out to wildcruiser for making it up for me and offering it to others.

glad you were able to do the victory dance! Sometimes the people in the autos just don't get it!

Just a quick note.. the part for sale in the eBay ad is mis-labeled.. that part is the fender/seat lock,not the parking brake!

I would not pay more then a couple bucks for it. I got 2 of them for nothing a few years ago. I'll see if I can snag a couple this weekend...send you one if I do.

Is it seriously that hard to remove the hub on a D? I figured while I was doing some other work that put the tractor out of commission, I would pull the hub on the one side and replace a leaking seal. Put on a puller, loosened the square headed locking bolts and started cranking away. It moved fairly easily for about an inch and a half then got so tight I was afraid I'd bust it! Decided to put it back on and it took a monumental effort to get it back to the starting point. Ended up damaging the lip of the hub. Had to use a sledge hammer. Someone please tell me that it's really hard to do any damage to the tranny by wacking that hub back on! Still don't have the seal off and now I have to replace the hub once I finally get it off.

Just thought I would share an embarrassing story in the hopes it raises some awareness of safety while on your Wheel Horses this spring. I like to keep my tractors in good shape. I usually give the tractors a wax job every year along with annual maintenance. One of the things that has always annoyed me was when the seat cracks. So for years....and I mean like 20 years, I have consistently used Armor-All on my all of my seats. Well, yesterday....will be the last time. I was mowing with the 520H with 60†deck yesterday and I had made a pass and was backing up and turning around to go back for another cut on the grass. When I was backing up I turned the wheel pretty sharp to the left and when the tractor turned, I slipped right off my greasy Armor-All’d seat and fell on top of the deck height adjustment lever. Let’s just say that hurt quite a bit…… and I have 8 stiches in my bottom to prove it. Thankfully, I always keep my mowing shields in place. Starting 1996 Toro started to put the PTO shield on….and I never saw that much benefit…..well, while sitting on the mower deck I saw a lot of value! I was real glad they put that on as the 520-H I was mowing with, as it is a 1997 model. So, in summary: -Never, Armor-All your seat -Always keep your shields and covers in place -When the seat cracks….if it bothers you, you can always get a new one Thad (Ohio)

A while back I posted about a neighbor with a 300 series wheelhorse that he was looking to get rid of. I took a look and we made a deal on the 314-A. Going to pick it up tomorrow. Sorry no pictures today but I did get some of the original documentation which is really cool. Below is a picture of the documents. One thing, how do you move a hydro when its not running? Is there a tow valve somewhere? Don't want to damage it before I even get it up and running. Thanks! Justin

All I know about it is... you don't want one, it's the wrong color. https://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_INT/products/equipment/commercial_mowing/rotary_mowers/front_rotary_mowers/1435/1435.page

Your float doesn't look too bad to me. Here's a little trick you might want to try. Take a glass bowl and mix 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of salt, and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar together. Mix until the salt is dissolved and you have a nice paste. Get an old toothbrush and start brushing the mixture all over the float. Rinse it off with water and you will have a nice shiny float. Might take a couple of doses, but it's a cheap way to make old brass look new. Take before and after pictures for us.

Don...gotta say...got out the air guitar and did a little practicing watching paint dry this afternoon with the radio on. I have another snow blade to brush paint now that it is warm enough out. Man...I just love that 857. Short frame horses rule.

Not sure if anyone here has seen this yet. I thought it was really cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNPVt3cMkT0

Just a heads up here... my PBS channel has a series called "Independent Lens", last night I watched a episode/documentary called..."Muscle Shoals" which documents the incredible sounds captured by the independent recording studios located down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Virtually every Artist known to man has recorded down there, with the studios session musicians, known simply, as the "Swampers". If you love music, and are interested in the history of where if comes from...then you gotta catch this show... a spiritual journey through time and music you definitely don't want to miss. Here's a link to the shows website, which, by the way...let's you can down load the soundtrack(playlist)from the show. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/muscle-shoals/

Steve has to be the poster child for this forum. What a nice place to be.

Just can't keep a good black hood down

I agree! It just needs a good clean up! I'm excited to have the track vac as the new house is two acres with a lot of trees. It will be great come this fall. Justin

I'll bet you find a nice tractor under all that crud. Nice find.

Well, I will take my jump box and hope that I can get it to fire. It ran last year before he stored it away. It should start, was just curious how to move it if it didn't. I forgot I have a few pictures of the tractor when I took a look at it the other day. Definitely needs a good clean up but its relatively low hours. Came with a deck, single stage blower, chains, weights and a track vac that mounts on the back.

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Congrats. It sure is a good feeling when something comes together easy once in a while. Glenn

Super duper job. Take a pic when you mount it. Glenn

Thanks guys! ----- The one thing I have tried to stay consistent with on every tractor is somekind of "originality" look. This has been one of the things that I hear the most comments on when at a show. I want them to look just like Wheelhorse or JD or whatever company would have built them as a truly factory articulated Garden Tractor- Not a scale copy of anything. I have seen some builds of different brands that resemble nothing but an original hood and that's about it. One thing I take pride in is the finished look of the sheet metal.The first few builds were kinda rougher but since I've added some shop equipment I am gaining in that area. Another thing I try to do is never destroy a nice tractor. Johns Gt was a parts machine when we started with it. I have done a couple builds just starting with hoods, fenders and then Hand built the frame. These are my favorite way to go as of lately as I'm working with fresh metal and that's a luxury. Now as a contradictory statement to the above, I have a friend who wants a scaled down build of an actual 4x4 Articulated Production farm tractor. I am going to do this build- with full intentions of it NOT looking like any garden tractor. Its a whole different look as it should be. I hate to stray from my course but this one should be a ton of fun and hope I can hit the look he wants. Its going to be a challenge !!!

If you make something idiot proof, a better idiot will come along!

Check the hi/lo shifter, might be in between gears.

I think the part # your looking for is #5544 for a 857

I know not a wheelhorse, but he thinks it is and he is in heaven.

Your setup should be similar to the parking brake assembly from my '68 Commando... which I've shown here for reference.

Have someone look at the back wheels and make sure that an axle shaft is not spinning within the hub. If it is, then you sheared a Key and its not too bad to fix if there isn't major damage. (Or it could have ruined an axle) If neither are spinning in the wheel then you have to tear into the transmission, something got crunched. Could be a disintegrated differential or stripped gear.

Other side done, I can now pass the drive from the front to the rear

I would have to agree with Rex and Glenn. No matter what the condition and accessories, you are still looking at rebuilding a smoking engine which will be $4-600 if the person finds a reasonable shop. With that many hours there is probably decent wear on the rest of the machine, as you said: needs paint. Even for a restorer/WH lover it has the less desirable (and durable) Eaton 700 rear end and only 12HP (which is plenty for those that have it, but when you are selling to the general public the HP numbers are artificially important)

there should be a parking brake lever mounted on the clutch brake lever by the brake band should be the same setup as the early sixties tractors on this one you step down on the brake pedal and push it all the way down and move the small parking brake lever forward to lock it on the front of the brake band maybe you are missing the parking brake lever? Brian

MY GT-14 RAN OVER ME WHEN I HIT THE GEAR KNOB WHEN GETTING OFF THIS WINTER. IT TOOK TWO TO GET ME OUT FROM UNDER THE TRACTOR. NOW I SHUT IT OFF BEFORE GETTING OFF. I AM TOO OLD TO DO IT AGAIN. RUSS

Finally tagged the back of my C-175's steel replacement fender today... used another one of those 30 year old NOS decals that many say "just won't work".

Option 4,5, or 6. Fab a hinge type flap with a lock in place notch, which when placed in mid position, neutral, and flap folded downward, sideways movement is prevented. The older standard shift fire trucks have a lock in instead of lock out to insure when in pump mode, shifter stays in place (Fireman proof). They actually have all diff arrangements (old pumpers) as simple as a ring or eye on shifter and a hook that disallows movement. I think all of us have dismounted WH when running, I've even hand clutched and walked beside as moving but only in Low 1 at idle. Yours would run equivalent of high 1, but only mentioning as we all sometimes make mistakes. Also do like idea of running board, keeps your Wranglers from pinching home and ripping the crouch seam!

I got the 875 started with very little work. I installed a new battery, changed the oil, put some new gas in the tank and after a few tries it started and I drove it around. I am not sure when the last time it ran but it was probably a while ago.

No sign of any moles this AM.

Update. I finally got back to the 857 this weekend. I have stripped the Majic paint off of the engine and it is ready for some real paint. I purchased some Van Sickle IH red, but I don't like the color, or the fact that it is an alkyd enamel. I thought I was getting acrylic enamel, but I failed to be specific when ordering, so my bad. If you are interested, it is in the classified section and on eBay. Anyway, today I power washed the frame and then decided to replace all the seals in the transmission. There was an extreme amount of oil and dirt and grass caked to the bottom of the tranny, and only about a quart of oil drained out, so I figured there must be a leaky seal. So, I got out the hub puller and started to remove the left hub which I suspected had the bad seal. Now usually the hub that has a bad seal behind it come off fairly easily, but nooooo. This one fought me until it broke. So, now with 1/3 of the hub broken off, the puller became worthless. It took 2 hours or sawzall and chisel work to bust the rest of this little baby off. The right side was also tough, but came off in one piece. No leaky seal found, and now I need a good 4996 hub. Monday I will remove the brake drum and input pulley. Back to the paint situation. Since this one is going to be my "toy" and not a show queen, I have finally decided to paint it with PPG Shop-Line acrylic enamel. This paint has much better coverage than the urethane, and at only $33.00/qt. it's a lot more economical. Picking it up on Monday, and if the weather stays nice for a while, I might even get the frame, transmission and engine painted this week. More to follow. Should have some pictures in the next update.

A few more pictures from Pappy's Bar-B-Que Tractor show in downtown Brazil, Indiana today! Nice Wheel Horse RJ Wheel Horse 633 [

mole report No new tunnels this morning I did notice the faint smell of smoked squirrel Has anyone seen Chuck... aka, SOI, the smoking rodent ... lately ?

Noise Makers, Chewing Gum, Poison Worms, All that stuff doesn't work. I know cause I've done everything and spent more money than you can shake a stick at. I had 6 of those Sweeney Mole Stakes that give off a shrill buzz. After I seen mole runs within inches of them I figured all the MOLES were doing was dancing! What I found that works is a Nash Mole Trap. I have 6 of them and have used with GREAT results EVERYTIME within 48 hrs or less. You want to know you killed em, using all that other non sense leaves you guessing. I killed 37 last year at different locations and made a few bucks at it too which has kinda taken the sting outta the crap I bought over the years that didn't work. Anyways After I catch em if they aren't dead I reward them by giving them Free swimming & diving lessons by dropping the trap in a 5 gal bucket "O" water! Jeesh I have yet to have one pass my swimming test! Then I hang them on a stick in the front yard so all their friends can see what happens if they show up at The Duke 'O' minium! ~Duke http://youtu.be/_SuqoKt06yg

You can say that again!

Well to clarify, the 603 Specials are made to be a cheaper priced economy tractor. The WH factory had a lot of older style parts sitting in their inventory so they were smart about it and put all different types of older parts in this particular machine. So they used up the old parts such as footrest's from as early as 1960/61 as noted by the early production straight shoe sole type of footrests that dropped down some for a boot heel to fit into and were only made for a short time before they switched to later shoe sole type that are angled outward like the 1961 WH's and didn't step down for the heel but were flat. There is a few 603's around that have the step down type and even more were sold with the flat shoe sole type. But once WH got rid of their older footrests which may not take long, they installed their new stirrup type of footrest's on the 603. They came out in 1962 and they used them for quite a few years. The hood stand on these machines were a 1964 Model year item but it was put on the late production Special Model 603 to start the new style. So the front axles, steering parts, front tires and rims were old style parts too. Some 603's have older style Suburban front rims with no holes in them for Wheel Weights like all the other 1964 WH's had. I had one 603 that I sold to a friend on this site, it has a old style 1950's and 60's tool box on it with no fenders mounted to it and the early step down shoe sole footrests too. It had a low Serial Number on it. The hood is also a 1964 style of hood. So you can virtually have a 603 with a lot of different combinations of parts. That is why I like them and have so many of them. They are all different from each other. As far as the hood goes, it didn't come with the indented part where the 2 inch square WH decal resides on one of my 603's pictured. That hood was repainted years ago by a WH dealer that repowered the tractor and placed the decals on there according to the original owner, a 90 year old woman who I got it from, a Miss Clara Bell Valentine! Seems she couldn't pull the original recoil starter anymore so they popped on a new electric start motor a 6 hp Tecumseh. So that 603 was converted to an electric start model and they spruced it up for her too. She kept the original motor as well! I left it as is to keep the story going in her memory. The new for 1964 hoods came with the decal there but just not indented anymore like the 1962 and 1963 hoods. The stripes that are on mine and Ken's new 603 are not correct, but they kind of look cool, mine is a double pinstripe. I think Ken's is a rubber piece of door trim from Napa or The Walmart. So I hope this clears up some of the questions on the 603. I am sure I don't know everything about the 603 so feel free to chime in. The 1045 was another inventory reducing machine that was produced late in the 1964 year and cleared out a lot of old fenders, tool box assemblies and square seats from the earlier Models. I have never heard the 1045's referred to as an Economy Tractor for a reduced price like the 603 was advertised to be. WH did it a few more times over their history and it worked out quite well for them financially. I thought most of this info was common knowledge to most WH collectors but maybe not. Nuff said...