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Really there can be so many qualifiers... do you want Wheel Horse branded implements, or include allied attachments (like the Danuser Forklift for GT14?), or include additional aftermarket non-allied attachments (like the Bachtold Fenceline Mower?) I would say let's just get some posted up and see where it goes from there. These are pretty hard to come by. It's far from the rarest though. I know of about 5 including mine. PTO-66 belly mounted Farm PTO.

Guess I shouldn't have shared. I just thought it was cool that something was still being made with a Wheel Horse emblem, and that it's still actually made by Toro, not MTD.

October 4, 2014 I am gearing up for a great show once again! It has been a very busy summer with family vacations, a trip to the big show, and buying my parents place where the show is held. We are looking forward to meeting some new folks, as well as reconnecting with others. We are truly thankful to all of you for making the sacrifice to be with us. We are pretty excited to be able to host our 5th annual meet and greet. I am planning on doing t-shirts once again. More information and a separate thread will be made at a future date regarding this. Please hold off until the thread has been started for putting your orders in. If all goes well we will be out plowing in the fields once again. The bean crop looks to be doing well. More information regarding this will be posted at a later date. Lodging......Warsaw has some nice hotels that are approximately 15 minutes from the show area. You are welcome to camp on site. Please pm me if you are planning on doing so so we can plan accordingly. Food will be available to purchase. Great food at reasonable prices. Swap meet area will be available again. The more you bring, the better the swap meet. Tractors......all brands are welcome. Shiny, rusty, broken, etc are not discriminated against. Raffle.....if you are interested in helping me with this again, I would greatly appreciate it. 100% of the proceeds will be going to help fight against Childhood cANCER. This has always been an amazing part of our show. I am looking forward to hitting the 200+ mark of machines on the property. We CAN do this, I just need your help! More will be added in the future so please be sure to check back and keep an eye on this thread!

Back in 2010, I went to the WHCC show and saw that lots of guys had name tags. So I found a vendor that was making name tags, badges and tractor plaques, and I had a nice name tag made. Well sometime between January of this year and the WHCC show I lost it. Hoping that the name tag guy would be there, I went to the show with high hopes of buying a new one. No name tag guy So after a little inquiring, I found that there had been a slight dust-up between the WHCC staff and the vendor, and subsequently he never returned. So my quest to find him ended last week when I did locate him. I think that they are under new management now, and there is a possibilty that they will be at the next show. But in the meantime, I invited him to join RedSquare, and if there is enough interest, he would like to become a vendor. Here is what I got from him. These are plastic, measure 2-1/8" x 3-1/2", have a pin back. What do you think? If you are interested in seeing his complete catalog, here is the link to his web site. http://thebadgefactory.com/

Bought this one I've used it some to see of I liked it and I do. This was when I converted it to single pedal for clutch and brake. A lot easier than doing it on the ground So much better than the Horrible Freight one I borrowed. Wanted one I could put my mods on also little over kill if only doing GT's

got the Poineer mounted on a DB test bed, until I find another Pond. Put a lawn roller on the tractor and it pulled me around the yard without any trouble, so It looks like its going to be a good one. I have the orginal fuel tank, but it was full of crud and i'll have to get it cleaned up way better before using it. Lucky for me the petcock was shut off and the gunk didn't make it down into the carb.

I agree completely. They licensed rights to reproduce decals. They send a rep or two to the WH show each year. They donated a $5000 tractor to the WHCC club in 2006. The provide the parts viewer on the website. The sell copy/reprint manuals. It goes on... I think Toro kept the WH name alive far beyond what really was necessary. The fact they they were still building the Classic GT tractor in 2007 shows real committment, especially when demand was so low that a few can still be found unsold 5 years later. Deere didn't do that. Neither did Cadet. Or Simplicity. Or...Shoot, the only one I can think of that built a legacy machine in recent times was Ingersoll, but even they may be dead now. I don't lament the new equipment at all. If it is at all similar to other current Toro products it is a well-designed piece of equipent that performs its intended purpose effectively. The fact that it's a lightweight LT and not a lumbering, cast iron GT has only to do with people like all of us who don't buy new equipment. Geez, how many of us even have a Toro push mower? And they're probably some of the best in the market. Why Toro even stays in the consumer market is a mystery to me. Gotta build what sells. Thanks for posting Jason! Steve

I dont know if its cheapness can be determined from a snapshot Taylor. I bet if you bought it to mow a 1acre or less lawn and didnt ask it to pull stumps, push snow-dirt-gravel or haul firewood out of the woods if would be just fine. I think the biggest reason tractors of this caliber die early is because of poor maintenance and the owner using it for chores that a garden tractor should be doing, not because its a cheaply made machine. Mike.......

I think I threw up a little...

There probably too scared to try and sell that here with the Wheel Horse name and Logo on it. For fear they might get stones thrown thru there windows. In my opinion it looks to be a joke. Shame on them for even thinking of calling that thing a Wheel Horse. Just my .02 cents worth.

picked this up a few days ago. surging like crazy. i already did a full tear down and cleaning of the carb. i think i'll do it again and hope it works.

This is my little old dog, she has degenerative nerve disease and her back legs stopped working. I decided she needed some wheels so after searching the interwebs and seeing prices around the $375 mark I built this one.

Title says it all. My intent when I first bought the 312, was to do all the maintenance items, fix anything obviously broken or missing, and use the tractor till this fall/winter when I would do some serious restoration. But these damn things have a nasty habit of growing on you. Slowly but surely, I have repaired, replaced, re-worked, or otherwise restored a significant number of items. And I just can't seem to stop. All I have to do, is walk past the tractor, and notice some little less-than-perfect part, and I begin planning of fixing it. Just this week, I bought and installed a drive belt idler. This is covered in a separate thread under Transmissions. The other undertaking this week was the stripping and repainting of the seat frame. After picking up a new seat at the Big Show and installing it the day I got back, I have been seriously irked by the rusty frame and springs it was attached to. So...last Monday I dismantled the seat, frame, and springs, took them to work, and sandblasted everything. Applied a coat of primer, and painted the parts semi-gloss black. Most all the hardware was wire brushed and painted. Was pleased to note that there was almost no wear on the hinge, and even the rubber bumper caps were like new, no cracking or checking. Pretty pleased with how the seat frame came out. Maybe now I'll just leave the tractor alone till winter..... but probably not. Noticed that most of the paint is gone from the PTO pulley, and the muffler has some rust on it. The Rodent (granddaughter) gave the tractor her seal of approval by making me ride her around the yard.

Yes that is a rare 1957 Wheel Horse Model # RJ35 with a Kohler engine! It is an early production 1957 with black rims. This is in really good original condition and should be left like it is and not restored. So I will start the arguments about the " to restore or not to restore" a rare original condition WH.The paint can be cleaned up well with some WD40 and four OOOO steel wool. The rims appear to be painted black and they only did that in 1956. So it is probably built in late 1956 or early 1957. The engine serial numbers can help identify it, if Clay jumps on board this thread. It also has the rare brake option on it. The tires all look pretty good, just don't over inflate them or they will get ruined. Like Stevasaurus said the rear tires are on backwards, just switch them from one side to the other and that will fix that problem. Hope you get this rare machine. The price is a little high but it is worth it, just hate to pay that much for it. What a good looking old girl!

Just a few pictures as it sits right now.

I think I found the problem. I'm not sure if the stator works. My multitester 9v battery went dead. Could someone tell me what to set my multitester to. for checking if the stator is charging. I also accidently touched the 2 stator wires together and it sparked. I'm guessing the stator must be working.

welcome to the group

Sounds like we've just acquired another parts vendor.

It's a stationary farm PTO... for running things like grain bin augers, hay elevators, water pumps... anything you can run on the farm from a stationary PTO using a small horsepower engine.

Glenn: Thanks - I am glad to see that Johnny is also wearing the full face shield as he works the rim with the rotary wire brush - that's why they make the headband adjustable! What color are the rims, almond or linen beige? My 854 had a stuck open intake valve when I got it and is just in primer now, I wanted to get a season or so of run time on it before I pulled it apart for painting & fresh decals. Bill

It was Jack (Wishin4a416) who told me the JD dealers carried the part. i think its relatively inexpensive, would be worth the effort to replace it as the duct tape probably won't last too long with the heat etc in that area......

MARTIN you are the man!!!!!!!!!!!. sure enough i went and put my finger over it and it fired right up and idled perfect and revs up wide open with NO surging. i can't thank you enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

And here is where we are today with the rolling frame. I left many pictures out cause I have to many. But they are important when putting things back. Many of you know that.

That's going to look awesome with those tires. I had 23-8.50 ags on mine but the original fronts.

Starting to re assemble parts.

This is going to be fun. My favorite model and your boys are hands on.

You gotta like the looks of the round hood! [emoji122]

Glen. I would like to mention that when you stated, "I assume these were fairly standard on many of the D-series tractors" you are correct; however, it is certainly worth noting that there were 5 models of the "D" series produced, plus the predecessor to these the 18 Automatic. Knowing you are not considering the "D" 250, that would leave you with 4 "D" if you are considering the 18 Auto this brings the total to 5 models. Simple enough, right? No... the "Plate-instruction top" on the 18 is well er uh unique to the 18 while the lower Plate instruction is the same as the "D" 180's, "D" 200's & some "D" 160's. The "D" 160's came in 2 different models: the Kohler and the Onan powered. The Onan had an electric clutch switch.The plate instructions for this was unique to this model. I am sure more could be added but maybe someone else can chime in.

Glad this worked out for you Scott...I assume the date is still the 1st Saturday in October?? Nice barn you got with the new house.

I don't know a whole lot about these, but from what I've heard that is probably a 1054a with the wide front tires. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong. By the way...

It is either a 953, 1054, or 1054A

Looks like a GT14 to me

I must have been watching a different world cup. in my version, Costa Rica was out a little while ago. This was definitely the best show I've seen in a while!! Congrats GERMANY

Whaaaaaaaat Bob... you mean, the new crash helmet isn't working for you?

Mike, I should have one on my old carb I took off. I can check tomorrow morning and let you know.

Thanks guys. I found out something today. It's nice to have a small can of matching paint to touch up spots. I got a couple small dings on the edges while wrestling this around by myself. I had an open quart can of Rustoleum red but I didn't know if it was Sunrise or Regal. The marking was covered with paint but I suspected it was Sunrise. It was. I wanted a half pint can of Regal red but I just can't find it. Sunrise but no Regal. I remember having the same problem when we lived in Indiana which is probably why I had the can of Sunrise. I don't know if they don't sell Regal in the small can or I just can't find it. I was digging through my paint cabinet this morning and found an unopened half pint can of Ace Hardware Regal red. It's probably 6-10 years old but still good. It's a perfect match. I went over the spots I did with the Sunrise and can't even tell it was touched up now.

Wow that thing is really scary, enough to give you real nightmares. Anyway that's enough about the dude in the blue t shirt . Love ya Bob . Take care buddy Regards to MJ

Boy you guys make me wonder what I'm doing different to get such great results with my Gator blades. I have 2 sets, one on a 48 SD that I took off my 1996 416 and put it on my Dads 1973 12Hp Automatic because his original deck was shot, and the second set I just put on a 42 RD that i just bought for my 416. My Dads lawn looks like a golf course and mine isn't far behind it. I would say the only difference being that my Dads lawn is well established and fertilized professionally, mine isnt fertilized professionally and therefore a bit thinner. I did put my gators on my 42" RD WITH, yes thats right...WITH the new set of factory blades that I bought to use until the gators showed up. I honestly will be a fan of gators for life. I havent had any issues with grass sticking up in stripes where they miss.

The gator blades cut grass clippings repeadly. Those slots in the blades throw the cut grass down into the knife part again and again to make small clippings. I had the same experience you are talking about. I think the gator blades cause ther to be too much grass in the cut while mowing. Instead of throwing the cut piece of grass out, it cuts it 2-3 times then throws it out. So all that grass keeps the deck from lifting the tall grass to get a level cut. You get smaller clippings but they don't cut as nice. I also had the issue of having more clippings thrown out the front of the deck and my Onan was sucking all them up pluggin the air screen. I switched back to the standard blade and it looks so much nicer. I don't have spots of grass that wasn't lifted up and cut. Sell those gator blades for scrap and get yourself a set of regular blades or high lift blades. All toro blades are high lift I think. So if you purchase a set of them, you will see much better resluts.

Last week I sent an email to the Toro customer service dept asking about a manual (C-145)...I got a very professional reply within 24 hours thanking me for the contact. I also inquired if the CS lady knew how many WH collectors were out here....I got another very professional reply advising me that they were very aware of the large number of WH family and that they refer many customer to serveral WH forums for information......betcha John Deere doesn't do that? BTW...they placed an order for the manuals to be printed and sent me a copy at not cost.....So....how's that for "customer service"!

Wheel Horse was one lawn and garden equipment company that Toro had a lot of respect for when they took the company over. They even continued to produce the "Classic" GT model(s) until 2007 without butchering it in to something flimsy for some 20+ years after they bought Wheel Horse. It was in 2007 that they began farming out homeowner grade lawn tractor production to MTD, so business wise we can see where it would make no sense for them to continue producing a one off model garden tractor with a high price tag and limited sales. But that being the case, I think at that time out of respect Toro should have permanently stopped using and associating the Wheel Horse name and logo with their products, regardless if this new LT is only sold overseas. When younger generations unfamiliar with the Wheel Horse name see that little LT, instead of rightfully associating the name with tough garden tractors of the past, it will be just another tough sounding name on a cheap lawn tractor. -Mark-

I suppose you can't really blame Toro too much. The modern day homeowner has changed so much in the past 25 yrs. it ain't even funny. Most homeowners these days want NOTHING to do with maintaining their property, they are either too busy or too lazy. With very little in the way of sales due to lack of demand the price goes up and we all know that a REAL Wheel Horse cost big money to build. At the end of the day Toro has been pretty good to us by having quite a bit of parts still available to us. A lot of outboard company's have turned to China to produce their motors in an effort to cut costs. No thanks, I'd rather row. I'd like to thank Toro for not outsourcing Wheel Horse to China. As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I'd like to tour the Toro plant if I'm ever in the area, it looks like it would be pretty interesting.

Maybe Toro is gearing up for a full fledged come back! Then again, probably not. Sometimes, its better to just burn out than it is too fade away. It is very interesting that Toro still carries the Wheel Horse name on a tractor. Why? I think it would be nice if you were still able to special order a REAL Wheel Horse. There are probably a ton of reasons why this wouldn't be cost effective but it sure would be a nice gesture from Toro to all of the Wheel Horse's purists of the world. Even if there were no buyers waiting in line for a REAL Wheel Horse at least could say the offer was on the table. Thanks for posting, it is pretty interesting.

Thanks for the pics Jason. I didn't know the name was used on anything anymore, you learn something new every day. I must say that is a far cry from the heavy duty machines we are use to calling !! Matt :flags-texas:

I dont know if its cheapness can be determined from a snapshot Taylor. I bet if you bought it to mow a 1acre or less lawn and didnt ask it to pull stumps, push snow-dirt-gravel or haul firewood out of the woods if would be just fine. I think the biggest reason tractors of this caliber die early is because of poor maintenance and the owner using it for chores that a garden tractor should be doing, not because its a cheaply made machine. Mike....... True Mike, but I don't think that it is going to be as long lasting or as good of quality as the old Wheel Horse tractors. Lawn Rangers are a "lawn" tractor and think about how many of them are still around running and being used and they are 40 years old! I just look at that tractor and think there is NO WAY that tractor will be around in 40 years regardless of whether you take good care of it or not.

Thanks for the pics. I like the looks of the bagging system. It's a cute lawn mower, It's not like it's trying to be a garden tractor.. :hide:

Never be in my herd!! :deadhorse:

My real 'horses just scurried across the yard and hid under a tarp! Duff :thumbs:

the 312-8 has plenty of power for tilling. hydro lift would be nice for lifting the tiller, but unless your a 95lb. girl, its not that bad. however the hydro tranny is very nice for mowing.