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As some of you know my family has purchased my parents property out in the country. For just over a month we have been packing, unpacking, organizing, and trying to get settled. Had some time today to take a couple of Horses out. I am really digging the country life and don't miss the subdivision one bit!

Well it has been forever that I have wanted to build a nice barn to store my horses and work on them. Yesterday was the day that I started this long project. I will use this thread to document the progression. I anticipate this will be a several month build. Here is the start !

Hello from Northern Illinois! My father gave me his pride and joy this week, I loved driving this tractor in the 70's and 80's when I was a young kid. My father tells me when he purchased the tractor in 1968 that they installed an electric starter kit complete with cigarette lighter, they replaced the rear bushings with bearings , installed lights at the dealership but were not made by Wheel Horse. He also purchased the chrome wheel covers, dozer blade, mowing deck and snow blade. He also mentioned at the time of his purchase that they gave you a Wheel Horse push mower but it did not stand up to the test of time. When the dealership shut down my father was able to get his hands on several spare parts for this tractor. I was digging through all the paperwork and found several manuals for this tractor as well as many other models. I would love to hear more info and facts on this tractor! In the coming year I think we will be doing a complete restoration, so any ideas and suggestions are very welcome.

Bet it sounds something like this at the Mehlbergs at night... when is said to each and every .

Thanks for the info! We are a military family so PM's are a must! My father was very strict about keeping the tractor clean, changing the oil...I can remember many times sitting out back with a putty knife cleaning the bottom of the deck off. I will have to quiz my dad on why he just didnt purchase the 657 VS doing all these upgrades? My uncle ran the dealership back then so maybe it had something to do with it? We had a few Wheel Horses growing up, he gave my brother the Ranger and we had one other one but we dont remember the model number( Photo included).

You'll love the extra space. I know I do.

Decals are on...... so very much for all your efforts Terry......

I've been in the country most of my life, never going back to the city. Now the Horses can run free!

Congratulations on the new digs Scott... those 's look right at home there on your new green acres.

pasch...as you can see, this is an excellent site with great members. You can never post enough pictures. That green thing in the back corner that KenB spotted is OK...you need some of those to realize how good the Red things are.

Yes it does Lane...it is along the north fence next to the army exhibit...back side of the circle...easy to find. We get a little bit of everything there. Exhibitors are free and you can ride your horse in through one of the 2 gates. The trailer parking is on the east side and there is a gate right there.

Very cool story. Since you asked for idea's and suggestions here goes, If that is what the 607 currently looks like I would never restore it. It looks to already be in fantastic condition. If you restore it know one will ever know how well your father took care of it... Tractors in excellent original condition are truly appreciated, I also think its more valuable in its current condition. Of course its your choice.

I wouldn't restore such a awesome original wheel horse

I picked up a pair of RJ's this past week end and a 520H, so I had to let a couple of my others go down the road. It's always sad to see them leave.

Auto Trader spent a few bucks and brought back the coolest Dodge ever plus the original drivers... made me laugh and made me remember those great Friday nights @ 8 pm when I sat in front of the 12" black and white boob tube in my parents kitchen and adjusted the rabbit ears so I could get a decent picture out of CBS Channel 3 Hartford CT . I was ~10 years old Tony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XonxZvXEPE

looking real nice there, Glenn....

The seat frame is the part# 2788 style not the part# 2727 style this is a 1054 or 1054A style seat frame. This tractor has the fan gear style steering, however: so did some of the later style 953's so this does not help much. The hood decal placement if original looks to be where they were placed on the 953's. I have a 1054 with seial #42494 on the shift decal, Mark.

That's a fair price now... expect their prices to go up considerably during the snow removal season.

Sold my 856 and my commando 6 today. Hated to see them go, but had to make room.

I think that the 953 had a Ross steering box/assembly that the 1054 and 1054a did not. I don't see the headlights in your pile of stuff but the 953 headlights were different from the other two. Do you have a 10hp or a 9.5hp Kohler? Mike......

Thanks guys! I absolutely love it here! Almost all of the Horse's are mine. Now I am able to tuck them in each night! :)

Congratulations Scott! That's a nice place your parents have. I enjoyed the visit last December when I purchased your extra 1045. Did all those Wheel Horses and equipment of your Dad's get thrown into the deal?

I once was told "a dollar a pound", but I sold some front weights for a Bolens for $125, and I am buying some front WH for the same money. Depending if you are buying or selling! $150+/- Shipping would be additional charge.

Perfect place to raise a family. Very happy for you Scott. Very jealous of your country home and Wheel Horse stable

Great pictures Scott! I know you will love rural life. I have lived that good life for 64 years. Wouldn't want city life for nuttin'

Sorry, I was in a hurry to get it done and so picture taking stopped. The underside has the baffles, I took them out to repair the deck and put them back in. The rear panel that I put in (it is not just laid over the holes... I cut out the rear panel and welded the new one in its place). The new piece has the crease near the bottom and I welded a ¼" rod along the bottom edge. The top piece is overlaid and welded. It took me a week to do this. So the underside looks good.... welds all smoothed out and a coat of Plastikote bed liner spray. I've mowed my yard a few times and now the neighbor is buying it. $450. If I had to pay myself for working on it I would get paid about a $1 an hour. People have asked me if I would restore their mowers and I tell them they couldn't afford it! "It takes a little money and a whole lot of time!" Joe

I'd go with Carlisle. Made in the USA. By the time you pay shipping you can them mounted for little difference in price.

Its a 953(1963), 1054(1964) or a 1054a(1965). Mike.......

What a awsome story & thank you for your service so we can have a great hobbie like this !!!! I think you need to leave it unrestored & just tell your great story when you show it & thank for sharing the story & pictures . welcome to

Red Neck Cruise control one at fast idle one at mowing speed....

So the other day i was riding Juliette and i went to change from neutral to 5th gear and thats when the gear shifter broke of the turning bit on the gearbox, so i did a temporary fix to get it going again and it worked, but the other day i was thinking about it and then it came to me when shifting into neutral and reverse there are no problems but when you put the lever up to change into forward gears that is when it breaks, so this got me thinking if the gears are easy to change when the lever is in the down position then why not make it so that you don't have to put the lever up to change into the forward gears. And then i went into thinking mode and thought of a solution. Why not cute out the section that meant you had to push the lever up to change gears. And then i got thinking some more of my idea and liked it so i woke up the next day and set about to fix it, so i took of the inspection panel and cute out the offending section, filed it down, and painted it, and i'm pleased to say it not only means the gear selector wont break it makes it so much easier to change gears. below is a video i made with more information and a more detailed step by step guide on how to do it. James

I haven't watched Cub attachment prices for a while, but if it's complete and in decent shape, I'd think $500 is a good starting point. I don't recall ever seeing sickles of any brand sell for much over that. I'd think that should at least field you some offers to think about. Just checked the bay... looks like two setups have sold recently... one for $450 and one for 500 after (after being listed more than once). Either way, good luck with your hunt.

Airborne!

Ahhhhhhh, well I deserve that one! I will work on replacing it with another Horse!

Wow, it just keeps gettin nicer! I'll be the first to bust yer chops about the green machine in the corner....

A few more pics, sorry not trying to be a "show off" -I'm just excited about my new toy!

I'm all for killing the B#$%#$%tad*89689s but draw the line at poison... Not because I care about the mice.... but for 2 reasons---1)the mice get a tummy full and crawl into your __________ insert antique car, boat, tractor etc.... and curl up and die and then its a pita to clean out. Or 2) they get a tummy full and head off into the woods and ____________ insert owl, hawk, bird of prey, cat.... whatever eats the mouse and dies themselves. I prefer either baiting and trapping (it works but is labor intensive) or the classic red neck trap with the 5 gallon bucket, string across top with soda can/peanut butter with a couple inches of non toxic anti-freeze in the bottom. They slip fall in and drown and thats that. Just my .02.... Tony Post 1000 Baby!

That looks more like a 701/702 tank. The large device is a threaded plug with a threaded hole in the middle for your nipple. The plug is threaded, should have a shoulder that you can put a large wrench on and unscrew. Yes, that unscrews. I have a tank without the plug. Been looking for a plug to replace it.

Thanks for the welcomes and advice! I think you all have a very valid point on keeping it original. Causual Observer-It's a small world! The tractor was actually purchased in Freeport. Stevasaurus-thanks for the invite! I do make it to the Threshing/Antique show up in Freeport and Edgerton WI, I have not been to the Sycamore show yet but have heard great things about it. I have a newbie question, how does one get their military status/member posted? I'm a "has been" paratrooper but still am proud to have served!

You should leave it at my house

WELCOME TO RED SQUARE. Excellent story and an excellent looking 607. We are going to have a few members get together at the Antique Steam Power show in Sycamore. We are looking at getting together Saturday, August 16th. Come join us if you can and you can bring your horse. We will be set up along the fence on the North side of the grounds...where all the garden tractors are. Here is the link to the show information.

Looks like a 1054, a good, solid, very collectible tractor Good luck with it. Jim

If it's from an old Cub it is probably a Haban. I can't tell you what it would take to change it, but there would likely be several modifications to be made mostly in mounting brackets, pulleys and belt routing as the Cub engine sits 90 degrees off with the PTO in the front. I think you'd be farther ahead if you can buy it low and sell high to a Cub Collector and put the profit toward a Wheel Horse one. This older equipment is already in limited quantities for all brands of tractors.... and things like side mount sickles always bring a good price on the OEM collector market. Cub guys are looking for Cub sickles every bit as much as Wheel Horse guys are looking for Wheel Horse ones.

I don't have any idea what it's worth to a scrap dealer but I can't imagine it would be much. You're in a good area to sell it and there's no doubt somebody, probably on here, would love to have it. I think you should list it here first. That way it will be going to a good home.

Well I got the pulley mounted on the engine and bolted the belt guard back up. Rolled it out of the garage and fired it up. Got running decent and hopped on. Runs pretty good. The governor seems to work as it should and it climbed the hill in the front yard fine. Only issue was I couldn't run it off half choke for some reason. I didn't have an air cleaner on so maybe that has something to do with it. There is only one adjustment screw on carb and I'm not quite sure what its for. Turning it didn't seem to do much. May just run some seafoam through it and see if that clears it up. Justin

I have been using my beat up old 633 the last month to move my car hauler around when I need it. I bought the 633 a few years back and took the K141 motor off because I didn't want to wear it out in case I ever decided to restore it...I put a 5 HP Tec motor on it that I had laying around. A few weeks ago the carb was really acting up so I took a chance and bought one of those $25.00 Chinese carbs that are being sold on ebay. I put in on and was really surprised how well it made the old motor run ! I went outside this afternoon to cut the grass and thought why not use the tractor ? My lawn is really small and to use a tractor is kinda silly...but I figured I would try it and see if the carb was up to some hard work. I wish I took a before pic... I'm really happy with the way it came out ! BT

Just replace the cable. I bought one a few months back on ebay for the 854 I am redoing. by the time you hassel with trying to jimmie rig it, you will waste more time and probably end up replacing it. Glenn

Back in 1993, I purchased my first Wheel Horse, a 1977 B-100 8-speed. I bought it from the original owner. Today, 21 years later, almost to the day, I was sitting with my wife on the patio when a car pulled in the drive. My wife asked if I knew who it was. I said no. Then a gentleman got out and asked if I was the person who had bought a Wheel Horse tractor from a man over 20 years ago. I said yes I was. Then he introduced himself as the son of the original owner of my B-100, and believe it or not, his dad was in the car. His dad could no longer walk, but wanted to know if I still had the tractor. Well long story short, I said yes. I went and got the B-100 and brought it to his car so he could see it. His first comment was "I wish I had never sold that thing. That was the best tractor I ever had." So after a short conversation, he told me how that had been his second Wheel Horse, that a Lawn Ranger was his first. "Best damned tractors ever made" he continued. Then I went to the shed and brought out the other B-100, Commando 8, 701, 857, and C-120. His face lit up and he said, "well you sure caught the bug didn't you?" Turns out that his son also has a Wheel Horse. It's for sale. I don't know what it is because he couldn't remember the model number, but he knows it's a 14 HP 8-speed. I am going to look at it tomorrow. The sickness continues...

Beautiful went to the right hands. I never wanted to sell it, but at the time it just sat collecting dust.