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In the form of our good friend & drinkin buddy Rob Bush @oldiron613 from Hartford, WI. He has a heck of collection with many oddballs and even a few horses not to mention a Pond signed lever steer. He is also a freakin walking Wikipedia on many brands of vintage tractors. We meet up & visit with him at a few shows we exibit at and he usually brings a nice RJ. Anyhoo he's got a nice article in LAGT magazine this month on his mini museum. You get in our neck of the woods be sure to stop for a short hair tour! Looking forward to this year's shows Rob and cracking a brewski with ya! For more information on subscribing to this fine rag go to http://www.lagtmag.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1PKVr_rR_QIV58mUCR2jWwUxEAAYASAAEgKgdvD_BwE Or see Kate @tractorchick

I've been deeply interested in Wheel Horses since 1960. I've toured the South Bend plant several times and seen the assembly process which of course included the painting line. While I or nobody else can say with 100% certainly that they didn't do one offs in a different color I wouldn't hesitate to say I'm 99.5% certain. The only other color was the gray Work Horse series in the mid 80's and they weren't one offs. I have no doubt though that dealers repainted some and just said that they were 'factory'. Orange and yellow sometimes show up but this is the first white one I've seen. From the factory? Nope. From a dealer who repainted it? Maybe but unlikely. Got it from a guy who got it from a guy who said he got it from the original owner who said it came from the factory like that when he actually got it from a guy who repainted it? Most likely. Sorry. The Ponds were way too che.....................frugle to do one offs at the factory.

The Popeye Arm is getting old and stiff doing snow with the manual lift... So... Proof of concept using a HF winch... Still working on the details but it works... The winch plate attaches to the 2" hitch.

Got new rims for the 953 tires are a bit cracked but they got new tubes in there going to pick up some beat juice and fill em up with a fire extinguisher later on after she's up and running again

I think that your ID tag & the white paint on the motion control lever tells the story. If it was painted in the factory your motion control lever would have still been anodized silver & your ID tag would look like this. It's just paint though, I would still pick it up if the price is right. Then you can paint it any color that you like. Please no JD green.

If you are contemplating seeking the advice of a mental health counselor, consider the cost of the service , and multiply the amount of sessions by 10. Then spend that on tractors and you will have happiness and something to show for it. Subtract from that half or more of your net worth from that to give to your wife and her divorce lawyer. The only error to the plan is now you have no tractors and no wife, because she gets the house, No place to store them. The solution to that is just give them to me or the Ohio Michigan contingent can split them up and use them like poker chips to bet on next year's football game.i have barns Pullstart has barns. Sylvan Lake can always remodel

So you fill the fire extinguisher with fluid have an air source connected to the fill port cut the end off of the hose and place a locking fill chuck and viola you have pressurized fluid filler. Needs to be a water extinguisher. I have access to old extinguishers being the in volunteer fire service and they work great for filling transfer cases and differentials

Thanks WHX??, for the kind words, means a lot. I'm definitely looking forward to cracking a few brewskies with you and the gang this summer!!

or blue?

@ericforster Glad you gave the "Sherlock Holmes" folks here a new problem to solve. These same "guru's" are amazing at solving any issues you might have with the wheel horse. As a side note, perhaps....just perhaps the local dealer did the repaint for a special customer. I only bring this up because my Dad in his retirement was working at an implement dealership and being a big "Greenbay Packers " fan he had a new John Deere garden tractor delivered with a special Packers paint job. It was painted like a Packers helmet! I doubt it came from the factory that way and perhaps it was done at the local dealership just for dad. That could explain why the owner believes it came from the factory white.

All of my electric pump tractors start instantly so i get it but I like to stay mechanical too. Trouble is I have had rotten luck with the plastics so I often go out of my way to save the metal ones. If you got a couple years out of a plastic you did good. I get a couple of weeks out of them. Guess all a guy can do in absence of a metal one is to stock.up on the plastics and watch the oil... or go electric.

No problem ... we thank you for keeping our tractor heritage hobby going. We also thank you for the opportunity for letting us have seat time on your tractors. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience to run a tractor with Cecil Pond's sig. The holy grail as far as I'm concerned. 'Sides we did it for @Achto (twice) and the Pullhosen when they made it in the mag. and we like you more than them... I didn't know grand dad had a dairy farm up this way. Maybe I wrenched on his dairy equipment in the day?

Personally I agree that a machine should show its age. Behind all imperfections is a story. Thats why I dont restore many machines unless a customer wants it.

So I attempted to make a counterfeit WH lens cover.As you can see I boogered up the cut ! Ill try again and try to improve it some. Not having the WH logo makes me a bit sad but I can live without it.

If it's weeping after the two surfaces have been “trued” there is something else going on. Installation of the diaphragm is a bit counter-intuitive since the material must not be “taut” when the pump is screwed together. Instead, it must have slack at the center that can pulse in and out easily. That means there will be small wrinkles in the diaphragm at the edges as you start to assemble it. The material must be thin to allow it to compress sideways along the seam as the pressure of the closing faces flattens out the wrinkles. If the material is too thick, it fails both by not having enough flex for the vacuum to cause pumping action and by not being able to smooth the wrinkles.

Here is a link to Then & Now Auto. https://www.then-now-auto.com/product-category/fuel-pump-kits/kohler-fuel-pump-kits/

A few sunny days warmed the sun porch enough to do some painting. Got 4 coats of Rustoleum Top Coat Boat paint on an old pair of oars I picked at the auction. I had to replace one edge with a piece of white oak. A nice addition to the 1962 MirrorCraft I saved last winter.

I say drill the rivets out on the ID tag so we can all get some sleep at night and know for sure

Didn't see it mentioned but the hood decals are wrong for an 875 and look too nice compared to the rest of the tractor. Somebody was in there playin!

That's the first time I've ever heard of a Work Horse being factory painted black. I walked into Hwy 19 Wheel Horse back in the 80's with no intention of buying a tractor when I saw a brand new GRAY 84 Work Horse GT-1100 sitting on the showroom floor. Of course I asked about it. $850.00 with no attachments. It came home with me. I had a spare 48" deck that I put on it figuring that when the Briggs blew up I'd put a Kohler on it. That's when I found out an 11hp could handle a 48" deck pretty well. That Briggs handled everything I threw at it including a full submersion in a pond on a Superbowl Sunday. The mid 80's Work Horse series were always had gray sheet metal and black frames from the factory. There's even a brochure with a bunch of red and gray tractors on the front lawn of the factory (I think 1983). I would imagine they had a separate area where they painted them. The red line consisted of an overhead conveyor with a gazillion parts from hoods to brake pedals hanging from not much more than bent coat hangers. The parts went through a 'booth' where they sprayed them then on to another booth where they sped the drying process up (I wouldn't say baked). From there the workers picked them off the line. I don't see how is would make sense to convert it to gray for the relatively short run of Work Horses. Side note here. After Toro moved them out the factory sat empty and for sale. The contractor I worked for looked into buying it. But there was an issue behind the building. It reeked of reddish color ground contamination. The only option was to buy the building and gamble on how extensive it was. In any case the new owner would be assuming the responsibility of the clean up. Too risky so we passed.

Check your oil and don't attempt to start the engine until you KNOW there is no Gasoline in the engine oil. A failed diaphragm in a mechanical or vacuum fuel pump is a primary cause of failure and will allow gasoline into the crankcase. That is why many of us have converted to electric pumps. If you don't want to go to an electric fuel pump I would suggest you get a used metal fuel pump and a rebuild kit from https://www.a-ztractor.com/ or any other source of your choice.

Happy Birthday Bob! Brake check! It’s a slippery one today!

the starter that I am buying is being bought through a dealer so things should work out as far as a replace ment

Took a break to get some images of the Hooded Mergansers in my neighbor's pond last Saturday. That's late for Hooded Mergansers to be around here in NE GA.

Well, I could insert some wiseacre comment to that , but then I am thinkin' that it's just not smart to mess with BBT. But then I am just scratching my head and wondering what Maine has to do with football?

Another one made the cover again too with the Castag custom! I put the magazine down yesterday after reading most of it. Now I didn’t: realize Mr. Bush was in it too… time to go pick it back up!

I'll grind on those numbers this afternoon after I walk the dog. @Pullstart - I'm in Mi for a quick trip. You see me wave when I flew by last night? Just sitting here drinking espresso while waiting for home test Covid result. ALL RIGHT! It is negative! Looks like those anti viral horse pills they prescribed helped.

While this isn't a wheel horse item , I have always found the input from this forum priceless. So, as the M2 Browning gets a lot of attention online but few sales, I thought maybe some less expensive Ww2 military replicas may be in order. First period correctly detailed prototype of the classic M2 "pineapple" fragmentation grenade is complete. While tinkering around I realized that the hollow interior designed so weight could be added for heft, could also double as a great way to store about 4oz of my favorite adult beverage! And so the WW2 M2 Fragmentation detailed replica/ alcohol flask was born! Made of food safe PLA(handwash please!) And features a spring loaded fly away spoon, and o ring gasket. A bandolier of these and you're ready to party, enjoy a weekend reenactment, or BOTH! Final versions will include silver gray fuse head and spoon, and hand painted versions will have period correct OD paint colored body and yellow HE stripe around the top.

Coffee brake!

Yes Then and Now auto has them. Very complete kits. @Achto can you get him a ? You can also find them in the jungle or fleabay cheap but they ain't worth a hoot.

Depends on the motor/pump combination, of course, but this is one part of why hydrostatics have bypass valving built in.

Adjusted your text a bit.

Excellent advise - oil diluted with gasoline will ruin the engine. IF you find that there is gas in the oil - fix the pump issue, drain and refill the oil. Check to see the function of the pump, AND check the oil for gas again. You may wish to change the oil twice... Bill

And I Brake for Birthday Cake !!! Happy Birthday, Bob

Have a Great Day Bob

Let me know how it goes! Seems someone liked a different shade of red…. Like it was your density to get it! McFly! I don’t think I ever mentioned in Leroy’s thread… but the weekend we got that, we had just gotten home (or almost home) from camping and Norman’s head gasket(s) blew, trailer in tow. We had abandoned him in a friend of a friend’s business’ parking lot and borrowed a truck to go get the FB marketplace deal made No time like ta-now to get another deal on a !

@ebinmaine I agree with @Racinbob I can’t imagine the factory painting one tractor a different color, waaay too much work to change colors. If they did change they would have painted more than one, had they done that I believe we would have seen one by now. To me this is in the same category as the Work Horse that was supposedly painted black from the factory. We’ve only seen one or two ever. No written proof was ever presented about that being available. I bought my Work Horse GT-1800 brand new from the dealer and they never once said it was available in black. Sorry didn’t mean to change the subject.

or maybe cub cadet pulled a prank on wheel horse

Remind me never to play scrabble with EB. If it makes you feel better thinking the previous owner KNOWS it came from the factory with white paint I'm not not going to burst your bubble. I wasn't there to confirm or deny what they said. You may want to have them give you a notarized certificate of authenticity that states it left the factory in white paint. That won't convince anyone but it would be a great conversation point.

Once the family sees what a work saver a Wheel Horse with a trailer can be the next logical step is a Wheel Horse with a front end loader.

Great article Rob! That museum looks great, and I’ll buy a ticket if you ever open a warehouse sized one!

It’s not the only thing on the truck that is bothering me, but surely the most concerning!

I have seen the Simplicity Green Bay tractor but not a JD one. https://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/003/2/4/3243-simplicity-packer-backer.html

Another small but important step complete. Brake and foot motion control pedal shafts were left as bare steel for pedal installation. I punched 3/4" holes in pieces of heavy paper to act as a painting guide. Shafts were then given 2 coats of self priming paint using a foam applicator. After drying overnight I cut the paper and carefully removed it from the shafts. This is how the tractor looks now. I will give this paint a few days to dry before installing the footrests.

I found this video from 8 years ago. It seems like it was forever ago, and indeed it’s more than half of my kids’ lives back! Somehow, it was the first and only video on a YT channel I started. I never realized I started another one, but here we are.

Hope it’s a great birthday Bob!

now that is very true as the cost that will be repairing an old one ;again some of the parts needed are no longer available so I figure buying a new one is well worth the cost and no more issues plus give the old girl more years to run ;thanks for your thoughts

Maybe someone at the factory put in the wrong paint?

The BBT and I spent a couple hours on disassembly. I got the new ish 6 speed transmission out from under the bench and draining. Pulled a few bolts. The input pulley and brake drum are off. Shifter is out. I'd asked about a GOOD set of usable lock ring pliers a few weeks ago. Put one of the pairs I got to use this evening. That was a very good way to spend $15. While I was at that Trina attacked the tractor. Sheet metal. Off. Belt. Off. Some of the wiring. Disconnected. Engine. Off! She'll be taking this one down a bit more so the paint can be freshened up.

I don't recall ever seeing Wheel Horse factory welds look that good.