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So our brothers from a different mother... the Iowa boys. Mike & his boy Eric Meuch brought this gem to the Portage Show. It just fascinated me. A 854 with what appears to WH factory paint in a dull green. Not much known about it other than it was made for a company called Detecto based in Clarion, IA and they modified a stock 854 to meet their sales. Apparently it was set up with a hydraulic drilling rig on the rear and used for boring holes along gas line routes and sniffing for gas leaks. They are the third owners and the PO did some mods to use it as a trailer mover. PO cut off the drilling rig but thankfully saved it and they have it. HY tank underslung with a elaborate system using the orginal right mower pto for operation. Hy pump runs off the mower pully. Note the hy motor to run the drill and the long skinny cylinder to raise and lower it. Hoses long gone. I think some more research is in order. They didn't do much with it but did have it running. The muffler is some sort of spark arresting style. No other WH badges other than the steering wheel cap and SN decal. A rare find west of the Mississippi. Hope my pics do it justice.

Wheelhorse was used to move tents and supplies for my brother's 28th birthday BBQ

My older sister and family came to visit this weekend. They live in rural IN and tractors and other power equipment aren't new to them at all, but my BIL comes from a green family so riding Uncle Andy's red tractors was a new experience. Plus the 520-H was my dad's before he passed so they really wanted to drive Grandpa's tractor. Nephews are 10 & 17. I had to short the seat switch in order for the 10 year old to be able to reach the clutch while mowing and not have the tractor shut off on him. They also love trains so we went to the Illinois Railway Museum and I took them to my work to show them one of the planes that I maintain. So it was a planes, trains, and tractors weekdend. IMG_3061.mp4 IMG_3060.mp4

So @jeremi3210 s boy Jacob is one cool kid. He scours the flea market for 5 dolla engines, hauls them back to camp and has to get them running. Or at least pop a few times. When they get a little older hopefully he'll hook up with Pullstart's girl. Their kids would come out with greasy hands and 9/16ths! So Jacob finds this tiller for 7 bucks. Seller says it doesn't run. Half a water bottle of gas with a dash of 30 wt and the thing is smokin worse than Dan. Well Pullstart and his hold my beer and watch this gets him hooked on wheel chairs. Next thIng ya know wheelchair sulkies! Next thing ya know his old man lookin for ♿️ on fleaybay or some damn thing! Can you try and put that vid up Kev no worky for me... Poos sure didn't like him trying to start it!

Starting to get tractors ready for the Steam Pageant. Added a shim to the 953 clutch pivot to get the sloppies out

A few pics from my camera. A very well done narrow front round nose, along with a few others. This creation. . The A&W invasion. We had a Friday night cruise around the show grounds, which ended by taking a trip up to the near by A&W. Jacob found an alternate use for his new low dollar tiller.

Calm, it‘s Rylee not Eric 😎😄

Oh Uncle Jim, she’s got a good dude on her side of the pond Here are clips from the videos I posted earlier

@hotajax called a TENSION PIN, need a size to size flat face round drift pin . 3, lb hammer , most iimportant detail is to use a solid wood beam against the wheel base shaft area , to wall. the more solid that 3 lb hammer hits the easier that pin moves , penetrating oil soak. any wheel bounce is bad , you wnat solid impack , pete

Early this year I got a pallet 6 of engines for $15 at auction. Cleaned the carb and S/G, bought a new regulator and it runs. One other K181 I think will be saveable... MVI_0822.MOV

Up date on the new neighbor. Barn, greenhouse and home nearly finished. Tobacco and corn liking the recent rains.

It was an awesome Horse indeed! I’d imagine a regular spark allower muffler and potential gas leaks wouldn’t play well together

I have had this apart for over a year due to other projects I had. Did a valve job on it. Waiting for a few parts to finish up. Hoping to bring it to Zagray this weekend if not bring something else. Hope you enjoy the picks.

Some people pics... Dan TRYING to teach Cindy how to play cribbage...good luck with that! Not necessary Sylvia @SylvanLakeWH but thank you! Notice Dan having a hard time with it? Promptly came back out... through his nose!!! He recovered enough to play with his pork.. and play with his hose... I swear he bathes with his horses...alot!

Took RJ apart. Initially wasn't going to paint it but it wasn't a correct color & had a few spots where paint was coming off. Got some parts painted w/1coat. Do another coat tomorrow. Plenty little things to fix. Whoever did refurbishment before didn't use cotter pins- used bent up nails??? Most the bolts are all mismatched so I wanna correct that. Simple little details need taken care of. Wheels & seat are painted white they need refinishing. Think I wanna go with the almond or antique white??

I'd rather put up with the collection than have a zombie any day!!! And he is finding his skills and learning!

20230708_164535.mp4 I got ya Jim! Jacob has nothing but respect for pullstarts girl! He says she is one tough girl! Took him for his wellness check today and he had to explain all the bruises and blisters! The doc gave him a real funny look when he told her the truth!!! Wheel chairs she said!!! And laughed when he explained it!

Smart kid! Not only is he wearing boots and not flip flops, He actually has them tied!

The oil soak is super important…start soaking it now and re soak it for the next 2 or 3 days before you even start.

Some footage of this one here at 36:58 I think in the Horse Barn. It’s always great hanging with Eric and Mike! @wheel horse men (I think is their combined handle) thank you for sharing what knowledge you’ve found thus far!

Thanks for posting this! I really do enjoy seeing Horses painted a different color because it's very rarely acknowledged to have been done. Very very interesting tractor. The spark arresting muffler may have been done at the request of government or landowners.

I poured two fingers worth of my Wheel Horse over 4 ice cubes, added a some lemon juice and Diet Coke and I am sipping it as I read the forum.

Rather fitting that you are repowering the Wheel Horse you bought from a guy named Van with an engine called the Vanguard. Looking good!!! great work!!!

Some pics... ther was a horse there that was truly a unique one. One you just don't see often and quite rare. Lots of pics on it and the story in it's own thread.

Not mine, sharing here from Fb marketplace this morning.

I have had this pouch of items for several years. Today I opened it up and tried to figure out what it is. After internet search, I have decided it was for greasing and maintaining guns. The two little canisters have three languages on them and I believe German is one, the second I cannot identify (graisse pour urmes) and Italian being the third. German: waffenfatt diese mischung diens sowohl ais schmiermittel fur die bewegilchen waifenteile wie auch ais schmiemittel gegen ros schutzmit uberhaupt zur instand haulting dersamtlichen eisen und stahiteile welche damit bloss feicht anzufetten sind am besten mittelst eines flaneti lappens The directions translated into English: (thanks to Google translate) weapon fat this mixture serves both as a lubricant for the moving parts of the gun and as a lubricant against corrosion with general maintenance of all iron and steel parts which are only lightly greased, best using a flannel rag. I don't know when this "weapon fat" kit was made or used. This kit's pouch was designed to be worn in a belt. It contains the small rope with brass ends and an abrasive metal in the center. There seems to be an abrasive pistol type object and a small mirror. You all are the most knowledgeable of all so what you think?

Amen brother. Some kids no nothing but gaming. God bless my dad has put up with my collecting all these years. He probably thought the same as you about it. Now he is worse than I am about dragging **** home

Yep, I had to stop spraying the extra satin black that was leftover from my recent paint project on my bald spot, it was starting to run down my forehead with all this rain.

What could be better than that, A sweet sounding Onan and a Kohler wound up a bit and a full head of hair. Ah, the old days.

You haven't followed EB's Colossus project. It's been unfinished so long EB might not remember.

@hotajax https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/ms-clamp-20193037155.html could even consider a pipe hanger to bolt on to wood or weld on a pipe , @JCM first picture showes the solid stopping effect needed to get that pin moving . pete

@hotajax Try this for removing that roll pin. This is a little bit different on a 420, same basic principle. Steering wheel hub mount on a 420 instead of a roll pin through the steering wheel.

I guess the guy that drew the short straw operated the drill looking for a damaged gas pipe.

Looked out the back window this morning and these were milling about. There was 3 or 4 more that didn't get in the picture.

@JayGrampy in additition to the shreaded belt . the reason for its demise is probably related to the pulley drive set up . before ypu replace the belt , hands on verify the state of drag resistance to every related pulley . do they move freely at all ? binding / rough in any motion form? thats the collective shreading result . probably other related maintiance work is required to get you back on line , like the mule drive bearings , pete

This shaft/gearbox thing could also be done without using the WH PTO clutch and replace that with a centrifugal clutch. (Either out front on the engine or at the shaft of the gearbox. It's going with a straight keyed shaft coupler. That will line up the shaft and there's no room for a lovejoy. The gearbox is tight up in the frame and off to one side so the rail prevents it. I'll use a bearing in the front and possibly another in the middle. Of coarse none of this is proven yet so we'll see how it goes.

Very interesting Wheel Horse to say the least. I wonder why the dash panel decal was removed but the shift pattern/serial number decal was retained? I would love to see the paint on the drilling rig VS the paint on the engine and frame components. Could there be any sale literature for this unit? How about a data tag? Yes, I would love to see this Wheel Horse! Wild Bill in Richmond, VA

We are remodeling the bathroom in the lake house. Last year, the toilet was running slow. I ended up pulling the toilet and running a drain snake through the pipe from that side. I found a great big ball of weeds about 3 feet from the closet flange - that was about 6' from the outside wall where the pipe exits the building. OK I says to myself, you got roots coming through one of the old pipe joints. Got to fix that with new PVC pipe - under the slab. Kind of a @Mickwhitt sort of project. Well today I got some quality time with a rented Sthil K770 concrete saw. I was surprised to find a void under the slab when I broke the first piece of slab out: The void goes about a foot either side of the pipe. That hole in the pipe is damage from hammering the slab. That joint must have been leaking for quite some time. I cut the slab out over the drain run to the vanity and shower. As long as I am in there making a mess, might as well replace everything. Tomorrow's job is digging the old pipes out and starting to assemble the new ones.

My B-80 pulling tractor with a Kohler CH20 v-twin

Nicely done but talk about putting lipstick on a pig ya know? You want to make a GT look like a IH why start with a ? 701 with a loader anyone? Always my fav... a Lennox kitty track Our buddy Massey Jason's exhibit... Our buddy Joel has a couple of nice Wonder Boys and more Simplicitys than a guy should have.

Yeah, you always have a strap on!

After hanging out with @wallfish at all these shows I’ve learned to always have a tow strap to haul him or his “outa gas rigs” back to home base. So don’t worry if it konks out at the show Gary, I’ll haul ya back

Full, bled, started! Building temp again, we’ll take a short drive for a lunch break and check it again.

I can simplify that for you: it's 0.75 inch diameter with a roll pin pressed into it. No splines. Standard Kelch wheel more than likely. Being it's been there since 1985, it will be brown welded pretty hard. Getting the roll pin out is the easy part. Getting the wheel off without destroying it is the hard part. Soak it alot, and take your time.

Those were all from last weekend's races in OSHA, Wisconsin right?

We are dying for rain here in central MD. Everything is so dry. Yesterday looked like the best chance in weeks. It started to rain lightly as we left the house for Shrewsbury, PA, 29 miles northeast. The rain increased until at about 2 PM, where it was coming down at a rate of 4 inches per hour in the Shrewsbury area. As we headed home, the rain decreased. It stopped about 10 miles from home where we had gotten maybe a trace amount. Funny how nature works.

Probably bringing both bikes and a tractor with an empty fuel tank to ride around on. Mike will have gas or a strap! LoL

Be safe and careful out there Craig. I've never experienced a rain like that but I saw the after results of it when one of the hurricanes went through Vermont and NH a decade or more ago.

Neat machine. I'll bet that Detecto made a special order for a group of 854's painted to their specifications from Wheel Horse. Detecto probably took delivery of that group at their facility, where they added the hydraulics, drill and detector systems. The steel wheel company I worked for often did special orders with special paint for various customers.