What will become of the wheel horse collections?

[Sailman 1,291]

I might be stirring the pot or whacking a hornets nest but here goes.......I would like to know what the folks on this site with these incredible wheel horse collections plan to do with them in the future?? It just seems to me the "younger generation" don't have much interest or appreciation for the things we have all found great joy in restoring and using. I am amazed at what folks on this site have done with restorations, mods, etc. and am curious where all these fine machines will go in the future?

[Gasaholic 224]

I rather suspect there will almost always be a wheel horse collector out there - demand may drop (thus value of collection), some may eventually go to museums (New museums pop up all the time)  Many of them are actually still in daily regular use , Many of the poorer non-museum quality machines may become parts machines, and finally, those that don't make it to those categories may either just be parked in a barn to rust away, sent to a scrap yard, or just taken and beat to death by the new owner that doesn't appreciate what they have compared to what is available these days.. but I suspect it'll probably be beyond any of our lifetimes before they become a mostly forgotten machine (Like the Panzer, which I rarely ever see any more, but I used to have one!... or the Reo.. - I had a walk behind pushmower Reo mower once, too...) 

[WHGuy413 2,683]

Just hope that the next generation has people involved. It’s one of the reasons I have @WheelHorse_Kid in the garage so much. He loves them. I just hope he always has a soft spot for them as he grows up.

[lynnmor 7,305]

Just think about the cars you had a half century ago, where are they?  Yep, on the scrap heap.  There will be survivors just like cars, but my opinion is that in the future most WH owners will destroy them using their usual neglect and abuse.  I have some good offspring and look at their history of little interest in preserving what they have and I can see my herd will not last.  So watch for my obituary and get right over here when the time comes.

Edited July 27, 2023 by lynnmor

[Pullstart 62,840]

I just hope my kids will at least appreciate that there is value and keep them out of scrap!

[Ed Kennell 38,158]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

So watch for my obituary and get right over here when the time comes.

Hey neighbor,  let me know when I should check the obits.     

 

We should all probably select a WH executor  to insure Red Square members are informed of estate sales.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Ed Kennell

[ebinmaine 67,454]

1 minute ago, Ed Kennell said:

Hey neighbor,  let me know when I should check the obits.     

I'm thinking Lyn won't know when he's part of the obits. 

Just ask him daily. 

Any answer. You wait. 

No answer. Head over....

 

2 hours ago, Sailman said:

...I would like to know what the folks on this site with these incredible wheel horse collections plan to do with them in the future??

 

All of whatever Trina and I have goes to Trina's daughter and her husband. 

I believe they'll keep some. Maybe all. 

 

Cogitate carefully on this:

Your Wheelhorse collection is yours because you wanted it. 

Everyone has their own likes, desires and the opposites. 

 

Enjoy it while YOU can. 

 

"Will"  it properly and legally to the person(s) YOU want to steward the collection after it's no longer your own. 

 

That's the best we can do.  

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,547]

55 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

I just hope my kids will at least appreciate that there is value and keep them out of scrap!

 

They better, because when the time comes, Mrs. Sylvan will be contacting you to come over and "inherit" the whole train etc... (Bring cash...) 

 

May need to rename it though... 

[Handy Don 12,216]

I expect I’ll have only one left, the one I use for mowing, towing, etc. Two have already been distributed to eager owners and the Lawn Ranger I expect to have ready for sale in the coming months.

I’ve already made sure someone has my Red Square credentials so they can post whatever they deem necessary.

[wallfish 16,994]

Well, someday some lucky WH soul is going to "come out and take a look", Then, the wifie will just say to them  "Just get it all T F outta here! Is a $100 fair?"

Then, hopefully there will be a post here on RS about the wonderful score for a $100 and everyone can pick apart my backyard fixes.

[953 nut 55,198]

38 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

We should all probably select a WH executor  to insure Red Square members are informed of estate sales.

While laying in a hospital bed for a few weeks the past couple of months this subject crossed my mind a few times.

I have told my wife many times that when I kick the bucket she should go onto Rede Square, post the sad news and give any and all of my toys (tools and all) to members on here. Let them go to someone who will have some appreciation for what I have accumulated. Like @ebinmaine said, I collected them because I enjoy them and when I'm gone I would like to know someone else is showing them some love. I don't have any members close by to appoint as the "executor" of my herd so I guess it would have to be first come first  served.

As is the case with so many collection, your kids don't value your collection the way you do, they have their own stuff  (unless you raised them right like @WHGuy413 and @Pullstart). If my wife isn't here to carry out my wishes I suppose my step son will probably just have an estate auction and all I can hope for is that someone at the auction will have some appreciation for  it all.

Like John said, 

4 minutes ago, wallfish said:

Then, hopefully there will be a post here on RS about the wonderful score

 

[Brockport Bill 1,661]

clearly there is a generational dynamic of the "baby boomers" who grew up with the WH tractors in the 50s to 80s, then a bit into Toro time line in 90s --- but its also a cultural value set of the "older" wh owners who simply have a different set of interests and values than the Z generation or milenials etc ( disposable society, short attention span, etc ) -- sorta like the baby boomers popularity of Lionel trains or other hobbys and keepsakes of an older generation versus those born in recent decades. Fortunately, their will be some, or perhaps many, who will follow and carry on the WH legacy??? Just this week a guy bought an implement from me who was maybe 30s  - perhaps 40 and told me he has 20 WH tractors -- so there is hope our WH herd "Cult" will live on?  Lastly, I see many herd enthusiasts who routinely have photos and stories of their children and grandchildren who are following in the WH tradition -- and in my case a son and grandson who have a few in the herd already - and perhaps a couple younger grandsons to follow who will have the same affection for these machines ?? In the end we are all teachers - - and hopefully as role models we will share enough of the WH appreciation that it becomes an interest for others?????????? Their fondness could be for Hess trucks, or Transformer collections, or maybe some pretty red tractors? 

[lynnmor 7,305]

My wife and I have one of the largest collections of peanut butter glasses in the world so we attend auctions where many are being sold.  When we look around the room there are very few, if any, young folks there.  We have noticed that only the very rare glasses are increasing in value while the rest are actually dropping.  This tells me that new collectors are few.  These glasses were primarily produced in the 1950s so only those that remember buying them care, later generations are happy to toss containers and tell you how green they are.  Look up “peanut butter glasses” on fleabay if you want to know what I am talking about.  Again, watch for my obituary and get the glasses before they are used for target practice.

[squonk 41,079]

I keep hearing this loud humming noise since this thread started. I finally figured out it's the gears spinning in @Pullstart's head. 

 

@rjg854 and I have an agreement. Who ever bites the big one first, the other helps the widow deal with the aftermath. Randy can have all the spare parts he wants. The rest is to be taken to the show and dumped into Waldo's Volvo when he aint lookin! 

[stevasaurus 22,723]

Well here I sit, contemplating death now, surrounded by my Jurassic Collection of Dinosaurs.  I actually have quite a few now.  I have never bought one myself.  Some come from friends from Red Square, some from around the world, one from my Dental Hygienist, some from my wife...as I look around, they all have some special meaning.  

   My horses...I have already sent a few on their way.  JoeBob got my Dad's 502 and he restored it to show quality.  WHX?? got my REO-65.  Another 502 went to a great guy (RS member) in Janesville, Wisconsin.  One went to Denmark (Skipper) (Raider 10)  A couple more have passed through here (RS members).  The problem is, I inherited 4 from my Dad, then I won the 2010 Raffle Tractor at the Big Show.  That makes 5, and I still have 5 at the moment.  I just can't seem to get below 5 horses.  

   So, I guess that means, I do not have the time to die.  So, I am going to keep eating my Wheaties, Super Beats, Pickled Herring, Homemade Wine and Rock & Rye.  BTW, I still have my hair, so I have that going for me.    All 5 are still running also...so, why not me.  

[Rob J. 1,941]

I’m prolly the oddball here. My kids could care less. I’m at 11 now and I’m having to build shelves to store them all. Making room as they say. Most of my tractors were rescues that I’ve tried to put back to OEM mechanically sound status. I have a couple of “redone” ones but unless I do the work I don’t feel right for some reason and I don’t have the skills that some of you do. So not many will be “redone”. Not sure if that will hurt over all value I suspect not. My plan is to donate some of the rarer ones to a museum(s). I’ll just have to research the more sound museums cause my wish is for them to be enjoyed by many future generations. I’ll sell off some if I get a chance but will get the donated ones in order soon. It will help when my herd quits breeding though. Gitty up, Cheers!

[Pullstart 62,840]

48 minutes ago, squonk said:

I keep hearing this loud humming noise since this thread started. I finally figured out it's the gears spinning in @Pullstart's head. 

 

@rjg854 and I have an agreement. Who ever bites the big one first, the other helps the widow deal with the aftermath. Randy can have all the spare parts he wants. The rest is to be taken to the show and dumped into Waldo's Volvo when he aint lookin! 

This is ugly.  I feel like dejavu is going on right now, like we just recently had this conversation.  I’m gonna go away now, but if anyone finds my number in their wife’s speed dial… it’s not for a good time! 

[JPWH 6,033]

I only had 5 and now I am down to 1. The other four have been turned over to their new owners.  Four happy grandchildren. 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,547]

37 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

but if anyone finds my number in their wife’s speed dial… it’s not for a good time! 

 

My wife knows @Pullstart in my phone is short for "all things Wheel Horse"... only caveat is that if any of my herd end up in Cheese-land, better be in @Achto or @WHX?? garages... 

[kpinnc 12,011]

7 hours ago, Sailman said:

I am amazed at what folks on this site have done with restorations, mods, etc. and am curious where all these fine machines will go in the future?

 

Call me an optimist- but I think "kids" reach an age where what didn't matter yesterday begins to do just that. At least this is how it happened with me. I thought old stuff was neat when I was 20, but had no real interest until my grandfather passed. Then suddenly all the old stuff that he constantly spoke of as "don't make 'em like that anymore" reminded me of all the memories of him. He never owned a Wheel Horse, but he always worked on stuff and built stuff. Even today when I get greasy or covered in red paint, it makes me smile remembering him.

 

So I don't enjoy this hobby only because of him, but he influenced me greatly. I believe that some kids today will gain interest in the future. 

 

And the collectors of the past are why we still have so many of these tractors today as well. Of course the build quality contributed too... 

[Pullstart 62,840]

11 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

 

Call me an optimist- but I think "kids" reach an age where what didn't matter yesterday begins to do just that. At least this is how it happened with me. I thought old stuff was neat when I was 20, but had no real interest until my grandfather passed. Then suddenly all the old stuff that he constantly spoke of as "don't make 'em like that anymore" reminded me of all the memories of him. He never owned a Wheel Horse, but he always worked on stuff and built stuff. Even today when I get greasy or covered in red paint, it makes me smile remembering him.

 

So I don't enjoy this hobby only because of him, but he influenced me greatly. I believe that some kids today will gain interest in the future. 

 

And the collectors of the past are why we still have so many of these tractors today as well. Of course the build quality contributed too... 

 

I’ll even admit, in my teens I shared a barn with an old guy and his “old mowers” and couldn’t figure out why he messed around with all that old junk.  Oh, how I wish I could pick Earl’s brain today…

[Beap52 811]

When I retired a few weeks ago, I off-loaded all of the tools from my truck after working 52 years, I had a lump in my throat because some of those tools I have used since trade school.  Hand saws, (yes I still carried one on my truck) chisels (some of them worn away to about half of what they were when I got them in 1970) and other tools are now in my shop.  These tools will mean nothing to my son-in-law or grandsons.  They are just not something they are interested in.  My tools, cars, lawn tractor, train set,  basically stuff that I have invested many an hour in will likely be sold.  My brother-in-law and I have talked some about our "stuff" and we've decided that most of what we have has served us and that little, if any, of it has an historical significance that will warrant it to being saved for future generations.  I'd like to live another ten or fifteen years but sooner or later this body will will serve it's purpose and then I'll move on.

 

I began thinking about stuff a couple of years ago when an older gentleman in his 70's wrote on a model railroad site that I visit occasionally that he was dismantling his beautiful layout. He no longer could crawl under his train layout to attend to it.  There was quite a discussion about donating it, selling the individual buildings and ultimately the gentleman said that the train was for his enjoyment and he wanted to be the one relive the memories of his time in his train room while he put it in a dumpster.   We all have our own way of dealing with our stuff be it Wheel Horses, model trains or peanut butter glasses. 

[Ed Kennell 38,158]

2 hours ago, squonk said:

be taken to the show and dumped into Waldo's Volvo when he aint lookin! 

Save room for 10 -15   buckets of WH junque.

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,297]

Why you guys picking on me , I have my piles of WH parts and tractors to get rid of . I'll leave them to my granddaughters so my son will have something to do and not contact you turkeys. Messing with @squonk will go into over drive.. 

[WHNJ701 4,165]

After the passing of my grandparents, wife's grandparents and few other relatives I learned the following and hope you guys see the point of these because I now have different thoughts on material possessions.

Don't put guilt on your kids or grandkids expecting them to open a museum in your name to keep your "stuff" and maintain your possessions.  I got stuck with 3's and 4's if not more of tools, tractors, equipment, house hold items etc... Relatives excepted us take things because they used to belong to so and so.

Yes I kept things that meant something to me or I had a use for.  

Do your future heirs a favor if they don't want it, accept it and sell to someone who wants it and appreciate it's more.