South Bend trip

[Pullstart 62,881]

Sorry, no pics, I didn’t happen 

 

I made a quick trip down to South Bend Clutch, in Mishawaka, IN this morning for some Norman upgrades.  I was less than 5 miles from 515 W. Ireland Rd, where our beloved  machines were built.  I had an appointment with a friend in Elkhart and was pressed for time, so I didn’t get to swing by for pictures.

 

At my buddie’s work, he was showing me around a minute and I ran into John, from Sherwood Forest (Nottingham, England).  Yes, they call him Little John.  He moved to South Bend in 1966 and recalls the wonderfully kept lawn in front of Wheel Horse Products on Ireland Rd!  He was always so fond of the lawn, he knew they must have made amazing products!

[Handy Don 12,232]

After reading so many of @953 nut’s write-ups, I’d love to meet & speak with some of the WH engineers and product designers. They must have some terrific stories.

[c-series don 8,707]

@Handy Don Me too! I’d love to see more pictures of the inside of the factory. I have to imagine that most of the people that worked there have passed on unfortunately? Anyone retiring in the 1980’s that was in their 60’s would be damn near 100 by now. 

[Andy N. 2,154]

Here are pics I took back in November. My mom lives about 40 miles east of SB and my route takes me on SR 20 bypass which goes right by the old plant. 

 

You know there is a room somewhere in there with misc. random WH parts that no one there knows what to do with. 

 

 

 

[wh500special 2,183]

I love South Bend.  I lived there for a while and still regret moving away.   Of all the places I’ve lived, it’s still my favorite.
 

I dug up a post from a couple years ago so am pasting it here:

 

 

Most of the WH sites are vastly changed from the old days when Elmer and Cecil were chunking out future collectibles.  

 

The Ireland Road and Metalmation buildings are still there, but obviously have adapted to their new owners since closing the the 1990’s. 

 

The company I used to work for looked into buying the Ireland Rd plant when Toro put it up for sale.  Apparently came pretty close to a deal.  But there were some serious on-site environmental problems and they couldn’t afford to risk liability from them.   Lockjoint is bigger with deeper pockets and I guess the risk was less for them.  

 

As as an aside, near Lockjoint’s old location in the northwestern edge of downtown near the river, legend has it that when the railroad abandoned one set of tracks they buried an old locomotive in place. 

 

The old Dixieway north plant was on the corner of Auten Rd and US31 (SR933).  There is an osco drug (might be a CVS or Walgreens...don’t recall) on the location now.  Still standing just to be west of the drugstore is an old building that was part of the Pond operation.  Across the street on the south side of Auten is pond street where I think the old Elmer household and first garage is/was. 

 

Next door to he drugstore on the north side was Chandlers.    The first Wheel Horse dealership.   They closed within the last couple of years and I think Duke Horsefixer cleaned them out of several of their old treasures.   I don’t know if he or someone else got hold of the Lever steer they had in one of the pole barns.  

 

Jim B, the most recent owner of Chandler’s, told me to “watch the obituaries and talk to my wife” when I inquired if he wanted to sell the Lever. 😎

 

when Toro moved from Ireland Rd, the bulk of the collection of their on-site museum went to storage at The Studebaker National museum.  But about ten years ago Toro sent their trucks returning from the Indy Speedway to retrieve their artifacts.   So, the Museum now just has a few privately owned WH treasures.   

 

A few blocks to the west of the Ireland rd plant is an old salvage yard.  That was apparently the final destination for all the stuff Toro couldn’t haul to Minneapolis when they left  south bend in the rear view mirror.  Several guy related to me how many unidrives

and d250 parts they pitched.  The unidrives were evidently a bunch of warranty replacements from early troubles with the sundstrand 

Hydros. 

 

South Bend has a lot to offer.  Aside from winter being a little long, the weather is great.  Summer is wonderful and spring and fall are great.  Lots to do and a lot of places to fish 🎣.  With Notre Dame being there, there are great opportunities that you otherwise wouldn’t see in a 200k metro area. 

 

I’d move back there tomorrow given the opportunity.  
 

 

[953 nut 55,229]

11 hours ago, wh500special said:

The old Dixieway north plant was on the corner of Auten Rd and US31 (SR933).  There is an osco drug (might be a CVS or Walgreens...don’t recall) on the location now.  Still standing just to be west of the drugstore is an old building that was part of the Pond operation.  Across the street on the south side of Auten is pond street where I think the old Elmer household and first garage is/was. 

 

Next door to he drugstore on the north side was Chandlers.    The first Wheel Horse dealership.

Chandlers was right next to the old factory. The location is now a CVS.