Help Needed - Wheel Horse in the UK

[Suburban60 2]

Hi there

 

I'm from the UK and recently won at an auction a Wheel Horse tractor which I believe to be a 1960 Suburban. I have attached a few of photos which someone can perhaps verify for me?

 

I had never heard of these tractors in my country so when I saw this up for sale i just had to buy it. My plan is to restore it for my, sorry I meant my kids, use...........

 

I've had a good look over it and all seems to be there except the charge coil(?) which runs off the ring gear and is mounted just below the fuse board. Does anyone know the proper name for this part and where I might be able to find one as my chances of sourcing parts in the UK is next to none! I also think I may be missing the cover plate to the pull start. At the moment I just have an exposed pulley and a loose piece of cord to turn over the motor. Is this standard or am I missing something else here?

 

The engine plate has the code H55A which having researched this is a Lauson engine, right?

 

If any of you guys on here can help me with identifying my tractor and the parts I need that would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Andrew

 

 

[rydogg 186]

Nice tractor.  The easiest way to identify a Lauson is to look for the large indent that is directly beneath the pto, you can't go by just the tins since these tins will also fit Tecumseh engines. 

Edited September 23, 2013 by rydogg

[stevasaurus 22,706]

WOW...that is a nice find...even if it was on this side of the pond, it would be a great find.  Very cool.  Check out what Ryan said...if it is a techy/lawson it would be a 550 or a 551.  Is there a tag on the engine???  A 1960 would be a H55B-1170...a 1961 would be H55D-2113.  The foot rests also would help to identify...I am not that good on that part.  Maybe check out some pictures in the section where members have posted their horses.  Remember that numbers on this side of the pond may differ from that side...ie...they put horses together with what they had on hand.  Regardless...that is a very nice horse, and very collectable on that side of that pond...also on this side.

[neil 2,409]

Hi Andrew

Welcome to redsquare  

Congratulations on your find of a great little tractor .

The Suburbans a really rare over here in UK  although i  currently have 3 suburbans 2 of which i found in the UK ,the other i imported from US.

Parts will be virtually zero to find although your best bet would be to use US ebay or maybe ask around Redsquare for anyone that may have the parts that you need.

What part of UK are you in ? & where did you find that little beauty ?

I wonder why the prevous owner painted the tractor Blue ?

[Suburban60 2]

Hey

 

Thanks for your replies Rydogg and Stevasaurus. Good to know it looks like a good tractor, I certainly think its awesome 

 

My engine does have the indent below the PTO so I guess its a Lauson.

 

So what are my chances of finding the coil so I can get this thing going? It's got to be a part from the states as I've never seen a Wheel Horse in the UK.

 

Thanks
Andrew

 

[Suburban60 2]

Hi Andrew

Welcome to redsquare  

Congratulations on your find of a great little tractor .

The Suburbans a really rare over here in UK  although i  currently have 3 suburbans 2 of which i found in the UK ,the other i imported from US.

Parts will be virtually zero to find although your best bet would be to use US ebay or maybe ask around Redsquare for anyone that may have the parts that you need.

What part of UK are you in ? & where did you find that little beauty ?

I wonder why the prevous owner painted the tractor Blue ?

 

Well thats scuppered my thoughts of there being very few over here Neil!

 

I'm from a village near Stamford on the edge of Rutland, I saw this in an auction of some old farm machinery in Bourne in Lincolnshire.

 

Don't know why its painted blue but i can see the original red peeping through in a few places so a careful removal of this is in order.

[SPINJIM 1,981]

I think that the missing part you're asking about in your last picture is the starter motor that engages the gears on the flywheel and works off of a 12 volt battery.   Is there any evidence of a battery box that would have been in front of the engine?   I can't see in the pictures whether the engine had a recoil starter at one time, or not.   If it was just a detached rope pull-to-start, then it might not be the original engine.    Tecumseh starter motors are easy to find (used).

 

The tractor looks like a Suburban 550 to me.    The first '5' is the 5.5hp.  The second '5' indicates battery start.   The '0' is for 1960.   I think the 1961's had the two piece transmission case, and yours has the three piece;  but that could have been different for Europe.

 

Anyway at all, it's a neat tractor, and very collectible.  I'm slowly restoring two of them myself.

   Jim

Edited September 23, 2013 by spinjim3

[Suburban60 2]

I think that the missing part you're asking about in your last picture is the starter motor that engages the gears on the flywheel and works off of a 12 volt battery.   Is there any evidence of a battery box that would have been in front of the engine?   I can't see in the pictures whether the engine had a recoil starter at one time, or not.   If it was just a detached rope pull-to-start, then it might not be the original engine.    Tecumseh starter motors are easy to find (used).

 

The tractor looks like a Suburban 550 to me.    The first '5' is the 5.5hp.  The second '5' indicates battery start.   The '0' is for 1960.   I think the 1961's had the two piece transmission case, and yours has the three piece;  but that could have been different for Europe.

 

Anyway at all, it's a neat tractor, and very collectible.  I'm slowly restoring two of them myself.

   Jim

Hi Jim

 

There is no evidence of a battery box thats why I assumed as it was a pull start I was missing something to run off the ring gear to provide the spark. From a closer look at the ID plate i can see the numbers 1170 after H55A.

 

Are there any other signs to look out for to identify the engine in case the cover and ID plate are not the originals? I guess until I know what engine it is I won't know which part i need!

 

Good to hear you're restoring a couple of tractors.

 

Andrew

[stevasaurus 22,706]

Jim, you are correct about the transmissions.  The casting with 2 side plates (5010) would be the 550...the 2 piece casting transmission (5007) would be the 551...I knew that and missed it.   Looking like a 550.  Some of the Connecticut guys or maybe Jake, Joebob, or SmokinJoe could help you out with any parts and knowledge.

 

With the H55A-1170...you have a 1960...550 with a Tecky/Lawson...there are some Tecky/Lawson guys on the site...need a little time for them to see this thread.    That really looks like a great horse...

Edited September 23, 2013 by stevasaurus

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,268]

Andrew, be sure to add yourself to the member map (see links at the top of the page) and introduce yourself in the Euro section.  We have a fairly large amount of members from the U.K.

[Suburban60 2]

Andrew, be sure to add yourself to the member map (see links at the top of the page) and introduce yourself in the Euro section.  We have a fairly large amount of members from the U.K.

 

Thanks for that suggestion.

 

Hhhmmm, tried that but just says google maps error 

 

I'll try again later.

[Suburban60 2]

Jim, you are correct about the transmissions.  The casting with 2 side plates (5010) would be the 550...the 2 piece casting transmission (5007) would be the 551...I knew that and missed it.   Looking like a 550.  Some of the Connecticut guys or maybe Jake, Joebob, or SmokinJoe could help you out with any parts and knowledge.

 

With the H55A-1170...you have a 1960...550 with a Tecky/Lawson...there are some Tecky/Lawson guys on the site...need a little time for them to see this thread.    That really looks like a great horse...

Good stuff, lets hope someones steps up with a few answers as these tractors are all new to me.

[rydogg 186]

The 550 is actually a pull start and electric start, the battery is located under the seat as you can see on mine also it looks like you are missing the diodes from the fuse panel I remember someone here that had some a while back you may need to search for diode to find the post.  You are missing the starter but I am pretty sure you can start this with just the recoil if you are able to locate one or rope start it for now.  Also due to the space restrictions this engine has a tillotson updraft carburetor that can be hard to find parts for do some searching here at redsquare for those parts also.

Edited September 23, 2013 by rydogg

[neil 2,409]

Here we have a Suburban with a Lauson Engine & electric start . This is also a good example of how tour tractor shold look when completed ( click on Picture to enlarge )

if you save the picture to your desktop on your computor you can scroll in to get a closere view of things

 

 

Edited September 24, 2013 by neil

[meadowfield 2,570]

awesome find and welcome to the group Andrew.

 

Have fun....

[Charlie Smith 142]

Good Find Andrew Welcome to Red square.

[AMC RULES 37,127]

Cool looking   

[SPINJIM 1,981]

The 550 is actually a pull start and electric start, the battery is located under the seat as you can see on mine also it looks like you are missing the diodes from the fuse panel I remember someone here that had some a while back you may need to search for diode to find the post.  You are missing the starter but I am pretty sure you can start this with just the recoil if you are able to locate one or rope start it for now.  Also due to the space restrictions this engine has a tillotson updraft carburetor that can be hard to find parts for do some searching here at redsquare for those parts also.

Hi rydogg,

I see that the battery on your Suburban is UNDER the seat.   My Suburban has a battery box in front of the engine.   Did someone move it forward to shift some weight forward and make it less tippy???   The picture posted by Neil also looks like the battery is in front.    You know more about these than I do, so what do you think?

   Jim

[CasualObserver 3,408]

  I would agree that you have a 1960 550 Andrew. 

 

Andrew's pictures cannot compare to Neil's picture, as that picture is a 1961 551, in details, they are very different tractors.

 

Major identifying differences between the two are.

• 1960 - bent steel clutch pedal   1961 - cast iron pedal
• 1960 - lever throttle/choke under steering column in square hole   1961 - round push pull throttle/choke controls to the left and right of  steering column in hood/dash and a large round hole under steering column held insert plug with ignition switch.
• 1960 - diamond plate steel foot rests  1961 - cast iron oval foot rests
• 1960 - three piece transmission(iron center with steel plate sides and round axle tubes)  1961 - two piece cast iron with square axle tubes
• 1960 - battery sat in tool box under seat, solenoid mounted to tool box   1961 - battery spot formed into hood stand/frame in front of engine.
• 1960 - full "firewall" style hood stand in front of engine   1961 - open with frame work for battery placement.
• different engine spec numbers were posted earlier.

 

@spinjim  If you have a battery box ahead of the engine, you probably have a 551.  Are there pictures of your tractor on the forum?

Here is a good picture from the gallery showing the "firewall" style hood stand.  No place for a battery there.

 

and this pic shows the 551... open hood stand with framework to hold battery.

[rydogg 186]

Based on the throttle/choke controls on your tractor it is a 1960 Suburban, they made 2 models that year being the 400 which had a pull start kohler (no battery) or the 550 which had a 5.5 Lauson the one in Neils picture is actually a 1961 551 in that year they changed the hood stand so they could accommodate a battery tray in 1960 the hood stand and steering were in the way so the only way a battery could be moved to the front of the engine would be to make some sort of battery box so if it has one it is not original.  Pictured is my 551 so you can see the difference in the hood stand they were also able to use a carter model n carburetor on the 551 instead of the updraft tillotson.

 

OOPS....Jason beat me to it I was typing this reply while he was posting his, sorry.

Edited September 24, 2013 by rydogg

[Suburban60 2]

  I would agree that you have a 1960 550 Andrew. 

 

Andrew's pictures cannot compare to Neil's picture, as that picture is a 1961 551, in details, they are very different tractors.

 

Major identifying differences between the two are.

• 1960 - bent steel clutch pedal   1961 - cast iron pedal
• 1960 - lever throttle/choke under steering column in square hole   1961 - round push pull throttle/choke controls to the left and right of  steering column in hood/dash and a large round hole under steering column held insert plug with ignition switch.
• 1960 - diamond plate steel foot rests  1961 - cast iron oval foot rests
• 1960 - three piece transmission(iron center with steel plate sides and round axle tubes)  1961 - two piece cast iron with square axle tubes
• 1960 - battery sat in tool box under seat, solenoid mounted to tool box   1961 - battery spot formed into hood stand/frame in front of engine.
• 1960 - full "firewall" style hood stand in front of engine   1961 - open with frame work for battery placement.
• different engine spec numbers were posted earlier.

 

@spinjim  If you have a battery box ahead of the engine, you probably have a 551.  Are there pictures of your tractor on the forum?

Here is a good picture from the gallery showing the "firewall" style hood stand.  No place for a battery there.

 

and this pic shows the 551... open hood stand with framework to hold battery.

 

Thanks for all your knowledge, its all starting to make some sense now!

 

So its definitely a 1960 550 as it has the bent steel clutch pedal, chequer plate foot rests, throttle / choke levers, full firewall and three piece trans.

 

I've had another good look and I believe i need the following parts:

- Starter motor

- Solenoid

- Recoil starter

- Choke lever (i have the one on the right which is connected to the carb throttle)

- Carb filter (it has an old pellet tin with foam in at the moment!)

- Ignition and key

 

Any contacts for these parts would be much appreciated.

 

Here are a few more pictures of my tractor and the areas above.

[Anglo Traction 761]

Nice find, well done  . That will keep you busy over the winter if your putting it back to anywhere near original. Also, Is that VW a pre 1963 split windscreen model in the garage by any chance?. 

 

Oh and

[Suburban60 2]

Yes I can see most of winter being spent on this tractor too!

Well spotted, its a 1952 split window beetle. I'm really into my early (50's) air cooled vw's although recently I've got hooked on 40's/50's/60's American cars and pickups having imported quite a few from the states :-)