wheel horse 857 project

[Eric857 54]

Hi Redsquare!

my name is Eric. I am 17 and I am from Ct. At my high school we have to do a project called a "capstone". For the project the student must do a project on anything they want as long as they learn something from it. For my project I chose to restore a Wheel Horse 857. I chose this project because I grew up on a wheel horse 1257 and I wanted to get another one and restore it. Unfortunately I couldn't find a 1257 but I did find an 857 so I decided to buy that for restoration. I paid $400 for the tractor, an Rm367 rear discharge mower, a bucket of extra belts (new in the package), rear wheel weights,and chains. It was a wonderful find. Especially because the machine was stored inside since the day it was new. I bought the machine in deep river Connecticut (running and driving) from the original owner. She even had all of the original paperwork. As soon as mi brought it home, my mother named her. Little red riding hood is the name she picked out. It sounds silly but it is actually pretty appropriate considering the machine's characteristics.... Here she is after the initial cleaning.

[Eric857 54]

http://m769.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/Eric857/1381145009_zpse12adb17.jpg.html?o=51&pbauth=1_uLEBonVPfaLdh1h3YMYz2XZnoYg%2FGynrgJPsTimw442l7p%2FscAJPVKw98FRVcHPWdbhInLU5EG2%2BaBJtLSv6eayIcs3CTNZ9Y6j7bl3wEFYK1lqQ5b95ETv%2FQZ%2B7yqIrI%2Bgk36ROXlO1T8eJAF5FJyFxmFwMd5%2Bagxf5l0E%2F3yw%3D&pbauth=1_uLEBonVPfaLdh1h3YMYz2XZnoYg%2FGynrgJPsTimw442l7p%2FscAJPVKw98FRVcHPWdbhInLU5EG2%2BaBJtLSv6eayIcs3CTNZ9Y6j7bl3wEFYK1lqQ5b95ETv%2FQZ%2B7yqIrI%2Bgk36ROXlO1T8eJAF5FJyFxmFwMd5%2Bagxf5l0E%2F3yw%3D

[rmaynard 15,580]

I think you picked a good project. The pictures on Photobucket are a little small, but from what I can see it looks great. Nothing wrong with an 857. One of the best engines Kohler ever made.

[Eric857 54]

Sorry about that here are some better pics. 

.

[Eric857 54]

So far i have taken the hood off of the machine and i have taken the drive belt cover off and the fenders/ seat. I have also taken off the rear wheel for painting along with some other small parts such as the food pads. 

The hood is primed but i had to take dents out of the grill so i had to re prime the areas where you see red...

I painted one of the wheels using rustoleum gloss ivory in a rattlecan. heres a before And after

[SousaKerry 501]

Wow that thing is in excellent shape,   can't say much for the bug eyes though.    I'd chuck them lights in the garbage...

[Eric857 54]

thats what i thought at first but they come in handy when/ if im using it at night or in the snow. They grew on me too after a while.

[AMC RULES 37,134]

You started with a nice one. 

[KC9KAS 4,741]

 , and thank you for the photos.

Looks like a very nice tractor for your project.

 

While visiting the county 4-H fair this summer, I saw a Wheel Horse that some youngster fixed up for his 4-H project. I left my WH calling card on the tractor thinking he would call, but never heard from him.....Maybe like so many 4-H projects, the dad did the work and didn't want to call either!

[953 nut 55,702]

   It is always great to see another generation wanting to keep the   legacy alive. I have to agree that the bug eyes look out of place, I think they would look good on the sides of the hood.  

 

Keep us posted as you go along.

 

 

 

[speedyleedy 205]

Look's good keep up the work !

[slammer302 2,155]

Looks like your on the right path are you going to change the muffler?

[Eric857 54]

Yes. I went to a swap meet this past weekend in Colchester ct for wheel horses and other tractors. While I was there I got a new muffler (the correct one) and a snow plow

[Eric857 54]

Update : yesterday I primed the belt cover for the tractor. I primed the rear hitch and I threw a rough coat of primer on the late 70s long frame I am putting up for sale. On Saturday I attended the Colchester fall tractor show and swap meet. There I bought a brand new Kohler muffler for $5 and a throttle cable for $10. I also bought a snow plow that actually fits on my machine, which is why I am selling the late 70s plow I mentioned earlier. The plow I bought has a 42inch blade, all original mounting hardware, and the original lift link.... I paid $100 bucks for the whole thing, which I think is a steal for a plow with all of the fixins. I will add pictures when I get back home of everything mentioned in this post.. Along with another post of everything Im going to do on the tractor after school today.

[Eric857 54]

Hey guys,

. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will have to upload pictures at another time. Unfortunately I cannot post pictures from my phone so I will do it later. That's besides the point. I am wondering where the best place to get decals for everything. The motor, the tractor, the tranny, the mower deck, and the plow? I'm a little lost when it comes to finding them... Is there more than one place to get them. If you could can you guys put down every website you know of where I can get decals from? Also where can I get the lug bolts to hold on the rear wheels.. I went to a few different places and they didn't have the correct size or style lug. Any suggestions?

[slammer302 2,155]

I think most everyone here uses redoyourhorse.com for decals I think their a bit priceie but do look good and the have anyone that you would need. I think eBay if lugs

[Eric857 54]

So since i have last posted I have done a lot of work on my tractor.

I started with the rear wheels. Here they are in their original condition

 

Heres what they looked like after i stripped them down

Then I primed them

.

and finally i painted it using rustolium gloss ivory

[Eric857 54]

I did the same thing for the front but i dont have before and after pictures of those, all i have are pictures of the stripped ones:

 

[Eric857 54]

Other things have done are strip prime and paint the wheel weights; prime the mower deck and give it one coat of paint; prime and paint the hitch; and prime the belt cover. Unfortunately i don't have pictures of the painted hitch or painted mower deck.

heres the stripped wheel weights, then them primed and them painted:

[Eric857 54]

Here is the primed hitch and the primed belt cover. I will try to get the painted pictures of both of these parts up soon:

 

 

The next thing i did was take apart the clutch and brake set up 

[Eric857 54]

Then i took off the gas tank and took apart the dash:

Note: you can see what the front wheels looked like originally in some of the following pics.

 

 

.

[Eric857 54]

The next thing i did was remove the motor

the rear and front wheels in the bottom pics are off of a commando 6 i have lying around

there is more to come in the next few days so stay tuned for all of you who like my 857 project

[posifour11 723]

You're doing great! Keep it up.

[Eric857 54]

After the engine was removed I disconnected the frame, transmission, and the body from each other and i got right to work stripping the transmission and priming it. I also primed the body but i do not have pictures of that yet.

 

.

[Eric857 54]

I started to take apart the engine so i could strip it and paint it and i also finished taking apart the frame and front axle so that's where i am at as it stands. My progress has slowed down because i am applying to colleges and doing schools work right now but i am working as hard as i can in the little time i have to work on the tractor.

.