A Horse of a Different Color... and different style - RR-832

[dtallon 320]

This may seem odd, but since I first saw pictures of them, I have been curious about the Reo and A-series rear engine riders.  I don't know if it's just their size or a slight resemblance to a go-cart, but something about them piqued my interest.  As a result, I've been keeping my eye out for one for the past couple years.  Despite an abundance of Wheel Horses around here, an RER of the appropriate vintage remained elusive.  I had tentative plans to pick one up a couple hours away from me last fall, but the seller never returned a confirmation call to come get it.  

 

Last week it was too hot to do much else, so after going through my usual Craigslist searches I decided to play around outside my normal search territory.  As luck would have it, I found one.  I was surprised to see it as a Work Horse model.  I never realized that Wheel Horse even made a RER under the Work Horse brand, and I couldn't find any pictured anywhere else on the web, but through the resources on here I confirmed that it was a real model, made only in 1982.  

 

It was a little farther away than I would normally go for one, but the stars aligned for both work and family schedules and I was able to make the time to go get it.  I am anxious to get started on it.  It will start on starting fluid but won't stay running.  The guy said he used it at his old house, but when he moved he got a bigger mower and hadn't used this one in a while.  It looks like it has mostly been stored inside.  The silver paint provides a nice change of pace, but still stays within the family.

 

The plans for this one are to get it running and set it up as a mini "golf cart" for tractor shows.  I found a picture of a Cub rider converted to a mini golf cart and I would like to do something similar.  I'm anxious to get started on it, but had to put it in the back of the shed to force myself to finish up my C-160 refresh.  I'm close to getting it done, but it's always tempting to give more attention to a "new toy"

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

Nice find!! Good Luck.

[KC9KAS 4,741]

Nice find....Looks to be in pretty good shape.

[squonk 41,649]

Since it has a Vert Briggsey, I would bet a diaphragm replacement in the carb will get it running. Easy fix.

[rjg854 11,578]

pretty neat looking cart, ought to make a nice show get around buggy

[dclarke 4,046]

Nice find, Dave. I like your idea of making it a cart for getting around at shows. 

[dtallon 320]

So, I'm not surprised the seller said the tractor had a bit of a carb problem. I have revived a couple dozen tractors now, and this is by far the worst gummed-up carb I have come across.  I got a kit for it, but after messing with trying to clean up the float and bowl a little bit I have decided to just to replace those as well.  Can't wait to get it all back together and see how it runs.  

 

 

[AMC RULES 37,141]

  No kidding...YIKES!  

[dtallon 320]

So with all new guts in the carb, it runs pretty well.  It can be a little tempermental at first, dying if I give it more than half throttle, but after a minute or so it seems to settle down and will run just fine.  It will just spin it's belt in anything higher than 3rd gear going uphill, but hopefully a new belt will help that.  

 

Satisfied that I didn't have a basketcase on my hands, I proceeded with the first phase of my plan - upgrading the tires.  

 

To give it a little tougher look, I wanted to run lug tires all the way around like the Cub rider that inspired me.  I got a pair of 13x5.00-6 lug tires from surplus center for the front, but the closest lug tires I could find to the 15x5.00-6's for the rear were 14x4.50-6.  The actual specs were only slightly smaller, so I thought it was worth a shot.  After mounting one for the rear, I could tell right away it wasn't going to give me the look I wanted.  The smaller diameter was only slightly noticeable, but the 1/2" narrower width (more like 3/4") was more noticeable and just didn't look right to me.  

 

So, I moved on to plan B.  The next size bigger lug tires I could find for the rear was 16x6.50-8.  The specs on Miller Tire's website said they were really on 15.6 tall, which by my measurements fit.  Of course they required an 8" rim, but finding 8" rims to fit on a 3/4" axle shaft wasn't too hard.  In the meantime, I moved the 14x4.50-6's to the front.  (Incidentally, the front and rear rims are both 6" despite what the parts book says.  Both are the same width although they have different offsets, and the rears are keyed.)  

 

The 16x6.50-8 Deestones arrived and I got them mounted up.  Unfortunately, the 15.6 dimension must be unmounted and uninflated because once mounted they were just over 16" and did not fit quite so well.  I had to do a little tweaking of the fenders to make them fit, and even now they only have about 1/4" clearance.  It doesn't look like it would be too hard to give it a little bit of a "lift kit", so I may do that at some point. The fronts also rub a little when fully turned, but I think the look is worth it.  It definitely doesn't have quite the wimpy RER look anymore.

 

I left the deck mounted for just a little trial, and even with the bigger tires it still had enough clearance (just barely) and mowed OK.  I used it to pull a little yard cart and a sprayer and it worked like a charm.  

 

The next phase is to work on the rear "bed".  I got a HVAC intake grill I plan to modify as an engine cover (it doesn't look like this Work Horse originally came with one), and then will build some kind of cargo rack to go above that.  

[benji756 341]

that looks really good with those tires on it

[r356c 375]

I can't look at that profile without thinking of...

 

 

[dclarke 4,046]

I like the stance, Dave.    Keep the pics coming. 

[AMC RULES 37,141]

Another  calendar shot.  

 

[69-Raider-10 114]

Awesome! I love mod threads! Can't wait to see how this turns out! Keep up the good work!

[Wishin4a416 2,191]

Lookin good!

[neil 2,410]

Love the little tub trailer , tractor is really cute too .

 

[Ken B 3,164]

Your idea will soon catch on with others and we will begin to see more of these at the shows. Very cool...

[woodchuckfarmer 333]

My Granddaughter wants a lawn skiff .She said they are really cool.         Wayne

[Ken B 3,164]

11 hours ago, woodchuckfarmer said:

My Granddaughter wants a lawn skiff .She said they are really cool.         Wayne

Never heard it put that way before Wayne, a Lawn Skiff.... I say you make her happy and get her one. If your Grand Daughter is a beginner they seem like an excellent choice, nice clear view when sitting on as well...

[woodchuckfarmer 333]

1966 reo  RR66 in the tractor picks

[dtallon 320]

Thought I would post a follow-up on this one...  I hadn't given up on doing something like that little Cub in my first post, and finally got around to working on it again.  I knew if I put anything on the back, I probably didn't want the engine exposed.  I have seen a screen over the back part of the body on some versions of these, but I'm not sure the Workhorse version ever had one.  Rather than try to track one down, I got a HVAC return screen from Lowes and bent and cut it to fit.  

 

 

The next step was some sort of cargo bed for the back.  I kicked around several ideas, but finally settled on sort of a cargo rack like you would have on a quad.  The best part is the rack is primarily made up by guard rails off one of my son's old toddler beds that I couldn't bring myself to throw away.  

 

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On the front I mounted a bumper that is made for MTD riding mowers.  I had to hack up the mounting brackets, fab some additional brackets of my own, and drill some holes underneath to get it all to work, but it ended up looking pretty clean.  Of course you have to have lights on a front bumper like that, so I mounted some LED's just in case.  

 

 

Last weekend we had our first snow.  I had to scramble to finish getting the C-160 ready for snow duty, but once I did and the plowing was done, I hopped on the RR832 for a little play.  It's no quad, but it still did a pretty good job running around the yard.

 

[DennisThornton 4,769]

Man!  You did some creative cosmetic AND functional work that!  Best kind of work!  Love your re-purposed grille!

[john65002 9]

Hate to bump a old thread but want to sell that?

[wallfish 17,114]

Nothing wrong with giving the old stuff a bump once in a while. It's all here for the record so...

I don't remember seeing this one. The guy did a nice job with it and it looks much better like that.

(Miss some of the old timer RS members from the past that were around and used to post all the time, and some that have passed like Wayne.)

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,552]

19 hours ago, wallfish said:

(Miss some of the old timer RS members from the past that were around and used to post all the time

I’m still here…