Blizzard in NY! Great day for my 1979 C-161 to get some exercise!

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

Youtube video of my 1979 Wheel Horse C-161 throwing some snow!

 

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by T-Mo
Embedded Video

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,308]

Great video....thanks!

  Mike....

[cschannuth 3,816]

It's nice to see other 161 Briggs out there still going strong. 

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

Actually every year she gets better. That C-161 is one hell of a Horse! Blows through 2 miles of snow a foot deep on my country road. Then in the summer. She pulls my 3,800lb (plus trailer weight) Sea Ray 215 21.5 foot with a mercruiser 5.0 on a trailer and parks it in to place or pulls it out and gets it ready for my truck like a charm.  Kinda like those tractors that pull  and park those huge jumbo jets at the airport, lol! 

 

[Kurt-NEPA 755]

Nice video.  I really enjoy seeing old iron still earning a living.  Well done!

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

Kurt, you have inspired me to take some video of my 1973 Auto 18. She is the Wheel Horse power machine I use daily to manage my goat farm. From logs of wood to goat manure, moving bales of hay and multiple 50lb bags of goat and chicken feet.... (and tomorrow moving snow out of the way) my Auto 18 with the ARK 550 FEL does all the heavy lifting for me. And as time goes on, I slowly, upgrade her looks, and maintain and upgrade her.

 

Stat warm. Video to follow!

[Kurt-NEPA 755]

[js5020 111]

Very nice,,, I had the 16 auto with the tall chute blower out for a stretch.  44yrs old and can still run/outrun the new stuff.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,493]

Love the blackhoods!  

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

22 minutes ago, js5020 said:

Very nice,,, I had the 16 auto with the tall chute blower out for a stretch.  44yrs old and can still run/outrun the new stuff.

Yup major upgrade this year!  Invested about $6 in new wire to wrap around the snow chute controler.  With just a couple hand cranks of the rod I can now smoothly and quickly rotate the snow chute from left to right, or straight ahead and deliver massive amounts of snow with deadly precision striking my targets some 25 feet away. All executed without a laser dot or gps. Intoxicating power indeed:) 

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

This one is throwing me for a loop.  From what I can remember the black hoods didn't come out until 1980.  So I checked my 1979 brochure, and they do show a black hood, but it's a C-171T (why the "T"? Twin cylinder engine maybe).  But the only C-161 they show is not a black hood but similar to the 1978 C series and all the other 1979 C series.  I checked the two other sources that have all the years all the model numbers, and it shows a C-161 with a twin Briggs.

 

I then check my 1978 brochure and there is a black hood C-161 twin.  So, I think the 1979 brochure came out and Wheel Horse intended to have a C-171 with a 17 hp twin cylinder Kohler K17 in it.  But for some reason they never produced that model, maybe shortage of K17s or something interfered with manufacturing them, so they carried over the C-161 Twin from 1978 to replace the C-171.  Has anyone seen a C-171T?  Did it ever exist?

1978_Horses.pdf

1979_Brochure.pdf

Wheel_Horse_Products_Master_Model_List.pdf

wheelhorseallyears.xls

[tbarnhart 240]

My uncle had one, and I still have the carcass out behind my shop. He repowered it with a 18hp Briggs Vangaurd. It needs a hood, so if anyone has a good fiberglass hood for the '78-'79 C-161 twin, I'd love to get one. I still want to do a restore on it some day, but it needs a lot of work. As I understand the history, Wheel Horse wanted to introduce a signature model in '78 along with the introduction of the C-1x1 series. They went to Kohler for a larger engine than the 16 single on the 160-161. The only thing suitable that Kohler had at the time was the newly developed K-17. Wheel Horse wanted this tractor to stand out a bit as their first twin cyl. C-series and they previewed their upcoming (80>) styling with a Square blackhood. Those first blackhoods were fiberglass. Unfortunately for the Kohler fans, the durability of the earliest K17s was a problem, so WH turned to briggs to supply them with a 16hp twin. Hence, the proposed C-171 twin became a C-161 twin. Pretty much the same tractor as the regular C-161 except for the engine, hood, and the plastic fender pan.

[JC 1965 1,530]

Great video . Thanks for sharing.     

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

On 2/10/2017 at 7:24 AM, T-Mo said:

This one is throwing me for a loop.  From what I can remember the black hoods didn't come out until 1980.  So I checked my 1979 brochure, and they do show a black hood, but it's a C-171T (why the "T"? Twin cylinder engine maybe).  But the only C-161 they show is not a black hood but similar to the 1978 C series and all the other 1979 C series.  I checked the two other sources that have all the years all the model numbers, and it shows a C-161 with a twin Briggs.

 

I then check my 1978 brochure and there is a black hood C-161 twin.

Hi, I'm confused, Are you thinking this is not a 1979? I'm almost positive it is. I can pull the serial number if you like. Let me know, best, Jacques

[cschannuth 3,816]

Here's a '78. The seat pan was changed to metal when dad bought it. 

[JERSEYHAWG / Glenn 4,497]

Great video, really enjoyed it. 

 

Glenn

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

On 2/9/2017 at 6:52 PM, js5020 said:

Very nice,,, I had the 16 auto with the tall chute blower out for a stretch.  44yrs old and can still run/outrun the new stuff.

Amen! I am a strong believer that the "latest obsolete technology, is the best technology."  And the Wheel Horses are exactly that. Steel. Carbs, screws, ball joints. No computers, emissions, or nanny nonsense. With a set of wrenches, screwdrivers, a hammer and a little welding now and then, we can fix anything and keep it going. Beats calling China or dealing with the EPA.  My '73 WH  would probably stop an armor piercing round, lol! God bless America!

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,493]

5 hours ago, cschannuth said:

Here's a '78. The seat pan was changed to metal when dad bought it. 

 

Love the Black Hoods! 

 

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

5 hours ago, cschannuth said:

Here's a '78. The seat pan was changed to metal when dad bought it. 

OMG she is beautiful. I only wish I could have mine look that way. I take comfort that I am able to use these as my true work horse Wheel Horses! Meanwhile Here is another longer version of the C-161 blowing snow after the storm. I hope you enjoy it. Always nice to see snow fly!

 

 

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

16 hours ago, wheelhorse-c-161-1979 said:

Hi, I'm confused, Are you thinking this is not a 1979? I'm almost positive it is. I can pull the serial number if you like. Let me know, best, Jacques

No, I'm not doubting you, but I was confused on why it isn't listed in the 1979 brochure, but a C-171T was, which from all indications was never produced.  And I was also mistakenly thinking that the black hoods wasn't introduced until 1980.  But, the 1978 brochure proved me wrong on that.  Learn something new almost every day.

[c-series don 8,666]

This topic of the C-171 has been discussed before and I believe the common consensus was that it was never produced. I was lucky enough to inherit a 1978 C-161 twin automatic that is still going strong, it's not my most beautiful tractor but knowing its history makes me happy to have it. I'm also fortunate enough to have C-161 8 speed and C-161 automatic as well as several other C's. Life is good!

[jay bee 896]

Here is a look at my '78 C-161.  They must have made both types is '78.  Left to Right...'76 B-100, 78 C-161 and 83 C=145 Black Hood!!!

 

Jim

 

 

 

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,496]

6 hours ago, jay bee said:

Here is a look at my '78 C-161.  They must have made both types is '78.  Left to Right...'76 B-100, 78 C-161 and 83 C=145 Black Hood!!!

 

Jim

 

 

 

Yes, both C-161s were made in 1978, and in 1979.  The C-161 Twin had the black hood and plastic fender pan, while the C-161 with the single cylinder Kohler had the old look with the smaller red hood and steel fender pan.

[wheelhorse-c-161-1979 117]

On 2/10/2017 at 8:22 AM, tbarnhart said:

As I understand the history, Wheel Horse wanted to introduce a signature model in '78 along with the introduction of the C-1x1 series. They went to Kohler for a larger engine than the 16 single on the 160-161. The only thing suitable that Kohler had at the time was the newly developed K-17. Wheel Horse wanted this tractor to stand out a bit as their first twin cyl. C-series and they previewed their upcoming (80>) styling with a Square blackhood. Those first blackhoods were fiberglass. Unfortunately for the Kohler fans, the durability of the earliest K17s was a problem, so WH turned to briggs to supply them with a 16hp twin. Hence, the proposed C-171 twin became a C-161 twin. Pretty much the same tractor as the regular C-161 except for the engine, hood, and the plastic fender pan.

Thanks for the history, I love learning about those great marvels.  I have a '79 black fiberglass hood with the Briggs & Stratton. That little tractor has amazing pulling power with the 8 speed.  I regularly use it to move out, or park my 21 foot 3,800 lb boat and trailer in to a tight spot in my driveway.  If it would be helpful, I could look for the serial # to get you more specs on when and where it was built.