By
DennisThornton
I've bought "Straight From the Horse's Mouth, The Wheel-Horse Story", read a ton of online info, joined the yahoo groups, downloaded IPLs, manuals, brochures, read most of the forum chats, viewed and collected, sorted hundreds of pictures and tried to build a database of info about WH garden tractors. Overall I think I've collected a lot but I fear only scratched the surface and am no where near ready to write the "Wheel Horse Encyclopedia", nor do I even think I ever will be, but, I do want to know more. Assuming that I haven't just overlooked the "Encyclopedia of ALL that is Wheel Horse" and that I'm not the only one interested in how to tell just by looking what model and year all these wonderful machines are where do I go next? I have:
AA Wheel Horse ID list 1955-84
WheelHorseAllYear
All the WH brochures I can find...
WH Attachment Interchange 1955-2000
I know there are folks that know far more about WHs than I ever will but I see only little tidbits for how to identify certain Wheel Horses here and there. In depth, accurate, definitive, detailed info but only about specific models and years. Nothing really covering all WHs. I know it would be a huge undertaking to pool all that is known about WHs but it seems like there either must be something more out there that I've missed or we should try to pool what we can! And I'm not really talking about ALL that is known, just ALL that is necessary to ID them! Not fix, or what parts will interchange, just tell what they are. Many are missing tags, lots covered in rust, partially hidden in the weeds, some in pieces and several built from pieces. It would be so nice to drive past an old timer, turn back around and positively ID it without having to climb a fence and search for a tag, chase down the owner or post it online and hope someone how knows will see it and help.
Perhaps I've just overlooked something? I hope so! If not, perhaps we could take just a bite at a time approach. Perhaps cover just the 1950s and save it in a file for all to review, correct, update and finally use. Then maybe tackle the 1960s...
What years/models:
had the gas fill hole offset from center?
used an aluminum tank mounted above the dash
had a straight bar axle? Upward swept axles? High clearance, inverted "V" axle?
cast iron grilles
round hoods
3 point hitches
electric powered
Clinton engines? Kawasaki engines? Renault engines?
Short frames, mid frames, long frames?
A lot of this could simply be added to the existing spreadsheet, in fact I've started already and added some info, but I'm missing most of the knowledge! I know there's folks that can ID most but how can we share that knowledge better? Thoughts? Ideas?
Thanks!
Dennis Thornton