New Purchase, new WH Owner - A-100 Model

[Rugerhound 25]

Greetings everyone! 

 

I'm a new member to this forum and a new Wheel Horse A-100 owner.  I'd been looking for an inexpensive fixer-upper riding lawnmower to make my yardwork a little easier for an aging fellow like myself.   Snagged this A-100 for $250 that's in really decent shape for the most part.  The mower deck has some problems however, but the actual tractor is in great shape.  Doesn't look as though it was used much, and still has all the original tags on the Briggs  & Stratton stickers on the housings.  Engine sounds fine but the needle isn't shutting the fuel off properly, so it runs rough until it's revved up a bit.   The pedals have scarcely any paint worn from them.   Quite remarkable for a '77!  

 

So I have one of the blade shafts bound up, another that doesn't feel all that nifty.  I don't know if those bearings are sealed, or whether anyone might be able to clean 'em up and repack them for continued use.  Pulleys are in rough shape but I may be able to salvage them.    Any info on the bearings in the mower deck would be very helpful!   (Including recommended grease type, etc.)  

 

Also it needs a key... The Ignition switch is an INDAK 103991 which appears to cross to a Toro.   New switches are available, but does anyone know if it's possible to just purchase a replacement key?  

 

I'm guessing it takes typical non-detergent 30W oil...  It's a '77 model Briggs & Stratton 10 HP.  (Model 251707, code 77040412)  What fluid does the gearbox take?  

 

Thanks!!  

 

Regards,  Pete (Aka Rugerhound)

[AMC RULES 37,127]

                      

            Search Ebay... "indak key" 

 

            

[JERSEYHAWG / Glenn 4,497]

Hi Pete,              dont forget pictures.   Best of luck.

 

 

Glenn

[Walt 339]

And if you check vendors section Glen Pettit sells keys.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Walt

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,031]

Welcome to the forum.

A bit of info. Click on the fuzzy pictures below and then download from there.

Garry

[KC9KAS 4,741]

@Rugerhound 

[ebinmaine 67,259]

8 hours ago, JERSEYHAWG / Glenn said:

Hi Pete,              dont forget pictures.   Best of luck.

 

 

Glenn

[953 nut 55,051]

              your key can be found at Home Depot or Lowe's or any lawn mower shop. The manuals Garry has provided links to should cover any questions you have, but we are here to help if you want to ask about anything.   Also;   

[russellmc301 600]

here is mine i restored.

i just have 10w-30 in it and it and it runs great,just plain 30 would be great aswell. i think i used just plain 90 weight gear oil or some sort of gear box oil for the transmission. the Manuel for it should tell you about anything you need to know or if that doesn't help then i might be able to help.

i love my a-100 i drive it everywhere and pull my wagon with it.

[Ed Kennell 38,021]

  to the    Pete.    As you can see above,  we are here to help.    

[Rugerhound 25]

Dear forum members who responded:

 

WOW!   What a welcome wagon!   And what an incredible treasure trove of information!  Thanks to everyone who responded with all the information, good wishes, photos, PDFs, etc etc.   I'm going to have some fun making this tractor fully functional.   I've dug into the mower deck which is really rough... I *think* it's recoverable, but it's a rusty mess.  It must have sat in a field somewhere for many years.  The wheels look like they're hardly used, so the mower deck obviously sat somewhere in a stationary condition for quite some time.   The belt was stuck in the 3 blade spindle pulleys, and left half the material in the V-ways.   We're having a bit of rain here in Az, but I'll get photos at the 1st opportunity.  

 

I've got a new needle, seat and gasket for the carb coming to take care of the flooding.  I suppose I should remove the bowl and make sure the float hasn't sunk.

 

Photos in a day or so.   Thanks again everyone!!

Best regards,  Pete

[ebinmaine 67,259]

6 hours ago, Rugerhound said:

got a new needle, seat and gasket for the carb coming to take care of the flooding.  I suppose I should remove the bowl and make sure the float hasn't sunk

Might as well get used to the positive additiveand helpful folks Pete.

Good bunch o people. 

Seems you're heading the right way on the tractor. ... please replace the fuel line while you have the carb apart. 

The ethanol in modern fuel eats the rubber. 

[Rugerhound 25]

So here are some photos of the thing.  She ain't all that spiffy, but has great potential I believe.  

 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a tool for the pulley removal?    I have several pullers, but nothing goes down to basically 1" ..  

[12 hp Kohler 1,014]

 and nice A-100. As for taking the pulleys off of the deck I would recommend trying the puller or getting a small pry bar underneath the pulley. If you try the pry bar be carful not to brake the edges off of the pully, I learned the hard way. If you don’t have any luck with either of those ways try heating the pulleys a little with a torch then try to pull them off again. 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,031]

Once you have the bolt and washer off the spindle the cavity above the spindle is ideal for applying a good penetrating oil. Keep it flooded for a week or two and the pulleys may fall off. That cast iron is as brittle as glass so pulling on them usually results in breakage. WD40 is not a penetrating fluid. Whatever type of fluid you use shake the can well before applying.

 

We don't know your model number but this may be the deck you have. Click on the poor picture. Next page has small pictures you can click on to enlarge. They show the different spindle assemblies that were available over the years so you know how they are assembled.

 

Garry

[Rugerhound 25]

On 1/13/2018 at 3:36 AM, gwest_ca said:

 

As best I can tell by the raggedy old tag, the 65-36MR02 is what I have.   The documentation matches up with my hardware as best I can tell.   Two pulleys off, one stuck fast!  I've given it a week's worth of Aerokroil, and it ain't giving up much.  Tried heat with a propane torch and it seemed to move a tad, but then it gave up.   Looks like I'm gonna have to cut it off with a sawzall or use a smoke wrench!  

  

The good news is that a new float, a clean carb, some new fuel line, new air filter element, needle & seat, misc gaskets & a base full of nice clean new 30W oil, and the old girl lit off and ran like a top once I got the mixture tweaked.  It runs SO good in fact, that it won't shut off!  (Key switch doesn't stop it!)   She wants to go!    There's a couple wires with ring hook connections on them (one white, perhaps 16 or 18 gage coming from the harness near the positive post, the other a smaller gage black wire from under the cooling shroud.   Look like factory ends on the wires, but I have no idea what they go to.  

 

The charging system seems to work (13.6 vdc at speed with lights on) ...   I'll try to get a video of the thing put together.  Runs good!   It's a LOT happier today than it was when I got it!

 

Thanks for all the help Garry and everyone who's responded!  

Regards,   Pete

 

On 1/13/2018 at 3:36 AM, gwest_ca said:

 

Once you have the bolt and washer off the spindle the cavity above the spindle is ideal for applying a good penetrating oil. Keep it flooded for a week or two and the pulleys may fall off. That cast iron is as brittle as glass so pulling on them usually results in breakage. WD40 is not a penetrating fluid. Whatever type of fluid you use shake the can well before applying.

 

We don't know your model number but this may be the deck you have. Click on the poor picture. Next page has small pictures you can click on to enlarge. They show the different spindle assemblies that were available over the years so you know how they are assembled.

 

Garry

 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,031]

I wonder if you could find some grass to cut if running it without the bolt would persuade it to loosen up? 

Garry

[Rugerhound 25]

15 hours ago, gwest_ca said:

I wonder if you could find some grass to cut if running it without the bolt would persuade it to loosen up? 

Garry

Garry -  The deck is a mess... The spindle won't turn and the pulley is completely hosed.  It's off the machine, and was when I picked it up.  I tried to get the spindle to turn before I attempted to remove the pulley and it would have no part of it!  

 

I'll thrash with it a bit more before I call in the big guns!  

 

Regards,  Pete

[Rugerhound 25]

Finally!!   More heat, more Aerokroil, and more busted knuckles, but no pulley movement!    Soooo... I could see that I had just enough room to slip a hacksaw blade in there and after some bouts with the saw, presto!  

 

Now it's parts ordering time.... 

 

Regards,  Pete

[Rugerhound 25]

On 1/8/2018 at 6:09 AM, russellmc301 said:

here is mine i restored.

i just have 10w-30 in it and it and it runs great,just plain 30 would be great aswell. i think i used just plain 90 weight gear oil or some sort of gear box oil for the transmission. the Manuel for it should tell you about anything you need to know or if that doesn't help then i might be able to help.

i love my a-100 i drive it everywhere and pull my wagon with it.

That's a beauty!  Mine's got a ways to go before she looks that good! 

Regards,  pete

[Rugerhound 25]

Ok... Got the ignition switch to shut off the engine!   The "white" unterminated wire is actually a GREEN unterminated wire when it wasn't all faded from sitting in the sun!  Spent a half hour or so ringing out circuits with a multi meter, and presto!   The faded green wire showed continuity with the green wire on the ignition switch, and needed to ground on the same lug that the little black (blue?) wire from the Magneto grounds on.   

 

One of these days I'm actually gonna be able to cut grass with this contraption!   Many thanks to all the help, and the great forum!  I've been able to dig up all kinds of nuggets here!

 

Best regards,  Pete

[Rugerhound 25]

Well, ... 

 

Thanks to all the great information that was provided to me, I got the ole WH up and running with the mower functional for the 1st time in heaven-only-knows how long!   It ain't purdy yet, but that sucker will cut a mess of grass!   Got some more fiddling around to get the mower adjusted properly, but it's running really well !    I will have some pix and maybe a video posted soon!

Thanks to all!

 

Regards,  Pete