I'm Baaaaacccckkkk...

[DoctorP 66]

I've had a bit of a hiatus for the past couple of weeks. We've been so busy with several projects (new roof, new HVAC, new sump pump, re-decking our 15 x 33 rear deck, mowing, helping my wife landscape, adapting to life in the COVID age, building a new side porch, etc, etc... I just haven't had time to do any site/forum work. Just wanted to check in and say thanks to everyone for being so helpful. It really does help when one does not have a history with a certain tractor brand and I was (and am) new to Wheel Horse so your help is GREATLY appreciated. Quite honestly, I have had some difficulties where my W/H is concerned. I find myself now trying to locate a second deck belt spring. The first one broke and then the replacement broke and now I'm "up the creek" till I locate another one. I called Gene Strickland (Wheel Horse Stables, Harrodsburg, Ky.) where I bought the tractor and unfortunately, Gene told me he's not restoring tractors anymore...just doing custom builds for rather wealthy people who can afford to make it worth his while to do the labor involved in creating something new and distinctive. He said he couldn't help me because he has a client coming in from Chicago to pick up a unit and then one from Maine to pick up another and I'm thinking, well - you told me when I bought the tractor that you guaranteed it for life and now this has changed??? Methinks I am out there on my own now and, knowing so little about Wheel Horse, I'm going to have to learn a lot about these tractors in order to do my own maintenance and repairs. I didn't want to do this. I'm almost 71 with some health problems that keep me from getting up and down (have to have wife's help with that) and didn't plan on having to do my own mechanic work...plus, I'm no mechanic so it is truly an uphill struggle for me...anyway... I feel sort of "done poorly" by Mr. Strickland but I do understand there is little money in restoration and he will probably do better in creating new machines from scratch. Still, I feel a little put off by the whole deal. Well, enough of that, I plan to download a manual. I need to take the deck off to make it easier to get to the spring and have no clue as to how to do that and I'm hoping a manual will help with that. I just wanted to say thanks and how much I appreciate everyone who replied to my previous post on the site and I hope to be a better "site brother" in the days to come. Many thanks from someone who does indeed appreciate your help.  Regards, DoctorP

[Cvans 1,009]

From your side of the story I'd say you were let down in a big way. To have someone tell you they will guarantee your WH for life was a huge commitment. I'm wondering who's life, yours or the life of his business. Either way I'm sorry that you found yourself in this position. 

Someone will be along before long that can get you headed in the right direction. Best of luck.

 

[DoctorP 66]

Thanks Cvans, I do feel a bit mis-led but I also understand most things can be distilled down to money. Still yet...I believe a man's word should be his bond and in that I do feel let down... Oh, and another reason I haven't been as faithful as I would have liked in the past couple of weeks is my phased retirement "deal" with the college requires me to teach a class in Medical Ethics over the summer and I had to get that going as well...still, I will do better in the future. Just one question...how in the world did somebody from South Dakota end up in the Navy? I'll bet the most water you had seen up till your induction was in a farm pond! Thanks again.  Regards,  DoctorP

[Pullstart 62,834]

Hey Doc,

 

If you have an apple device, pm me your contact info and I’d be glad to FaceTime with you to assist in pulling the deck.  Understanding your mobility is not that of a 30 year old, it takes me about 1-1/2 minutes to get a deck free of the tractor.  That said, I have time and would be glad to help!

[bc.gold 3,403]

4 hours ago, DoctorP said:

I've had a bit of a hiatus for the past couple of weeks. We've been so busy with several projects (new roof, new HVAC, new sump pump, re-decking our 15 x 33 rear deck, mowing, helping my wife landscape, adapting to life in the COVID age, building a new side porch, etc, etc... I just haven't had time to do any site/forum work. Just wanted to check in and say thanks to everyone for being so helpful. It really does help when one does not have a history with a certain tractor brand and I was (and am) new to Wheel Horse so your help is GREATLY appreciated. Quite honestly, I have had some difficulties where my W/H is concerned. I find myself now trying to locate a second deck belt spring. The first one broke and then the replacement broke and now I'm "up the creek" till I locate another one. I called Gene Strickland (Wheel Horse Stables, Harrodsburg, Ky.) where I bought the tractor and unfortunately, Gene told me he's not restoring tractors anymore...just doing custom builds for rather wealthy people who can afford to make it worth his while to do the labor involved in creating something new and distinctive. He said he couldn't help me because he has a client coming in from Chicago to pick up a unit and then one from Maine to pick up another and I'm thinking, well - you told me when I bought the tractor that you guaranteed it for life and now this has changed??? Methinks I am out there on my own now and, knowing so little about Wheel Horse, I'm going to have to learn a lot about these tractors in order to do my own maintenance and repairs. I didn't want to do this. I'm almost 71 with some health problems that keep me from getting up and down (have to have wife's help with that) and didn't plan on having to do my own mechanic work...plus, I'm no mechanic so it is truly an uphill struggle for me...anyway... I feel sort of "done poorly" by Mr. Strickland but I do understand there is little money in restoration and he will probably do better in creating new machines from scratch. Still, I feel a little put off by the whole deal. Well, enough of that, I plan to download a manual. I need to take the deck off to make it easier to get to the spring and have no clue as to how to do that and I'm hoping a manual will help with that. I just wanted to say thanks and how much I appreciate everyone who replied to my previous post on the site and I hope to be a better "site brother" in the days to come. Many thanks from someone who does indeed appreciate your help.  Regards, DoctorP

 

Warranty is on tractor not deck, seized deck bearing then burns the belt and what is left gets wrapped. I think perhaps the seller may think twice about extending his good will.

 

Three strikes yer out.

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by bcgold

[bc.gold 3,403]

1 hour ago, DoctorP said:

I find myself now trying to locate a second deck belt spring. The first one broke and then the replacement broke and now I'm "up the creek" till I locate another one.

 

And the new belt, bearing and springs - came from WHERE.

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,040]

Here is a parts list for 1977 42" side discharge deck. May not be the same as yours as the last decks they built for these tractors a few years ago will also fit. Spindle bearings were the biggest improvements made over the years.

The tension spring hooks on a bolt between two nuts. The later manuals tell us not to clamp the spring. In other words the nuts can not be tightened down on the spring. The top nut is just there to stop the spring from coming off the bolt.

Do you have a local Toro dealer?

 

Garry

[DoctorP 66]

I appreciate the help. I will definitely do that. I've got to run over to a couple of other locations today (Winchester and Lexington) to pick up some deck building materials and doubt if I'll get to it today, but just as soon as I can, I'll get back to it. Just received a call from Mr. Strickland from WheelHorse Stables clarifying his position in all this. First off, it was not my intention to belittle Mr. Strickland in any way. As far as I know, he is an honest person. As far as I know, he is an excellent mechanic. He stated to me that he does intend to continue to restore and sell tractors and that was a misunderstanding we had during a previous discussion. Every tub sits on its own bottom and both he and I will have to stand on our own position. I'm sure many of you have had dealings with Mr. Strickland and will continue to do so and that is exactly as it should be. My situation, circumstances, and issues are mine alone and I regret having made my position public on this forum. I will end by saying, I stand by every word I said earlier about my understanding of the discussion Mr. Strickland and I had concerning the guests he expects from Chicago and Maine. I reported that conversation to the best of my recollection and had no ulterior motive in trying to besmirch Mr Strickland or Wheel Horse Stables, however, I will not be doing business with Mr. Strickland in the future but that is my position and I do not recommend it to anyone else. I hope this clarifies the issue to those who felt that I had "bad mouthed" Mr. Strickland. I was merely trying to explain my need for help and my particular and personal situation.  Regards, DoctorP

[DoctorP 66]

Thanks, @gwest_ca I appreciate the help. Today is a very busy day, but I will turn my attention to it as soon as I can.  Regards,  DoctorP

[DoctorP 66]

@bcgold the belts came from Gene Strickland for which I paid $40. the spring was provided by Mr. Strickland at no charge to me.  Regards, DoctorP

[JustinW.73 224]

From a technical standpoint, it is a 100% operator error regarding the spring breaking not once, but twice. If the outer pto bearing goes out it’s either old and has dirt in it, or someone adjusted the pto adjuster way to much. I’ve owned several wheel horse for several years with no problems with the deck, or pto. And all that stuff is old. 
 

From a business/person perspective, anyone that accuses Gene of not giving them adequate help doesn’t know this man one bit. I’ve been on the phone for literally hours with him helping me with restoring my tractor. He does that with everyone. And if I call him and he either doesn’t answer or tells me he can’t talk right now, I leave him alone and he calls back when he can. The guy wakes up early in the morning and stays working every day during the week 12 hrs a day normally. The people he said were coming have been waiting on Gene to restore their tractors for over 3 months now. He is constantly working. Personally, I think you should edit your first post because there are several pieces of incorrect information and defamation. Also, I don’t see anyone asking Genes side of the story so you’re going to let people make assumptions. There are always 2 sides to every story. 
I recommend Gene to anyone and everyone. His work is second to none. He cares about EVERY customer (the customer just needs to have some patience, he is a one man band running the whole show). 

[bc.gold 3,403]

54 minutes ago, JustinW.73 said:

From a technical standpoint, it is a 100% operator error regarding the spring breaking not once, but twice. If the outer pto bearing goes out it’s either old and has dirt in it, or someone adjusted the pto adjuster way to much. I’ve owned several wheel horse for several years with no problems with the deck, or pto. And all that stuff is old. 
 

From a business/person perspective, anyone that accuses Gene of not giving them adequate help doesn’t know this man one bit. I’ve been on the phone for literally hours with him helping me with restoring my tractor. He does that with everyone. And if I call him and he either doesn’t answer or tells me he can’t talk right now, I leave him alone and he calls back when he can. The guy wakes up early in the morning and stays working every day during the week 12 hrs a day normally. The people he said were coming have been waiting on Gene to restore their tractors for over 3 months now. He is constantly working. Personally, I think you should edit your first post because there are several pieces of incorrect information and defamation. Also, I don’t see anyone asking Genes side of the story so you’re going to let people make assumptions. There are always 2 sides to every story. 
I recommend Gene to anyone and everyone. His work is second to none. He cares about EVERY customer (the customer just needs to have some patience, he is a one man band running the whole show). 

[Cvans 1,009]

13 hours ago, DoctorP said:

South Dakota end up in the Navy?

I'm from Portland Oregon originally and enlisted at the old Swan Island Naval base. When growing up I spent a lot of time on the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Also Willapa bay Washington. Where I live here is in the Glacial lakes region so lots of water. Three sides of our home faces water in the distance. 

Looks like you have a couple of people willing to help so I hope you get the problem cured in short order. 

[DoctorP 66]

To Justin and bcgold: Thank you for expressing your support for Mr. Strickland. What I said should have been in a PM and I accept responsibility for using the wrong format. I acted irresponsibly and will readily admit that. What I do not do is back away from my perception of the particular situation I spoke of. If it was an improper understanding of the facts, I do apologize for that. The facts, however, remain and I will not rescend them.  Regards, DoctorP

Edited June 26, 2020 by DoctorP

[JustinW.73 224]

On 6/26/2020 at 7:34 AM, DoctorP said:

To Justin and bcgold: Thank you for expressing your support for Mr. Strickland. What I said should have been in a PM and I accept responsibility for using the wrong format. I acted irresponsibly and will readily admit that. What I do not do is back away from my perception of the particular situation I spoke of. If it was an improper understanding of the facts, I do apologize for that. The facts, however, remain and I will not rescend them.  Regards, DoctorP

Soooo....You acknowledge that you may have misunderstood Gene, you admit that this should not have been put on a public forum, yet it’s still here, and is still public defamation of Gene and his business, and you still claim these false “facts” as true even though you’ve said you misunderstood him. I really just have to call out the admins and mods that control this forum that allow bashing of other people and other forms of “bad talk”. This first off isn’t even in the correct second, it has nothing to do about an intro. Second all it is is you spewing out incorrect information that you either misunderstood or didn’t want to hear from Gene. This thread should be taken down, if the admins/mods have any ounce of wanting a clean, fun, and thoughtful forum. That was why I and many others left, now we come back to seeing more bashing, and to a close friend of mine that spends more hours of the day helping others than anything else. He’s glad to help people out, but like I said people need patience with the guy. I would like to add Gene didn’t really have to give you any of the parts he did, he guarantee is of the work he did, not because the customer messes around with the tractor thinking they know what they are doing when they don’t. 
 

It’s so annoying this crap is everywhere and nobody wants to deal with it. 

[DoctorP 66]

No,Justin, I don't admit that I misunderstood Gene but I do admit I should have used better judgement in entering our problem in a public forum. This does not need to go on and this website and this fellowship does not need this kind of arguing back and forth. You were here before I came onto the site as was bcgold and Mr.Strickland, therefore it is incumbent on me to.erase my place on RedSquare and I will do that with this post. I do wish everyone well and hope this sort of thing never happens again here or otherwise. I accept all blame for the entire flare up and, regretfully but rightly, withdraw from this group so that everything can go back the way it was. Many blessings,  DoctorP

Edited June 28, 2020 by DoctorP