How did you get into Wheel Horse tractors? What's your story?

[scWHhauler 96]

Lets see I 17 at the time and fast asleep after a huge Friday night football win and bon fire celebration.  When my dad jarred me out of bed to go with him to Creed power and help him load his new tractor up on arrival at Creed I got the first look at dads new C-141 how he convinced mom to let him buy it I will never know. And I guess from that time forward I was hooked .

[AHS 1,440]

My Dad bought a ‘79 C101, with a 36” RD, plow and a wagon. Dad used that C constantly; from loading wood in the wagon, to plowing snow to mowing the lawn. I got to mow the lawn.... and that old tractor was still as reliable 10, 20, 30, 40 years old!! I learned that a tough and bulletproof tractor was a Wheelhorse!! And now I’ve got 4 of them....and still searching! A C160-8 still dreaming in my head!!😀💪👍

[ArturHawk 184]

I bought my first house about two years ago, it's only a half acre, so I found a push mower being thrown out and used that. My mom found a Poulan Pro 21hp for $100 and gave it to me as a housewarming present later in the year. Once I got it working properly it was fun and did the job, but I would always see my across the street neighbor on his old red tractor (never heard of WH before). It reminded me of my old grandfather's cub I used all the time as a kid. I started itching for that old style tractor knowing how well they built machines back then. About 2 months ago my neighbor tells me his tractor died while his father was using it and it doesn't run anymore, so his dad bought him a zero turn to replace it. A week later he says "I'm never going to get this thing running again, but I think you could. Do you want it?" 

 

Without hesitation I said yes as I had internally been drooling over this tractor (raider 10) for the greater part of 2 years. After cleaning the top of the engine and doing a valve adjustment I got it to turn over. After running two tanks of fuel with seafoam it ran pretty well. I mowed the lawn with it and it did a better job than the Poulan and a Deere I had just been given (also broken), so I decided to make a change.

 

I love the simplicity, durability, and it seems like there are attachments for everything. I sold the Deere, am selling the Poulan, bought another WH (C-120), and now have 2 snow plows, snow thrower, roto tiller, moldbaord plow, cultivator, and yard cart to wreak all sorts of havoc on my property.

 

I put in a 35' underground downspout yesterday using the C-120 and cultivator and looking for more projects just to get more seat time! 

[tom2p 2,394]

around 1974 or so we got a Wheel Horse 704

 

was helping my father with a side job one weekend - small addition to a house - and he pointed to a tractor next to a garage and said it was to be included as payment 

 

I was especially excited because I was impressed with the Wheel Horse tractors in our neighborhood  - and it was much better the small Huffy lawn tractor we had 

 

Used that 704 to cut grass at my parents house until I moved out in the early 80's

 

also did a fair amount of off-road / trail riding with that 704 ... pulled a car ... used it to move heavy material ... step stool / ladder ... 

 

took the 704 when I moved from my parents house (because I knew it would die a cruel death at the hands of my father  lol) and cut grass with it until the late 90's

 

acquired a 312-8 in the late 90's and then later a 416-H - but still have the 704 (sitting in the garage)

hope to get that 704 running again when I have more time 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by tom2p

[tom2p 2,394]

had a '25th birthday party' for the 704 in 1989

 

put a birthday hat on it and placed it prominently in the yard near the patio 

 

still recall the summer or two before this - cutting grass and looked down and saw grass through a rust hole in the top of the mower deck  ...  ouch ... joked I would have cleaned the mower deck more often if I would have known this tractor would live this long !

 

searched and searched for a mower deck shell or complete mower deck - was unable to find one ...

 

eventually did find a mower deck around 10 years later ... (amusing story)

 

also searched for a plow for years - but no luck 

 

I did eventually find a similar short frame tractor with a plow - brought it home and parked it in the garage and it has not been touched since then 

 

this was pre-internet / pre social media  / pre Wheel Horse club days - finding Wheel Horse parts was much more of a challenge - especially mower decks because of the demand 

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by tom2p

[oilwell1415 563]

My neighbor growing up always had Wheel Horse mowers, so I was exposed at an early age.  We had a John Deere rear engine until I was maybe 4 or 5, then got a Murray 11/36 that was a great machine.  When it finally gave up in my teens we got one of the MTD clone mowers that was junk, a Massey-Ferguson that wasn't in good shape when we got it, and then a Craftsman that lasted quite a while, but I always thought the neighbor's Wheel Horse was the coolest thing.  Fast forward 30 years and I've got an airplane that I need to move in and out of a hangar and knees that don't want to push it, so I started looking for a small tractor to use for that.  After looking at lots of different tractors I decided on a Horse.  The round noses had the classic look that I wanted with good reliability and parts availability, so that's what I got.

[N875ED 98]

OK folks, bear with me here for a little reminiscing...

 

The year was 1968, I'm 12 years old and in love with my Dad's '61 Suburban (truly why I still love these darn Horses today!) Cutting the grass on our 1/3 acre when the engine stops...with emphasis. No slow down, no smoke...just running fine one second and not the next.

 

I'm sorry to say this today (and then, for that matter) that I had NO idea why it would do such a thing. So I push it back to the garage and for the first time in my life think about checking the oil in the engine. If I recall correctly, the dipstick in that Kohler was like an NPT pipe plug with the metal rod on the inside end of it...so it required a Crescent wrench to check. Did that and....what? Where's the oil??

 

No oil.

 

Well, Dad's not too happy about this, considering I just shot our 8-year old Wheel Horse in the gut; I'm feeling really bad too. I loved that machine; actually my first love for any machine.

So my Dad goes out and buys a Snapper riding mower. Can you believe that?....no character whatsoever and it doesn't even look like a tractor.

 

Fortunately, he did not trade in the Suburban, so I decided to fix it myself one day after school. Unbolt the engine, bring it down into the basement, lay out some newspapers on the floor and start taking it apart. (I guess in hindsight the newspaper was rather superfluous since there was no oil to leak out.) This was my first foray into how internal combustion engines work, no shop manual or anything so detailed and unnecessary, and it was the birth into my now-lifelong love affair with gasoline engines.

 

Anyway, about a week later and my Dad has bought some needed gaskets plus a few other parts my supreme knowledge indicated needing replacement, I put it back together since most parts really looked pretty good, put oil in it and...three pulls on the recoil and she STARTS! Hallulah!

 

We kept that mower for a year or so, until my Dad wanted it out of the garage (remember, that darn Snapper now ruled our big 1/3 acre estate)

 

True story....but here's the epilogue...

 

Since that time, I've been a professional mechanical engineer at GE Aviation for 42 years (jet engines), owned 59 automobiles, 4 boats, countless RC aircraft, 5 Cessna airplanes, plus my current airplane I built myself over the course of 7 years. My personal mantra is "If it doesn't burn gasoline, I'm probably not interested". I now own two Wheel Horses and one '78 Cub Cadet (sorry), but I honestly trace my love for engines and machinery back to that one little 5 HP Kohler engine that made me think I was the Master Mechanic of lawn tractors. What I would give to have her back today.

True story...first time ever written down. I figured you guys would understand. 

[echris 1,425]

Oh man, the Snappers. Working at that WH dealership as a kid, when someone brought in a Snapper, everyone grumbled.

[Pullstart 62,905]

June, 2013, My wife and I, with two young daughters were on 1.7 acres and needed a new “mower” to replace our free Simplicity mower, if I recall.  I was scouring CL for something old to fix up, vs something new.  I found about 1.5 hours away Bob Rock, who has built the amazing articulating 4x4 tractors for some years, selling a 502 with a rod knock and a mower deck.  Game on, found my cool old mower!  Shortly after, I found a couple C-101’s randomly that one needed an engine and the other had, so those came home.  I don’t have a ton of pictures of those, sadly I was a non-supporting member for quite some time.  Since 2018, my collection has grown to something that I’d never imagined all that time ago.  I think what really struck the hunt of more tractors is quoting my wife in 2018 while on our new 10.5 acre homestead and me asking permission to not mow 3 acres with the 42” RD and C-101, was “If you go get a new zero turn [so I can have my big front yard], you can have as many Wheel Horses as you want.”

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,593]

Tripped over this thread while looking for something else...

 

Excellent stories. 

 

Any newer members care to add to it?

 

[76c12091520h 3,621]

I was enlightened at an early age, this picture is 47 years old.

[rmaynard 15,510]

@76c12091520h   Nice 701 

[kpinnc 12,083]

I can't recall my first time seeing a Wheel Horse, I just remember always wanting one. I finally got the chance in 1999, when I found a 310-8 sitting in a barn under an inch of dust. The PO said it wouldn't start, and had an uneven cut. He said he'd take $50 for it.

 

When I got it home about an hour later, I cleaned the battery terminals of blobs of corrosion, and it cranked on the first attempt. Purred like a kitten! Then I replaced the cutout of plywood that had been used as a gage wheel, and mowed my lawn. It cut great!

 

A few months later, an F3 tornado came through our neighborhood. My old Murray mower got tossed, and my homeownwer insurance paid enough for it to completely restore (every switch, wiring harness, seat, wheels and tires, steering wheel, everything) the 310-8. It is still my most dependable go-to machine. 

[Snoopy11 5,714]

Well, I had my Horse sitting in the shop for a while. It came to me to work on it, and see if I could get it working after some pretty horrible deaths in my family. 

 

Originally, it was a complete rust-bucket, had a massive hole in the hood from someone putting a battery on the hood, which leaked out and ate a hole in the steel. The hood was broken, cracked, etc.

 

The transmission was full of water... thus, I had to disassemble it. I cleaned and scrubbed every component, put it all back together. Then, I took a look at the Tecumseh which was sitting on my bench. I took it apart... it was a complete mess. Broken rod, scorred crankshaft... broken cam... etc...

 

So, I decided to put a crate engine that I had, Massimo engine, on it, just to see if it would run. Keep in mind, it had no seat... So I literally sat on the metal underneath where the seat should be. I bolted the motor down, put the original STOCK belt back on, which had age cracks, etc... and sure enough, it moved! After riding around with the old girl, even doing a little work with her, moving some brush piles, I took the engine back off, and began sanding 1/4 inch of rust off. I literally spent a full week sanding and repairing body panels. I cut a square out of the hood where the battery ate a hole, and fixed the rest of the hood. I began thinking what exactly I could do for the square I had cut in the hood... then the light-bulb came on... a fuel tank, which fit perfectly in the square hole I had cut. As I was working on the body, I ordered the nicest seat I could find, and began deciding what color to paint the old girl. I thought about going with red, but my neighbor told me that it could only be a Wheel Horse if it was red... so I decided to spite him and go retro with black and white. I then bought some nice, expensive tires, had them put on my a local shop, and painted my rims which had 1/4 inch of rust of them as well...

 

I then began ordering engines. First, I ordered a Tillotson 212, which I heavily modified out to 25 horsepower. That engine was outrageous, but I wanted to fill the entire space under the hood, so I ordered a 457, and heavily modified that.

 

I began talking to a farm machinery place by my home, and they told me that for my tractor to be valuable, it needed to have an implement. So... I paid the piper, and bought a 600$ snow/dozer blade for the front. 

 

Along the way, I have modified various things, including pulleys, front wheels, battery box, etc... 

 

I love my Horse more than anything else I have.

 

It is really something when you build a Horse through your pain and grief. Sometimes you break-down and have to stop for the day, sometimes you get so involved in the build that your pain actually let's up. 

 

I feel like God gave me this tractor for that time in my life, and even now, it puts a very big smile on my face every time I start it up, do work with it, or even just ride it to feel the breeze. 

 

Some people wonder why I have Woodstock smiling and Snoopy blowing a rasberry on the back. I'll leave that to you guy's imagination. 

 

 

 

 

Don 

 

 

[WHX?? 48,828]

1986 I had just rented & moved to an old farmhouse that required a rider to mow the lawn. It was tradition that whoever lived in that house mow a small cemetery just down the road. 

 

A bro saw a tractor for sale on the side of the road so went and picked it up. A 1967 1067 I had no clue then what it was. $350 for it and prolly overpaid at the time. 1987 bought my first and current place and the horse mowed the lawn here. Only problem was a thrown rod but repaired and kept it going.  About 1996 when I bought a 246H from a friend the 1067 got put in a corner for years. 

Fast forward to 2015 I pulled her out of the corner and had full intent to scrap it. Back in the day, BI (Before Internet) when she was working getting parts was near impossible.

Toro &  dealers wouldn't help a guy out with a '67 they just wanted to sell you one of the shiny new 3, 4. & 500 series tractors. Way out of my price at the time.  There was no sentiment to the older models.  Figured it was no different today. 

 

Just for grins before going to scrap her I did a quick search on her and found RS. I then learned about the collectability, round hoods, seniors you name it. I quickly fell in love and had to have me a roundy. Strange part I wasn't really a tractor guy despite working on farms most off my younger days. I built custom Harleys for a hobby but was souring on that quickly due to very inflated prices for HD crap. 

 

Guy posted a FREE Suburban here and quickly snapped it up. Thought wow this is a really cheap hobby..... till the missus wanted a candy apply red one! 

 

Sold all my Harley crap and went whole hog on Wheel Horses. 

 

Met @Achto here...he's a bad influence BTW .... and a bunch of other cool dudes who are bad influences as well .... and now up to 30+ tractors. 

 

The 1067 when I pulled her out of retirement 

 

The 246H... my main squeeze for many years.

 

The FREE 'Burb after a mechanical resto. 

 

The 1067, after resto.... my first. 

 

The running herd as it stands now. 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by WHX??

[Racinbob 11,088]

I said my piece over a year ago but I'm glad this was brought back to life. Cool stories! 

[Horse Newbie 7,074]

I think it was around 2017 when I went over to a coworkers house to do a chore that she needed done.

I saw the 1994 520H sitting out in the yard...at least 2 flat tires.

There was a leave vac trailer set up nearby.

In the shed was a 36 inch Wheel Horse rototiller.

I asked her what was her plans for the Wheel Horse and she said " If you want it, I'll sell it to you".

 She had no idea what the package deal was worth, and neither did I.

I told her the 520H, rototiller, and leave vac,  was probably worth more than I could give her, but I would give $120 or $140(can't remember), and we had a deal.

Brought it home and rolled it in the shed.

Found RED SQUARE !

I HAD BEEN BITTEN !

 

In 2020 I decided to see how bad of shape the 520H was and decided to "refresh" the old tractor.

Finished the refresh in spring 2021.

I WAS IN LOVE !

 

In the spring of 2021 a friend gave me a 1984 Work Horse GT-1600 8 SPEED and I am working on refreshing it, and restoring the 48 inch SD deck that goes with the 1994 520H right now.

LOVE AFFAIR ONGOING  !

 

 

[WHX?? 48,828]

Wow nice lookin 520 Newbie!!! 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,598]

6 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

I could give her, but I would give $120 or $140(can't remember), and we had a deal.

“Deal” is an understatement!!! 

 

Nice!!! 

[Maxwell-8 4,277]

Well, my story is rather simple. I always wanted a atv, but prices here are way up here. I couldn't even afford a chassis. So I bought me a small lawnmower. chaindrive. But it was always breaking. And needed something a bit stronger.  Somebody called fearlessfronts on YT had a sears diesel and seemed to be very strong even in mud or when pulling down a shed. His buddy had a Wheel Horse and since I had seen some vertical shaft Wheel Horses on the local CL, I posted a wanted ad for a horizontal shaft Wheel Horse, and that's how I found my raider 10. My first Wheel Horse and off course it wasn't running. That was November last year, almost a year ago.. Now I have gotten the microbe as well. I love them and would choose one over an ATV any day!

[AHS 1,440]

@Pullstart In your story, the last sentence, where “you can have as many WHs as you want”…. Um.. game on!!!!👍😎

[echris 1,425]

23 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Tripped over this thread while looking for something else...

 

Excellent stories. 

 

Any newer members care to add to it?

 

I was wondering how this old thread got woken up.

 

Nice, really enjoying all the stories!

[WHX?? 48,828]

No good thread @echris... fact of the matter is this subject has brought up many times before in my 6 years here but always good reads. 

[WheelHorse520H 708]

Stumbled across this too, glad I did. My dad’s uncle Brian bought a 520 H new from the dealer in his town in 1988 with a dump cart, 48” plow/dozer blade, 48” sd deck, a lawn vac, the standard vinyl cover and chrome hub caps. Then when I was probably 3 or 4 when he decided it was worn out so he bought a newer LT because he didn’t need too much out of it since he had an old back hoe and front end loader that could do what he needed. I remember riding a half  hour over to his house with my dad and brother who is only 2 1/2 years older than me and they loaded a perfectly fine 520 and all the goodies that came with it into the bed of my dad’s F-350 Super Duty and took it home. Then years went by and my dad thought my brother how to drive it and then one morning my dad went to plow the heavy wet snow and it wouldn’t  do anything. The following spring I was supposed to learn how to drive it. It then sat for about 3 years, then an inexperienced young (and particularly good lookin’) fella started doing some (not great) diagnosing and found some threads here on RS on problems with it. Then one day I got the gauges and lights to work, then a few weeks later it cranked. Months went by and I tried diagnosing the ignition. Then my old man had to show me up with the months of research with a short video that said to disconnect the seat switch. I cranked it with total doubt and of course it fired right up. Months of research that made this make no sense to me (now I get it though). Later I had more work to do but after it sat 5 years not running, it sounds like new.

 

 

Now onto the 607. Much shorter story. This past August I saw in CL an add for an old WH non-running with an old Greyhound engine, predecessor to the famed Predator engines. So I texted the seller and eventually went and looked at it and paid, went back with my brother and his 1999 Chevy Blazer and towed a U-Haul with a good-condition-for-its-age 607 in there. On the way one of the ratchet straps broke, but we made it. Then I ate lunch poured in less than a quarter tank of fresh gas and cleaned the spark plug and, boom fired right up. I need to order all new bearings for the tranny this weekend but what are you gonna do because after all “it’s a Wheel Horse, of course”. Anyway, I hope I didn’t soak up too much of your time.

[WheelHorse520H 708]

1 minute ago, WHX?? said:

No good thread @echris... fact of the matter is this subject has brought up many times before in my 6 years here but always good reads. 

I only read this page, but it was cool to see other perspectives.