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

[echris 1,425]

When I was a kid, my Grandpa had a ~70's WH, likely a C series. We'd stay at Nana and Grandpas mountain home for a few weeks in the summer and Grandpa always put that WH (and all 5 of us) to work.

Fast forward a few years; my neighbor noticed 13 year old me in the driveway all the time working with my older brother on his Chevelle.

 

Her Dad owned a small engine shop, Toro/WH/Lawn Boy/Stihl/Bobcat/Little Wonder dealership and was looking for a sweeper. She mentioned me to her Dad.

I got the job. And my WH love affair began.

Part of my job was uncrating and assembling brand new WH tractors. Oh yes. I did. Every day after school and weekends. It's OK if you're jealous.

Now, all these years later, I finally have my own.

What's your story?

[RandyLittrell 3,884]

I was looking for a loader and found one with a WH attached. Didn't know what it was and I intended to pull the loader and put it on one of my Cub Cadet's. Came here and found out what I had and before you know it, fell in love with the Horse! The folks on the forum is why I now have 4 and probably spend too much time here running my mouth!! 

 

 

 

 

Randy

[echris 1,425]

15 minutes ago, RandyLittrell said:

I was looking for a loader and found one with a WH attached. Didn't know what it was and I intended to pull the loader and put it on one of my Cub Cadet's. Came here and found out what I had and before you know it, fell in love with the Horse! The folks on the forum is why I now have 4 and probably spend too much time here running my mouth!! 

 

 

 

 

Randy

Great story. You accidentally fell in love.

[pabird 40]

Ok here goes, we moved into our new house in 1990. At the time I didn't have much money left for a fancy tractor so I bought a cheap Craftsman lawn tractor. One of my neighbors owned a 1979 C-161 8 speed that he bought new. I told him that if he every wanted to sell it let me know. Well one day in the spring of 2000 he called and said he was trading his Horse in on a new model and was I still interested in it. Well yea I was. I saw over those 10 years how well he maintained it and I was on my second cheap mower and it was about shot. So we made the deal and I've had it ever since. A few years later I needed a winter project so I took it apart and redid it completely. In the spring the first time I rolled it out he came running over saying how it looked just like it did when he brought it home new. 41 years old and still running strong!

[troutbum70 857]

My father had a couple that I enjoyed using, when my wife and I first got married in 1973 I had a Gilson 11 horse, by 1985 I was ready for something better. One of my friends from school had the wheel horse dealership at that time, so it took a while to convienence the wife why I needed a $4,000.00 dollar tractor. My friend told me if I took good care of it, it may be the last tractor I would have to buy. 417-8 with electric lift, still have it today along with a couple other horses. Included is a picture of a couple my father had.

[12Horse Paladin 1,038]

12 minutes ago, troutbum63 said:

My father had a couple that I enjoyed using, when my wife and I first got married in 1973 I had a Gilson 11 horse, by 1985 I was ready for something better. One of my friends from school had the wheel horse dealership at that time, so it took a while to convienence the wife why I needed a $4,000.00 dollar tractor. My friend told me if I took good care of it, it may be the last tractor I would have to buy. 417-8 with electric lift, still have it today along with a couple other horses. Included is a picture of a couple my father had.

Friend....i wish i had that '72 K/5 Blazer in the background!😛😍👍🏼👍🏼!!

Story on THAT!😁😄

Edited July 25, 2020 by 12Horse Paladin

[oliver2-44 9,759]

When my oldes son was a freshman in high school we tinkered on some old engines together.   I found an old Suzuki TC 90 Trail/Street bike and he got it running the took it apart and did a nice job painting it up. He and a friend rode it around the neighbor hood a lot. One day the friends dad asked him if he wanted a non running lawn mower to tinker with. It was a 1985 312-8. I had never heard of a Wheelhorse. We got it running but the deck was bent and one spindle cut unlevel. I ended up taking it to the farm to cut my trails to my feet stands. Fast forward to this son getting married, buying a house and needing a mower. After using the WH at the farm for several years I realized how heavy duty it was and decided to do a full sand blast restoration. I found RedSquare as part of that restoration and the rest is history. WH are not plentiful in Texas, but over the last 5 years I now have two workers and 5 project/parts tractors.  I have 2 other sons that will get a restored WH for their house someday.  
 

I wish I had kept that Suzuki TC 90, but the boys wore that motor completely out and I was to busy with work and family at the time...sold it at a garage sale

Edited July 25, 2020 by oliver2-44

[troutbum70 857]

38 minutes ago, 12Horse Paladin said:

Friend....i wish i had that '72 K/5 Blazer in the background!😛😍👍🏼👍🏼!!

Story on THAT!😁😄

The oldest son of the man that owned that blazer to my knowledge still has it yet today. Gets it out from time to time during the summer never leaves the garage during winter.

[12Horse Paladin 1,038]

18 minutes ago, troutbum63 said:

The oldest son of the man that owned that blazer to my knowledge still has it yet today. Gets it out from time to time during the summer never leaves the garage during winter.

Lawd...!

If you ever see a 'forsale' sign in it, pm me!

Plz!😁😊😁😄

That is awesome, to see one survive, like you describe!👍🏼👍🏼

 

[D_Mac 8,620]

@oliver2-44 Did it look something like this? I bought this when I worked at an automobile auction house. I used it to get me around the lot. We had anywhere from 300 to 1000 cars on the lot at any given time. Sometimes I had to go check vin #s, mileage, find a car that wasnt wear it was supposed to be....etc. I needed to get around the lot quickly my boss said it was ok if I used it. Didnt last long there as everyone else was using it and didnt take the same care with it as I did, so I took it home and resold it. Was a blast riding it. 4 hi for the street and 4 low for the trails.

[Mickwhitt 4,641]

I was looking for a fixer up project, something to get my teeth into while I was still a beat cop.

I'd never heard of Wheelhorse but I saw on on ebay and took a punt on it.

All the way to Snowdonia in Wales to collect it. Non running, beat up and with lots of stuff removed. 

The owner had built a house from huge blocks if Welsh slate, these were dropped in a lay by half a mile from the site, that little tractor pulled every bit of it down the rough track!

You've got to have respect for a little beast that managed that feat after a long enough life cutting grass.

12 years is a long time to rebuild any project, but other things happened along the way. I'm now the extremely proud owner of a pretty and useful tractor that I get to play with whenever I like.

I'm definitely a Wheelhorse lover and my little red Fred will always be in the stable built for him under our house. 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,598]

My brother gave C105 #1 to my son for use in his lawn / snow business 5 years ago. He was 15 at the time and was mowing 10 lawns and plowing driveways. Had been doing it since he was 10.

 

Off to college two years later so I inherited it!!! 

 

I found “C 105” #2 on CL as a roller and built a Predator powered rat rod for fun.

 

Finally, using all old wheel barrows, folding chair carts and repurposed “stuff”, built the “Sylvan Lake & Wheel Horse Northern Railroad” (SL&WHN) to pull the nieces and nephews around the neighborhood...

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,594]

About 4 years ago Trina and I were using an old Murray lawn tractor to pull stuff around the yard.

Rocks. A little wood (weren't burning much yet). Brush. Whatever. 

Our neighbors across the street and up the mountain a bit live on an old farm property. At some point in the past a previous owner had built a house sized pile of rocks in the middle of a hillside pasture seeing as to how the walls were all plenty big enough.

We were getting rocks from there and using them to build the multiple stone walls around our yard.

The little Murray had an 11 HP Briggs I/C engine with a Peerless aluminum 5 speed.

Plenty of power but not super rugged. Also really not heavy enough to be moving 1000 pounds of material to and fro.

 

I decided to go up a notch in tractor (or machine) size. We mulled over getting a work type ATV or a garden tractor. I like the slow steady heavy pull of low end torque so we went with garden tractor. 

I searched around some for a decent piece but was new to the game and really didn't have the experience or knowledge of what was out there. 

Having been raised using old Cubs that was certainly on the list but the prices were not reasonable.

I asked a trusted small equipment repair shop. One of the workers had spent a lot of time in a Wheelhorse/Toro dealer in his past. 

He said we really almost couldn't go wrong choosing something from the 70s or early 80s with a gear drive. 

I watched the local CL and @Stepney had a 74 B80 for sale in need of assembly.

We picked it up and dropped it at that same repair shop. 

They put it all to running condition. 

We began using it around the yard and immediately were impressed.

That would eventually become Patriot Horse.

Sometime around there I began researching to find out what it was that we had. 

Found a lot of information online and of course Redsquare.

 

A few months later I found a very rough C160 not too far from my parents house in Western Massachusetts.

That landed here and disassembly began. 

The next spring we found what would become Trina's 657 Pony.

Full restoration done.

 

Then @Stepney found the chassis that would be combined with what I already had to become Cinnamon Horse. 1974 C160.

 

In August 2018 we found an online auction thanks to a Redsquare member. 

 

That set us up with - literally - a uhaul truck full plus several utility trailer trips.

 

And on and on and on.......

 

We currently have 4 that are functional and 4 ongoing or future project tractors. 

 

 

 

[troutbum70 857]

8 hours ago, 12Horse Paladin said:

Lawd...!

If you ever see a 'forsale' sign in it, pm me!

Plz!😁😊😁😄

That is awesome, to see one survive, like you describe!👍🏼👍🏼

 

I would not expect that to happen in my life time, the son that has it is not hurting for money. So it would never be a mercey sale, the garage it is in was built just for it.

[squonk 41,150]

I was around 8. and no that is not a young Jack Nicklaus in the background! 

 

[JoeM 7,874]

I was 10 or so my mom stopped at a Gilson / Wheel Horse place in town to pick up some parts for dad. That was my first rub with a WH. I remember having a couple sales adds and dreaming of one.

Never had much money so it was later on (in the eighties) I bought a used one from a co worker that moonlighted at a WH dealer. We cut our grass, at the time +1 acre of hill, for more than 20 years with that 75 B100A. I did have to re-power it with a 12 during that 20. 

In the mid 2000's, I found that WH's were much less expensive and abundant, I began to tinker as a hobby and as they say "they like to multiply." 

i figure by today money, you would have to spend 10k or more to get the same quality. 

[12Horse Paladin 1,038]

1 hour ago, troutbum63 said:

I would not expect that to happen in my life time, the son that has it is not hurting for money. So it would never be a mercey sale, the garage it is in was built just for it.

Priceless.

👍🏼

[WheelhorseBob 1,549]

In the 70's I was a youngster who loved mini bikes. I was costantly working on them, my favorite was a Tecumseh powered Bronco. Anyway the local small engine/power sport dealer was like a candy store for me. I think I spent every Penny I earned delivering newspapers in there. The place was Mears Tractors on rt. 125 in Plaistow NH. They also sold Wheel Horse and I always admired those beautiful red machines. I bought my first home in 1992 and decided I needed a garden tractor for mowing and snow removal. Not having much money at the time I bought a used Work Horse 1642. I cleared snow and mowed my property for many years with it but it had the front mounted mower which wasn't ideal for my needs so I bought a 310-8 with a bagger. Then a low hour 312-8 with a 42" recycler deck and now a 520h. I really like the Wheel Horse design, it's simple( discounting 520h wiring!) and just like my old mini bikes, easy to work on.

[Racinbob 11,089]

Started for me in 1960 when I was 5 years old. My Dad pulled in the driveway with a shiny new Suburban 400 sitting on his old trailer. 4 years later he upsized to a 704. Later a Raider 12. I quickly learned how to do the maintenance on them which my Dad left in my hands. My fascination with these little red tractors hasn't faded a bit. 

[rjg854 11,378]

I wanted something to tinker with, so it was then that I bought my first 68 Commando 8. That was about 10 years ago. I remember the  my mother was going to buy and liked the looks of it. So when I saw the pictures of it I knew that was going to be my project. Once that one was on working order, it was time to look for another project. Of course it would have to be another . Just so happens it was another 68 Commando 8.

So now I'm up to 6 tractors and a bunch of attachments. Built the horse barn and put an addition on that.

 

When will it end 

 

 

 

  When they pry my cold dead fingers from them 

[rjg854 11,378]

Double post

Edited July 26, 2020 by rjg854
Double post

[edgro 677]

I bought my c175 25 years ago when we moved into our current house, and have been using it for snow plowing since then. Second was bought for a "spare" (good excuse). Third was bought with locked motor. 4&5 were bought to get an engine for #3, but we're too good to part out. Did find one to part out to fix #3. 6,7,8 came along......well you know why

[WheelHorse79 271]

My Dad bought his first Wheel Horse, an 854, on 6/6/66.  I grew up on that tractor and learned to mow with it.  On 12/26/79 he traded it on on a new, left-over '79 C-101.  He didn't like the fiberglass fenders on the '80 Wheel Horses, so he went with the left-over C-101.  I did a lot of mowing with the C-101 on our small farm in the years following.  After my Father died, I inherited the C-101 and still have it today.  It is undergoing a mild restoration after I rolled it over earlier this year.  In 2012, I got nostalgic for the old 854 so I drove to Ohio and bought the one in my signature and then restored it.  Later, I picked up an early RJ-58 that had been restored improperly (and had a Briggs engine). I put a proper Kohler on the RJ and fixed the drive pulleys.  My Grandfather had a RJ-59 until the mid-60's when he traded it in on a new Bolens.  So, I pretty much grew up around Wheel Horses.  Many fond memories!

Edited July 26, 2020 by WheelHorse79

[Darb1964 1,043]

I seen a commercial on tv in the 80s, then a big add in the local paper that spring. Prior to that not sure if I had knowledge of the brand, I wanted to upgrade the ariens fairway I bought three years prior. I looked at many brand's and went with the 520-H 1989. Fifteen years later I started to look for used attachments, they seemed over priced. Finally found a c-125-8 with a tiller good deck with new agricultural rear tires and the original tires came with it and they were in good shape. Thirteen hundred, was the original owners fathers and very well maintained. I tried to talk him down but he would not budge. I paid up for it and glad I did. Then came a c-105-8 with a nice tall shoot snow thrower and deck, then a 418-8, 518-H, 312-H, C-111-8, another 520-H, another 518-H, and t 1067 from the same owners. I have less in the last nine than I paid for the first 520-H. I'm lucky seems like in my area you can find a nice tractor, good runner for under four hundred dollars. Lucky also my wife don't mind, the last two, the 518-H and t1067 I had been looking at but had not worked out a deal, ended up in the hospital with a bad blood inflection for seven day's. Last Thursday she brought me home and they were in my yard. She sealed the deal and had a friend pick them up for me. Been playing with the 1067,runs good, paint not great,all original except the steering wheel. Cool tractor, has a cigarette lighter. Love the way the hood latches, big tool box under the seat. I'm addicted, could do some parting out and recoup some dollar's, don't think I will though.

[Stepney 2,325]

My hobbies all started from three very specific things.. in fact I had things waayyy older than the WH before I actually 'got into WH'. (A 1929 Fairbanks Morse gas engine when I was 9, to be exact)
A book, a steam engine, and of course.. Gramp's tired out 1968 WH Electro 12. Which was the first thing on wheels I ever drove, think I was 3. And somehow I distinctly remember that day. Riding on his knee. he got off, eased it into drive, and let me stand on the seat and steer. 
I ran it into bushes. Wasnt strong enough to steer it just yet.. 

About 2007 it was retired and replaced with a new Scotts and my grandparents moved here to Maine. Somewhere in the same time I tried to take the key out for some reason and broke something in the switch... gramps was not electrically inclined though a great machinist. It sat in the yard a while. Local shop tried to work on it but found changing the switch much too difficult, and wired in ... something..
Never could make sense of it. But when it arrived the magneto ground wire was now going to the + of the battery.. and somehow it did run for a day before the now toggle-switched ignition blew the mag out. 

Sat some more. In efforts to get it going I cracked the magnets in the starter.. so I simply dismantled the starter and took out the chunks. Still worked fine and still does to this day. 

 

Getting into 2009, I bought a hit and miss engine. In 2010 I bought a '66 Cub Cadet with a K241 battery ignition engine. Between the old hit and miss, the Cub, and logic, I patched together a battery ignition and rode the old Electro off again. 
(Why I never just looked up a wiring diagram .. to this day, escapes me)

We had a newer Huskvarna rider. It blew up. We bought a new Sears in the meantime.. it blew up.

Replaced those excuses with a really nice 1974 B100 Auto in about 2010.
Since then, I've had over thirty WH's of all sorts come and go.. 

In that time I sold Eric his B-80 which I saved from a dilapidated flower shop and had hopes of restoring but was just too young for the project at the time. 
Horses and me have plenty of stories so far as oddballs.. for a while I had a strange habit of tripping over exclusively 1966-67 10hp automatic drive hydraulic lift machines.. 

The old Electro is still here and used occasionally. Needs new axles and hubs as well as a hydraulic system overhaul. The engine from the donor chassis to EB's Cinnamon Horse is now sitting in it. Perhaps the moodiest and most unruly 16hp K series to grace the earth.