Naming your horses

[JAinVA 4,619]

Like many of you I have more than several horses. I have a problem with naming  one as George or Herman but 1,2 or three doesn't work for me either. I call one the crane tractor or mower tractor, tiller tractor but am runng out of attachments so what do you do?

[Stepney 2,325]

Tillie was the name my 1968 Electro has carried since my dad was little, and it was new. So that stayed.

I dunno, the ones that seem to have a personality I give a name sometimes. I call the old Raider 9 'Cinders' since it had been the cause of a garage fire decades ago.

The WorkHorse was repainted in a pewter livery, I call it the Silver King after those old Plymouth tractors. 

The truck is Bluebelle after the paint color mostly.. but they happen to be a favorite flower of mine.

The other truck was Daisy, since the haphazard freak computer and radio glitches made for a slightly creepy feeling. Always made me think back to the HAL 9000 shutting down, singing "Bicycle built For Two".

[JoeM 7,874]

I lean toward naming from the towns or places where they were bought. kind of keeps me in touch with their history.

I do have the old Rusty and gave one to my brother......just about threw him off, when on a hill, he shifted into neutral and after a panic bit of driving backward. he named it Crazy Horse.

522xi aka Marilyn Monroe

418   aka Baltimore Bob

 

[ebinmaine 67,627]

Trina has:

Pigpen 867. Named for its general appears. 

Pony the restored 657. 

Soon, The Military Tribute Tractor. 

 

I have Cinnamon Horse C160. Named for the color. 

Soon, Colossus for the size. 

 

Future project tractors are:

Charger Hydro, Raider, Tecumseh C160. And that's what they're referred to as..... For now. 

 

 

[midpack 866]

Mongo = C-175 with a Magnum 18,

 

The Big Bopper = 417-8 all original,

 

Lunch = C-175 with a tendency to eat engines,

 

Mag 12 (sometimes Maggot) = C-175 with a Magnum 12 in it.

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,627]

19 minutes ago, midpack said:

Lunch = C-175 with a tendency to eat engines,

 

The impetus behind that is not the least bit funny but I do really like the name...

Have you given consideration to maybe a sage smudging or perhaps a multi-denominational exorcism to cover all bases?

 

 

[The Tuul Crib 7,336]

9 hours ago, JAinVA said:

Like many of you I have more than several horses. I have a problem with naming  one as George or Herman but 1,2 or three doesn't work for me either. I call one the crane tractor or mower tractor, tiller tractor but am runng out of attachments so what do you do?

How about older car names such as mustang and pinto!!  

[Achto 27,606]

9 hours ago, JAinVA said:

I call one the crane tractor or mower tractor, tiller tractor but am runng out of attachments so what do you do?

 

Sounds like you need more attachments. 

 

"Sickle Mower"

"Grader Blade"

"Dozer Blade"

"Tub Puller"

etc.

[ebinmaine 67,627]

1 minute ago, Achto said:

 

Sounds like you need more attachments. 

 

"Sickle Mower"

"Grader Blade"

"Dozer Blade"

"Tub Puller"

etc.

I think this is going to be the best advice you get. 

 

 

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

We name our Wheel Horse tractors for the place they came from: Iowa, Tipton, Canada, Oklahoma, Brown County,  Georgia, etc 

 

 

[Pullstart 62,912]

Ok, here we go.  I’ll see if I can get all this done in one shot, without help.

 

My 502.  My first Wheel Horse, I guess my first ever “tractor”.  With the Cherry Bomb stack and the flapper on top, it just kind of happened hat it can Putt around.  Putt Putt

 

I had a C-101 next.  @AMC RULES I believe suggested the Screamin’ Eagle after the 101st Airborne.  Great idea, but it ultimately was sacrificed for parts on three or more other tractors.

 

now, in no particular order...

 

”Frank,” Mrs. P’s “1073” Custom big block round hood automatic.  It’s a Frankenstein build.  She named it.

 

”Jane” the Commando 6.  It was a clean spray bomb painted tractor but not much special about it.  Plain Jane if you will.  Named by Mrs. P and Mrs @WHX24 at Portage, WI.

 

My 552 “Poppy”. When I saw the CL add, it had a 1” black pipe stack.  I figured it had a loud poppy bark.  Unfortunately the stack never came with the tractor and it has no real bark to speak of, but the name stuck.

 

@953 nut Richard built “Hot Wheels,” the 953 with the cool flame paint job and Mopar (I think I remember correctly) chrome hub caps.  The kids named it, seemed fitting like a Hot Wheels toy paint job.

 

My Raider 10, “Leroy.”  Big and Rich had an album “Horse of a Different Color” and in “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” they talk about riding up and down Broadway on my old stud “Leroy” and it seemed to fit, since it’s painted an ugly maroon color.  It’ll likely be parted out for other projects at some time. 
 

Rylee’s 401 from Uncle Jim.  We put a set of 23x10.50-12’s on the back and she named it “Fat Bob.”

 

Once was Rylee’s, but now mine, the 1076 “Filly,” was named from a long reach.  The Philadelphia 76ers, 1776 was the beginning of the United States of America, a filly is a young female horse and it was my young daughter’s tractor.  I have since gotten rid of the automatic transmission and a 3 speed is bolted to it as a roller.  I kind of like the look... might build a long frame square hood round fender machine out of it.  
 

“Stormy” is the 1056 with the FEL currently on it.  That was a temporary plan by the way...  I had been playing with the new acquisition in the shop and happened to have a “Dark and Stormy” in my hand, then landed on the hood for some wrenching and Stormy stuck.

 

”Scoop,” the C-161 Briggs twin black hood is the machine that the FEL came on.  My intent was to fix up the engine to quit blowing oil everywhere and get the loader back on it, but I believe with the current “Duke” project FEL, it might be fixed or sold as a project.  It’s been on the rack since the day I pulled the FEL off.

 

”Duke” is the 520Xi that is getting the loader I nabbed from @HorseFixer last year.  I figure it’ll be a no bull kind of machine with plenty of power and stubbornness.    Love you, Man!

 

The RJ-35 is just “Thirty Five.”  I don’t know if I’ll ever have another one like it, but it seems too close to the Pond Wheel Horse heritage to really stray too far.

 

The Pond Ride Away Senior is Mrs. P’s.  She is reminded of her 97(?) year old Grandmother “Shirley” when she thinks of the story of living through the depression, coming out strong, never stopping and having a little bit of rough class.  There’s a picture of her in her 20’s with one foot on the bumper of a car, her forearm resting on her knee.  The bumper had a downward dent like something heavy fell on it, but it was right where her foot was placed.  It was like that dainty lady who could up until a year or two ago out haul anyone carrying firewood bent the bumper herself!  We still refer to it as “The Senior” but I think she was firm on naming it “Shirley.”

 

”Rebel,” the 953.  We broke state lines during the COVID shutdown to pick it up.  A rebel doesn’t care about rules.  Apparently at plow day, it didn’t care to work either and burnt up the wiring harness.  It’s salvageable and will plow again!

 

”Joe,” the 1054.  It has a unique drab green paint job, but it’s a patina’d work where most all the panels have been sprayed a different shade, along with sun fade too.  It will likely get a big engine and be a plow mule till death.  Then it’ll resurrect again.

 

”Chief,” the C-160 auto was at the time the largest engined Wheel Horse I had.  It has some cool marks on the hood like a cat walked across it while the paint was wet.  When I was wet sanding it, the marks came out like scars from the past.  No chief got to their position in the tribe without scars.

 

”Big Junky” is a 1067 I believe.  Everything on it is a hodgepodge and worn and broken and cobbled.  It’s a big pile of junk.  ‘Nuff said.

 

“Steve,” is no longer with us in this herd.  It’s a C-81 that @jeremi3210 picked up as a pulling tractor last fall.  I named it as such, because at the 2019 plow day I was talking with @stevasaurus about these tractors having names.  He states they already have names.  502, 1076, Raider 10, etc.  I replied that we name the tractors so the girls will easily understand which one I’m talking about as they were pretty young and could easily mistake model numbers when we started this hobby.  I then told him my next unnamed tractor would be in honor of him!  

 

“Screamin’ Jimmy,” Rylee’s Commando 800 had a governor issue when we first got it running.  It would run away like an old two stroke Detroit if you weren’t careful with the throttle.  It has a pretty “in your face” appearance as well with wide axles, wide tires, a big tall hood riser, blue and black skulls and flames airbrushed on it and now dual stainless stacks.  This was tractor #2 in my “little blue truck” haul in 2018.  It’s @Bear G’s fault that my madness started that weekend.  I helped fix his trailer and he insisted I take his $100 bill and buy something for my kids.  Thanks for the idea buddy!  He was quite concerned after I bought a tractor and already had Putt Putt to bring home and only had a 5’ box.

 

”The Polished Turd” is now @Tractorhead’s 656.  It was very rusty and worn and I asked @stevebo to teach me how to wet sand and buff a tractor.  I mentioned that you really can polish a turd, as it came out so much better than it was before.  It was tractor #3 in my “little blue truck” haul in 2018.  After the wet sand and buff job, I believe @fast88pu tuned the carb in about 3.4 seconds flat.  What a runner!

 

”Barney Fife,” is Jada’ 857.  It is a very quiet running tractor with the starter/generator and a big ole muffler out the side... not quite fitting for “Barney Fife” and his rambling mouth, but it was sold as a “barn find” machine at the Big Show.  It was tractor #4 in my “little blue truck” haul in 2018.  I purchased this from a fella after the show was over who was camped out next to @dells68 in the second to the last barn but had spent the weekend in the hospital after setting up his shopping area and broke his foot jumping out of his truck in the hotel parking lot.  I really didn’t have any purpose for it at the time, except to see if I could tear just one more apart one nut and bolt at a time and pack the pieces into my already full Colorado.  He lived about 45 minutes from me in Michigan and offered t9 haul it back home in his box truck, but it was more or less the challenge I was looking for.

 

After all the excitement at 2018’s Big Show, I can’t say how many raffle tickets I purchased for the raffle tractor... but if I would have won that, I’d have been searching for a trailer to haul the stuff home at that point!

 

I can’t speak this much about toy first big show without mentioning a few more names.  Along with the ones I have shared stories about, meeting so many new friends was really the highlight!  Barry and @Tgtack let me crash their party all weekend and invited me to eat with them as often as I was around.  @Achto, @PeacemakerJack, Uncle Jim and @Coulter Caleb made me feel at home in their camp too.  Next door I had good chats with @AMC RULES, @Lane Ranger and Rodney too!  Chatting with @rjg854, @phil bowling, Joette and @wheelhorseman and their kids Scottie and Travis, even making friends with @squonk (I know I might get flamed for that one! ), shaking hands with the @Vinylguy himself and thanking him for his awesome products, and especially dinner with @19richie66, Karen, @dells68, Becca and my buddy Emory catching fireflies!  Wow I think I’m pretty fired up for the 2021 Big Show!

 

ok.  I did all that by memory without reference.  I might have missed a tractor or three.  Hopefully not people.  Brain hurts, time for some shop therapy!

What’s a book of a post like this without some pictures?

edit* had a great time with @Aldon at the hotel, and a great time with @Racinbob cleaning up our mess 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by pullstart

[Alex175 784]

My tractors have to earn there names, usually they do this by the first major repair I have to do to them.  It started in my pre wheel horse days when I had a John Deere that earned the name Sparky after it attempted to self combust due to an electrical fire as I was mowing.  My Wheel Horses are no different.

 

C-145 - Thrasher earned it's nickname due to an imbalance that when running the PTO with the engine at full speed would cause the motor to start bouncing around and shaking the whole damn tractor.

C-175 - Sputter earned it's nickname after it began only firing on one cylinder due to an air filter housing screw falling out and getting down into the intake jet and blocking it open.

C-195 - Sloth earned it's nickname due to fuel pump issues that caused it to only be able to run on idle, anything greater than that would stall the tractor.

 

I also have a 655 that I will someday get around to rebuilding, and when then time comes, it too will get the opportunity to earn it's own nickname.

[19richie66 17,508]

POPS

Skittles

Hank                                       Buttercup

Blaze

Lil’ Red

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

I only name mine when there is a problem. The names are not printable on a family forum.

[Tractorhead 9,064]

Changed it’s name from „The Polished Turd“ to „The Bavarian“ Wheelhorse...

 

After several reworks and fixes, i think it‘s allowed to get this name.

even if it‘s interrim a predator Engineswap.

 

 

[squonk 41,155]

3 hours ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

I only name mine when there is a problem. The names are not printable on a family forum.

One's gotta be named Waldo! 

[squonk 41,155]

I have no more room for horses. But if I did I'd name it Waldo! 

[squonk 41,155]

One of my fake chickens is named Waldo. I also have a Brian and a Jo! 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

I am sorry I won't be at the BS this year or I would take you to dinner and leave you standing on the side of road. he he

[squonk 41,155]

I'm sorry to Jim! You're lucky I'm not close enough to visit! 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

Glad you live up in northern NY if you  showed up  , not sure but I think Mrs.El would kick us both out of the house.

[stevasaurus 22,764]

Hey Jim...did you and Mike share a room that year ??  Did you guys have to name a tractor after the weekend ???  

[squonk 41,155]

I think Jim slept out on a balcony along Rt. 81! 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

I slept at the Blue Sky something. Never again, very glad to get home and sleep in my own bed.

[stevasaurus 22,764]

OK...here's mine...702, 876, 857, 1972 Raider 10, 1976 B-100 and an REO-65.    

They are all named "Sweetheart".