My first Wheel Horse

[Monstrosity 1,128]

Hey! I was looking around for a tractor for my son, he's 5y/o, and I didn't want to buy a power wheels for him to out grow in a few years and why not get a little extra out of the deal .... So I picked up a 1277 that needed some help for $300. It's missing a bunch of items; PTO and lever, belts, main drive cover, seat is gone. The unit came with a mowing deck, snow thrower and an extra engine, the tractor wasn't running, generator/starter didn't work ... which made me weary..... engine had compression and fuel was tarnished. Starter/generator had a broken connection on a brush and dirty. Put a little elbow grease into the fuel and ignition and she fired up... still a little wary of not knowing about the Hydrostatic pump and trans working or not. Ran to tractor supply got a belt (which is to wide) threw it on just to see if it would be enough to spin the pump and it did and it moved! RELIEVED!! This my first garden tractor I'm working on this indepth.. if anyone has information they'd like to share, as I scoure through this forum, it's welcomed!!

Thanks for reading!

I'll post a quick video next!

Edited May 8, 2022 by Monstrosity

[Monstrosity 1,128]

Running vid

[rjg854 11,378]

Sounds good, and    I think you about hooked on our little red tractors  

[ebinmaine 67,589]

Welcome aboard!

 

8 minutes ago, Monstrosity said:

didn't want to buy a power wheels for him to out grow in a few years and why not get a little extra out of the deal

This shows good decision making prowess. 

 

With the help of quite a few members and the moderators I put together a concise list of things to check over for all stages of Wheelhorse ownership and maintenance. 

 

 

 

 

Peruse that and you'll be up, running and cruising around in no time.  

 

[c-series don 8,720]

@Monstrosity Welcome fellow Long Islander !! And welcome to the best Wheel Horse forum there is! Here you will meet the nicest people who will help you in any way they can. If you have a question someone here has the answer! Good luck with your tractor, I think you have made a good choice in buying that for your son. This is something you guys can work on together and will still outlast a power wheels. 

[Pullstart 62,905]

to you and your son, and to the best powered wheels ever!

[Pullstart 62,905]

3 hours ago, Monstrosity said:

got a belt (which is to wide)

It looks to be 5/8” wide, with is right for a hydro I believe.   It’s just too short.  

[Pullstart 62,905]

I stand corrected…

 

Tractor drive belt 7927 and no longer available from Toro - (4L x 78.0" or 1/2" x 78")

 

this is from the manuals page.

 

 

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,598]

 

One suggestion… add floor boards so your son’s feet are stable and protected from the rear wheels…

[8ntruck 7,016]

Yeah - what @SylvanLakeWH said.  These tractors are little and old, but they share the attitude as big old tractors - they will find ways to hurt you just as easily as work for you.

 

They were built at a time when operating them safely depended as much on the operator as the design of the machine.  Use common sense, as that Wheel Horse is not a toy, but a real worker.  Be very careful on grades, especially side grades.  In fact, restrict your son to level ground for the next few years.  

 

Good luck and have fun.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,653]

So, you’re the guy that scooped that up!  You beat me to it by “this” much, lol.   I don’t think that seller knew what he had; he gave it away IMHO. Sounds like it’s going to a good cause, and you sure went far enough to get it.  As has been mentioned, that machine is no toy.  I hope you both make a lot of good memories fixing it up together.

You may want to go to the big show and find yourself some of those needed parts.

[Monstrosity 1,128]

4 hours ago, EB-80/8inPA said:

So, you’re the guy that scooped that up!  You beat me to it by “this” much, lol.   I don’t think that seller knew what he had; he gave it away IMHO. Sounds like it’s going to a good cause, and you sure went far enough to get it.  As has been mentioned, that machine is no toy.  I hope you both make a lot of good memories fixing it up together.

 

Yes I'm the guy lol. Yeah I don't think he really knew.... he started to fix it but... I need to rewire entirely and move the regulator back to the generator. I have a paperback copy of the manual coming I had ordered it before finding this forum. The snow thrower is seized but that ain't nothing lol. Well aware that this is a piece of equipment and that's how it will be treated I also have a 69 jacobson gang mower compact tractor currently being painted and needs new sheet metal I just may have pieces made up to look like the wheel horse 🤔

Thanks again!

Edited May 8, 2022 by Monstrosity

[Monstrosity 1,128]

6 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Yeah - what @SylvanLakeWH said.  These tractors are little and old, but they share the attitude as big old tractors - they will find ways to hurt you just as easily as work for you.

 

They were built at a time when operating them safely depended as much on the operator as the design of the machine.  Use common sense, as that Wheel Horse is not a toy, but a real worker.  Be very careful on grades, especially side grades.  In fact, restrict your son to level ground for the next few years.  

 

Good luck and have fun.

Yes I am aware I grew up around farm equipment and that is how this will be treated I was around his age when my father taught me a clutch on a similar unit. Although this one doesn't have a clutch he'll get the jist of operating with having respect for equipment 

Thanks guys!

[Mike in NC 341]

Welcome!! Nice unit!

[953 nut 55,297]

The 1277 will be a great father/son project, at five years old he will be full of questions and fun to watch. You'll get more out of it than he will but nothing wrong with that! If you have ANY questions please feel free to ask theme here, we all help each other out.

[Pullstart 62,905]

A very similar project, my daughter purchased a 1076 (virtually the same thing, but 10 hp and 1966) and we got it running and driving.  She didn’t like the automatic, so we traded or I bought it or something.  I don’t recall!  

 

  

[Tractorhead 9,064]

 to 

 

perfect decision to choose a Wheelhorse.

 

This little Red Tractor are great little Workers, they can do a lot of Jobs for You

and they be also perfect machines to learn.

 

👍

 

[Retired Wrencher 5,464]

Good job getting it running and    When you are done with this one. You can find one for yourself.

[Monstrosity 1,128]

Changed the muffler today. Ordered new carb.... trying something... fuel pump rebuild kit (leaking). Just got the gen/start rebuild kit today need to get correct belt still ordered from TSC. Waiting on PTO then will be making a lever myself for it since it seems to be nowhere.. 

[Handy Don 12,235]

13 minutes ago, Monstrosity said:

gen/start rebuild kit

Can you share what kit you chose, please?

[oliver2-44 9,759]

2 hours ago, Monstrosity said:

Ordered new carb.... 

Don’t chunk that original Kohler carb. They can be rebuilt. The low cost/cheap Chinese carbs are a crappy shoot sometime you get a good one sometimes not. Before installing the new carb drop the bowl and see if it’s clean. Sometimes they are dirty from factory. 

[Monstrosity 1,128]

4 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

Don’t chunk that original Kohler carb.

Not at all. I'm trying to see a difference right now between the two I'm having the original ultrasonically cleaned by one of my customers. The amazon special is only a test at $24. If it doesn't jive I'll return it... the power of skynet....

[Monstrosity 1,128]

@Handy Don it's the bearing and brush kit from isavetractors.com. I did a quick repair on one brush and cleaning to get it running. All the grease came out of the old bearings, the magnets and armature appear to be good. 

[ebinmaine 67,589]

19 minutes ago, Monstrosity said:

isavetractors.com

Norman's a good guy. Their place is located right here in Southern Maine not far from me.

I haven't bought much from him because I'm a bit frugal/terrible cheapskate.... He's been very courteous and full of information the times I've dealt with him.

 

[ebinmaine 67,589]

Another down vote here on the new aftermarket cheap carburetors.

I've had several come through here and not one was good.

Others on the site here seem to have decent luck with them but I haven't been so lucky.