1946-1947 Pond Lever Steer Garden Tractor article

[tractorchick 399]

Here is an article from the very first issue of Lawn & Garden Collector Magazine (now known as Lawn & Garden Tractor Magazine).  Hope you enjoy!

Kate G.

 

 

 

 

[ri702bill 8,327]

Kate:

Excellent article. As you are aware, the Ride-a-way Seniors were the "Belle of the Ball" at this years Show.  Always good to remind folks where we were, and how we got to here over the years...

Two thumbs up on Cecil signing that one - put a price on that piece of history...

[ebinmaine 67,580]

VERY cool.  

Thanks for posting this!

 

Love the Lever steers.  

[Pullstart 62,905]

Thanks Kate!  Every time I read about or see another Lever Steer, or Ride Away Senior for that matter, it makes me grin, knowing Cecil and Elmer had their hands on ‘em and we get to care take ‘em for just a little while…

 

 

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Soo.. am I reading this right? Only 30 to 50 lever steer WH tractors ever made? That means the model with the steering wheel is a seperate catagory and if so, anyone know how many of those exist?

 

There go my lever steer ambitions.. out the window 

[ebinmaine 67,580]

51 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

 

 

There go my lever steer ambitions.. out the window ..... 

..... Says the guy who's BUILDING most of a tractor from the ground up.  

.  

 

 

[Wild Bill in VA 1,452]

2 hours ago, sjoemie himself said:

Soo.. am I reading this right? Only 30 to 50 lever steer WH tractors ever made? That means the model with the steering wheel is a seperate catagory and if so, anyone know how many of those exist?

 

There go my lever steer ambitions.. out the window 

From what has always been known only 600 Lever steer/Seniors' models were hand built from 1946 to 1956. Hoods were an option in 1954 and non-hood models looked close to a Lever steer model.  Hoods were standard in 1955 and 1956 models. You cannot always tell what year model you have because the Pond's purchased the Briggs and Stratton and Wisconsen engine in bulk package lot, so we do not know what year engine serial number was installed on what year model frame.

Wild Bill in Richmond VA

Edited August 4, 2022 by Wild Bill in VA

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

7 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

BUILDING

 

 

I guess I could build something that looks like one.. but do I really need another project?? 

 

@Wild Bill in VA thank you for that info. 600 is a bit more than 30 to 50 but still pretty small volume (I think) for such a machine.

I highly doubt any one has ever made it to europe.

Still, pretty cool tractors and good to see so many are still around despite the small production number. 

 

[ebinmaine 67,580]

55 minutes ago, sjoemie himself said:

do I really need another project?? 

After the current one?  Yes.  Yes you do.  

[Pullstart 62,905]

@sjoemie himself there is a registry on here and it’s about 80-90 registered Seniors from what I can tell.  More pop up here and there, but many less than the 500-600 produced are in existence!  I missed out on another one in Ontario, Canada last night… the new owner of that one should be proud of it!

 

 

[Wild Bill in VA 1,452]

14 hours ago, Pullstart said:

@sjoemie himself there is a registry on here and it’s about 80-90 registered Seniors from what I can tell.  More pop up here and there, but many less than the 500-600 produced are in existence!  I missed out on another one in Ontario, Canada last night… the new owner of that one should be proud of it!

 

 

Kevin, I had been watching that auction listing since it came out and the new owner got a great deal! The only thing that kept me from bidding was what problems I might have getting across the border from Canada back into the United States or vice versa. Yes, I have currant passport and have traveled through Canada many times including within 30 miles of where the auction took place but..... many things have changed since I was up in London Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie.

Wild Bill in Richmond VA

[sjoemie himself 3,068]

Thanks @Pullstart. Do you or other members have implements like mentioned in the article for these machines? And were there other implements for the machine beside plow and cultivator? Looks like the front pulley is set up for driving some other implements. Or is that just for starting the engine?

[Pullstart 62,905]

2 hours ago, sjoemie himself said:

Thanks @Pullstart. Do you or other members have implements like mentioned in the article for these machines? And were there other implements for the machine beside plow and cultivator? Looks like the front pulley is set up for driving some other implements. Or is that just for starting the engine?

Yep, that pulley is just the starter   I picked up a one bottom plow for Mrs. P’s Senior last year but have not used it yet.  I would love to use it for the garden some time!  Lowell I believe has one of every implement for the Senior, I’m not sure about the Lever Steer flavor.

[wh500special 2,184]

On 8/3/2022 at 8:10 PM, Wild Bill in VA said:

From what has always been known only 600 Lever steer/Seniors' models were hand built from 1946 to 1956. Hoods were an option in 1954 and non-hood models looked close to a Lever steer model.  Hoods were standard in 1955 and 1956 models…

Hi Bill. 
 

I’ve heard the 500-600 number of Seniors before too, but I’ve never really believed there were that many.  If you go back to the old timers (Joe P, Larry G, Dan and Dustin, Bob, Dave and Mary…) I know at least a few of them thought that 200-300 might be a more reasonable number.  Of course I haven’t spoken to any of them in years so perhaps there’s been some evolution of thought or I’m misremembering. 
 

Who knows…
 

There were almost undoubtedly only around 50 of the Levers.  Somebody turned up an order from Rockford Clutch that showed 50 clutches were sold to “E. Pond” in 1946. Presumably they built at least one tractor before they bought 50 Clutches, but it was probably a small quantity.  
 

I had a chance to sit down and talk to Betty and Cecil Pond at length and I asked how many Levers and Seniors were built.  Unfortunately, he didn’t remember.  He didn’t suggest it was very many of either though.  Was this mentioned in Martino’s book?  Perhaps Cecil’s memory was better when he spent all that time with him. 

 

I wish I had, but unfortunately I didn’t ask about when the transition to what we call the Senior was made from the Lever. There seems to be general agreement that Levers were probably only made in 1946 and 1947. But I’m not sure production of the RideAway began immediately thereafter.  Rather I think the Ponds might have been too busy building walk behind tractors and likely still tinkering with the new Ride Away to be producing it serially.  Instead I think 1953/54 might have been the start of the RideAway (Senior). 
 

I wonder too if Lever production with whatever was left of those Rockford Clutches bled over into the years after 1947 to fill the gap. 

 

I don’t recall any reports of Wisconsin Engines older than 1953 showing up on RideAways.  I don’t pay as close attention to these forums anymore so perhaps something older has indeed surfaced.  But if I had to guess, I would say the large tractor was a 1953-1956 offering and nothing but walk behinds and maybe an occasional Lever trickled out of the garage from 1948-1953. 
 

Still, 600 isn’t an unreasonable number.  Even if production was squeezed into just the four years I hypothesize, that’s only about three tractors a week. But during this time they were working out of their garage and then the small shop on Dixieway on the north end of town (near to where I used to live!) so having the capacity to do them might have been a stretch. 
 

at the same time the Pond boys were building Levers and Rideaways, the IH Cub was hitting the scene. It was similarly priced but a profoundly more advanced tractor.  It seems like it would have been a tough animal to sell against that. 

 

Too bad Elmer and Cecil didn’t know there would be a bunch of idiots (like me) obsessing over their workaday lives 70 years after they got started.  Maybe one of them would have kept a diary. 
 

Fun to think and talk about though. 
 

Steve

[Wild Bill in VA 1,452]

Steve ... Good to hear from you!

 The order form for the Rockford clutches is very interesting but was there another order? I think of all of the "known" Lever steers out there and how many may have gone the way of the scrapyard or just not yet found it seems more could have been built. If it is only 50 built ..... the monetary value of a Lever steer just shot over the $10.000 dollar mark because of this our two posts on this website! Now I ain't no speculator but I have been in the business a long time. Unfortunately, the picture of the manufacturing in Mike Martinos book only showed the red paint on wall where the tractors were painted, I wished the whole manufacturing facility was shown in a picture(s).  Remember South Bend is not far from Gary, Indiana the steel plant of the Midwest so building materials were easy to get and the Ponds did make building jigs so the next tractor could be quickly made.  In the later years of the Senior production lots of "same parts" can be seen, now yes the transmissions and differential set up are defiantly different.  And with home-built modifications each Senior has their personality.

Cecil and Betty Pond had been away from Wheel Horse quite a few years before they were in eyesight of the tractors again and other business ventures too had kept them away. I do remember Cecil rounding the corner at the entrance of the Annual Wheel Horse Show and he was overwhelmed at the amount of people and Wheel Horses celebrating him and his dad's creations. At that time, it was not easy to get the facts we so desired. true information on the 1948-to-1953-year models is very hard to find. The Ponds /Wheel Horse company records were very difficult to figure out, I would have a better chance of understanding ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics then their system of bookkeeping. Although we have tried to obtain the old records, but no luck was had.

The IH Cub is a great tractor but but used on both small and large farms, the Lever/Seniors target market was small truck farming growers. The price difference between the two brands would be neat to know.

 Steve I hope y'all can make to the 25th Annual Wheel Horse Show next summer, we have the 1958 Ride a Way junior as the featured model ....... Just think of all the fun we can have discussing that model!

Wild Bill in Richmond VA

 

[wh500special 2,184]

I’d like to make it back to the show but it falls on a bad weekend for me since my wedding anniversary is about the same time and my daughter typically has her dance recital then…priorities!  Next year with the RJ 58 being the feature will probably be the most visually appealing feature lineup in some time…I kind of regret not keeping any of my oldies.  

 

We’ll get back out there eventually. 
 

steve 

[tractorchick 399]

On 8/6/2022 at 9:54 PM, wh500special said:

I’d like to make it back to the show but it falls on a bad weekend for me since my wedding anniversary is about the same time and my daughter typically has her dance recital then…priorities!  Next year with the RJ 58 being the feature will probably be the most visually appealing feature lineup in some time…I kind of regret not keeping any of my oldies.  

 

We’ll get back out there eventually. 
 

steve 

I understand that Steve.  My daughter was in dance for 16 years and we had recitals every May.  Then our anniversary was on June 6, and that always falls during our Extravaganza so we rarely celebrate until after the show.  By the way, we go to St. Louis quite a bit for Cardinals ballgames.  I'm near Evansville, IN. 

[hcminis 1,557]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:32 AM, Pullstart said:

@sjoemie himself there is a registry on here and it’s about 80-90 registered Seniors from what I can tell.  More pop up here and there, but many less than the 500-600 produced are in existence!  I missed out on another one in Ontario, Canada last night… the new owner of that one should be proud of it!

 

 

 

I know the new owner and he is currently waiting on his passport. 

[Pullstart 62,905]

16 minutes ago, hcminis said:

 

I know the new owner and he is currently waiting on his passport. 

That’s funny, the requirements on the auction site were pick up the next day.  Must have made prior arrangements?

[hcminis 1,557]

19 hours ago, Pullstart said:

That’s funny, the requirements on the auction site were pick up the next day.  Must have made prior arrangements?

Yes, he called them and explained the situation and they were fine with that.