Wheel Horse ,..maybe a Gift Wheel Horse ?

   / Wheel Horse ,..maybe a Gift Wheel Horse ? #1  

Jeff Lary

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
470
Location
Hartland Maine
Tractor
Kubota L2950
Hi everyone it has been quite awhile since I have posted here,.. I guess that means all has been going well.
Now the reason for my post, I stopped by my brothers home yesterday and he said I got something to ask you come with me. He took me into the garage and showed me a large mower deck (about 5'). He has a 10 horse 3/10/8 ? and I have a 3/12/8. I knew that mower deck did not fit his tractor so I asked where it came from.
About a year ago a friend of his moved to Florida and gave him this big wheel horse tractor w/ deck. At the time I thought I may want this but he told me oh no this baby is gonna be mine. It was actually a payment for bush hogging the guys small field ( with my tractor and hog bty).
So bro took the tractor but it wouldn't run so his neighbor found a loose wire and whatever and they got it running last year. He was kind of bragging how he made out getting a tractor for payment and all so I just chalked it up to experience and moved on. Well it seems that the horse don't really run so good after all now it runs on one cylinder ( when it runs ) and it is also part or whole hydrostatic? it will not stay in gear something about having to hold the lever to keep it in gear.
So he gave up on it and parked it out back now he is offering it to me. I didn't look too closely cause I did not think I wanted it but now I am reconsidering... maybe. I don't know how big the engine is but it is a twin maybe an Onan or a Wisconsin? not sure. The guy did not take good care of it, It is in rough shape, no headlights (missing) the paint is falling off, floor treads (rubber pads ) are gone. ect. He used this commercially and used her up most likely. I have done quite a lot of work to chainsaws but almost zero to 4 cycle engines . So to consider me blind on them I guess would be safe to say. If you had this chance what would you do? and what do you think may be the reason it is running on one cylinder? He tried a new plug but no better. If I take this is there someone here that could walk me through getting he running right again? Thanks for your help give it some thought , I am not sure if I even want to get involved but I am thinking about it. Jeff
 
   / Wheel Horse ,..maybe a Gift Wheel Horse ? #2  
Jeff Lary - really hard to say what the issues are with that wheel horse. You didn't mention a model number or what specific engine it has. Wheel horse does not have a big following here - seems a lot of the small tractor brands suffer that fate here. I would suggest you try your questions over at wheelhorseforum.com . I would get some pic's of the machine and what model tractor and engine it has and see what advice you get over there. Good luck with it.
 
   / Wheel Horse ,..maybe a Gift Wheel Horse ? #3  
I think every wheel horse I have seen has had a kohler engine... either a k-series or magnum. They were both good engines that were pretty bullet proof. My dad was a wheel-horse man, but I think there are better older mowers. That said, they are not bad- they are built like tanks. I assume he is giving it to you? I think it would be worth it for free. If it is a twin cylinder, it is probably at least a 16-18 hp. Most of the older ones that I see (like 60's and 70's) were 10-12hp and would not handle a 5' deck very well. One nice thing about them is that they were known for interchangeability. Most implements/parts work on a wide range of mowers which makes getting parts pretty easy.
 
   / Wheel Horse ,..maybe a Gift Wheel Horse ? #4  
If it's a twin cylinder and takes a 60" deck, then it's most likely a 518 or 520H with an 18hp or 20hp Onan engine. Also, he mentioned it "will not stay in gear something about having to hold the lever to keep it in gear". I know on my 1993 520 there's a lever to operate the hydro transmission and you would have to hold it in either forward or reverse to maintain speed, otherwise it will slow down. I found a guy that makes a conversion kit to make it foot/pedal controlled and it's much better. Also, on the Onan's, sometimes the valves on the rear cylinder get loose from overheating. That cylinder doesn't get cooled as well as the front cylinder so that might be why it's only running on one cylinder. All of that makes me think it's either a 518 or 520H. These were made from the late 1980's - maybe 1987 to late '90's and I think the first model year or two did not have the Toro logo on it, just the Wheel Horse logo.

Here's a pic of mine - does it look something like this?
 

Attachments

  • Wheel Horse 3.JPG
    Wheel Horse 3.JPG
    857.4 KB · Views: 2,909
  • download 2008-11-09 068.jpg
    download 2008-11-09 068.jpg
    506 KB · Views: 4,066
  • WH Ready for Snow 3.jpg
    WH Ready for Snow 3.jpg
    944.4 KB · Views: 371
 
Top