Wheel Horse Charger 8

Picked up another one today... 40bucks.  Not running or moving...engine is free.

I havent figured out how to make the hydrostatic trans free wheel to move it around... I jacked it up and the wheels spin free like an open diff, but they wont roll in the same direction.

Also i cant find jack on the web about this thing...

Gonna see how things go with other projects, might use a briggs 12hp in it, & put some big tires on it.  Its in very good shape for as old as it is, 1970 I think.... I has not always kept outside, but it was out there a while because there is moss in the seat.

I'm jealous of the mint hood on that tractor. Would you mind sending me that headlight assembly lol? I don't know much about the charger 8 but the main guy at the Wheel horse dealer told me that 8 speeds were the ones to get and I didn't want anything to do with hydro ones.

You have all the luck don't you lol!!!

@Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

You have all the luck don't you lol!!!

hah I spend allot of time looking & wait for deals & have a trailer to pick up junk. Very rare that I would spend more than 100 bucks for a tractor.  Most people wouldn't buy this crap haha. Oh and im cheap ass...

I am thinking engine swap here because I don't much like this wussy Tecumseh engine, plus its old school points ignition, but regardless anyone ever remove a pulley like this? I don't think I can pull the engine with the pulley attached.

Looks to be cast iron.  Clean up what you have there, and spray it and the pulley with some kind of catalyst and let it soak a while.  May need a puller should it be rusted on. Just don't whack it with anything. It will chip.

Do what mighty said and then remove the set screws. Rotate the crankshaft so the setscrew hole is pointing up, fill it with penetrating oil and let it sit. Then use one of those handy dandy pullers you just bought. That's how I got the pulleys off of my 40 year old Wheel Horse Engines.

I guess the hole in the middle is threaded for putting the pulley back on?

Threaded hole in the center is just a standard thing on engines.  Some pulleys require a center bolt.  In your case it was not needed.  Yeah clean the shaft take out the set screw as mentioned and fill her up with a penetrating oil and put it back in loosely should it not just slide off. Then try out a puller.

I got a big 3 jaw puller & that did the job, slid right off....





I also bought another one today, for parts at the moment....but its mostly complete & has a 12hp briggs.

Sweet, and the spare looks like a nice machine too!

good god is the front of that pan frame made out of cast iron? It looks really thick.

@Crazy_Carl wrote:

good god is the front of that pan frame made out of cast iron?  It looks really thick.

That is correct, the front half under the engine is, so I hope my bolt pattern lines up haha.  Have to install the pulley from below, the hole if too small to fit thru.

The axles on these are beefy, made out of serious metal too, 5 lug hubs.

The go cart wheel tractor looks good from 15 feet, but the paint is runny, the control tower is cracked, steering wheel is taco'd & some other nonsense. Has a 4 speed gear trans & a 12 hp briggs that is not locked up.

The one thing I need that it has, is that muffler.  I can't have the exhaust in front of the motor because of space, so I want another one of the mufflers that this motor has, its a big circle with a exit out the side.

hmmm...I'd do a straight pipe and then weld a piece of threaded pipe on the end, then you can put multiple mufflers on, or have a totally unrestricted exhaust if you unthread them.

I got the pulley off the motor from the simplicity, my puller was not long enough to reach all the way, so I cut the lower pulley off. Still it was weird because I had to leave the retaining bolt in, but a little loose & pull on it, then loosen the bolt more & pull on it again, because the tip of the puller is almost as big the opening.



Anyway I taco'd the pulley, its all bent, so Ill get another one at some point. For this swap I am using the wheel horse cast iron drive pulley it appears to fit.

The motor fits & It appears to hit 2 or 3 of the stock bolt locations, but i didnt have allot of time, I need to notch the hood for the air cleaner, but so far so good.

Before you mess up the hood, maybe make a snorkel!

@Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Before you mess up the hood, maybe make a snorkel!

haha good idea, but there is no way I would drive it in water deep enough to need it, but really we don't have any deep water on our property, just mud and rocks.

I don't have any either, but you never know! Just don't want to see that hood messed up.

Hey if it would save the hood...

Yeah that's what I was thinking!

@Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

I don't have any either, but you never know! Just don't want to see that hood messed up.

haha yeah it would just be a little notch, no significant change. I could run a cone filter but I dont think that goes with the theme...

I have some big tires for it, i test fitted them & its as big as will fit & still turn haha

Turf Tractions?

I'd cut, dent, or modify the air cleaner before I'd cut the hood. Maybe you can run it with the element and no cover.

@Crazy_Carl wrote:

I'd cut, dent, or modify the air cleaner before I'd cut the hood.  Maybe you can run it with the element and no cover.

I could cut like 1/4" off the front edge of it & weld it back together possibly, it is all metal.
If I notched the hood it would be behind the grill not, on the top side....

@Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

Turf Tractions?

Guy I bought them from said they were Chick Magnet Tractions?