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njdpo

New Old Wheel Horse - 800 Commando

njdpo
12 years ago

Hi all - been a while since I've posted ...

Today I adopted a WheelHorse Commando 800 from someone down the road who GAVE it to me (price seemed right - I took it).

Definitely weathered and in need of TLC but I had it running after replacing the battery, fixing a battery cable, and cleaning out the carb on what appears to be the orginal 8hp Kohler engine - which runs/sounds like a champ!

Photos seen at : http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg160/njdpo/WheelHorse/

Anyway - I currently have an Ingersoll 444 and while its a stout machine - its stout to the point where is almost too much machine - for a lawn like mine.

While I dont have any real time on the commando 800, and while the deck is very rusted out ... this machine was actually mowing my lawn today for about 15 minutes ...

So ... I have some questions hopefully some of you WH lovers can make my wheel horse run like my Ingersoll does.

Questions:

Im curious to know what year this thing is - is there a location on the machine where I can get a SN or ID tag indicating year, etc. ?

Also want to ID the motor - to know what Ive got... Ill look for some numbers on the engine itself.

If I decide to find a mower deck for this machine - will I have trouble finding it ?

I see that the light switch has a broken tab in the back - is this something I can easily get replaced with stock stuff or just run over to the local automotive store? I also see a red lamp on the back of the machine (very cool) is that stock ? and I assume it lights up when the head lamps are on - or when I hit the brake/clutch ?

Can this machine handle a plow blade for dirt/snow ? What about wheel weights ? ( for snow removal )

It seems my seat is off center on the rear fold up fender/chassis - the seat seems comfortable but perhaps is not original? Can someone have a look at the pics and comment on weather its original. (im not looking for have an original restored machine - just want to know what I have)

Finally - this machine seems rather well built - can someone tell me - if Im working with a machine thats worth working on ? Sorry to ask but Ive got a newer wheel horse with the fiber glass hood with the 10hp B/S Verticle crank lawn tractor - and these two WH's dont seem to have one bolt in common! (im diggin the old commando big time!)

Took her out back to gunk her down - she wont start cause the ignition is wet - but ill get her going again and start with the visual inspection...

Thanks in advance - looking forward to being enlightened...

Dave