Wheel Horse

by | Feb 14, 2023

History

Wheel Horse started in 1946 in Elmer Pond’s two-car garage in South Bend, Indiana. Pond began building two-wheel, self-propelled “Walk-Away” garden tractors that were sold under the Pond name. Due to a naming conflict, the company’s name was changed to Wheel Horse. Within ten years, his business had become very successful and began to build a full line of lawn and garden tractors, in addition to riding lawn mowers. Wheel Horse lawn tractors are known for their standardization across the years.

The most popular model and year was the R-J58 Wheel Horse produced in 1958. It included a three-speed transmission called the Uni-Drive transmission that Elmer Pond designed in 60 days. It came without a mowing deck, but one could be added.

There were eleven models in four lines of lawn and garden tractors by 1974 when it was acquired by American Motors (AMC)

In 1982, a group of AMC officers acquired Wheel Horse in a management buyout. In 1986, Wheel Horse was purchased for $8 million by Toro. Tractors were built under the Toro banner for the next two decades. The Wheel Horse name was eliminated from production after 2007.

Today, there are numerous Wheel Horse collector and fan groups that keep its memory going strong.

Fun Fact – the name Wheel Horse was meant to evoke tractors generally (doing tractive work with wheels) but also the connotation of a steady, dependable worker (wheelhorse).

Sources: TractorData, wheelhorseforum, Farm Collector, WheelHorseStables

Years Manufactured

1946 – 2007

Video

Wheel Horse RJ58, YouTube

Wheel Horse Attachments, YouTube

Advertisements

1965 Wheel Horse 875 advertisement, Source: eBay

“Get a Horse Ad”

1967 Wheel Horse Charge Ahead Ad, Source: Amazon

1969 Wheel Horse Big Thorobred Ad, Source: eBay

 

Images

1958 Wheel Horse RJ-58, Source: TractorData

 

 

1964 Lawn Ranger, Source: R&B Wheel Horse Stables

1966 Wheel Horse 856 Before and After, Source: WheelHorseStables