Vacuum Bagger for Wheel Horse

[wheeledhorseman 19]

Having just acquired one of these I'm hoping someone will be able to tell me a bit more about this bit of kit. I first saw one when I picked up my C-100 a few years back from a guy who had a collection of WHs and various attachments. Another appeared on a certain auction site a yearor so later but missing bits and rotting out. Picked this one up for £26 off same site last week with just surface rust and a straight forward resto (famous last words!)

 

 

The vacuum hose end piece bolts onto a standard 42" WH side discharge cutting deck so designed specifically forthis. The ones I've seen have all been WH red (original paint) but this one has no ID tag or signs of having had a WH sticker on it anywhere.

 

Can't track down manufacturer / model/ manual for it and have had no response to date on the RS forum so maybe it was made in Europe / UK.

 

Hoping someone else remembers coming across one and may know something about them.

 

Andy

[Stormin 4,458]

Nice find.   How does it attach to the tractor?

 

Question answered.

[C-101plowerpower 548]

Looks like a PeCo vac bagger, a wh allied attachment

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/4635-mower-vacuum-lawn-42in-48in-1985-1987-peco-model-4112-om-iplpdf/

[slf-uk 914]

Very handy piece of equipment. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with the restoration.

 

Iain

[meadowfield 1,900]

Nice piece of kit Andy, glad to have you back!

[Chris 642]

Think I know where one of these is sat rotting away

[wheeledhorseman 19]

Nice piece of kit Andy, glad to have you back!

 

Thanks Mark, having had the both Winter and Spring pretty much wiped out as far as hobby stuff goes by aged parent problems including my father passing away in February, I'm slowly beginning to find some time again but there's a backlog of work that should have been done so this project will be for the future sometime.

 

 

Think I know where one of these is sat rotting away

 

 

Chris, it's reassuring to know that someone else has seen one of these - hours spent searching the net has failed to come up with even a photo of one let alone any details. I imagine that most ended up rotting away outside in the rain as its a big and heavy thing that's not easily mounted or removed from the tractor, a kind of permanent encumbrance that seemed a good idea at the time but ended up being discarded as being too much trouble. (Dealers managed to sell punters all sorts of things like that!)

 

 

Looks like a PeCo vac bagger, a wh allied attachment

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/4635-mower-vacuum-lawn-42in-48in-1985-1987-peco-model-4112-om-iplpdf/

 

Thanks Koen, its kind of similar but its belt driven from the tractor rather than being powered by its own engine.

 

 

Nice find.   How does it attach to the tractor?

 

Question answered.

 

As far as I can work out......

 

 

The bar 'A' clips into the hitch on the rear axle, the same one used for a snow blade frame. The channel section 'B' rests on the arm of the rear towing hitch.

 

I haven't tried it yet but based on weight and awkwardness it's a two man task to put on for sure.

 

The drive belt goes all the way to the PTO at the front so I'm guessing there was a modified or additional belt guard supplied with it and possibly an idler to mount somewhere on the tractor.

 

When the seller offered to deliver it FOC I jumped at it but it meant I didn't get to see the 312-8 it had originally come to him on. If I'd gone to collect it I'd have been able to see what mods were on the tractor to adapt it to this use.

 

Based on appearance I'd guess it pre-dates the 300 series so it could well have originally been on an earlier tractor. Who knows? Just hoping somebody will jump in and say - thats a.........

At a guess it's an aftermarket product produced to fill a gap in the WH range of attachments.

 

I'll probably never end up actually using it but I think it has a certain charm in having a kind of farm machinery look about it.

 

Andy

[wheeledhorseman 19]

Stop Press !!!!

 

Doh! I was sitting on a 1970s brochure with the bagger listed! It is genuine Wheel Horse rather than an 'Allied Attachment' and should have a Wheel Horse decal.

 

 

Just need to find the product code but I bet it's one where Toro have managed to lose the documentation.

[neil 524]

Welcome back to the den Andy, things not quite the same without your input. Sorry to hear about your farther mate.

That's a wicked find , I did see that on eBay but didn't think the bloke was right when he had it advertised as Wheelhorse blower.

Great find.

[Anglo Traction 997]

Good to hear from you Andy, but sorry about your loss since I last liaised with you.

 

An uncommon find and I assume you have already checked the WH Attachment Interchange Tables for this model, but I checked it and haven't found anything up to 1982 that fits the description. I'll keep looking for info on it.

[wheeledhorseman 19]

Hi Richard, finding time to get back to a 'normal service' is getting easier but as my mother at 83 has dementia and we've moved her down to a home in Romsey so time is still tight shall we say.

 

I've spent hours on the case re identifying the vac-bagger with no luck on the interchange table or the Toro lookup site. I've even put Garry on the other side of the pond on the case and he's struggled to find anything yet other than he thinks it may have been introduced in 1979.

 

I've found references and some detail of the smaller power vacuum that discharges into a dump cart #10 on the brochure I'd forgotten I had. (click to enlarge)

 

 

but to date no references to the vacuum-bagger.

 

The brochure is a scan of a colour photocopy of the original so not very good quality. Be nice to have a better copy if anyone has an original (Paul M perhaps?)

 

Andy

[Anglo Traction 997]

I understand the difficulties with loss and ageing family members, had the last few years of that myself.

 

I've noted all the Vacuum Bagger versions that use the Dump Carts in the Interchange List and noted they all refer to 32 and 37 inch SD Decks.

When I got to the 80s on the list, the references began to look promising, but still no match.

 

I'm signed up to several of the WH Yahoo Groups that Garry massively contributes to, and if he can't locate anything on there, I certainly won't be able to. Still, if the info is out there, I'm sure it will turn up.   

[neil 524]

Would it be something that is specific to European tractors & made at the Belgium plant ?

[wheeledhorseman 19]

There could be something in what you're saying Neil but one needs to be cautious about the urban myths surrounding the Amnor plant in Belgium.

 

It was an assembly plant that did not manufacture components. It did have a paint shop to process the parts shipped from the US which were in bare metal form.

 

So taking a couple of things into account i.e. nobody seems to have recognised the bagger in the US and the fact that on a timeline the rather old school design was pretty much obsolete compared with the vac baggers WH were producing by the 1980s it is perhaps possible that it was produced for the US market, didn't sell well, so the stock of parts were shipped to Belgium to be assembled for the European Market to get rid of them.

 

I have found an interesting link to this design on RS submitted by Vincent in Belgium.

 

 

I remember thinking that this looked a bit 'hookey' when I first saw it but I can see now that it's a rather nifty adaptation of the original design using a wheely bin to collect grass. It even has the same clear hose as shown in the WH brochure.

 

Here's the link http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/30947-new-vacuum-bagger-system-made-in-belguim-orginal-from-wheel-horse/

 

I agree with Vincent about it being made in Belgium but I thing that is in the context of 'by a previous owner'. Vincent's photos show what the addition belt guard was like which is useful.

[Stormin 4,458]

I like that idea. No bags to heave around and no chance of forgetting to buy more when needed.

[Ian 2,417]

Hi Andy, that's a nice bit of kit you have found

 

It's good to have you back, sorry to read about your father..

[Muz123 0]

Nice find! sorry about your father..

Edited May 17, 2015 by Muz123