Lever Steer Tractor Led To Wheel Horse
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The garage-built Pond lever steer tractors were the beginning of what would later become the Wheel Horse Products Company. Joe Papke, a decades-long owner of a Pond tractor, shared the history of these tractors in the Winter 2025 issue of Lawn & Garden Tractor magazine. With editor Brandon Pfeiffer’s permission, we’re sharing the Pond lever steer story here with credit to Papke.
Papke explains that Elmer Pond got into the tractor business by assembling Speedex garden tractors for his brother Harold. In 1946, Elmer and his son Cecil began designing, building and marketing their own tractor, which became known as the Pond lever steer because of the lever that moved front to back instead of a steering wheel.
The first Pond tractors were assembled mainly from a variety of off-the-shelf parts, including surplus motorcycle, auto and truck parts. The frame was simple, made from angle or channel iron. The drivetrain used transmissions and differentials from Ford cars and pickups, sometimes from one, sometimes from both.
Even the exclusive Pond-built gear-reduction reversing box consisted of a cut-down Ford driveline welded to the gearbox. It was installed between the transmission and the differential.
Initially, the castings lacked indentations for the shifter rail housing. When many broke due to uneven pressure, new boxes were cast with the necessary indentations.
Final drives attached to the differential were Pond-built castings with internal gears machined by Schafer Gear Works. Cut-off Model A axles with the original Ford wheel hubs were used for the rear axles.
Most Pond tractors lacked a braking system. Papke notes that one Pond tractor he knows of had brakes made from Ford parts. Others had brake drums but no other parts.
The clutch system was a BorgWarner, foot-controlled, lock-over center type, similar to a power take-off clutch. The clutch housing was Pond-built, with early models featuring a hole in the side for greasing the clutch fitting.
Tractors built early in 1946 with a curved frame used a 6-hp Briggs & Stratton model ZZP engine. Straight frames introduced later in the year were equipped with a Wisconsin Model AEH with just over 6 hp.
Front wheels also changed during the first year, starting with a welded spoke wheel. Later, a solid cast iron wheel was introduced to increase weight at the front end and counterbalance rear-mounted attachments.
The rear wheels had welded, flat-stock steel-spoke rims, and most used Goodyear tires.
Attachments for the 1946 and 1947 tractors included a moldboard plow, likely made by Oliver Farm Equipment, and a one-row cultivator. The cultivator was likely made by Pond. Both attached to a mid-point mounting system, not on the rear drawbar.
The Pond lever steer tractors were painted red, initially a darker shade than later. Regardless of the shade, any 1946 or 1947 Pond lever is rare. Only 50 were made, all hand-built by the father-and-son team. No literature or manuals are known to exist.
Pond continued making the tractor, adding a four-wheel Ride-Away Senior in 1947. It was also assembled with surplus parts and designed without a hood for easy access to the 8.3 Wisconsin engine. Later, they introduced a Ride-Away Junior, making all three models until the mid-1950s.
Along the way, the company changed its name to Wheel Horse. Cecil Pond is credited with introducing the first riding lawn mower in the 1950s. The company introduced several other innovations, including the first hydrostatic transmission. In 1974, the lawn and garden tractor company that started in a garage was sold for $30 million. Eventually, it was sold to the Toro Company.
To learn more about tractors like the Pond lever steer, subscribe to Lawn and Garden Tractor magazine. Pfeiffer has a special Christmas offer for FARM SHOW subscribers.
“Our regular price is $31.95,” says Pfeiffer. “We’re offering it to FARM SHOW readers for $25.95 per year. Just give us a call or mail a check.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lawn and Garden Tractor Magazine, Dept. FSM, P.O. Box 605, Mt. Vernon, Ind. 47620 (ph 812-985-0828; brandon@lagtmag.com; www.lagtmag.com).
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Lever Steer Tractor Led To Wheel Horse
The garage-built Pond lever steer tractors were the beginning of what would later become the Wheel Horse Products Company. Joe Papke, a decades-long owner of a Pond tractor, shared the history of these tractors in the Winter 2025 issue of Lawn & Garden Tractor magazine. With editor Brandon Pfeiffer’s permission, we’re sharing the Pond lever steer story here with credit to Papke.
Papke explains that Elmer Pond got into the tractor business by assembling Speedex garden tractors for his brother Harold. In 1946, Elmer and his son Cecil began designing, building and marketing their own tractor, which became known as the Pond lever steer because of the lever that moved front to back instead of a steering wheel.
The first Pond tractors were assembled mainly from a variety of off-the-shelf parts, including surplus motorcycle, auto and truck parts. The frame was simple, made from angle or channel iron. The drivetrain used transmissions and differentials from Ford cars and pickups, sometimes from one, sometimes from both.
Even the exclusive Pond-built gear-reduction reversing box consisted of a cut-down Ford driveline welded to the gearbox. It was installed between the transmission and the differential.
Initially, the castings lacked indentations for the shifter rail housing. When many broke due to uneven pressure, new boxes were cast with the necessary indentations.
Final drives attached to the differential were Pond-built castings with internal gears machined by Schafer Gear Works. Cut-off Model A axles with the original Ford wheel hubs were used for the rear axles.
Most Pond tractors lacked a braking system. Papke notes that one Pond tractor he knows of had brakes made from Ford parts. Others had brake drums but no other parts.
The clutch system was a BorgWarner, foot-controlled, lock-over center type, similar to a power take-off clutch. The clutch housing was Pond-built, with early models featuring a hole in the side for greasing the clutch fitting.
Tractors built early in 1946 with a curved frame used a 6-hp Briggs & Stratton model ZZP engine. Straight frames introduced later in the year were equipped with a Wisconsin Model AEH with just over 6 hp.
Front wheels also changed during the first year, starting with a welded spoke wheel. Later, a solid cast iron wheel was introduced to increase weight at the front end and counterbalance rear-mounted attachments.
The rear wheels had welded, flat-stock steel-spoke rims, and most used Goodyear tires.
Attachments for the 1946 and 1947 tractors included a moldboard plow, likely made by Oliver Farm Equipment, and a one-row cultivator. The cultivator was likely made by Pond. Both attached to a mid-point mounting system, not on the rear drawbar.
The Pond lever steer tractors were painted red, initially a darker shade than later. Regardless of the shade, any 1946 or 1947 Pond lever is rare. Only 50 were made, all hand-built by the father-and-son team. No literature or manuals are known to exist.
Pond continued making the tractor, adding a four-wheel Ride-Away Senior in 1947. It was also assembled with surplus parts and designed without a hood for easy access to the 8.3 Wisconsin engine. Later, they introduced a Ride-Away Junior, making all three models until the mid-1950s.
Along the way, the company changed its name to Wheel Horse. Cecil Pond is credited with introducing the first riding lawn mower in the 1950s. The company introduced several other innovations, including the first hydrostatic transmission. In 1974, the lawn and garden tractor company that started in a garage was sold for $30 million. Eventually, it was sold to the Toro Company.
To learn more about tractors like the Pond lever steer, subscribe to Lawn and Garden Tractor magazine. Pfeiffer has a special Christmas offer for FARM SHOW subscribers.
“Our regular price is $31.95,” says Pfeiffer. “We’re offering it to FARM SHOW readers for $25.95 per year. Just give us a call or mail a check.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lawn and Garden Tractor Magazine, Dept. FSM, P.O. Box 605, Mt. Vernon, Ind. 47620 (ph 812-985-0828; brandon@lagtmag.com; www.lagtmag.com).
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