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Hi everyone, I have to take a moment to thank Karl Lyon who designed and helped me develop the book's store web site. His computer expertise has made it possible for everyone to access the site with ease. Karl did this for you! As a thank you, I will be sending him the one and only advance copy of my book as a thank you. I have asked him to post a review of the book including the quality and content of both the book and DVD. This way, everyone has a first hand account of what to expect in just a few more weeks. I also want to thank the Wheel Horse Collector's Club for placing the information on their web site. In addition, a special thanks to Lawn and Garden Tractor Collector Magazine for featuring a full page story about the book. Based on the hundreds of emails that I have received, the books will go quickly, so please don't delay in getting yours. I hope each of you enjoy the Final Edition, Michael Martino

Bought this 701 from Marv this winter and just finished the restoration up showing before and after,planning on taking it to the big show in June.

As promised. Michael Martino has setup a store front where you can purchase your copy of the final edition "Straight From the Horse's Mouth - The Wheel Horse Story". He is allowing on-line sales to begin at 9:00am Eastern on June 21, 2013 which is about the same time you can purchase the book at the Wheel Horse Collector's Club show. The price of the book does NOT include shipping or CT sales tax, but that will be calculated upon check out. At this point, the store is available for US residents only. An e-mail address will be available where non-US residents can write to get a copy of the book. Click on the advertisement below to be taken to the store. Pre-Orders are NOT accepted

Whether twin or 1 lunger, the RPM is the same. Rated at 3600RPM . I have never measure the deck speed, but unless the pulley size is different they will spin the same.

I have a GT-14 that was in need of a replacement Hydro Gear and had a good unit from a Ranger that was a direct bolt up except for the output gear being the wrong size. Since I could find nothing in the Manual and no previous tutorial on this subject I dicided to dive into and take a few photos along the way. Step one was to remove the 4 1/4-20 bolts that hold the retainer on the inside of the unit on both Hydros. (see first photo) Step two was to remove the 8 3/8 and 2 5/16 bolts that hold the outer cover and split the outer casting from the rest of the unit. I used a gasket scraper to get it started and then a couple of wood wedges. DO NOT SRATCH THE SURFACES, THEY ARE MACHINED AND THERE IS NO GASKIT! Now you will use snapring pliers to remove the spring clip. (see second and third photos) Step three was to remove the shaft that has the output gear on it. If you have a press that would be a good thing, but not having one i used a large punch and eight oz. hammer and carefully drove the shaft and the captive roller bearings. As you remove the shaft the inner gear of the hydralic motor will come off the shaft, be sure the key for the motor gear comes out with it. Once you have the shafts out of both units you can put the shaft from your old unit into the replacement unit. Press or drive the shaft and captive roller bearings into the new hydro Gear Motor. take a moment to rotate the gear for time to time to be sure nothing is binding. (see fourth photo) The final step is to put on the spring clip and bolt everything togather. I found that a clamp on the shaft helped hold it in place while puting on the spring clip. While you are bloting the cover and retainer togather be sure to rotate the shaft from time to time to be sure nothing is binding. All things considered this is not too complicated, and realy no special tools needed. Hope this will be of help to Red Square members.

today I got a few horses out of the barn

Picked up this 1983 Deere 314 for $220 today. I'm not much of a JD but I couldn't pass it up for a spare in case something happens to my 310-8. He said that he can't get it to start. It had zero compression so I pulled the head off the 14 kohler. Found the intake valve never hits the seat. I got lucky on this one, no wear on the bore either. Might need a cam since it was always had spring pressure on the lifter and cam.

1960 Suburban 550 1963 753 1975 B80 - Grandpa bought it new from Chevy dealer. Have original plow, chains, blade and deck for this. Also have the check that paid for it. Grandpa is gone now. 1973 16 auto 1977 C160 auto

Hi guys. Kind of new to this but I have a Lawn Ranger in desperate need of decals and engine and other things including a gear knob and new seat. Just wondering if anybody can help out? Cheers, Jack

How will you be doing your summer grilling this year? I'm with this guy... Show us your grilling operation. I need to get a pic of mine.

Got some stuff done in the past week. Here's what I did: Clean cylinder head, assemble with 60lb springs, new seals and set on block. Need a few more allen bolts... Mounted exhaust manifold Went junking and got a tailgate, grille, driveshaft, seat, rear wiring harness, extra pigtails and some taillights Received my fuel sump ($120 on ebay), brake hoses and steering joints made a steering shaft Ran brake lines (done) Rewrapped rear wiring harness. Added in the needed connectors for trailer lights/brakes, auxliary fuel tank and ran a nice hefty ground wire back up to the front to the battery ground. Also had a ground wire to the frame. Should eliminate all electrical gremlins in the future. Made a fuel tank crossmember, cleaned tank, cut hole for sump (I had to yank out a plastic bracket that holds the sender to place it where I wanted it). Mounted tank. I used the stock front strap, flipped it upside down and manipulated it a little to work with my crossmember and some mounting tabs Couple interior wiring things Mounted another power steering hose Welded washers onto the frame for brake hose mounts Fabricated my own shock towers to work with the Jeep JK shocks Picked up 2 LED sidemarkers to eliminate the factory pigtail. Spliced them in. These will be mounted in the bumper when done. Robbed a trans cover off another trans in the shop. Sandblasted, painted and mounted. Picked up a piece of aluminum to make a tappet cover this week. Bought an Exide Marine Gel battery. Plan to get another. They will be behind the seat in an enclosure with the sound amplifier and a sub. I'm trying to make it run this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mildly cleaned up the ports. There were some nasty boogers in them. Hard to tell but I pocket ported the hell out of this thing. Pictures don't show the work very well but they really are clean and smooth now. No nasty step under the valve seat. I'm going to eventually mount this seat in the rear. I plan to run a pair of Hummer H3 buckets up front with my own console. Steering shaft! Washers welded on. Need to get some retaining clips Trailer hook ups! Aux fuel tank wiring: Front brake hose The sump. I used the DA sander with 60 grit then 180 grit to make it smooth where it mounts to keep seepage from happening around the O ring. Then I used some RTV just to make sure. Tank in! Here you can see the front tank strap is just flipped, bent to proper shape and bolted on. Didn't have to hack the strap up or anything. About an eighth inch between the cab and tank. Good to go! LOL Charlie

I never did because I have never heard of a failure other than reading about it. The engine did not blow up so I assumed it was OK. It looked OK, but I never measured the lobes to see if they were in spec. You can bet I will in the future.

It won "Easiest to parallel park " Category! :ychain: Nice. I did that to my red Chevy Colorado and got all kinds of flack. I thought it looked cool!

Get the numbers off and post here, someone will jump in

My neighbors thought it a bit strange when I brought another one home--this time a 520-H... Then they heard that beast running. Now, I can see the drapes opening up and eyes looking over fences every time I am running the 520. The neighbor across the street usually has his Cub Cadet (Home Depot special) out of the garage within 30 minutes, as if to "challenge" my tractor dominance on the street. The neighbor three houses down has a big box John Deere and cowers in the shadows. The neighbor two houses over brought over his new Crafstman to show off, and wanted to do a little mini tractor pull "for the kids," all in fun, of course. He ended up backing down and putting his in neutral so I wouldn't hurt it. Long story short, I may be nuts. But at least the neighbors know who to turn to when their equipment breaks down and they need a hand.

I can't compete with that, but here's mine:

Bought a 16 auto off a very nice fellow member today. Got it home and drove it some, well my 3 years olds did. They have more time on it than I do! Seems to be a really nice old tractor. Charlie and Joey love it to death. They can run it very easily because of it's hand controls. My twins catch on very quickly with dad's guidance of course. Lastly it matches my C160 very nicely. I'll try to get a pic of the pair tomorrow. Both I guess. Tractors and boys...

And back to the do your neighbors think you are weird thread lol

It will be hard to play "Top This" with that setup. Doing a couple slabs of pork back ribs today.

just went and googled a bit on kohler acr and valve timing seems to keep coming up.......if acr is working ok, look at valve timing again...... most examples were with keyways sheared on removable gears, either on crank or camshaft. since your engine has fixed gears, i would be going back and scrutinizing the valve timing. at least run it through a few cycles with the head off so you can see if you have complete valve sealing at tdc on the comp stroke. you could also check sealing of the valves by pouring some carb cleaner, thinner, in the depression around the valves to see if you have leakage or a valve is slightly open. at tdc those valves should be tight. if the breather cover is off you could also make sure the cam followers are able to turn with no pressure holding them. you should have the valves tight against the seats for at least the dwell time the piston is at tdc i would think. were the valves lapped to their seats properly? i know youve said you checked it several times, but you wouldnt be the first to double and triple check and it still be wrong. i always mark them with a permanent marker to make it easier to see. some of the kohler singles its difficult to see properly. after i mesh them i always rotate the crank back and forth to make sure as they come together that the position is correct. if you take a step back and take the symptoms the engine is displaying in simple terms, something is allowing the combustion gasses to escape the chamber when they should be held tight in there to force that piston back down the cylinder. some of them are coming out the intake. so either valve seats are leaking or you have a problem between the intake and exhaust ports. but you still have nowhere near any power from that engine, so im leaning towards compression escaping through valve seats in someway or another. either by leaking or incorrect timing, there is a sealing problem or with valve timing the cam could be off in some way or another .......happy investigating.....

Nice find, and good price! If you wait a little bit, you will have a new tire....The right front looks pregnant, and is crowning and about to give birth!

This is always an interesting subject. I believe the HP ratings (which as Hodge stated, is measured differently now) and "Big Twins" all came out for the "Tim the toolman types". When I lived in town, I had a neighbor that was as it seemed, on a never ending quest for horsepower. Whether it be in his pickup truck or his sled or his lawn tractor. When he first moved in next door he didn't even have a tractor. At that time I had 2 tractors. A Massey 10 and an Ariens F12. Both were good machines. The Massey had the 10hp Kohler and the Ariens was a rear engine Briggs 8hp. They did a nice job. The neighbor (I'll call him Tim for obvious reasons) went out and bought a 12hp Craftsman. He came over to "show" it to me and proceeded to brag about the 2 hp. difference in our tractors. An auction came up and I bought a 214 JD just cuz it was cheap. That very next Monday, He came home with a Yardman 23hp twin. I can still remember how he said, " Beat that". It still cracks me up. In the go faster, move on to the next job, world of commercial lawn care, was born the 30hp. 60" zero turns. Then John Q. Homeowner decided he needed the go faster, so I can get little Timmy to soccer practice on time, so these 18 plus HP. 2 cylinder machines were born. On my WH's, I can put the same 48" deck on my C-165 and on my 520H. Both handle the deck with ease. However, the 520 spins it much faster. And though I don't have a little "Timmy" to race off to soccer practice with, I do get done faster. Because the deck spins faster and cuts better, even if the grass is tough. I can drive faster too. The RPM's on the big twins are much faster, translating into everything spinning faster. But , I would bet on pure PTO hp? the 16hp single would have more. Plus much higher torque. The power band would be much broader on the twin. But, it would have no low end "grunt". Just as the single would really have lower top end power. And, I believe the twins drink more gas because you are feeding 2 cylinders to get basically the same hp. as a single but at much higher RPM's. This is why the C-165 is mostly relegated to Garden Duty. The pure power and torque, plus the 8spd. tranny make it a very capable worker. And with the addition of live hydraulics(I am installing) it will be tough to beat.

On the magnum twin 14hp, their the same. Probobly the same on a single but not sure

I made a rubber baffle too. Keeps the Hydro cleaner and cooler too!

This topic has been discussed in the past and its actually one of my favorites to see revisited. I think competition is what drove the quest for more power. But the thing to remember, especially with newer machines, horsepower is measured differently now than it was then. For my money I'd sooner have a 16Hp old K series Kohler "Thumper" versus any new V-twin out there, even my Onan in the 416. But thats where opinion sneaks into the conversation. I'm not a big fan of the Onan. I'd sooner have a 416 with a M-16 or K series Kohler but havent been lucky enough to find one yet. I just think that horsepower sells tractors but torque is what does the work. A big single cylinder makes more torque than a twin thats screaming.

Wow!! A Mk2 GT... It's been a long while since I've seen one of those!! What's your plans for it Perry? If your going to scrap it I'd take off as many "sell-able" original parts as you can.. I'm sure a Cortina fan would pay top dollar for any hard to find parts...

I think there's 11

I'm still making changes to this tractor. I had a k141 layin around and the temptation of putting it on this tractor was too much to resist. I had to make some mods to the hood stand to get it in there. I also made an air filter setup with an extension to clear the steering shaft. I'm not sure the fuel tank will stay where it is, I could mount it up under the hood but I couldn't bring myself to drill any more holes than are already drilled in the hood. Lots of other mods had to be done but you get the idea. I'm also not sure this is the final exhaust setup. I will say the performance is about the same as the Honda clone that was on the tractor but this is more the look I want.

I HAVE A CHECKMATE WITH A 175 H/P MERC. IT IS A VERY FAST AND FUN RIG. (62.8 M.P.H.) DO NOT SCRAP IT. SELL EVERY THING AS A UNIT.

OK this is a bit off topic but I just picked up 2 more tractors. JD 112 and MF 14

The only brake on a GT-14 is the parking brake. The hydro uses "dynamic braking" to stop. Fluid flow is neutalised to stop. If the drive engagement lever is "up" and it still moves, the parking pawl is likely worn. I've had machine shops rebuild the pawl for about $20. Removal of the pump and motor is the messy part but its all worth it in the end.