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Ok I forgot about the PTO Safety switch. Turns over now with spark. Time for a cold one or Miller time.

My wheel horse buddy called one day and was telling me about his snow plow machine being down. He went out to test run a day before it snowed and it did the same thing. Thinking the battery was old he changed it.........then the solenoid........nothing..........then he called me super frustrated. I ask him about the PTO lever and the phone went silent. I ask are you there? He said I'll call you back. called back and sure enough the lever was in the on position. He felt pretty bad but I told him one got me once but lucky I troubleshot it and caught it before I changed parts. I am sure there is a lot of others in the same boat.

Don't feel bad...I put a shut off switch on my electric fuel pump...bought wore out the battery trying to get it started before I figured out the switch was off...

Man, am I glad this never ever happened to me. If it ever does, I will never ever admit it happened.

It certainly is! Its seen better days but it works to the momentary switch so I can fix or replace it! I'll let you know how it goes! Wouldn't mind having a "Need a Beer!" signal for the wife when Im working.

I used Nason 421-10 2k urethane primer on my sheet metal. Urethane primers allow you to fill minor imperfections with out haveing them show up later on down the road due to shrinking, a known issue when using lacquer primer. It's been a while since I've sprayed any Nason top coats. Does Nason offer a gloss hardener for that paint? If they do I would suggest using it, it will increase the scratch/chip resistance as well as the chemical resistance. Your jobber might be able to suggest a hardener, if Nason does not offer one. I know Mar-hyde makes a "wet look" hardener for acrylic enamel. Here's a pic of the system I use. I've had good luck with the paint system, it usually comes in under Nason on the price. You can spray this paint without using the hardener, but i prefer to use it. I wish that Vansickle offered a Urethane primer, but no dice there. The quart of black in the pic points toward what I did today. A few parts received some black paint today, now I should be able to put the spray equipment away. For this resto at least.

Joe I felt pretty stupid my self all the years been working on these tractors and this happens. O well that is life I guess. Thanks for the post.

Just for the record... If this was a show rig or rarely used I'd run a couple 45's into a chrome up facing tube and be Very happy. I generally believe that diesel trucks Can't be too loud. Nothin' like an old "oil burner" ridin' a Jake brake down a looonng hill with a pair of open 8" stacks !! But.... in this case these two "rigs" of mine are used for several hours at a time on our acreage and they neeeeed to be audiologicaly friendly.

No glue strips required.

I was able to get the sheet metal sprayed today. Jim @WHX14 stopped by to help with some wet sanding & get some observation time in on the painting. Always great to hang out with friends like Jim, hopefully I was an ok teacher for him. I should have taken some in process pics of the wet sanding process, sorry. I had sprayed a mist coat of flat black ( cheap $.98 spray bomb from Wal-Mart) over the gray primer, this helps greatly when wet sanding. When the black paint is sanded off the the part has been completely sanded. Jim got a pic of the parts after they were wet sanded with 400grit, washed with preps all, tacked off and ready for paint. Apparently he also was able to get an action shot of me spraying. Of course safety equipment is a must when spraying paint. Plus it helps cover ones face so that cameras are not damaged. A couple pics after the sheet metal was painted. 2 coats of paint on the inside of the parts, 3 coats on the out side. A closer pic of the hood to show off the gloss of the VanSickle acrylic enamel paint. This pic was taken about a hour after painting. Decals also came in this week, Terry @Vinylguy does such great work. I can't wait until I'm ready to put the decals on the tractor. I was able to put the finishing touches on my plow though. One more color to spray, then I can start putting things together. No wait, I have some axle repair to do yet.

A motorsports shop near me always said they could bill for it.

My next door neighbor (retired engineer) had one of those rear engined professional Gravely's. He was trying to drag a large crate he built (did I say he was a retired engineer? ) full of junk to the side of the road. He got about 4 feet and stopped. All he could do was pop wheelies as that crate dug in. I heard him banging his snowplow blade on his driveway everytime the front end came down. I told him to stop before he got hurt or wrecked something. (did I mention he's a retired engineer?) I came back with my Power King and had him unhook his "toy" . Latched on to the crate put it in first and at idle I dragged that crate to the road. His jaw was on the ground. He has since sold the Gravely and now is into solar panels to recharge his cordless tools.

Picked up another GT-14 today! Not in too bad of shape other then the previous owner hacked up the wiring quite a bit. I am in need of a wiring diagram to completely redo it. Currently I can get it to crank over but no spark

I built a battery tray to raise the battery up 3" or so, because it would not fit with this engine in front of the steering shaft. I re-wired everything about 90% & cleaned it all up, snap a pic tomorrow of the final setup...

If it weren’t for engineers, mechanics wouldn’t have a reason to throw tools.

1 Month update on the ol' C85. Tractor: I ordered 4 Flange bearings for the front wheels (3/4" x 1-3/8") from BMI. 1 was the wrong size so I replaced the wonky driver's side only for now. Man! what a difference in handling already!. They're double-sealed so I guess that zerk is going to get bored. Adjustable tie rods are ordered. You should be able to get away with one adjustable; I ordered 2 mainly for the new/fresh ball joints. The new belt was the ticket for smoothing out that clutch...no more whiplash in H3. Engine: We got rid of the mickey mouse paint job on the engine tins. No Kohler-K deserves to look like it did. I learned that my Hardline tachs can be re-programmed to interpret RPMs for spark on every-other-revolution from our cam-triggered Kohlers. (default setting is for wasted-spark crank-triggered engines). Idling at a cool 1200: WOT: Decisions, Decisions! The tractor runs / handles really well! So I'm struggling with the decision whether or not to start the tear-down for a full restoration now or wait a season when I have fewer projects. If anything sways me, it's the Mickey-mouse paintjob on the hood. Hang with me folks, we'll get it sorted!

My engine guy does at least 3 or 4 a yr. The place local to me all you need to do is take the heads/ intake /exhaust and flywheel off. They charged him $100 for the last one.

Glad it was that easy and you didn't throw a lot of money away replacing a bunch of good parts. I bet this has happened to all of us at one time or another. None of us were born knowing anything and the lessons learned by personal experience are the ones we will remember forever.

@WV Hillbilly Yes I used a gloss hardener with the paint. No clear coat though. This is a single stage paint. When I get back to my computer I'll get you some pics of the products I used.

OH that is just lovely !!! Them ol Pete's izz mah FAVERITT

Yes, any unidrive shift lever will work providing it clears everything. Reshaping is an option. I have one that was given to me that's a 68 with the flip back fenders. The shifter wouldn't pull back far enough to use 1st and reverse. Disassembly told me that it was a much earlier transmission and when it was swapped out they probably left the original shift lever in it.

They say there's no substitute for cubic inches so how about a couple of more! The engine on my 1267 (Skonk) started giving up the ghost. It has had a checkered past. Stuck exhaust valve before I got it. No carb base gasket, leaky valve cover and louder than heck but it ran good. Tore the tractor down and painted it up. Didn't touch the engine. Right after this on it's way to the downtown Memorial Day show it started to misfire and puff of blue out the exhaust. Had to clean the plug. Didn't think too much of it. Took it to The Big Show thru the parade no problems. Pretty much sat until this winter. Put all the snow plow stuff on including loaded tires, wheel weights ect. Well after about an hour it's misfiring again. Pulled plug and it's fouled. I had to dig out the crud. Then it get worse. After 15 min misfiring again. Not much smoke but it's getting oil on the plug. I buy an anti-fouler to try to limp thru winter. Not any better. I switch all the snowplow stuff over to the C-160 that I'm trying to keep nice but I have no choice as a storm is coming. That gives me fits as well as the carb had to come apart for cleaning plus the fuel pump died. But I get it running. What to do? Rebuild the K301? Try to find another motor at the show? I want to keep the 67 vintage look (Starter Genny) setup. I do have a K321 on the shelf I bought 4 yrs. ago at the show but it's a regular starter model engine. I ask @Shynon his opinion and for tips. Yes the K321 can be made to look like the vintage look I want. On with the job! The donor motor. K321 on the operating table. Tom said the ring gear would have to come off the flywheel for the shroud to fit and he was correct. Original 301 shroud mocked up. IT FITS! Head off the 301. I need to use it for the height and genny bracket to fit. This is after about 4 hours of run time. I replaced the gasket on it when I painted the tractor in May. There was a large build up around the exhaust valve. This was all cleaned. You can see the buildup around the valve already and all the oil on top of the piston. I can't believe it didn't smoke more! Look at all the oil and crud on the anti fouler and plug. This about 15 min of run time! Head off the 321. Not to bad. I'll give it a cleaning. First coat of paint on the Big Block Paint all done. Pulled off the old block. 51 years of grime! 321 starting to go together All set to drop in. Getting the engine bolted up leaves the lift table free to lift the whole tractor to work on. I had to use the pulley off of the 301. Donor had a larger pulley so I believe it was off of a hydro. All done and ready to test fire. Took about four revolutions and it started right up with out the choke even being on! Just need to fine tune the carb and put the hood, belt and guard on and it will be ready for a run around the block!

I'd say you've done well doin' that... not many Squonks around these days ya know.

Squonk, Maybe he's the reason you needed the genny hooked up to the reefer in a snow storm to begin with.

Just brought her home an hour ago! Ran it through the paces and everything checks out! Now shes coming in the shop to get a good tune up, the Bolens plow taken off and replaced, fluids change, some rewiring, a motor cleaning and a couple of new gaskets, and a good carb cleaning. And maybe some fuel lines. 😁 This is my first hydro so its taking some getting used too. LOVE the hydraulic lift though! Dont know how I lasted this long without one!

I love my hydro. C160 moves great and I also love the lift. My arm would give out trying to lift that plow pushing snow. But I really like that seat. I want one for mine.

The hydro is the way to go. Mowing with my 12 automatic is a snap when you have a yard with a lot of stuff to mow around. Gary PS. Worked with a machine years ago that had a horn similar to that and every time you would blow it it drew so much power the engine would shut off.

Wow, great looking tractor and with a priceless electric clutch and perfect two cushion seat.. $$$$$$

Hey! I found the pic of when I bought the motor at the show. Photo courtesy of @stevasaurus

He needs more panels!

@squonk maybe he could hook you up so you don’t have to worry about your reefer when the power goes out... !

The "sleeper" is awake!

Here's the Nason...

5/8" diameter anchor in the hitch and 3/4" for sway bar itself, based off the Xi blade I had.

I was looking for something else and just found this thread... I know it's a bit dated now but... I have an older Professionally made 5 x 8 utility trailer that the vin is not legible. I bought it from a fella that had moved here to Maine from Colorado. His Father-in-law had had the trailer for many years and gifted it to him. He had legally registered it and did Not need a title in CO. As a trucker and machine operator my CDL is my livelihood so I Need to keep it clean. Not wanting to even Chance a ticket, I made a phone call or two and was told to bring in a bill-of-sale and keep it registered Under 3500 lbs and no worries... It's referred to as "home made" on the paperwork.

AAAAAooooooooggggggggaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Looks like a horn off an Amtrak train. That’s great.

Always nice to find the seller didn't deceive you. Glad it has a good home and will be getting some live.

Break out!!! No power since 3 pm yesterday. Only about 10 inches but some serious drifting even some bare spots....

Sorry to see that John. At least the truck dodged a bullet. I just got back from a 8 hour white knuckle round trip to Penn State. Not much fun being sandwiched between the 18 wheelers in the 50 MPH winds. Made it back home safe though and no trees down that I could see in the dark. The power was off several times. I just heard ....a big rig has flipped on the Norman Wood bridge. Officials say it will remain closed until the winds lay enough to remove the truck. Probably Sunday. The bridge spans the Susquehanna River in southern Pa.

Just keep in mind how the exhaust outlet is cast on that 341, too much weight on it can literally snap it off from vibration. Due to how the hood covers up the top of the engine it's tough to get a brace in there to help reinforce a stack - just pointing that out..some stacks are quite heavy. Sarge

I thought about doing something like this but: 1. I like the stack look. 2. I don't want to mount it where it would a.) look stupid, or b.) be in the way such as below the frame or c.) be near anything that can't get hot. 3. I like the stack look.

No cross bars. They are a total of 24" long with deck wheels on them.

You have to watch out for low flying planes at Bud's! I shot a video of the ride on Ol Shep. It appears fine on my desktop, but for some reason it played sideways. That's how Youtube recorded it also. I don't see any way to fix it. So here it is. Don't hurt your necks!

Connie added the finishing touch this morning. Had the rest of the herd out for a little sunshine today so we could sweep out the shed, it's been a beautiful spell of weather here this week.

it works...... 11967639_10204926551067943_1951104965_n.mp4