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As Thanksgiving offers me a time to reflect on and appreciate my many blessings, I felt it appropriate to thank you all for the camaraderie, knowledge, challenges, failures, successes, fellowship, banter, etc. I just can't turn it off Life is challenging and we need more of this. Thank you.

My son doesn’t come on here anymore, but here is a 704 that he has been making into a 4x4. complete scratch built axle, and a lot of lathe and milling…. I’ll try sort some build pics out!

my 4x4 wheel horses, both use the brake drum, so that was the logical thing to do. Front differental is a peerless built into a custom casing, Rear box is from a mower.

it's not 1:1 drive it's under - 20/23, axle ratios and tyre diameters are factored in and ratio is spot on. Driveshaft is splined, but actually only moves 1/8" when the axle tilts. Brake drum works as before - it's a newer version of my 4x4 wheel horse I built 12 years ago.

likely the last weekend to do leaves here in the Hudson River Valley, NY - most trees now bare - most nites below 30 - daytime in 40-50+ - However, before cleaning the mower deck and servicing it for winter to install plow -- We did our fall family tradition of a full day of leaves at daughter's house - transported over my C175 S1 with its 42 inch side discharge deck -- grandson's did their thing driving the horse -- including much mowing/mulching, plus pulling the sweeper - plus, a few hand blowers moving the heavy leaf volume piles and rows - - and adding in abundant supply of acorns - - Leaf volume was enormous -- as well as the leaves themselves huge -- add also damp leaves from recent rain. Always impressive what the wh tractors will do -- fully expected i'd overheat a belt or pulley or simply burn one out, or break something straining to move and mulch those rows of leaves - - not to mention the leaves sticking in the mule pulleys and top of the deck between the belt/pulley covers - - more than once I was thinking pushing the leaves with a plow on the tractor would have been better idea than mowing/mulching them ?? Maybe next year will be smart to do both with two tractors???????? Thankfully, the tractor performed like the beast it is - all went well -- did however need to fill that Kohler twin with gas a second time - but grandsons loved riding in circles plus mulching the rows - I did the heavier areas where many years of tractor driving operational experience paid off. Busy day but rewarding to see that nice clean yard when finished and the pride of grandsons participating in a WH family project tradition.

Test Run

Well....I was browsing Marketplace looking for Wheel Horse parts and ran cross a tractor that was 16 miles from me. I'm not sure why but I ended up buying it It's a 1975 and came with the snow plow and a 36" mower deck. It came out of Ohio but it doesn't look like it was ever really stored outside. It runs although the engine has hesitation issues and stumbles when at higher rpms. I did time the engine and it helped but I'm guessing the carburetor needs cleaning as well.

The small town I grew up in had one gas station on every road leading out of town, four. Two were modern and two still had the old tall pumps and one was a general store but by today's standards a 7/11 and free air. It was the early sixties and remember my mom getting gas and those bottles at the pumps. I even ask the guy what is that? A deep brown greenish liquid. (just like me it looks a lot different now) Ten years later, working in a garage for change, we used a drum and pumped into a galvanized container that held a gallon. We never kept track just filled up with the dipstick. Back then people checked their own oil often, mostly out of necessity, and the last thing you wanted to do is short change someone. Oh Boy that was a big deal. Sold oil by the paper quarts over the counter at that time I know now cars and some trucks don't even have dip sticks on their transmissions. I think my truck calls for 150k fluid changes on trans and diffs. Just in the 130 range now, probably replace the truck not the fluids before that time comes. .

Its hard to go by the old specs, if you consider that the oils they are recommending have been obsoleted a dozen times, the oils that were cutting edge in the 60s, 70s, 80s...are not even available. Like 2 strokes, a 60s saw will say...8:1 fuel to castor oil, or 10:1 fuel to Sae30. We dont need to run a heavy mix to protect an engine, we have excellent oils that are safe to 70:1 and even 100:1. Motor oils of today are a marvel compared to 60s/70s slop, the old standard of SAE30 has mostly disappeared from all manufacturers, briggs was a big holdout but even they now say 10w30 or 10w40 is fine...and it makes sense, a multi-viscosity oil gives you the thinner qualities when cold, but still protects like a heavier oil when hot, its not holding you to a compromise with straight viscosity. Ive been running Mobil 1 Full Syn 10w40 in 3 FD Kawasakis, 2 Kohler Ks, 4 Onans, 3 Commands, and T6 Syn 15w40 in the Yanmar for a long while, no ill effects. I had to swap a broken cam in one of the Kawasakis at 991hrs (plastic gear) and the engine was spotless inside.

@meadowfield, your son is a chip off the old block, outstanding workmanship just like your "BENDY" and "C4" Wheel Horses.

Wow, just wow!!

and ciphering! nice work

Nice score.. and with a couple attachments I have a ‘77 B-80 and she’s a great machine! Mowed occasionally with the 36” RD and then get hosed off and dragged to the local tractor shows

No worries. This kind of thing happens all the time around here. Once you have one , you kind of want one of each model. BTW. Nice looking tractor.

Some real innovative thinking there! Congrats to your son 👏 Tapping the brake drum shaft for front-drive power is so clever. Please elaborate on the sources for the front differential and the 90º gearbox amidship!