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I was running through some old pic's. Typically I don't take many pics before, mostly during. Both of these machines were 6 month projects working off and on. The surprise was both engines were in real good shape. Anyone else got some before and after pics.

These two tractors were clearly 'parts only' machines. A 657 and a 500 Indy Special. After some mingling and hanky panky they emerged as this.

Did this in a month including replacing the hydro.

spectacular projects ----- great photos -- awesome work -- don't mean to hyjack your before and after tractor thread but thought i would add some before and after of WH mower rehabs -- here is a 37 sd rescue rehab before and after of deck i found

My eyes Joe. Ya shouda warned us to wear protection.

Browsing Ebay I came across this. I was totally shocked when I saw that it was located in Deland, FL, only about 15 miles from me. The paint was much worse than the picture indicates and the engine was a welded mess but I wanted it. I actually physically looked at it prior to bidding and it was the very same model my Dad brought home brand new when I was 5 years old. My proxy bid wasn't going to be beat but I ended up winning it for $285.00. Down to every nut and bolt then rebuilt. Both the 500 and the 400 are on display in a 4 season porch on one of the main roads out of Mishawaka now.

Trailer Couple tractors (sorry no before for the rat)...

My 92 312-8 before… And after. My 78 C-141 before… And after. My 87 308-8 before… And after.

The Low Rider before after

A trip to Elgin to see the world famous @stevasaurus and we loaded this up. I don't normally name my tractors but Dino just seemed right for this one. Just a quick refresh and put it to work, right? I lost control somewhere along the way. I really haven't done much to it this summer other than rebuild (not restore) a deck for it. Heat up the garage a few times this winter and it will be mowing the weeds come spring. As she sits as of 8:07 this morning.

Saved a two piece seat. Before After

I have white weights on white wheels on my C-141 8-Speed and I think it looks good. I don’t think white weights would look good on silver wheels though, as nothing else on a mid eighties model is white. I found this picture of a 418-8 for sale a while ago. It’s a very nice tractor and it made me want one even more. I’m not sure whose tractor this is or was , but the whole setup is nice, tiller, front weight bar etc. The only thing I’m not in love with is the same color weights and wheels. Not long after I saw this picture a 418-8 popped up in Massachusetts for a reasonable price, so I drove up and bought it. I gave it some love that it needed and now I’m thinking it needs some weights. For now I’m going to finish restoring the tiller I have for it. I already have a C-165 Automatic with a tiller on it, so this might be for show? However I’ve never tilled with an 8-Speed so I’ll probably use it. Funny thing is that I don’t have anything to till anymore other than the ten horseshoe pits for my fire department horseshoe tournament fundraiser. Eventually I’d like to put some 23x10.50 ags on it and the one bottom plow I have. Once again, I don’t have anything to plow but if something comes up I’ll be ready 😂

The only green Wheel Horse I've ever seen that I like. Not that my opinion matters, but it does look nice. At least it isn't "that" green with yellow wheels!

All my pics are still before

So while Trina was at our favorite small engine repair place yesterday to pick up the trimmer she spied this beauty.. 1954 Huot top. I'll let the pics tell the story. If anyone can identify the base cabinet I'd appreciate it. Replacement Craftsmen drawers on a (military green? ) base.

About finished up with the leaves, Had to rake them off that steep bank.

Well. Here we are almost 2 years later. I've been using my 60" wide @wallfish -bilt plow for a few seasons. Works great but I wanted to try something a little different this year. Like any plow, the snow windrow escapes the tailing edge. Obvious. But it also escapes the forward edge. This year I'll have the above SUPER SCOOPER!! This should allow me to grab a half width or so of snow and just push it right in to the forest. The brackets in the previous post weren't quite wide enough because of interference to the plow frame bracing. I used a set with double holes per side but bolted only one hole 🕳 per. If the side scoops are flappity then I can add more bolts 🔩 or even consider a couple 45⁰ top braces. The 42" wide moldboard I chose is in really tough shape. Severely worn on the bottom and bent at the top. For those reasons I didn't feel too awful bad about drilling it. If this experiment goes well in principle I can consider using a 48" wide set-up. Here's the pics... now for some snow!!

Got the Suburban in a deal when I purchased my 1st RJ (regretfully sold the RJ) Seller said it had to go also if took the RJ. It was really close to being scrap. Was able to put it together with spare parts so cost was minimal. It gets lotsa likes/attention at shows. Yet to do a complete restoration. Instead I just bought my already restored tractors from @Buckeyes. Definitely more cost effective.......

Red Planet Day, November 28, recognizes the planet which has captivated human observers for countless years, Mars. Right now, we know that Mars is red thanks to photographs beamed back to Earth from American rovers. For centuries, the naked human eye has been able to detect the reddish tinge of the solar system’s fourth planet, glimmering in the night sky. Little did scientists know, the red on Mars’ surface came from a preponderance of iron oxide, common rust. On Red Planet Day we celebrate our fascination with Mars, along with all the scientific advancements into understanding the dusty planet. Around 400 BC, the Babylonian’s began keeping record of celestial events. They called Mars “Nergal,” The King of Conflicts, ostensibly because of the association between the planet’s color and the blood spilled during armed encounters with enemies. The ancient Greeks and Romans must have made the association as well, because in both their pantheons, Ares and Mars, respectively, were known as the gods of war.

I personally think red is sexy! After all, “She thinks my tractor is sexy!”

Red , Black and Linen Beige. Doesn't matter. I've seen them from the factory on Cub Cadet and AMF in white. Whatever the tractor manufacturer tells the foundry what color they want they got.

Jim those came out beautiful. Really makes that tractor look sharp.

Some borrowed pics for mulling over... Silver or white, both look nice.

Well getting things prepped for the inevitable snow. Went out and put a battery in my bronco 14 with the 18hp Briggs vanguard v-twin in it. Started right up and ran exceptional after sitting for over a year. Last time i swapped the battery out I ground the positive terminal to the choke cable. It melted through the metal casing but the wire on the inside was still good. So being cheap as I am I redneck fixed it with a stick off the tree outside the garage and some electrical tape. Worked like a charm. The choke works like it should now. Temporary but probably long term fix 😂

I bought my current Mac box around 1990. About 6 years ago I was cleaning the garage, and went to move it. I forgot to lock the drawers. I can barely roll it because it's so heavy. Well I got it moving but a wheel hit something on the floor and stopped it dead. All of the drawers came out and it toppled over. Tools everywhere and several bent drawer slides. I get the phone# for Mac corporate and tell them what happened. They sent me all new slides free of charge!

Quite unexpectedly, we had a couple of very heavy snow showers blast through this afternoon where I’m visiting my daughter and SIL south of Lowell MA. Way too warm for sticking but it looked very pretty and left my car very wet!

They'll get painted if the idea works out. I may add braces tomorrow.

Next is engine prep for ignition parts replacement. Someone has been in here recently. Lots of missing fasteners, mangled tins, etc. Gonna be fun to put back together. The fuel pump pulse line had cracked and basically fell off the crankcase port when I removed the pump. Not sure how it was pumping fuel, but given the fuel smell and dilution of fuel in the oil, it was doing something. That pulse line will get replaced, obviously before the tins go back on. The engine needs a thorough cleaning, and could use a full going over, but for this stage I'm just focusing on cleaning out the cooling fins and tackling any immediate issues. If we get it running and can confirm it's a solid candidate, then we will pull the engine and do it right. The reluctor wheel for the crank trigger appears to be in good shape. Going to add some super glue to the housing in the areas that the halves meet to make sure it doesn't separate. Charging stator windings look good. There is one small area where I can see some of the coating coming off the winding, so I'll insulate that and test the stator for continuity and shorts. Crank seal seems to be doing fine, so probably going to leave it alone for now. Lots more debris to clean. This poor thing was really just beat on for the end of its life. Shame. For 2000 hours, though the Onan really doesn't look too bad. They definitely have a different approach to engineering than Kohler or Briggs or Kawasaki. They can overcomplicate things, in my opinion. Stout engine, but some of the things they do just make you wonder... One of the things that has always bugged me about the Onans is their electrical wiring sheathing they use. That stuff is tough but really inflexible and puts a lot of tension into the connection points, so I'll probably use some other sheathing wherever I can to help clean up the wiring to the stator, ignition coil, regulator, and out to the tractor connector.

Women should have their cars painted that color so they can find them in crowded parking lots!

Haven’t opened it yet, I suspect it’s all original so I figure if it’s apart I might as well replace everything and hopefully never have to open it up again.

Lift lever and bellcrank assembly ready to be installed. Lift lever bushings installed into hoodstand. They needed to be lightly tapped into place as they are a tight fit. Make sure they are fully installed and sit flat. Trunnion greased where it will slide into the bellcrank. Trunnion slid into bellcrank and clip installed onto trunnion. Clip and washer slid onto left side of lift lever. Lift lever was greased where it will slide into left side bushing. Lift lever slid through left bushing and bellcrank. Lift lever slid part way through right side bushing. Key installed and firmly tapped into place onto lift lever. Lift lever coated in never seize where the bellcrank will sit (between the two holes in the lift lever). Bellcrank slid onto lift lever after aligning key to keyway cut into bellcrank. Lift lever greased where it will slide into right side bushing. Lift lever fully slid into place. Right side lift lever washer and clip installed. Bellcrank retaining clips ready to be installed. A little never seize was applied where the retaining clip will be installed into the lift lever. Left side retaining clip installed then the bellcrank slid over until it is tight to the clip. At this point the right side clip was inserted. I then cleaned up and extra grease and never seize for a cleaner look and called this job complete.

Original 70's weights look like they were red on white/ Mid eighties original were silver wheels and black weights? I like this one. If she's for cook'n....not to big a deal If she's for look'n....whole nother ball game.

Original weights on my C160.....

A week or so ago I stopped in to my favorite small engine repair place for some reason. While there we were shooting the breeze about the rough terrain and tall grass and how to maintain that area. He recommended a heavier duty commercial type machine and said he had one.... not that it was for sale. He showed me this and explained why it was supposedly awesome-er. Then said he'd be selling it... sometime. How about now?? Well he had to do a tune up and replace the carb. Trina picked it up yesterday afternoon. Looking forward to giving it a proper workout.

I have seen some early Craftsman tool boxes that were a gray/brown cabinet with red drawers.

The three you see are peacons, The water oaks might still have a few leaves, not enough to bother with.

If you have bearings on both ends this is a kit I have used with good results. A raw edge cogged belt is best for a S/G.

Thanks. I do plan on a more thorough second stage of cleaning once the unit is proven to be basically functional. Gotta hear it run and see it move first.

Excellent! I love the L bracket Frankenstein look!!!

Next was to replace the fuel line and tank valve/grommet. The line was starting to collapse from age and being coated in oil/debris. Don't want to fight fuel system issues or electrical issues during engine diagnostics. I wanted to also access the hydro area and see if I could get any visibility into the source of the leak, so I removed the fender pan and tunnel cover. They really shoehorned the hydraulics and hydrostatic pump on these things. Crazy feat of engineering to get that all to fit. I must have removed 5 pounds of debris. It literally didn't even look like there was a machine back there, it was all debris. It has to be a nasty leak. No smoking gun yet but will leave the fender pan off during testing so I can watch for leaks. It really needs a good pressure wash, but that will come later. Gotta get it moving under its own power first.

Here's the thread...

Fixed the side wings. It should lift 3 inches. So a long time ago I got hung up on how high I could lift the blower. For some reason I modified the lift arm and flag (with spacers) so the blower unit would raise about 6 inches. Which hole do you have the flag in? The flag is in the top hole Attaching the flag to the tractor became such a chore every year I bought a dedicated tractor. I'll try moving it down to at least the middle and take all the spacers off the lift arm.

Dangit I missed this... Might have helped... Nope I'm going back to bed... Now I understand hibernation...

I have a set of rear factory cast weights and I am going to put them on a 418-8. I am currently preparing them for paint and wasn’t sure if I should paint them black or red? I’m not sure if they came black, I know the fronts did. Maybe leaning towards black, as I have a set of fronts that are black and could use a fresh coat. I don’t think I’d use black on an older tractor with white wheels, but it might look nice on the silver wheels of a mid-eighties tractor? Thoughts?

I have a pair that are the same color white as the wheels on my C-tractors. Not sure if it's the original paint or not but it looks to be. They definitely need repainted. Post pictures of how yours turn out once you decide on a color and get them mounted. If it weren't so frickin' cold out, I'd go out and get a picture of mine. UPDATE: 11/28/25 - Got 'em mounted

Here ya go! 😁

Video documentation required! Those things will shred more brush than a goat!