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Nothing beats sand/bead blasting providing you're not the guy doin it!

July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, then an outer-suburb of London. Twenty-two amateurs showed up to compete in the Gentlemen’s Singles tournament, the only event at the first Wimbledon. The winner was to take home a 25-guinea trophy.

Crazy, I know. Today I’m sitting here after setting a new PR deadlift of 375. My right arm won’t lift or twist much because of a low speed onewheel oops.

@rmaynard it’s a replacement for the knob on my mule drive for the 42” RD. The original was long gone and was tightened by using a vice grip. I’m going to have to pin it but it’s supposed to be already tapped 3/8 -16 which was the same as the stock one from the info on here. I have access to a drill press so it shouldn’t be too bad. I figured I’d find something as close as I could get. @ri702bill That’s what I’m using it for. it looks promising and at roughly 5 bucks a knob before shipping the price wasn’t too bad as well. The ordering process takes some getting used to but I have it figured out now. Good to know about the quality. I figured it being industrial it should be pretty sturdy. We’ll see how it goes. It’s not an exact match but close enough to be usable.

If I get to a point where I can print metal at home I can assure you it will not be for a supposed tractor that was made in this era. I'll just keep printing off old wheel horses.

No, I wouldn’t waste that! Especially if it came from Van!

I always tape mine up, after sanding, blasting or what ever i had to do tyo get them in good enough shape to prime and paint.

If I was there when the smoke was let out, I would have been on the ground laughing so hard they would have had to call an ambulance to take me to a hospital!

Today's progress so far has been welding up a cracked seat pan, putting the tranny on, putting the front axle on, putting wheels on it, cutting the top of the tower off because it was too tall, putting the fenders together and putting them on, measuring where to cut the too long steering shaf, and setting the little bits and pieces on it for mock up.

I had a set of rusty old wheels I picked up a while back that need pressed into service now that I need to re-shoe the B-80. Decided to prep, paint, mount them, and then simply swap out the old ones. Although I do have a wire brush attachment that fits the weed wacker (and it does do some really mean grinding work), I opted to get the set of four sandblasted locally for $40 and forego the mess. I’ll use my lazy susan painting thingy to spin and spray them (once the humidity drops). Many here swear by inserting playing cards around the rim after mounting the tires and before a final spray to leave a nice clean finish unmarred by tools. I will be trying that or some similar masking technique. I hope to need nothing other than a set of tire spoons to mount the rims and will install tubes from the get go. Will post pics once done (could be a while but I do anticipate finishing up before @ebinmaine completes his Colossus project). For paint color, all I can say is: Good luck and have fun!

We had a really good time this year with lots of joking around and bust'n balls the whole way! It was worth everything when he chose that tractor and took off full throttle in 3rd and kept going until we couldn't see him anymore. Jay yells to his father "I guess you'll see him at home" LOL We did work on it for quite a while on Friday to get all the small things in order SO MANY different people helped out and made this possible but it all started a while ago with @ebinmaine Eric donating 2 tractors when the discussion of building a tractor and giving it away to a youngster started right here on RS. When people got wind of a donated tractor happening lots of people helped out and many of the vendors stepped up too and donated some of the things we needed. Thinking we could try and do this every year so the WHCC can have a 17 year old and under raffle every year. Who's got a roller? AND, they let me wire the next one too! A 603 my father bought. We took off the briggs engine and transplanted a S/G Kohler 8 hp on to it.

Thanks for becoming a Supporter! Now that your a lifetime supporter, here's what they didn't tell you up front. Horses are herd animals. Once you have one, other's jump on your truck and trailer to join it. One you have several you just move them around so the wife only see a few at a time. The attach-a- matic makes it easier to change implements, but that's no reason to not have one tractor per implement, plus one spare to joy ride on, then the kids or grand kids need some to ride on. My wife doesn't ask me how many tractors I have and I don't ask her how many sewing machines she has But I do keep a comfortable chair in the shop in case I need to sleep there.

I found these knobs while looking around online. My order hasn’t been shipped yet, but we’ll see how the process goes as Carr Lane deals primarily with industrial customers. So far so good though. Not to step on anyone’s toes but I thought I’d try them out and see how it goes.

Wouldn't they have to be drilled and pinned? Not that that is a problem if you have a drill press.

I believe in stock form the Wheel horse rears are just as tuff or tougher than The boo boo Cubs . Them pullers like the cub running gears because of the Big tractor style clutch and say they loose power from running belt drive which I can see there point but Ive seen a few belt drive Wheel Horses that were hard to beat on the pulling track. Absolutely I have had a few restored myself in years gone bye (Cockshutt 30, Cockshutt 50, Oliver 66, Afew JD's and several Older Fords) I tractor pulled with both the Cockshutts and the Oilver 66 and done very well. These WH's give me the same satisfaction and joy but are so much easier to store and fool with, quality's I appreciate the older I get.

No question, some type of blasting ( sand, shot, glass, walnut shells, etc.) is the best prep for painting. It cleans to the bare metal and leaves a roughened surface for the paint to make a better chemical and mechanical bond. Just be prepared to paint immediately or store in a warm dry place as the blasted surface will rust very quickly.

You mean we need more than one? Interesting. What will I tell my wife? I already have a Farmall 140, a Massey Furguson Super 90, and tomorrow I am picking up a Ford 8N. I can't imagine what else I need but I'm open to new ideas like that. I'm really impressed by the quality that this thing seems to have which is rare. Are they as good as they seem to be? I'm good with mechanics so seems to me I just bought the tractor I can keep for a very long time. Good parts available, can rebuild the motor if necessary right? How's the transmissions last? Are there any weak links that can't be fixed? Thanks!

Bought lifetime supporter $200. Thank you for the idea! Didn't know.

The winner was to take home a 25-guinea trophy. That is $35.21 in today's dollars.

Quite often if you time it right, a big sandblasting place will be in the process of blasting something big with big equipment and they can grab your wheels and have them done in less than a half hour and keep your cost down.

Geez... Ya think 20 years from now there will be a loyal following of folks devoted to "restoring" Big Box Store pressed tin & plastic "tractors"?? (at least that is what they sell them as....) Methinks not. Those are better off being recycled into useful things, like Tuna Fish cans & curtain rods.

My E-tracks came today. I also ordered a roll of rubber flooring. It should be able to fold 6” up each wall. Wall boards of whatever sort will overlap, allowing a controlled spray down if need be.

Fred - You can use that or 75X90W oil. Changing the brake shaft seal is rather simple and there is no need to split the Unidrive case to do so. Check that shaft for up & down or side to side play with the brake band & drum removed. IF there is play in either direction, the bearing inside needs to be replaced... much more work. A bit of in & out play is normal.

Maybe some ‘shine?!

There was a guy doing some blasting when I picked up my finished wheels. Between the fans and the blasting was that operation ever loud! I think it was $40 well spent.

For any really really rusted surfaces - that are thick enough to withstand the process - I highly recommend using a needle scaler. Works great on WH rims and the outer side of truck brake drums. A bonus - it leaves a mildly rough clean surface that cleans up with acetone and provides great adhesion for the primer. Mount the tire after prep but before any painting. Yes, the plastic coated playing cards work great.

We've tried several methods. Hand sanding starting with 80 grit works well to break out the really rough stuff. After that it's your wire brush of choice or sand flap wheels. Definitely recommend the acetone just before painting. That too removes some rust. Color here is Rust-Oleum 2X Cottage White.

I always just use a cordless drill with wire brushes to get it down to bare metal, after that clean well with acetone or similar residue free liquid to clean surface for primer. Rust-Oleum primer and then after that dries Rust-Oleum cottage white. Can also use a gloss clear if you wish. Sometimes if there is extra paint or lots of rust I will use a 4 1/2 grinder with a wire brush attachment to more quickly clean it up.

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Yep. I primed within an hour and in the meantime didn’t even handle the muffler with bare hands.

Had to fix 2 flats on the ol hay wagon and used the C160 to haul them and tools around and out of the barn yard.

Herculiner rolled on mine. Works great.

Welcome! That’s a 1987-1989 414-8. The data on those year’s was on a decal on the rear fender which you don’t have. Very capable rig…I have the same machine here.

I did a rough measure on my 520-H the center line of crank shaft is 7 1/4" above the frame. The Vanguard is 5 1/4" using the existing 1/4" mounting plate you need to raise it 1 3/4" .to run the same belts. The crank shaft center should line up with the back side of the PTO loop hole on the mounting plate. You need to check the measurements I did it with the PTO in place.. Here is the mounting plate used on my 312-8.

Replace the seal. Keep an eye out for a different deck. Keep it goin'... Absolutely agreed! I'd spend several thousand dollars fully restoring a Wheelhorse instead of buying a new (insert name here)

Acetone is a chemical that occurs naturally in our bodies. It's not known as a carcinogen at this time and as long as exposure is minimal, sickness is avoided for most people... Use at your education and risk.

obviously it depends on what is your end goal ??? Do you want rims that look ok nice or wheel rims that are factory beautiful showroom quality - - i have done numerous sets of rims myself - grinder - wire wheel - needle scaler - hand sanding -- etc -- but frankly if you think longer term spreading the expense $ over 10-20 years and want a really sweet finished look then the best decision is professional sand blast -- then do your painting -- one dominant reason is it's pretty challenging to get tools into cracks and joint areas on the rims to clean the rust -- which the sand blasting does so well -- no fuss, no mess, no labor time!

This is my strategy. My recent experience with new Firestone 6-12s, which have incredibly stiff sidewalls, ultimately defeated me and I took them to a shop for mounting. Then I touched up the paint and had them do the inflation because I couldn’t get the stiff walls to seat solidly, even with a heavy strap compressing the tread. Got them back and lowered the pressure to 15psi and with a short drive, one came unseated again. Soooo. I’ll be leaving the pressure at 20+ until the sidewalls get used to being spread out! With tubes, these problems are moot, but Firestone recommended no tubes.

That was a steal of a deal

Currently fabbing up an adapter to use this Zero Turn cargo carrier I got at the show in a slot hitch so it will fit multiple tractors.

A good coat of self etching primer followed by a couple of coats of the color of your choice with ample dry time should be applied prior to mounting the tire, then all is needed will be a touch up.

That sucker has a very cool look to it with those rear fenders right on the tires! Is that the placement or are they just mocked up and sitting on the rear tires?

The playng cards work for me.

While doing a quote visit at an empty house in the middle of nowhere, I walked around the back corner of the garage and BAM !!!, mother and 2 cubs about 30-40 ft away. She turned and dropped her head and looked at me so I puckered real tight and bit a hole in my pants as a defense mechanism. Luckily she was just as startled as I was so she turned away and took off into the woods with the 2 cubs. It took me quite a while to get rid of the adrenaline shakes because she could've easily been on me before I got 3 steps. We've chased away black bears just by waving our arms and making noise but a mamma and her cubs that close could've been a disaster. This clip was on the net news feed today

Looks like a jacobson crashed into a parts bin.

I got my cracked f plate welded up today. How come you gave a frame with a cracked f plate Kevin, I want a refund. At least it gave me some welding practice.

Install an electric fuel pump.

Thank you all for your kind words, care and thoughtfulness. It means so much. This truly is a community where each one cares for one another. The picture was on Rita's 72nd birthday last year at a birthday party for my daughter's mother in law's birthday party for which they shared the same birthday, and they honored Rita as well. Warmest regards, Dan