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The BBT aka Trina and I have been helping @Natejc_98 with his 1973 8 HP 4 speed. Nate's been diving right in with great effort. Really good guy. Here's a few before n after pics of the carb & air cleaner. All cleaned up with a new Briggs fuel bowl installed. We also did a partial disassembly and general cleanup. Changed the drive belt and idler pulley out for better used ones. Swapped the 10" rear wheels for more standard larger wheels & tires. Swapped the destroyed front tires for nicer turfs. Did some investigating on a no electricity to the solenoid issue. Turns out both safety switches were bad. Fixed that and found an intermittent ignition switch connection. Installed new switch from @76c12091520h Brian Badman. Replaced all fuel line and added a turn off and fuel filter. Engine oil change done. Transmission oil change on the list. Trina and I have amassed a fair amount of extra parts over the years. It's great to see them being used. I need to finish the wiring and see about getting the transmission drain plug out.

July 12, 1957, US Surgeon General Leroy Burney links smoking to lung cancer.

For some reason the LED tail light on my 953 didn't survive the trip to the Big Show. Stopped at Horror Fright and picked up this groovy tail light for cheap. Even had a piece of steel the right color!

The Rural Suburban…. conquering the back .40 again.

Been waiting a while to get this combo paired up!

414-8 with a 42” RD was the weapon of choice today. She never disappoints!

Running 701 k161 got this from @squonk at 2025 Big Show.

Been wanting to setup a way to tow, move and lift items for some time. You know the dead tractor far from home... Recently got around to doing this rear crane idea. I decided to go simple by using a brinly hitch. Well the cable could break in up or down position. But I figured it should be good for about 500lbs at least since I had a rear dirt scoop on one and it never broke. I made it with a bumper hitch receiver and had a brinly sleeve hitch adapter on it.. I could go to a rear receiver hitch mount on the tractor for added strength. But this is a good start to see how much I use it.

I cut a plastic water bottle in half and slip it on the bottom of my grease guns as they hang on a nail. The bottle fits snug enough that it doesn’t slip off but loose enough to allow any liquid to seep into the bottle. Problem solved, no more drips on my work bench! Poland Spring bottles seem to fit perfectly!!

I can’t get enough of seeing that train.When I see that locomotive it makes me proud to be an American. I wish I was standing there waving our flag as it rolled by. Imagine the sense of pride the people operating and just being a part of that must have. I’d love to experience that. God Bless this great nation of ours 🇺🇸

Also on the 161, there are some mixed reviews for this but I went ahead and installed some radial bearings on the spindles. Added 1/8" that I took off the top to allow access to the groove for the clip. In the process I'm reminded how much I dislike grease guns. Are any of them reliable for those of us that use them 3-4 times a year?

Not ours but a buddy of ours

New to me 161 I picked up this week

I saw this posted on Facebook today and surely is AI but pretty innovative!

I was finally able to do a few things to get the 161 ready to work and glad I did. It was a productive weekend. I pulled the deck and got the sub-frame in place. I made a pair of hiem joint tie rods and got it aligned (it was way out, something must have gotten bent somewhere), installed radial bearings on the front spindles, installed the solid mounts on the shaker, pulled the ags from the 16 auto and got those and wheel studs installed. All 5 of my machines have those now and they're definitely worth it especially if you load your tires. So in support of doing some routine maintenance, I found a loose hub (no damage) and a loose drive pulley on the tranny so as if we all didn't know this already, spending some time turning bolts really can save time and effort down the road .

I moved the clutch/brake rod to other hole at the pedal on Whitey today. Removed a bit of the pedal to make some clearance at the foot board to allow the pedal to stand straight up in the rest position for added travel. i found that the rod was already rubbing on the running board at the other end because either it has too long of a drive belt, or it’s just stretched and worn. The rod is almost touching the boss of the lever, allowing the rod to come down and make contact with the rear of the foot board. Had to use the fire wrench to get the rod adjustment to turn freely again. A little adjustment of the clutch rod and brake rod and swapped to the lower hole, i have clean clutching and brakes that will hold backwards on the hill, so i’m happy with that. Unable to engage the parking brake, but i’ve never had one anyway, so no big thing. I’ll worry about that after a new drive belt. Kept getting a whiff of fuel while i was working on it today. Found a drip hanging at the fuel tank line. After 20 minutes screwing around with the clamp, brake clean and a blow gun, and still seeing fuel leaking, i pulled the tank. A pin hole crack at the seam of the plastic tank about 1/4” away from the nipple. I scavenged through my stash and the largest tank i could find was a stupid little predator tank, so it’ll do until i locate another. Just need to remember to fill it every time before mowing. The fuel pump doesn’t seem to work very well as an “air” pump.

I definitely use mine enough to justify having it around. Tillers, decks, motors, all the stuff I don't have any interest in manually carrying (most everything!). Bungee cords are a must to keep stuff from swinging out of control. Mine uses the attachment points and a section of an old frame and works pretty well.

My ACE Hardware has flanged bushings and E clips in the pull out drawers.

The Ugly Bruce tractor with a bonus chicken!

This is a lot of work without a machine shop but I really needed to get these made before I install the ARK on the 161 (the old one on the bench is from the junk pile!).

I was never inclined to have an inspection camera in my shop but my wife was apparently not meeting her Amazon purchasing quota and thought I could use one . Well I actually used it today. I had a loose drive pulley on my c-161-8 and couldn't find the set screw behind the pulley with all of the dirt and dust. I don't know how often I'll use it but it came in handy today

I got a motorcycle jack to pick them up from my uncle. Still getting the lifting process sequencing figured out but I think I’ve got it now. I’m much more used to the regular floor jacks.

My grease gun has been stowed in a former wallpaper dip trough for more years than I can remember.

IMG_2120.mov

Got 416H moved over to back of garage so I can start working in it. Accumulating parts etc to start doing any repairs as well as preventative maint. Also got a few things to swap of the 1848 like the rear receiver hitch, weights, & larger wheels/tires.

Got some pictures of the 314 from the other day. It didn’t clean up bad and should make a good mower for my brother. Already gathered some parts like a new choke, throttle cable, clutch return spring and I did manage to score an entire wiring harness for cheap so it’ll save me from having to rewire everything that was cut out of this harness that I’ve found out to be taken and put on the 520. Still need to get a new seat and some tires for it but that’ll probably wait until it’s up and running on its own.

This morning I did disassembly and cleaned up everything for the new brake lining from @rmaynard and I took my old seal out to realize it’s wrong so I ordered the correct one (hopefully). I should’ve looked at the manual I have for part number from the beginning 🤦🏻‍♂️. So it’ll be a while. I just want a good brake and not roll to a stop.

ACE is the place.

To answer your question, no. Lol Here’s a must watch.

Chasin' the train. I arrived in Cresson as it was leaving. Caught up with it in Derry. Pardon the narration. 20260711_140150.mp4

Those will stay with you, I have one set that I built in 1989 and they are still tight, don't see any ware.

Priceless! Not long ago I said to my wife “something must have happened to the Amazon delivery driver because we haven’t received any packages in two days!”

You ain't givin us much to run on here.

@rmaynard Me too Bob, plus I thought of hanging a roll of white duct tape and a Sharpie marker on Howard’s mash pole. That way people could make a quick name tag to stick on their shirt. That is provided he remembers to bring it next year 😂

That is when a lot of us started smoking. With no state and federal tax on military bases the price of cigarettes was so low and the peer pressure of most others smoking attracted lots of young service members to smoking. When we went to sea the price per pack dropped to a dime, even a young E2 or E3 could afford that. Besides, we never payed any attention to what government scientists said and the printed warnings didn't appear for several years. We never used seat belts, we road in the back of pickup trucks, nobody I knew ***** a helmet while riding a bicycle; heck, helmets weren't required for motor cycles in many states. Why would you expect young people to pay attention to the US Surgeon General.

From the stop in Lebanon, PA on July 7th. Me, my daughter, son in law, and granddaughter. IMG_1133.mov

I didn't do anything, but I had the boy install his new tie rods from K&B Horse Parts @76c12091520h. Bruce had a blast looking around your garage yesterday Brian, thanks for giving him the tour. I'm planning to patch his deck this week.

Same here. There is something inspiring about seeing a 1.2 million pound machine capable of running 80 mph rumbling across the USA. Same feeling I get standing on a Grand Coulee head cover while the single hydro turbine below is generating 1 million HP. I planned to be in Altoona when the Big Boy rolled in, but Mrs. K couldn't make the trip. Waiting for a knee replacement. Thank Goodness for all the great vids.

I kept an old coffee can on the floor under my grease gun. I had mounted a grease gun holder on the wall. The oil dripped in to the coffee can.

I wrap my grease gun in an old sock that I doubled up.

I've been hanging my grease gun in a spot that's low on the wall and keep an old rag under it. Best compromise I guess.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2052110235671184

Check out the mule drive pullies. Be sure they spin freely and are on the drive correctly. If you remove the nut (takes a 1 1/8" wrench or socket) you can check the order of the pullies. Between the guard and the flat pulley there is a spacer and another spacer between the two pullies. The shorter of the two spacers needs to be between the two pullies and the long one between the guard and the flat pulley.

I find no evidence they were genuine Wheel Horse. My guess is they were homemade. The WT-30 self propelled tillers were made in 1960 for the small engine tractors. Hanging all that weight on the rear of the small tractors was a poor idea. Wheel Horse did offer a front weight to balance the rear load. They also were connected to a speed reduction unit that was mounted under the tractor. It appears this mounting hardware on your tiller has been modified to use a slot hitch. In 1964 WH offered the better designed WT 244 self propelled tiller with the wheels and a better slot hitch tongue that was able to raise just the tines leaving the engine weight on the tiller wheels for transport.

Recently Brought back from the dead.

I couldn’t help but take a few more “side shots.”

Cut some grass today.Cut better than I thought it would. Deck is a bit noisy but I’m guessing it is just the nature of these old gear driven decks. Hard to believe that the original tires still hold air after all this time

@bradleydavidgood Check out Brian at K+B Wheel Horse Parts. @76c12091520h He is in our vendors section and should have a nice fender pan at a reasonable price for you. He sells quality parts, no junk at a fair price. Brian is my go to guy for two reasons, first he’s a really nice guy and second he’s extremely knowledgeable when it comes to these tractors.

Big Boy at the Horseshoe Curve!