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I hope y'all enjoyed my 2026 Big Show photos. I currently have 9 Wheel Horse tractors in my collection. But remember, it's the Wheel Horse tractors that collect the nicest people. See y'all next year at the Big Show.

Have a wonderful day! Be safe. Enjoy your family and friends and freedom to express yourself. Work and play with tractors. Life is full of ups and downs. Take all of it, yet remember the good times more. Our previous generations would want that for us.

July 4, 1776 US Congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Great Britain.

Might I suggest a reading of the document that started it all? I read the Declaration of Independence every year. Good reminder of how remarkable this Country is - warts and all... https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

For the 29th Annual Wheel Horse Show (that's next year folks.... next year) my buddy John Frock came up with the idea to let people who have never driven a Lever steer or Senior Model Wheel Horse a chance to experience and drive one of these models! They do take some getting used to when operating them as the Lever steer takes some hand and foot coaddition and the Senior does have some giddy go but quick steering. John and Wild Bill will let folks get the fun experience of operating the true Wheel Horse originals. Wild Bill 5683816651059863540.mp4

July 4,1831 "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)" with lyrics by Samuel Francis Smith has its first public performance at Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts.

reagan one generation away quote - Search

Yep he let me take a spin on it as well. It's an experience and awesome part of Wheelhorse history. Definitely puts a smile on your face.

I know a dude who is always willing to let someone take one for a spin. Video courtesy of said dude.

Please keep in mind the men and women past and present who made it possible for us to celebrate 250.

Happy 250th Declaration of Independence America!

July 4, 1803 The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people by President Thomas Jefferson, we paid less than four cents per acre.

Oh…and this repair was completed in my garage at 95 degrees

and of course it is impossible to get a torque wrench on the center back hose on the control valve so feels about right torque is the answer.

Did some final wiring and got the choke and throttle cables hooked up on the Raider, leftover items from the engine install and points conversion. Picked up an old regulator at the BS, but no charge, pretty sure it’s toast as the stator windings ohm’d ok. Any recommendations on an Ebay unit? I’ve seem them for like $25 from a quick search, but would like something with exact mounting hole spacing. USPS pleasantly surprised me by delivering my 6908 pulley today instead of Monday like it said on the tracking. I was a little saddened to discover the inner bearing bore was wallered out around .035” oversized. I guess i should have asked the seller questions. I didn’t notice the 3 stake marks around the bearing in the pictures. Oh well, not my first rodeo. After driving the bearing out past the stakes, i could see more stake marks around the circumference of the bore, as well as a ridge because the bore as a little deeper than the width of the bearing. After carefully removing just the ridge with a die grinder i was able to get an accurate measurement of .036” over the 1.125” bearing O.D. I found a piece of sheet metal .019” thick (probably .5mm) and cut a strip as wide as the bore depth and 3.550” long and beveled an edge. Rolled the strip over the bearing to give it its shape, beveled edge in. Placed the the shim in the bore and drove the bearing in with socket that only touched the outer race. I think i have a 2-3 thou press fit. Bearing had removable snap rings holding the seals in, so it got cleaned and fresh grease before i drove it home. I think it’ll make for a nice permanent repair. The outer bore was worn slightly also, but not enough to shim. I have a roll of .002” shim stock, but i couldn’t even measure.001” difference, but the bearing would easily push in and out of the bore with my fingers. So i cleaned everything well and installed the bearing with some Loctite 660. Some kind of logic tells me that i’d have thought the larger engine pulley side would have failed like this before the inner bore, being that the larger engine pulley hangs out way past the bearing. But whatever, it’s fixed. The cables on kRusty the donor Raider are completely rusted, and the cables on Whitey were backwards. The choke cable was a locking cable, even though the knob has a “C” on it, and the aftermarket throttle cable had no lock, so I swapped them. I cleaned up the dash while swapping the cables and tidying up the wiring. The surface of the dash plate was a solid rust except for most of the black lower portion. Removed the rust and did 2 coats of Dover White and flat black for the lower part. I should have color matched the screws instead of painting them all red, but it came out ok. I might have to match them because it bugs me now. 😕 After the dash was together and cables run, i fired it up, verified the charging system not charging, took it for a hot lap. No governor either, so i’ll need to figure out how to do the adjustment. Hoping nothing is broken or missing.

Me and the neighbor did some last-minute decorating for tomorrow's Freedom 250 parade.

All new rigs that come here need something, so they all get a turn in the garage for fluids/grease and all that. Well my new C-81 from the Wheel Horse Show had a pretty good oil leak that I didn’t notice at first. Showed up after a 20 minute drive. Turned out the fuel pump gasket was on UPSIDE DOWN! Had a new gasket here in stock and it was an easy fix. I don’t have a gasket for the carb to engine block as that one isn’t correct, but it does seem to seal. Any reason I need to do the carb gasket???

As with most of you we've been in a pretty wicked heat wave. Several days of 90⁰+ temps. Today is "cooler" at a freezing 88⁰. I >> CAN'T << function very well, if at all, on days like this. Take it easy. Putter around a bit. Rest more than usual. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Even at that we've been relatively busy and got some stuff done. My 1974 C160-8 Cinnamon Horse had an argument with a rock a few weeks ago. Bent the left steering spindle. I removed the outer tie rod and used brute 🐻 force to reverse the kink caused by the rock. The 1975 C160 Automatic oil leak has still not been properly fixed but there's a frozen bolt in there and I need the workshop space. I got that tightened up enough to drive the tractor and that'll be addressed later. It's a snow machine so there's no priority on it now. I've been spending time in the barn organizing various areas, getting the truck tasks back online, and organizing and cleaning the workshop space more. A guy I got a tractor from last year gave me this 100 plus year old Seeder. It's now wall art. Trina's been standard issue ridiculous busy. Felling trees. Bucking to 6' - 8'. I've hauled 2 pole trailer loads of beech wood up from behind the barn to the driveway circle area where she's been cutting to 14" and splitting the wood, followed by stacking it in the shed. She also did a full cleansing and takeback of the coop portion of the chicken enclosure. That's now a small shed for wood and garden tool storage. In between all that we've been taking care of the new to us feral cats and many many other things. Tomorrow I'm expecting a visit here from a new Redsquare member to see about getting his tractor going.

I'm stuck right at the northern tip between the 2 largest Finger Lakes. I take my dog for walks at the only State Park I don't have to pay on weekends. Dean's Cove. They have this large parking lot for the trucks and boat trailers. Plus a large grassy area. Last Sunday the trailers were parked along the highway there were so many boaters there. I'm not even going to try to go there tomorrow!

All of em?

Garage is 28’x36’ (1008 sq/ft) and not insulated…how big an AC unit ya think I need .

I picked up a tractor once that ran fine but had NO GASKET at the carb.

Happy 250 to you guy's!

if you are going to run her long and hard you might want to get the correct gasket as it insulates the carb from engine heat. Honestly I have several engines with whatever gasket i could find and haven't had issues but most are limited duty.

Thanks guys and good advice Bob. Trouble is Cindy doesn't want to see her suffer even tho I tell her we'll know when the time is right. On a happy note we are going to pick up a new addition. A Westie pup in MO and hopefully have a visit with @ronwh We had this all planned out long before the bad news. Leaving right after the Portage Show.

Same here, one set came from Ireland and Germany the other came from England. My great maternal grandparents came over to escape the potato famine in Ireland.

I'm sitting here thinking about how lucky I am to have had great-grandparents come to this country from Europe and settled in the Baltimore area only about an hour or so from where the WHCC show is held each year. Aside from that, I'm smoking 6 pounds of pork shoulder to make pulled pork for the family. Happy Independence Day

A lot of old Florida "Sanitary Landfills" became Golf Courses over the past half century. Just don't create too deep a divot and you will be OK.

Found this if you trust AI

Other than the bore & big end shape I go by other things as well such as the condition of the rest of the block. Did it see regular oil changes/ kept full? Big end shape will tell you that. Lots of sludge? Has it been apart before? Did it smoke a little/a lot? Were the fins kept clean? In other words what kind of life did it lead in those 2000 hours? If it's going to be a daily driver I am already leaning towards full blown. A parade queen maybe just a re-ring.

Fixed that for ya ...

Buy land... they ain't makin' it no more... Mark Twain

Slightly off topic ...I know when you use a crowfoot on a torque wrench facing forward yo have to adjust the torque setting. If you have it to the side as in the picture do yo have to make an adjustment??

Please keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers today. Today I will bury my wife of 35 years. She passed away on June 28th while I was holding her hand. Thank you, Dan https://www.thompsonfuneralhomelebanon.com/obituary/rita-bailor

Torque settings for ORB fittings should be made in accordance with this chart. Too tight will kill the "O" Rings. You will need to use a crows foot placed to the side of the torque wrench to get a correct reading. JIC ORB Size SAE Thread Torque Size SAE Thread Torque 4 7/16-20 140 In/Lb 4 7/16-20 220 In/Lb 5 ½-20 180 In/Lb 5 ½-20 260 In/Lb Dash# 905 O Ring 6 9/16-18 250 In/Lb 6 9/16-18 320 In/Lb Dash# 906 O Ring 8 ¾-16 550 In/Lb 8 3/4 -16 560 In/Lb

At the big show I got a frame from a round hood, tranny, and dash tower from @Pullstart. I also got a short frame square hood, and the dash pieces from @Mike'sHorseBarn. I got a pullstart 8 horse from one of the guys in the barns and a steering wheel from one of the guys set up in the in field. When I got the steering wheel, it still had the roll pin and part of the cut off steerong shaft in it. I soaked it for a few days with kroil and worked on it yesterday. That was the easiet roll pin I've ever had come out once I figured out how to hold the wheel. The chunk of the steering shaft also came right out. I put it in our press and barely had any pressure on it and it moved. Today, having no power and it being hot, all I did was put the dash pieces together and set them on the tower. It's been 100 degrees and humid here since we got back from the show so I haven't really been able to work on very much.

Finally had room to get the commando in the shop to work on getting it up and going I rebuild the transmission and installed it and the rear hitch too thanks to the people the help me with some gears and bearings so I could get the transmission done I'll looking for a steering wheel if anybody as one thanks

I got a 220 volt 24,000 btu (2 ton) window shaker in my garage. It only gets used if "I have to " be out there in heat like this. That fan you have is sucking all the heat out of the rafters and blowing it all on you. Get a barn fan on wheels at least and circulate the " cooler"air on the floor.

Yesterday I took the gt-14 intake elbow off my 1257, then sprayed the air cleaner white, then realized how bad it looked so I stripped all the paint back off and repainted the air cleaner lid red again. Today while I was at it I painted my ignition coil and bracket since it’s now visible. I got asked about hubcaps on my wide wheels. Since I took them off to try and polish them, I took a picture of the inner wheel weights that the hubcaps hide. If it weren’t for them I’d probably leave them off for that deep dish look.

You may have a bad - corroded - ground where the rectifier housing meets the sheet metal. Remove the rectifier, clean the housing and the bolts. Reassemble & check. It is a common issue that shows up over a long time of use. Many of us add a ground cable from the rectifier bolt to a nearby point on the engine or chassis.

I do have this industrial/oscillating fan cranking away…helps some. And before all the comments about “go boating” …the local lake is a zoo being a holiday weekend and they shut down the boat launch. Plus my wife had knee surgery and she wouldn’t be able to climb in and outa the boat.

I grabbed this Horror Fright fan on the clearance shelf yesterday. Then got 15% off and used my $15 HF money as well!

That's a tough call Jim. We are dealing with a similar issue with one of ours. Kidney failure. We asked the vet that question. He said she will let us know when it's time. That seems like good advice.

Happy 4th of july Take it easy today !

Happy Independence day!

Check for vacuum leak on 2 piece manifold where it goes together. Had the same problem with my 520H thought it was a dirty carb but manifold fell apart when I took carb off so I'm sure it was leaking and I just went ahead and done a decarb, adjusted valves and rebuilt carb why I had it took apart the far. it runs like a new one now. Almost forgot added an electric fuel pump also, very much recomend and your starter will thank you for it also. Fires up almost instantly now and the fuel pump I removed seemed very healthy but would take forever to crank if mochine set for any length of time.