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Parked the C-160 and Mighty Mac in the neighbor's new (to him) trailer. Preparing for the Portland, IN tractor show. Holding off on loading the C-120 until I can get it cleaned up a bit. Nice 23' trailer with ramp/doors at each end!

Several of these. Work great.

Happy Birthday Jim, we are all glad you were born.

Have a burger and Dew on Kevin!

Trying to organize my spare tires/wheels, moved some into the new shed this evening. Left all my crummy tires and wheels in my old tarp shed.

August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act. Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR, flanked by ranking members of Congress, signed into law the historic act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a “patriotic” act.

The day began with a trip to Home Depot and Sam’s club where I picked up some groceries, and two wide totes to put my clothes I couldn’t hang like pants, shorts etc… in. I helped my father load some furniture of which some I donated along with him and my mother to a local Fireman’s Auction. I then did some organizing and made a spot for my projects with some small parts. I then started to work on with a Kohler 23 hp Command engine I got from my brother that would run but lose power eventually stalling when hot. I’m going to look up how it comes apart as it’s a bit more intricate than our old Kohlers. Everything but the valves have been gone through and checked by my brother, who researches known issues/problems before he throws a parts cannon at something. so I thought I’d start with the valves as they haven’t been touched yet. The C-85 project may have a heart if I can figure out the issue. Now, I’m done for the night and I’m going to go relax.

The center spindle on my 48"SD took a c#$p while mowing early this spring. I swapped it out with my spare 42SD and used it all summer. Yesterday I dumped my spindle bucket and found a good one. Cleaned , greased and back on the tractor. Picking up the tractor with the hoist really makes it easy to roll the decks under the tractor from the front.

Son Mark and I went crabbing to a new spot. Left at 5AM for Fort Smallwood State Park on the upper Chesapeake Bay. Beautiful park on the bay. Caught a half bushel and back home and in the steamer by noon.

I often reflect that I was a major PITA to my folks with a dangerous temper. Yet they let me live and supported an undeserving me.

Happy birthday Jim! I always enjoy chatting with you at the big show! And want to thank you again for taking the time to help me look for that PTO-66 at the show a few years ago. Of course we all enjoy your witty banter here on RS!

soooooo, it appears that snowplows are not the only thing you are hoarding.

Happy birthday ya old fart! Love ya man!

Scour FB MP and garage sales for an old one. I still have my Craftsman from when I got my first car in 76. I use it for my E tank. I did buy one of those Viking Battery jump pack thingy's from HF. Haven't needed to use it yet.

Hmmm, looks like I need to get down there and do some tire shopping for a great deal on some new skins

I have an ancient Shumacher 2/10 amp and ancient roll around NAPA 450 amp that just keep on going. I think the NAPA branded one may be made by Shumacher as well. The knobs are off of an old gas grill

I know I'm probably the only one that has done this, but could the fuel valve be shut off.

Put my newly rebuilt mule drive and new belt on the 312-8 today. This drive and belt was destined for the 520H but the 312’s belt was wore out so just swapped both out while I was at it. Notice I bent gaurd on mule drive the belt was rubbing bad for some reason but it ain’t rubbing now . Have no idea what this mule drive came off of but didnt think there was any difference in any of them besides the ones for the 60” 520 decks.

Is it against the TOS to post this, when it's one of our approved vendors? If so, delete this post. https://www.redoyourhorse.com/wheel-horse-20th-anniversary-banner-3-x-3-ftoot/

The safety tread on the C141 was worn and peeling. Heat gun and scraper made short work of removing them. I had more on the shelf. Used four smaller pieces rather than cutting into a large one. Good result for a little effort. Started to quit for the day, but Edy was mopping the utility room and kitchen floors. So I was marooned to the shop for a little while longer. Tried putting a shine on the hoods of the 520H and the C141. I will work on the rest of the tins a little at a time. The mower decks will get spiffed up this winter.

The C41 has two rubber stops and springs under the seat/spring mounting plate. one spring was broken and one rubber stop was missing. After scrounging through the “extra parts” I found two heavier springs and two rubber stops. A few minutes later they were installed.

Gee thanks guys and gals! Your birthday wishes make me remember I should really visit this great forum more often Although I do not know all of you personally I appreciate your messages very much. Kind of a special one this year, 40 candles on my birthday cake Greetings from the Netherlands, Mark.

Ugh - still on hold on this one. Seller only checks messages once a week or so. So far, timing has not matched up.

I have one of those battery tender plug-ins on my motorcycle, hadn't thought about putting them on the tractors but that's a great idea. I think I'll get a few more tenders so I have enough for each and don't have to remember to move them around periodically in the winter. But sometimes I remove the batteries and bring them in the house, like when it's going to be say, below 20 degrees (or worse) for several days or more.

@SylvanLakeWH thanks for the shout ! , a lot of what I do , is tried , verified for regular function , then TWEEK IT ! make it easier to use , evert stage of this has eliminated repetitive issues , ex , started using sta bil fuel storage AFTER FUEL TANK CLEAN OUT , AND HOSE REPLACEMENT , FILTER NOW AT TANK START AND FILTER AT CARB , WITH FUEL CHECK VALVE ? SHORT CLEAN FUEL RATED HOSE TO CARB? LOOKING AT CLEAN FUEL HOLD TO CLEAN CARB BOWL. , guess what ? NEVER HAD ANY DEBRIS RETURN , STOPPED A CHRONIC ISSUE ! 3 horses with same set ups , move on to next issue , pete

@davem1111 you know I just try things , at REPEDITIVE FAILURE AREAS ? what could possibly do ? been doing this for decades , with no failures , that entire pto lever drive set up , just transforms into a , solid / smooth / silent drive , tweaked / enhanced / insured at every stage of hand off , every bearing , seal popped out , wiped out , flush with , carb cleaner , lucas xtra hd green chassis grease ? 550 deg flash point , polyurea rated ( anti sling ) that inner pto cone bearing , also gets a clean out and very light greasing , usually baked in dried out used to be grease , new outer sealed bearing . napa , you have just insured , that , all related movement areas are perfect in function ? think about , smooth / quiet / easy deck lever function , pete

Happy Borned on Day, Jim

@Sparky got those mule drive bearings , cleaned out and regreased ? those 6203 , bearings are cake to upgrade in lube , pete

@Terry M have a small napa charger , as a back up , but my 3 horses , have battery tenders wired in , always a quick simple plug in , like this , last picture , hiding in plane site , pete

Have a Great Day Jim I know you will

Happy Birthday Jim I hope you have a great day!

Happy birthday, have a great day .

HAPPPPY BIRTHDAY

Hot air engine, great entertainment but they don't produce enough power to wind a spool of thread.

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉

I like the Viking chargers at Hobo Freight. they even go into winter maintain mode. A little pricey tho.

Happy Birthday, Jim...

The fuel line and tank valve/fuel bowl/filter was new last fall, as was the elbow/screen assembly at the carb. The insides of the tank appear fairly clean. Since the problem went away with more fuel in the tank, it makes me think the reserve ports on the valve are not right, or there might be something blocking the bottom of the screen on the tank valve. The fuel issue has a work around. The probable damage to the hub threads on the back axle need to be corrected before EJ can get back into ground engaging box and grader blade work - which is what I need to get done. A new hub and axle will fix the issue. But, I'm not set up to do that repair in my HF temporary garage in the middle of the woods to do this type of work. On the next trip to Ky. I'll have the proper trailer to get EJ into a shop for the work.

Zackly!

If any one deserves a plug its @Vinylguy . Has helped me out more than once....

Perfect timing Dave. I'm literally right now ordering the 4 footer from Terry! Aaannnddd. Another type of banner. Because why not. My back sliding barn door needs decorations.

Quick way to check your condenser is to disconnect the wire, if the problem goes away then get a new condenser. The engine can be run for a few minutes without it for testing without damaging the points.

The difference between a 7HP Kohler & a 7 HP Tecumseh...... You torque the mounting fasteners on the Kohler. You use wingnuts on the Tecky - hand tight - makes it easier to replace later.

There fixed that too ...

Today I bought two planters for the Mrs. After unloading them into my wagon I thought it might be picture worthy so I snapped one while on their way to their destination.

Hello all ! I acquired a 1968 Commando for free of charge.He would not take any money but I did gladly purchase a brand new seat he bought for it. The nice gentleman that owned it had plans to restore it unfortunately life got in the way decided to give it up.It then sat for about 20 yrs. Until I came along lol Its partially disassembled but all the parts are there.He even bought a decal set and some odds and ends parts. I have it running and it runs great all it needed was a carb rebuild kit and a condenser and a couple gaskets- so far. Engine was Rebuilt at some point and still has hone swirls in the cylinder,no smoke the deck is usable as well just needs some love. Im redoing the wiring now and in need of an ignition switch . He was a member here at some point not sure if he still is. He just wanted someone to bring it back to life and not go to scrap and he knew I would do that . Someone at some point in its life decided it needed a racing stripe not sure how I’ll Handel that but I think it has to go . Enough rambling a couple pix for now . I told myself no more WHs well we know how that goes !

I just re-configured a 32” 64-65 Lawn Ranger gear drive to use on my 401 to replace the one i had been running for the last 10+ years that was pretty beat. I was amazed how quiet it is. I thought the belt was seriously slipping when i first engaged the pedal, but it was just that quiet. I use the red “tacky” grease on the gears. Check the cross shaft for axial play. It should be minimal. Maybe .020”- .025”. On my 702, when i bought it and finally got it to the point i could mow with it, i noticed it wasn’t cutting well on the one side. I found that the one cross shaft gear had a sheared woodruff key. Once i replaced the woodruff, the cross shaft wouldn’t turn. I found that the gear spinning freely on the shaft had smeared the shoulder of the shaft where the gear butts up against, so when the nut was tightened, it was pinching the bearing towers between the two gears. The shaft is 3/4” and the bore in the gear is 5/8”, so basically the gear rests up against a 1/16” shoulder on the shaft, so don’t over-tighten the nut or it can damage the shaft. I ended up making a .020” shim with a 5/8” i.d. to fit behind the gear. In hindsight, i could have made it .030”-.035” and shimmed out a bit more of the backlash at the gears also. I think there is a service bulletin on thicker thrust bearing washers for the blade shafts to minimize gear noise on some models also, but if you have excessive axial or radial play in the cross shaft bearings, i’d start there. If the gear nuts were over-torqued at some point, or a smeared woodruff, the shoulders on the cross shaft may be damaged, resulting in excessive axial play of the shaft which results in excessive backlash at the gears. Cross shaft tower bearings 1630-2RS Blade shaft needle bearings B1212 The threads in the aluminum(?) bearing towers on my old deck were in rough shape from numerous belt changes. I swapped out the bolts with longer ones and whatever combination of washers needed to grab ALL of the threads possible in the towers. Maybe inspect the cast housing closely for cracks also. I’ve cracked 3 of them over the last 28 years. They get really noisy when that happens. They break across these same two holes. I added some bolts that kept this one mowing for a few more years. The Lawn Ranger donor before, and after the Suburban linkage transplant.

Maybe it was used to raise the seat pan to run some giant tires on the back, to go with the “racing” stripe.

If your not going to repaint the tractor, then I think it's best to leave it. Character marks, battle scares, poor decisions at a young age - what ever you want to call it.