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Back in June, I had my C-141 Automatic out for sale in our yard sell. I had all of them setting out to attract more attention. A man and his son were looking at my tractors and the son (looked to be about 8-10 years old) started going nuts over them and begged his dad to get him one. They asked me which one would be best suited, and I recommended the C-141. Solid running with no issues. I let them drive it around the yard and they agreed to buy it. Yesterday, when I grabbed our mail, there was one envelope with nothing but "Mr. Doug" handwritten on the front. Below is the letter that was inside. We just finished loading the snow thrower in their pickup. I let him have it for $50 and gave him some tips on how to attach and detach it, along with a printed operator's manual and parts listing. Pretty cool to see a kid so enthused about his Wheel Horse.

Fellow approached me at the Steam Pageant. Said he has a B-80 sitting in a barn that needs a home. Hadn't used it in years Well it's crusty, dusty and poopy. Shot tires but I have spares in the parts dept. Can't believe the seat is nice! Gonna get that off and hit the tractor with Dawn Power Wash and let it get rained on. Got to de- mouse the engine before going inside. Center spindle on deck needs work but the shell looks solid!

Had 12 stumps ground today and I was using my C-120-8 with mid-mount blade to start leveling things off. It was a bit rough and one time the blade kicked up so hard it pushed the lift lever beyond the stop. Then engine died and there was nothing when I tried to restart. Took a few to figure out I blew the 15 amp fuse . Could not see any damaged wires. new fuse back to work few minutes later another rough spot blade kicked up engine died blown fuse. Turns out when the blade kicked up and pushed the lift arm past the stop the lift bar contacted one terminal of the amp meter.

Well that certainly is encouraging! And nice to see! Especially since it’s hand written and not in the form of an email or text!

When I was a kid my uncle, who was an old salt kinda guy would constantly ask me when I last time I checked/changed the oil and greased my Work Horse. I guess you could say that he sort of scared it into me. I was actually afraid of running into him if I hadn’t done those things, so I did it A LOT, probably excessively. My family owned heavy equipment at that time so like it or not I became friends with a grease gun at the ripe old age of about 12. By the age of 14 I knew where every grease fitting was on a Caterpillar 941B Track Loader. If you want to use it you better grease it my uncle would say. And I really wanted to use it! He would let me putz around in the yard/shop area with it. That mentality has stuck with me to this day, and probably explains why I treat all of my equipment that way and my Work Horse is still going strong 42 years later! ❤️

And THAT, folks, is exactly why you NEED an inline fuse to protect the electrics. Neither of my C81's nor the 854 came with one - all of them now have one in a weather resistant holder that is easily accessible...

The ultimate theft deterrent device, kids today wouldn't know how to steal it.

I have not said a word to my wife in over a year. I figure it would be rude to interrupt.

August 22, 1969, The American pop-rock duo Zager and Evans end a six-week run at the top of the charts with their ponderously titled single “In The Year 2525." With lyrics focused on the ominous effects of future technology, it would be their one and only hit. Zager and Evans never returned to the pop charts after their triumphant debut in the summer of ’69.

Learned how you use my new TV and internet & phone today. Bundled & switched everything over to a different provider. Hope I didn't put all my eggs in one basket. Went from barely 5 mps to a blazing 60 mps. The 5 mps was akin to sending smoke signals compared to this. Thank you Sylvia @SylvanLakeWH for helping me test out the new phone connection ... Just testing some upload speed here. Wow not giga speed but much better

Why did the tomato blush? Because he saw the salad dressing! What do you call an arctic cow? An eskimoo! What do you call a pig thief? A hamburglar! What do you get when you cross a garden with an Elephant? Squash! What do you call a sleeping bull? A bull-dozer. Farmer: "Why can't you make bread like my mother?" Wife: "Why can't you make dough like my father?" Patient: Doctor, I feel like a pony! Doctor: Don't worry, you're just a little hoarse!

These aren’t muscle cars or hot rods, but these are my two girls here. My 79 F100 with original paint, put in a roller 302 and kept the 3 on the tree, and my 95 Chevy that has seen and done quite a lot and is my daily.

I finished a 32" wide by 40" tall cabinet. I was asked to make for an 81 year old former professor at our local university. He keeps detailed records (in some cases for way too many years). The cabinet will be to hold his folders for taxes and expenses. The problem is that with his and his wife's health, I doubt that they will be using the cabinet for many months ( before they will need the services of assisted living) but if he finds satisfaction in his new cabinet at his age-more power to them. I purchased 1/2" AC plywood from local lumber yard to find out it's from South America. Some kind of tropical wood no doubt but that stuff stains awful and isn't smooth surfaced. As I mentioned before, since retirement, I don't charge labor for projects I take on. I tell folks to donate whatever the labor was worth to charities. Dt. Bob has insisted on taking me out for breakfast one morning next week--I'll take him up on that. The material for this small project cost over $160! I do have some scraps left over but I'm sure glad I'm not building a new house. I faced the raw plywood edge with wood I was given by a small sawmill. The sawyer called the wood "Tree of Heaven". It has an oakish/ashish looking grain and seems to work pretty good. Missouri Conservation Department considers the tree invasive. I've been using the water based varnish. I used oil based polyurethane for years which could be a little slow to dry and prone to catch dust and seemed to yellow over the years. The water base dries quickly and easy to work with especially when applied in thin coats. In another posting deck stain was discussed and I liked the old oil based stain. The new "safer" stain just doesn't seem to adhere as well.

Taking 4 flights tomorrow to get to the other side of the world. The longest trip I’ve ever taken, one flight is 16 hours in the air. And this came in the mail today, great timing! Some good reading material! Wish it had a WH on the cover but that’s fine.

I've decided I need a mid mount grader blade for my 18 HP Automatic and I realize the odds of finding one are pretty much non existent so I'm going to make one. I found someone that's willing to provide me with dimensions so I've started the ball rolling. It took a few weeks but the fab shop was able to roll 1/4" steel plate so I now have the blade, the blade backing plate and some 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" tubing. I'll post pictures and build information for anyone that wants to fabricate their own setup. The two round discs are for fabrication of a rear hub puller for the 18 HP. More to come....

When I bought my motorcycle in '73 I had to take a road test to get an endorsement on my license for it. The NY DMV required a second vehicle driven by a driver who had the motorcycle endorsement for the evaluator to ride in. A friend who was on unemployment at the time volunteered to drive the evaluator. When I got to his house with my pick-up, motorcycle in the bed, he got in and as we backed out of his drive he said he had never driven a standard shift. I let him drive to the test area and we unloaded the bike. As the test went on I had to pull to the side a couple of times while he started the truck after stalling it. At the conclusion of the test the DMV guy said I had done fine and turned to my friend and laughed as he said "you I have some doubts about" then shook his hand and said you are a real good sport, you never panicked.

First clean up. Waiting for the rain for the 2nd go round.

My first car was a '53 Buick Special, 3 on the tree straight eight. $50 from a junk yard, drove it home. King pins (J.C.Whitney), muffler and tires is all she needed. Thank God for Chiltons! I think I still have the book.

I kept the three on the tree for nostalgia, I actually learned on my dad’s old 79, basically the same, except he had power steering. Mine is manual steering, so I make sure the king pins and all grease points are all greased up, gearbox lubed, and I replaced all bushings and the shifter collar on the column so it shifts nice, doesn’t hang up as I remember my dads used to do. But it’s definitely fun to drive. I’m 38 now, I was around 12-13 years old when I was driving and shifting dad’s old truck.

There are two kinds of people in the world today: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data

I'm from the government, and I'm here to help...

The key is here. I hope to get to it this afternoon! The shaft has also been cleaned.

Maintenance saves a lot of headaches down the road. I was always taught if you want something to last you have to take care of it. And there, obviously, is another reason our tractors have lasted so long.

I gotta side with Big Unit on this. My kid was whining about needing a rider for his yard so I gave him a '73 no name 8 to use and he about trashed it much to my distain and despite the schooling I gave him. Yep ... someone gave him a Crapsman I got running and said here ... here's a throwaway for you to not take care of. I believe they call that tough love ...

An old farmer was walking down the path to the pond when he spotted a bullfrog. He reached down and grabbed the frog and started to put him in his pocket when the bullfrog said, "Kiss me on the lips and I will turn into a beautiful farmers wife." Again the old farmer started to put the frog in his pocket. The frog asked, "Didn't you hear what I said?" The farmer looked at the frog and said," At my age I'd rather have a talking frog."

@Pullstart, that truck reminds me of my 83 S15 I had years ago, also owned an 85 when I was 16.

I told my wife I was making a bicycle out of spaghetti. She didn't believe me... Until I rode pasta.

Did you hear the one about the non-binary gold prospector? They dug a fortune out of them/their hills.

What is a horse's favorite sport? Stable tennis!

When I heard that oxygen and magnesium were hookin' up I was like, OMg!

four/thirds of the people in the world don’t understand fractions.

A friend of mine inherited an 875. The lift arm was missing. I had one so I gave it to him. He installed it and when you lifted the arm the engine turned over. A P.O. installed a solenoid on the hood stand behind the dash. When I acquired it I moved the solenoid.

With six children, our family rides were 9-seater International Travelalls with the three on the tree. Took my drivers test with it and got a compliment from the evaluator at my smooth clutch and shifting work. Failed, though, for making a left turn from the right lane of a one-way street. Learned something new that day!

Did some mid-season maint, grease, etc on 654 & mower deck. Know theres plenty haters on Teckys but mine is reliable & burns no oil. Even degreased tractor & washed it too. Its not pretty but I can count on it winter or summer.

we were all taught at early age the value of something is determined by what someone is willing to pay -- the WH line of tractors should be looked at over multiple eras they were manufactured ------------ and the corresponding human generations that overlapped those years - the wh tractors of the 1950s, 60s and 70s -- then another era perhaps the 1980s and 90s, then or course the toro era that followed. perhaps the overlay is to consider the tractor eras in the context of the ages of the human generations that overlapped them in the persons prime age -- eg: a homeowner or small farm owner ages 30s - 40s - 50s -- with children with a suburban yard - for our family we were young parents with young children when we bought our '89, 312-8 for a suburban yard - now my children and grandchildren have WH tractors -- but many families have not had the wh loyalty follow them????????? however it appears as the "supply" inventory of WH dwindle from attrition so does the demand -- the affection driving current demand is higher among the older generation -- likely in our age 60s 70s and 80s -- if the affection of the generation of age 20-30-40 do not by quantity have the same demand affection for them as the prior age groups then the demand will dimminish -- and thus one could argue the monetary value could diminish?? of course many decades from now there will likely still be some hard core WH demand just like collectors of Mustangs - Camaros - or Watches - or perhaps stamps or coins -- but clearly the owners of WH tractors from the years of the 1960s 70s and 80s are headed to the heavens - as will just as a function of math leave fewer of the original loyal owners

When my brother passed away he had a dozen or more canes, unfortunately they were all fixed length and he was about six inches shorter than me. Our church has a medical equipment loan ministry and we collect all kinds of usable equipment and loan it to anyone in the community that needs it. They are under no obligation to return it as long as they need it and there is no charge. Every item is sterilized and wrapped when returned, we have a dishwasher type appliance that will hold a wheel chair. Hospital beds and power wheel chairs have to be cleaned by hand. We have fostered loan ministries in other communities and give them any excess equipment we have accumulated.

Got my temp storage building delivered and set up today. I had planned to go with a metal building but the floor and footing etc. delay was something I couldn't wait on. It will get moved again to it's permanent placement after the house is finished, but for now it is over by the barn. I'll add a lean to shed on the side then. For now it's just 12x24 dry storage.

You'll need to pull that out and clean around it good. You don't want any metal shavings from the crankshaft around there or stuck to the magnet that's in it. The large notch by the number 166 fits over the tail of the key, and that holds it in time. It's definitely out of time. That's why it wouldn't start. Trigger ring looks okay otherwise.

Today after a surprisingly short shift at work, I volunteered to mow my parent's lawn as after talking to my mother we thought it needed a trim. My father has been working with my brothers and was short on time. My youngest brother has also been short on time as it's also the busy season for him at work. I mowed where i could reach with the tractor and did some weed wacking for him as he's one of the first people to assist me with something if needed. The 312 and the new PTO belt got a good workout today.

What type of horses only go out at night? Nightmares!

Some of the cheapest insurance you can purchase.

Just before I learned to drive, we had a '63 Fairlane with a 3 in the tree. My oldest sister learned to drive a stick shift on that car. Dad was teaching her in late February, with some snow still on the streets. She did pretty well - until she got on a dry street. The car made about 3 hops per block until she polished up her clutch skills. In the late 70's I was involved with a SCCA Pro Rallye car. Our tow vehicle was a GMC van with a very loose 3 in the tree. A successful 1-2 shift required the lever to go towards reverse before dropping through the neutral gate to go into 2nd. If you got wrong, you coasted to the side of the road with the clutch in, then climbed under the van to reset the shift levers on the trans.

Sky Lab from the Terminator movies.

Molasses can safely remove rust from iron and steel through a slow chelation process, leaving the underlying metal intact. We have all heard the phrase, "slower than molasses in January," guess this substantiates it. One thing is for sure, if you didn't have an insect problem before, you would after doing this method of rust removal.

Pathetic example of how stupid we are as a society... excellent resourcefulness on the part of the janitor is met with bureaucratic bs... and taxpayers end up paying more for the same services... Great for the farmer, but not for taxpayers...

Score!!! I'm always looking for skis to make benches... bike ride this morning and my favorite four letter "F" word was attached to these on a neighbor's lawn: They will become a bench shortly... Timing is perfect... I just sold two ski benches and a ski end table...! Just noticed I'm wearing another @Pullstart plow day shirt... honest, I do have other clothes...

Ended up buying the 520xi I looked at a few weeks ago after doing a little more research on hydrostat whine. Ordered filters and will do fluid and greasing before anything. The charging light and mowing in reverse lights stay on so I will need to resolve those also. Best thing, no buyers remorse.