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Hello, It’s been a while since I posted… Getting started on the restoration of my 1976 Wheelhorse C160, which is about 30% underway… Decided to finish off the year with some new seat cushions for the old style metal seat-pan/back, and member Matt Castagno made me a beautiful replacement. They are so much better than the original cushions, but look absolutely original installed. Such a pleasure to deal with Matt, and arrived in less than a week to California. Spoke to Matt about sharing his email…here it is…Matt’s contact info is: grnlark@gmail.com Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and holidays. I’ll be posting more in the new year of the restoration. Best, Jason

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She plows! Still need to work on the lift stuff. Try to get another inch of lift, check which lift holes were used etc. Cruised down to the old shed to see if I have any “trapped” mice (aka, DEAD!)

We were in the 3-5" zone. Got a good 4"er. It started wet at 32* last eve. and dropped to 25*. Cold, dry and drifting now. Four hours, three gallon of fuel and 7 driveways later.

Got about 6" of wet heavy snow. Coming down fast at 3:00am. Coffee first then plow. 20251214_070924.jpg

Not much snow at a time lately but it doesn't melt and blows back in every day. A balmy 16 this morning. The Charger 12 with plastic blade does the pavers in front of the garage

That oily grunge works exceeding well to control rust and corrosion. Several of my machines have that protection. Almost none of my equipment will ever rust out from the bottom up

Boys and girls, that is some interesting items on the Christmas wish list. My elves are working frantically to fulfill the lists from all over the world, including those listed here. Just remember, I'm making a list to see who is naughty or nice, and though I won't mention any names, some of you are not quite on the nice list yet.

blasterdad...sweeeeet CJ! ML3...beer, crown royal and cigars. talk about like minded! too bad you live so far away. regards mike

Matt’s seats are high quality. Matt does it right!

Here is was I got. Just 3 inch flexible duct that is positioned to catch the high volume of warm air that flows between the cylinder cooling fins and the valve chamber cooling fins. Keeps everything in the cab warm except for my feet. Lol.

Only got a dusting in Tennessee

Mine got a work out this morning and they performed great. I got nearly 4 hours of seat time clearing 4 inches of wet snow from 7 driveways and mail boxes.

he looks lonely and seems to be taking a nap

Just a brief vid on how it works and why I used it. Removal of old hub and install is on my tube channel.

Made sure my plow rig was ready for tomorrow’s possible snow event. Won’t be a deep snow but still needs to be cleared off the driveway. One headlight…but like most of ya’ll I have spare old/used ones kicking around. My 510-8, half the horsepower but twice the dependability!!!

Got 'er done without chains. Poor planning on my part, tire chains are still on my tractor with the tiller, buried deep in the garage. Contemplating a second set.

Gosh its cold out there. Some lake effect snow now in spurts. But ole thumper did good. 3/8 of a mile of 4 driveways done. The renters can do the shovel work theirselves.

Well it lives and runs

The Greasy Pete patina protectant, And those spots on the floor are constant reminders to check the oil levels.

Well, after again wasting half my day yesterday trying to get a plow tractor ready we got a storm that was easier to clear by hand. The boy and I shoveled the drive, cleared the neighbors' wheel chair ramp, and cleaned all of our vehicles and theirs in about 30 minutes. Just scraped a dusting off the driveway and letting the sun take care of the ice sheet under it. About and inch layed in the yards.

@JoeM

Hey maybe, just maybe we can get the gov to assign a date as a national holiday. "spend some time with your tractor day"

Well oookkkk ...if you insist.

Thirty some years ago I afforded and opportunity for promotion to maintenance planner. The company I worked for wanted to switch from reactive to proactive maintenance. Let me tell you....... that was one tough transformation. It took the better part of a year to convince the maintenance personal, foreman to mechanics, that it was better to service, change filters and make repairs before things became big issues. Prior to, it was just firefighting maintenance. I told the personal that we are a maintenance company, the operators are our customers. It was our responsibility to hand the operator a safe functioning machine. In to the second year it really turned around, equipment was safe and ran good. Production went up and maintenance cost down. We had about 300 pieces of machinery in the fleet. I always made myself available to talk to the operators. No one knew the equipment better. Well after all, they spent more time with those machines than their wife's. So spend some time with you tractor today!

RJ25 to go with the 35 will do, or if even smaller is needed a hooded walk away Jr. please.

@Ed Kennell says they work great. Was always gonna get a set But believe it or not just plain turfs with weights is workin pretty good. Those fronts Mike are the exact same as what @Achto has on his sno pusher.

My 312H came with rubber chains. Using Locally made steel vee bars for years, I was expecting that I would never keep these. I was surprised and amazed. They were as good as the steel except on ice. They were better on the bare pavement. They are still on my 312H.

This showed up today unexpectedly. 12hp Raider with a box full of parts. Guy I bought Workhorse from felt bad bout motor being bad. Last week we spoke & he offered up the 12hp & 8sp if I wanted them. He said they could offset the cost of replacement engine. Thought it was a nice gesture. Shows up today with the entire tractor!

Swapped a few things around here. Workhorse GT1800 outta the workshop space. That's staying by the firewood until @OldWorkHorse gets a day to stop by. After Millie was done plowing snow she went in the workshop. Millie needs both belts. S/G and main drive. Gotta diagnose why it's already eaten a main drive belt. May be normal usage. May be a burr on the belt guard. Also did some experimentation with the Super Scooper on the front of my '75 C160 Automatic. I've posted a video in the Implements Section. Got The Ugly Bruce tractor out for a bit to play in the snow too.

They will untangle. Start at one end and pass the short end thru to get cross chain #1 and #2 laying correct. Then continue with #3,4,5, etc. untill they are all laying correctly. Here is a correctly laying chain. And by passing the red hooks thru #1 and #2 cross chains, you get this. The same as your picture. The cross chains appear to lay correctly, but the twist is in the side chains.

the blackhood C175 plowing seems to do the job with and without chains or weights -- each fall I install the plow on i think if i should use the chains or weights or even maybe invest in a more aggresive front tire winter tread -- but with smart plowing technique the horse seems to mostly function fine -- have not put the chains or weights on yet this season -- will wait to see if we get any big storms? I can always put the weights and chains on if a forecast says deep heavy snow coming?????????

I’ve done a little bit of this type of upholstery in the past and it is incredibly labor-intensive… not to mention the skill level he has at doing it is amazing. I think the price that he is asking is reasonable.

I hope everyone gets something from their wish list this year! As cold as it is today - even coal wouldn't be such a bad thing

Then install the shim washer(s) that give you a straight run of the chain without adding a side load to it....

He makes them from scratch, using quality plywood as the base,

It was wet on the bottom. Blowing and drifting now. My 42" PAMed blade didn't clog once.

Nah. I'm laid back and waving to Joe's drone.

Guessing the clevis is screwed on the rod end? I have a extra cylinder from a parts machine guess I should play with it first maybe.

Mount plow - ✅ Mount chains - ✅ Mount centering guide - ✅ Check all bolts and pins - Happily start plowing snow and after 20 minutes wonder why one end of the plow won’t lift -- ✅ Stop and investigate and discover lower pivot bolt missing - ✅

I'll look at that... not sure I could get it that tight though. 🤔

Wow ... of all the seats used by that style is my absolute favorite ...

I have a few of Matt's seats. All top quality and so easy to deal with him!

I haven’t seen them on facebook but generally communicate with him through email. Super easy to deal with and have had the two seats he made for me in hand pretty quick in my opinion

Decided since I have two running tractors now, and a snowblower that was setting out by my woodshed, I might as well hook it up and make sure it's ready to go in case it's needed. Could have used it last week! We got a few more inches today, but the C141 and plow made quick work of it.

6-10" minimum predicted for us thru 7am Monday along with up 35mph winds. Don't have to be anywhere. Got plenty beer, crown royal, & cigars. Listening to police scanner

Our village is home to a major railroad equipment maintenance facility that occasionally invites the public for tours. One year I learned that when mechanics begin work on a train that must be completed and inspected before the train can be moved, the mechanic hangs his name tagged blue-flashing lantern on the controls. Only the mechanic should ever remove it.

Glad I’ve never done anything silly to be in this thread….