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Over the weekend we flew down to see my daughter in Charleston,S.C. and decided to go check out this museum. I must say that I was super impressed by the quality of the restorations of these trucks. Figured I would take a few pictures for you guys, I know how much you love pictures!!

Found yet another use for the Horse. First year I didn't have to drag a deer over 100 yards uphill with a rope!

Everyone meet Jerry, Jerry meet everyone. my 5 year old stepson wanted to have a skeleton on a tractor. He went with his mom to go see his sister at her college this weekend. Can’t wait til he sees it. I’m going to get a different skeleton for the one who’s getting mowed up. Now the wheels are turning on getting Jerry some friends doing other crazy things. He’s temporarily mowing with my 12auto until I get the rusty 14-8 up from out back.

The ol girl worked good today. Dug up a brick and mortar foundation and hauled it away with no sweat!

Picked this lawn ranger up a few months ago and right away my youngest claimed it as his! Being all original we stared cleaning and buffing it up. We just have a few things to button up but for the most part it’s done. We did a makeshift muffler to keep the noise down being right in town lol. He was excited to take it for a few laps around town. FB3CA92C-1526-49E2-89A2-3FF456044131.mov D0676C82-8D93-4955-9852-853793D1A035.mp4

Got tired of robbing parts machines so, Made a few shifter grub screws on mini lathe. Now the other horses want be jealous and everyone will have a shifter that works .

The BBT aka Lead Logging Supervisor and I went off to the right side forest to get a few pieces of standing dead trees. 3? Small ash. A couple small maples. We sectioned them to 84" because we use 14" cuts of firewood. 6 pieces there. We hand hauled those 40 to 60 feet out to the pole trailer. Then brought that to the upper yard.

LOTS done with the Wheelhorses and trailers today! Earlier today I got the newly acquired and painted steel weights from @Sparky on my 1974 C160-8 Cinnamon Horse. We used Cinnamon to yank this project trailer outta its hole. Someone else can tackle it... Then we cleaned out the slot of forest it was in. Trim. Rake. Blown leaves. Cut sticks etc... Now the big 7 x 16 flatbed trailer has a home. Trina and her momma been working on firewood again today. Super friggin hot 🔥 🥵 so momma takes lots of breaks. The shed is full. 2.5 cord. The barn overhang is starting to get there too.

Just returned from our first trip to England and most likely the only one. Friends who have been to London about twenty times said let's visit there so off we went for ten days. Did many of the newbie London tourist stuff. Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, theater, Churchill War Rooms, Bletchley Park, British Museum, Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey was filmed. Also a neighborhood pub with the son of another friend. We only scratched the surface. One could spend ten days in the British Museum alone. Our friends knew how to use the Underground (subway) and we traveled all about using it.

At a local show today I scored this C-111 with a plow/weights/2 link chains for cheap $$$. No idea what my plan is. I really don’t need another plow here, sold off a couple plows this summer so I only have 5…and today I added another one back Into the mix

New member, glad to find this group. Just pulled this 520H out of my neighbor's parent's shed yesterday. When they parked it 15 years ago, it only needed a coil. Parts everywhere. I ordered a fuel pump, a coil, and new filters. Parts should be here later today, hopefully I can get it to run. Although I'm sure the carb needs to be soaked. Looking forward to posting my progress.

Got the 418-8 ready for plowing. Took the tiller off and replaced some leaking axle seals.

The NE winds calmed a bit so we took a boat ride. Dropped a couple crab pots and sand shark was the fish of the day. Good day with my boys.

Since selling my dxi and trading my Kubota side by side set up for plow duties a few weeks ago I decided to set up the new to me Polaris XP900 for plow duty. Local dealer had a Polaris plow built for another model. A few mods and here she is ready for plow duties…

Test fit some vredstiens on the C-160 (still need paint) and promoted the tri rib Deestones to the 856. Made a 3/4” wrench ( forgot pic) to adjust governor speed on the 857.

I've been reluctant to put a deck on any of my tractors but I need to chop leaves so am going to put bearings in a mule drive and just do it. Looks expensive for two bearings but isn't everything expensive these days?

Almost finished overhauling the 48-inch side-discharge mower deck for the GT18. Here's what I've done so far, more or less: Degreased and pressure washed the deck, inside and out...three times. Sanded areas of rust and flaking paint. Welded three small cracks that were just getting started. Straightened one of the anti-scalp wheel mounting brackets. Primed the underside with three coats of rusty metal primer and primer-sealer. Primed and painted the top. One of the spindle body castings was broken and another was corroded, so I replaced all three castings with new aftermarket ones. Tossed out the other parts that came with the new aftermarket spindles, due to quality and correctness issues. Installed new OEM Toro bearings in the spindles. Re-installed the original OEM bearing spacer sleeves. Installed one new Toro OEM spindle shaft, one good used Toro shaft, and re-installed one of the original spindle shafts. Installed new bolts/nuts of the correct sizes and types for the pulleys, blades, spindle mounts, and various brackets. Upgraded the plastic washer and bushing set for the sliding idler pulley bracket to a bronze bushing and UHMW polyethylene washers, which should be low-friction and impact resistant. Welded new axles (shoulder bolts) onto the anti-scalp wheel adjusting plates (as previously posted). Miscellaneous other repairs. I still need to install the new blades, a few more fasteners, and the chute, and it should be ready to mow. I haven't decided if I'm going to fab up some sheet metal to make a couple of belt/pulley guards. Before: Mostly done:

Every year, America’s manufacturing sector opens its doors to celebrate Manufacturing Day on the first Friday of October, falling on October 3 this year. For those interested in making things with mind and machines, it is a day that begins a month of inspirational experiences. This year also, America’s manufacturing sector is gearing up to celebrate the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the United States’ economic power.

One day early.

The 42" mower deck wouldn't clear the 10.50's on Dino so I put the 8.50's from the Reborn B-80 on it. Put a pair of 16-6.50's on the front of the 854 sickle tractor. No real reason other than I thought they looked cool. Took a ride through the woods to check them out. Put the 10.50's on the Reborn B-80. Rather than buy another set of rubber chains in the correct size I decided to modify the set of 8.50's that I had. A handful of additional chain links and two additional cross rubbers per side did the trick. It took a bit to get them just right cuz I never like to use chain tensioners. Mounted the heavier set of weights.

By far the best thing I've found to keep a deck solid is to do very little. My routine after every mowing it to blow it off, jack it up and just scrape the clumps of grass off. No hosing. The clumps hold the moisture and that's the problem. I purchased the 48" deck on this tractor new in the late 70's. Since 2009 it's been used on this 2005 Classic. Zero rust. Once a year when I put it to bed for the winter I do pressure wash it and give is a light mist of whatever oil I happen to have at the time.

So……I figured I would celebrate my birthday with giving something away. As usual, if you are a forum supporter and your name is in RED, post up here (once) to get in on it. I’ll let it run till next friday and spin the magic wheel. Sorry, USA only Wheel Horse “generator” outlet cover. I have made a couple changes to these since this one. May even toss in some other stuff I have made fooling around.

World Octopus Day is annually marked on October 8 and we are drawing up plans to celebrate the existence of one of nature’s most iconic sea creatures. Octopuses are remarkably intelligent and adaptable. With some Octopus fossils predating the era of dinosaurs, they are known to be older than most creatures currently existing today. One thing you can be sure of is that there’s more to this amazing sea creature than a bulbous head and eight legs with suction cups.

I have these on my 953. https://www.millertire.com/6-70-15-goodyear-sure-grip-traction-4-ply/

I mowed with my modified 48 today. Distributes clippings so much better. Definitely worth all the work that went into it! You can see the tip of the blade at the chute. Only 1/2 inch to the edge now. No height adjuster. I always cut the same height anyway...

Installed some steps and side covers on the 418-A that I had cleaned up and painted over the summer. The removed set will eventually get cleaned up and painted and put on the 520-H. Before: After:

Finished the electrical. Made up the exhaust manifold. Made up a better hood pivot thingy. Not much time for anything else.

Better late than never…..

My latest purchase:

Two out of three are fully functional now. Third one is coming along pretty well.

I bought new Craftsman tool boxes last year, after discovering that used ones are always beat up, and then discovering that new ones are still made in the USA! In the same factory where they've been made for 50+ years.

25 mph NE wind this morning. Five minutes later.

We are in our Ky. location for a few days. Major goal is repairing the brakes on EJ the 8n. So, Welcome to Deep Woods Tractor Repair: I was expecting to find maybe worn splines on the hubs and bad axle seals. The splines don't seem to be too bad, and the axle seals appear to be in fine shape and to be relatively new. The source of the puddles of gear lube in the brake drums appears to be that the last guy who assembled this thing failed to put the cork gaskets behind the axle seal retaining plates! This let the 90 weight drip out between the axle flange and the seal retaining plate. The brake shoes look to be relatively new as well - ought to, they have been well coated with oil. The brake drums didn't want to come off until I backed off the adjusters A LOT. Both drums have a shoe track worn in them about .040 to .060" deep. Might as well replace the drums while I'm at it. Got to source some, though. One big oopsie, though - the box of brake parts didn't get packed into the truck for this trip. Worst case, I'll replace the missing axle seal retaining plate gaskets with some Form A Gasket, and clean the gear lube off of everything as good as I can get it, then put it all back together. That ought to get me some brakes - for a little while, anyhow.

I liberated a 520H from a neighbor's shed after probably 18 years of dormancy. Think it is a '93. They parked it because the ignition coil was bad. I spent a few hours searching for any parts that may have been removed before. After I got it home I started troubleshoot everything. First thing I did was track down service/owners manuals and parts diagrams. Ignition coil test confirmed it was faulty. It was only sending spark to one plug. With that confirmed, I moved on to check out fuel system. Tank doesn't leak. Lines are surprisingly good. Fuel pump, no pumpy. Ordered one of those too. Also threw a prefilter in the cart too. Thanks to the speed of the jungle megacorp, I got the parts by noon the next day. I installed the not-so-perfectly fitting coil, and the near perfect fitting fuel pump. Thankfully I knew well enough to pump whatever the fuel pump sent out first into a jar instead of the carburetor. It was unholy. After I was satisfied that it was good gas, I hooked it up to the filter and gave it a crank. It fired right up like it was parked the day before. Smoked like a sonuvagun for a minute, then it stopped and just ran beautifully. After I was satisfied that the engine was good I moved around and started looking at everything else. Tires were dry rotted. Headlights didn't work. Gauges don't work. Hydraulics work. It moves forward and reverse. I spent the better part of day 3 trying to get headlights sorted while I wait for new tires. After all, this is going to be a snow mover first. I started with the bulbs. One good, one bad. Switch was also toast. Jumped the lines to bypass the switch and got 12v to the lights. Still no light. Power to fuse block was good. Fuse was good. Still getting 12v to lights, with no light. Figured loose connection was to blame, squeezed every blade connection and added a bit of wire to the fuse legs to fit the block better. There was light! Installed new switch and lights still worked, success. Gauges still don't work. Well, the HP% Gauge works. And voltage moves, but is wildly inaccurate. Oh well, it runs without them, they will have to wait, unless y'all know some easy fixes. On to the PTO. Here is where I am having a real issue. I can figure out a fair bit on my own without outside guidance, but the PTO setup is all new to me. Is the outer part that attaches to implements supposed to free spin until activated at the lever? I don't really know. Here are a few pictures I grabbed this evening. Serial number is pretty hard to read.

Wheel weights put extra stress on hubs. After sliding it back out and tighten it, does it have two set screws my C-120 just had one, The second helps a lot. Replace the key with a new one also helps. I added a two piece collar behind the hub on my 312-8 help keep it in place. We miss you, drop in more often.

That was it I. I forgot to tighten the set screws. love you guys. Instant tech support and reassurance for a tired mind.Too much going on here health wise. Can’t think straight most of the times to the point that I am becoming dangerous.

I haven't forgotten anything, everything is in there someplace, my memory is prefect, but my retrieval mechanism leaves a bit to be desired.

Today I got some quality seat time getting the leaf situation under control until another ton or so hit the ground. I used the 310-8 with 42" rear discharge deck to GRIND the first accumulation of leaves to a powder. About 90% of the leaves from the Poplar trees have come down so this is just the first of many such operations. Weather has been dry so the leaves chopped up so finely that the leaf sweeper wasn't even needed. They will just compost in place.

I got hooked on these tractors mowing with my dad’s (now mine) 12 automatic when I was a kid. He stored it for me in his garage when I moved into an apartment. The day I moved into my house the brought me the 12 auto. After fighting with it cause it sat for at least 10 years (I had zero mechanical skills then) my grandfather gave me his Bronco 14. When gramps passed away a few years later I found a c-120 in his shed under a pile of stuff. I got all his spare parts too. It snowballed from there. All of my kids have driven and mowed and even plowed snow with them. I spend hours in the garage first teaching and now watching my son @WheelHorse_Kid work on these tractors. They have brought us closer than ever. They are simple to work on but I’m always learning something new with them and boy they can do anything you ask of them. They were built to last. The community here is always willing to help out too. It doesn’t matter if you have a mundane question or a major problem, someone is always willing to help. And they are also willing to drool over your latest find or next restoration with you. It’s a great group of people. We all have the same common goal… to save these incredible tractors. We each have our own way of doing it from the purest’s to the people looking to just make it functional again. But they are all here willing to help. Not many groups like that now adays.

Oh BTW. I am one of the few with only one tractor and it is a Wheelhorse. Love the little beast. It was my father's who bought it new in 1988 and only last winter did I replace the engine. Except rear tires, brake lining, axel shaft seal and engine all parts are original. Always being stored indoors helped tremendously.

Another fast forward for real-time progress:

Here’s 6 of 14 or something

I can't wait until your crap breaks down tomorrow and we get a pic of you doing the ride of shame in your own cart! ( I might even drill hole in that coil just to make it happen now )

Broke 400 miles with today’s ride! I’ve pedaled (no battery power here!) 402 miles to be exact so far this season. Was a chilly start, I warmed up once I had a couple miles under my belt.

44F and 3mph East wind t 7AM

World Farm Animals Day, which falls on October 2 every year. This day comes around once a year to remind us just how important animals are to society and why we need to give animals the voice they so desperately need. While you too may be an animal lover, have you ever wondered what fellow animal lovers have done for other creatures? If you read a little about the origin of this event, you may be surprised how far people have come to give your pet their proper rights and what you too can do on this special day. This date was significant for animal protection organizations because it was first known as the day of Francis Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, which includes the study of animals. According to legends, the saint was able to tame animals relatively easily and even talk to them. No matter which way you decide to spend World Animal Day, just keep in mind how much animals give to us in unconditional love and support.

We returned from our road trip to Niagara Falls this afternoon. I asked a couple of months ago for suggestions from you all that live in the area and the replies were helpful. We were gone eleven days. During that time we traveled from Southwest Missouri to Des Moines to meet with friends who accompanied us. We drove up through Canada to the falls. Stayed in a house not too far from Youngstown. Visited the falls from both Canada and the States. Got wet on a boat ride up near the bottom of the falls. Watched a video produced by drones flying around the area. Video was only 6 minutes long but very interesting. Rode boat through couple of locks on Erie Canal and drove through a tunnel under the canal. Spent time at Fort Niagara, several light houses and military ships in Buffalo. I toured 1905 a power house that produced electricity. The walk down the 2,200 foot tunnel was impressive. On way home, rode a steam engine train. The ride was ok but getting to watch the engine run was the highlight for me. We also stopped at the RV museum in Indiana. Very interesting. The weather was perfect. The grass was green--quite the change from 1 1/2 months with only 1/4" of rain that we received. The folks we met and visited with were super friendly and helpful. They suggested local restaurants that had great food--a couple we visited more than once. I ate my first roast beef on a weck--quite tasty--never heard of such a thing before. Lots of history. Not likely to get back that way again but surely enjoyed our short time there. Below is a wheel horse at the RV museum. They also featured other things produced in Indiana. I liked how they had it "hitched" to the hitching post.

This pic kind of makes you feel like your sky diving into a wheel horse plant. (or falling off a ladder) Shop looks good Don, mine always looks way better in pics then in person......I think