Leaderboard

And thank you to every other post that has been written today; if I had the time and patience to reply to them all, I certainly would! John's was just specifically humorous because my dad was upset that we won't let him into the basement to look at the washing machine. My family and I really appreciate the offers of help as well as the thought and prayers of my father's friends. I guess this experience has taught me that it's difficult to say thank you because the English language hasn't gifted us enough words to properly convey gratitude. So, in the best words I can summon, we all appreciate this.

She finally is in the saddle of her horse again. She doesnt like the JD 318 and wont run the BX2230 so I found a 42 inch rear discharge deck and did some work on it and new belts and blades and she is smiling again. It sat last year with the snow plow on it and did no mowing chores.

on a bicycle. I rode the bike after the lung surgery two years ago this June. I didn't get back into it last summer, so I decided I need to ride again to help me lose some weight. That, along with eating better hopefully will help me lose, and I need to lose a lot. Wish me luck as I try changing the way I live. I hope I'm not a miserable failure at this little endeavor. I need to figure out how to shut this guy down.

Everything jim said in the order he gave it,But last check for sheared key in rear wheel hubs.

Maybe it is an international.....

You've got to give that seller credit. All too often the seller would go back on his word to the first buyer and go for the extra money.

Believe me; he's tried....... Thank you very much! He appreciates all you have been saying and acknowledges the fact that he has a thick skull to begin with........ Kidding, dad........ kinda.

Hi, all! My father wanted me to update all of you on what's going on. On Monday, he was trying to do some work on his truck, which involved removing the drive shaft. He neglected to chock the tires and set the parking brake, which he knows very well should've been done. When he removed the drive shaft, the truck began to roll forward. He tried frantically to get out from under the truck, but unfortunately, the rear tire rolled directly over his head. He was able to get to a phone, call 911, and was rushed to Danbury Hospital Trauma Centre in critical condition. After extensive CT scans, X-rays, and analysis, it was determined that he had a cracked skull, blood and air on his brain, multiple facial fractures, and paralysis on the left side of his face. The doctors worked on him in the ICU until Tuesday, when he continued to make remarkable strides. He was moved to a private room and discharged on Wednesday. While the blood and air on the brain has mostly subsided, his face is still partially paralyzed and will require one or more surgeries to repair the bones in his face. Thankfully, he suffered no brain damage. The doctors are telling us there will be several weeks to several months to recover, and still don't know if there will be any permanent damage. He very much appreciates all of the support and remains grateful to have such a caring group of friends behind him. Starting on Monday, he will be meeting with specialists to discuss his recovery, and he will try to keep you up to date through me. My father continuously surprises the doctors and nurses who, through their combined experience, have never seen anything like my dad. They were surprised he wasn't at LEAST seriously brained damaged, even dead. But no: knowing my father, he can even face being run over by a truck and have more improvement in two days than the time he accidentally opened a cut on his chin, and was spurting blood for weeks. Yeah, this is a lot more serious, but still...... My father isn't brain damaged, and he's walking, talking, eating, and behaving exactly like he used to. While he won't be outside working on the tractors or truck any time soon, much to his disappointment, he refuses to sell anything and even says that he still wants to fix the drive shaft himself, as the mechanics 'won't do it right'. Just to prove his strength, and the patience of our family, our dryer broke. Dad constructed a piece to fix the problem and showed my mother and I how to remedy the machine the day he came home from the hospital. So, just to appease your minds, my father is doing well and improving drastically, although he has a long way to go. Thank you for the continued support and prayers. I will try to update you all as soon as anything happens, per request of my father. Megan Lyon

My nine year old boy and I bought a Wheel Horse at a local auction for $300 (after taxes and fees) about a week ago. It was his first auction, and he was fascinated with the experience. He sat on the tractor the entire bidding process like he already owned it. At the time, I knew nothing about Wheel Horses. We liked that it looked like a miniature tractor, and not a riding mower. I liked the small side shaft Kohler. After some internet research I figured out it was a 1960 Suburban. It included an attached belly mower, and seemed complete at the auction. I later learned, the belt and exhaust shields are missing. It is also missing the air cleaner and filter. The note on the hood at the auction said "good engine and trans". Well, the carb was frozen solid. It had red paint all over it and crap inside it. I hate it when people spray everything with paint, even if it's not supposed to be painted, just to make it look "good". We had to rebuild the carb. We did get the engine to start, but still need to adjust the carb to keep it running. We did not have the engine running long enough to try the transmission, but should soon. The rear tire had a hole in the sidewall, but Dad had a set of correct size rear tires behind his garage. He has had them for years. He didn't know what the were for, but kept them anyway. One front rim is rusted clean through. I have a cheap set of Tractor Supply wagon wheels on the front, until I can source a suitable, correct replacement rim. We needed to be able to roll it around while working on it. The throttle cable and lever is there, but the choke cable and lever is missing, along with the indicator plate, It also does not have the optional fenders. Previous sales on eBay have sold Suburban parts for around a $100 a piece. Well that adds up quick, especially on a $300 tractor to begin with. I saw what looks like a 61 Wheel Horse on Craigslist, and considered buying it just for the front wheels, fenders and the one belt guard it had. I'd then sell the rest to try and recoup the difference. But, my wife thinks spending $450 for another tractor, just to pull parts off it, is not a good idea. She is probably right. She wants to spend money on redoing some rooms in our house, which desperately need it. I'll post some pictures soon. We plan to get it running and driving first. Then I plan to completely disassemble it and paint each piece separately. I want it to look better than factory new. It would be nice for my boy to drive it around the tractor show. We don't plan to add any attachments beyond the mower deck, I would like to find the belt guards, exhaust shield, air cleaner, throttle plate, and front rim. We do have some metal bending machines in Dad's garage, so we may make the shields if I cannot find them. Safety first, especially with a kid on it. I would also like to find the optional rear fenders and a front weight box. I read that these "nut roasters" can flip due to lack of weight up front. Any help with cross reference part numbers, interchangeable parts, production numbers and suggestions would be appreciated. The replacement parts don't have to be "numbers matching", but should look like they belong on the tractor. The majority of the early Wheel Horse tractors I've seen, have metal seats with Swiss cheese style holes in them. My seat is solid, without the Swiss cheese style holes. Can anyone tell me why? Was it a one year thing; a dealer thing, a supplier thing, or just a replacement seat? Luke NJ

My first Wheelhorse, a 1997 year model which I bought new, is back in service - yippie! Not that it was ever out of service, just I rotate my tractors into and out of mowing duty every year. This year, the 314-8 is the primary mowing tractor around the house. I have several decks to choose from with this tractor, 48 SD and 42 RD, both which work great. Years ago, I had a C-111 with a 36 inch rear discharge deck and I really liked the way that deck cut, so about the time I was going to post a "want" classified, I found a decent 36 RD deck. I put a new idler pulley on it, deck belt and PTO belt these past few days getting ready to mow. BTW, the deck cost me $50, is solid and has new blades on it. My last 36 RD deck had bad spindle bearings, but I ran it that way - anyway. It sounded like a jet, but mowed great. Once I got the deck mounted and mowing with it - I was very surprised at how quite it was. It is easily the quitest deck I have. Aside from the quality of cut of the 36 RD deck, some other things I like about them. Very hard to scalp, not as heavy as my other decks and my aging back can pretty easily handle it. When I mow around the house and cars, nothing blows onto the patio, sidewalks, etc. There really isn't a vacuum by the deck, so in my driveway, I can roll across it full throttle and no rocks go flying. My yard is lumpy and rolley, so the ground supported deck give a great cut - hugging the ground and super side to side cut. Last thing this 36 inch deck does for me is - I can use my basement for storage as the tractor and deck will fit through the door, whereas with 42 RD or 48 SD decks can't do this. So I have another out of the weather storage option for it. First thing I did was prep the tractor for service. Last time I used this tractor was with the grader blade, over a year ago - and then for only a few days. I changed oil, drained the tranny and changed that fluid. I put a new shifter boot as the old one was cracked bad. Here is pic: Next up I changed the spark plug and serviced the air cleaner. The battery was dead, but not a problem with this tractor - no need to put a charge on it, I'll let the tractor do that for me. In the mean time, I used a rope start - which I added years ago and has saved my hide many times. I had an extra mule drive and I believe the deck belt on the 36 RD is slightly different in length than the 48 SD deck - in any event, I wanted to have a dedicated mule drive for this deck and used my extra one to do so. I marked it with a big black majic marker so next time I use it, I know which deck it is for. Once I had the tractor serviced and the grader blade off, I put on the deck and mule drive - and I was off mowing!!! After stopping once to adjust the slack out of the mule drive from deck install/new belts - it was continuous mowing. Here is a pic of the tractor and part of the finished yard. Did I mention another benefit of the 36 RD deck is that it is so narrow, you have to make many more laps around the yard to get the mowing finished vs the 48 SD deck which means more seat time... All in all - a great day with the Wheelhorse. Happy mowing, Bill

I USE A PRESSURE WASHER WITH JUST WASHER FIRST. THEN KEROSENE THE GREASY AREAS WITH A PAINT BRUSH AND PRESSURE WAS IT AGAIN. NOW I USE DAWN SOAP IN A BUCKET OF HOT WATER. I ALWAYS TO THE HOOD AND FENDER LAST AND DON'T LET IT LAY ON THE NICE FINISHES. THEN RUN A BUFFER OVER IT AND WAX. BOWTIE

looks good... nice addition to your GROWING collection.... tractoraholicism strikes again...

You mean this one I also got him riding a walk behind You have to click the pic to enlarge it. sent from my phone. I haven't downloaded these to photo bucket yet.

:*****: You promised not to share it.

I knew that was you, so i snapped a picture!

I have enough pieces painted to put a rolling chassis together but I can't go much farther until I get the rest of the parts back from the painter.

GRAB THE GOVERNOR LEVER!!! WHOOMBAHHHHH!!! :)

So my neighbor Tony (Docwheelhorse) has been using a Wheel Horse Trailblazer 7 to clear his driveway for many years now. But depending on a 1960's era machine can sometimes be tricky right? So Tony would buy a Trailblazer when he saw one up for sale for spare parts or even as a backup if his main machine didn't start or broke. Well we had some pretty good storms this year and the Trailblazers weren't really cutting it, and he saw my Gilson walk behind just whipping that snow outa my driveway so he decided to break down and buy a newer bigger machine. Ended up with an Ariens Pro series with an 11hp motor, headlight, heated grips etc...kinda like the Cadillac of blowers. Now what to do with the Trailblazers???? He has started talking to a local small engine place about trading them all for a ride on tractor that he will probably sell to someone where he works. The small engine place asked for pics to be sent of the Trailblazers so I gave him a hand getting then out of the sheds and on the lawn for the pictures. I didn't know how many he had....boy was I surprised!! He has managed to accumulate 16 Wheel HorseTrailblazers and one Ariens 5hp!! Here's a pic of the machines minus one Trailblazer that is at a rental property that his dad owns. Mike............

I would check the belt first for signs of stretching or excessive wear. Could be time for a new one. Next look at the spring for the clutch pulley to see if it is weak or broken. Next I'd be sure to check the input pulley to make sure there is no slippage on the shaft that would indicate a broken key. Though this isn't the most likely thing to be wrong, it is a possibility. The serial number you gave comes back as a 312-8. Hope this is of some help. Jim

Simple green is safe on pretty much anything.....pet, kid, tractor etc. friendly

Increasing the PSI makes the tire "harder" which lessens its rolling resistance and can improve mileage. But on the downside you might wear the center of the tread out before the outside of the tread and find yourself replacing the tires sooner than you should have which wipes out any money saved on fuel by upping the pressure. I recommend just putting in what the car manufactured specifies. Mike............

It's an Injun round up!! :)

Great! First trees and now electricity. What are we going to do with you!

Hello all Redsquare guys and gals. The good news first....Karl is still with us and has contacted the Admin/Mod team. The bad.....he will be on the mend for a long time after an accident at his home Monday. He gave us the "ok" to let you guys know what happened and the best way will be to quote what he told us. I cant type too long and please no phone calls I was admitted in critical condition Monday morning and into intensive care until Tuesday evening My current condition. I have several facial bones broken and will require surgery. I have lost (hopefully temporary) complete hearing on my left ear, and my left eye, wile is working, is not tracking with the right eye. I have also lost much of the muscle movement on the left side of my face as though I had a stroke. My truck weighs 8,300 empty with a 300lb cap on the back. The right rear tire rolled directly over my head. Every single doctor, nurse and the entiry hospital staff has NEVER seen anyone who didn't either die or have permanent neurological damage. I alive and go for my 6th and final ct scan on Monday. The last scan showed the the blood and air has greatly diminished and I will not require brain surgery. I am actually home at the moment and aside from the issues above I am so freaking lucky to be typing this to you. Tomorrow is my Sons birthday and I am so thankful that I will be here for him. According to the doctors, my recovery will be based on months, not days BUT they also thought that I would be in the hospital for 3 days. I am on complete bed rest and am restricted from lifting anything more than 1/2 gallon of milk. It's killing me as I am not a seditaty kind of guy. I will not check here very often as it's difficult to see the computer screen. I will however update you all when I know more, but please now I am alive, and for the most part okay and I am a very very lucky man. I will tell you with 100% honesty, I thought I was going to die on Monday! Love you guys! -- Karl Karl is not some guy on a forum I have never met face to face, we have met, at my house and at his house. We even went on a tractor rustlin mission together. We are friends, no doubt about it. So keep up your spirits and do what the doc's tell you Karl. If you need something you know you can call me. Mike................

YOU WERE LUCKY TO FINE THAT ONE. I JUST BOUGHT A NEW ONE LAST MONTH. MY ORIGINAL 1971 ANALOG MICRONTA VOM QUIT. I BOUGHT NEW FULLSIZE ANALOG THAT WAS MADE IN DAYTON,OHIO. I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND A LARGE DIAL ANALOG METER NOW A DAYS AND THEN MADE IN USA $40 TO MY DOOR. BOWTIE

kevin next time try it before you take it all apart. take the pulley nut off and the belt tensioner will help hold the pulley.

Oh, never mind on the air fliter thing. You just need the cover, and the actual filter. A cover is around 20 and a filter usually is about 5 or 6 bucks at a parts store. Your throttle cables look like they might not be the correct ones as well, but i they work, thats probably fine unless you want it 100% original. Jake Thought you and your son might enjoy seeing what I ended up making of my 401 that my dad and I restored together. I did just about everything other than spray the paint, and we had someone else rebuild the motor and tranny, and finished it when I was 11 years old. I am 13 now. I am working of finishing up the a set of fenders, belt guard, hitch, and a tombstone weight for it this spring. ~Jake before picture after

16 Tecumsehs and One Briggs..... None are blown up.... (2) 5 Hp Tecumsehs (14) 7 hp Tecumsehs and (1) 5 hp Briggs..... Any 656 guys looking for a motor?? LMAO! Tony

This girl can really belt em out...

My mower wasn't cutting worth a damn so I pulled the deck today to sharpen the 3 blades. And to my surprise? Two blades were missing! Wow. I couldn't believe it. I can't believe I didn't torque them down tight based on the size of the nut and shaft. I did manage to find 1 blade in a bunch of leaves I cut up with the deck. I couldn't find the other blade or any of the hardware. So off to Ebay for new blades and hardware.

Sparky and JackC thanks for the replies. I thought that was the case but wanted to be sure..

What do you guys think of this? Building and Using a Leakdown Tester by Mike Nixon A Better Way Everyone remembers how to do a compression test: screw in the tester, flip the kill switch to "off", hold the throttle wide open, and press the starter button. The cylinder takes in air and compresses it, and the tester traps it. The maximum is reached when the gauge holds more pressure than the engine can produce. The weakness of this test is that throttle position, engine temperature, ambient air temperature, and a host of other factors can make the results vary considerably. What's worse, a compression test checks too many engine components at the same time. A poor reading can indicate so many things, it's hard to tell which engine part is at fault without doing a lot of other tests. A leakdown tester avoids this difficulty. Air is pumped into the cylinder from an outside source, and the gauge reads the percentage that escapes, which not only eliminates all of the aforementioned variables, but as a bonus, makes it a simple matter to pinpoint the source of the leakage by wiggling and rotating engine parts while the test is underway. "That'll be $1,500, and uhh, it still smokes." But how does it work in action? Okay. Let's say your brother-in-law rebuilt your engine. You've suspected that the guy is mechanically challenged, and sure enough, the finished product smokes like a chimney. But he's your kin, so... Finally, you have a shop look at it. A good compression test combined with the smoking leads them to a diagnosis of trashed valve guides. Seems reasonable and you approve the work. And the engine still smokes. Now you really have a problem, not to mention the shop, and your brother-in-law. Enter Mr. Goodwrench, who produces a leakdown tester, and performs the following test. On each cylinder in turn, he sets up the tester and reads the percentage of leakage. They're all good and low. Hmm. Undaunted, our hero retests each cylinder, but this time he lowers the pressure setting on the instrument, and, rotating the crankshaft a smidge each time to slide the piston down the bore a little, picks up the problem, plain as day. On the #4 cylinder, the gauge now reads 60% leakdown when the piston is partway down the bore, indicating cylinder damage, which the teardown verifies. Seems your brother-in-law didn't get one of those pesky wristpin circlips all the way into its groove. It subsequently popped out, and the wristpin wore a handsome trench into the cylinder wall. Why didn't the shop find it when the head was pulled for the valve job? Because two of the four pistons were at TDC. Why didn't the compression test pick it up? Because despite the trench, there is still plenty of cylinder area (the pin is more than an inch below the deck) in which to build adequate pressure for a compression test. WHOOSH! Leakdown testers are way cool. Not only does the amount of air escaping from the cylinder register on the gauge, it can also be heard, enabling the source of the leak to be pinpointed prior to the teardown. For example, high readings accompanied by hissing in the carburetor indicate burnt, tight, or carboned-up intake valves; the same thing in a muffler points toward--you guessed it--exhaust valves. A breeze coming out of the dipstick hole on the other hand indicates worn or heat-softened rings. And air escaping from an adjacent spark plug hole pinpoints a blown head gasket. Not For Everyone There's a catch, of course. You need an air compressor to use a cylinder leakdown tester. And, you need to now how to find TDC (top dead center) on the compression stroke for each cylinder that is tested. Can you do it? Sure. If you can adjust your valves, you can use a leakdown tester. Rolling Your Own Ready-made leakdown testers are easy to find today. You don't have to mortgage your house to a Snap-On dealer. So, if you are concerned about the condition of your engine but aren't into making things, or don't have the time, you can buy a leakdown tester for about $75. If on the other hand you have an air compressor that sort of implies that you're a certified tinkerer. You're probably also into making things, and for you, throwing together a leakdown tester is no big deal. Here's the rundown: The pressure regulator This is designed to be screwed onto an automotive paint spray gun. Grainger's is probably the cheapest, followed by Sears and Ace Hardware. The gauge that is often attached is, unfortunately, the wrong kind for our purposes. The pressure gauge Get a quality, back-mount, 0-100 psi gauge. As of this writing Grainger has the best deal. For the professional touch, carefully pry off the bezel and cover the faceplate with a copy of the label shown here. The spark plug adapter Make this by clamping an old 12mm plug in a vise (protected with wood or aluminum stock) on the hex--not the threads--and whacking off the porcelain with a well-aimed lateral hammer blow. Then grind off the rolled-over seal above the hex, grind off the ground electrode, put the plug back in the vise and drive out the remaining porcelain with a drift (if hard, the rolled seam hasn't been sufficiently removed--on some plugs you must grind partway into the hex to completely remove the seal). Tap the hex end with a 1/4" pipe tap (NGKs are hardest to tap but seal the best afterward). Screw the bugger onto a 1/4" to 1/2" pipe reducer, and that onto a 12" grease gun hose (about $5 at Wal Mart and just about anywhere). The damper valve This necessary part is merely a restriction between the regulator and the gauge. The easiest way is to plug the middle pipe with epoxy and afterward drill a 0.040" (#60 or 1mm drillbit) hole. Using it Adjust the cylinder to be tested to TDC compression (all modern inline fours firing orders are 1-2-4-3). Plug your tester into an air compressor line and adjust the regulator to get a "0" (or 100 psi, if you didn't remake the face) reading. Screw the hose into the spark plug hole. Connect the two. If the crankshaft turns or you hear all the compressor's air rushing out of an obviously open valve, the cylinder wasn't set exactly on TDC compression. Try again. When you get it right, the piston will stay put and the tool will indicate the amount of air that is escaping from around the rings, valves and head gasket of that cylinder. All cylinders leak a little. Large ones leak more, smaller ones less. Racing cylinders lose only 1 to 2%. Production multicylinder engines in top fiddle pass 5% and less, and no more than 10% regardless of the mileage. More than 10% leakdown means there's something wrong. YOWIE! In the event of a high reading, first take the time to double check that you are in fact at TDC on the compression stroke, not on the exhaust stroke (where both valves will be open). If that checks out, and the leak is (as it is usually) a valve, remove the valve cover and, with a hammer, carefully tap on one or both of the rockers for that cylinder, watching the gauge as you do so. This will often loosen carbon from around the valve and the reading will drop to a reasonable level. Parts List