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I'm sure a few of you have been watching my project C4 thread. Today was a big day, finishing the last pieces and the test drive... I'm grinning from ear to ear - so can tell you it has gone well I'd done a lot of calculations on gearing and working out the correct ratios. So was pretty confident it would just work. Just how do you test a 4WD tractor? mud? pulling? ploughing? Well after a quick run to check nothing was falling off here are a few pics. I'm thinking of a new sport - extreme tractor rock crawling, because I want to drive over things - is that wrong? missus seems to think so... Here's a few pics, my son did some video too, will try pull something together asap. The answer to the question was driving up walls and stairs! and some of the aftermath her indoors won't be happy! mark

Hello Santa. Nice to see you again. Not much needed here myself. Mrs. Bob says I have too much already. So here is a partial list of some things I'd like. Send a little thank you to everyone who helped raise money for Childhood Cancer; Help our Admin Karl keep the database from crashing in 2014; Help Zane get the paint problems solved on his 753; See if you can do anything to help Charlie get back in the good graces of eBay; Chasm needs a modified clutch/brake for his horse so he can get back in the saddle again; Help the Cleveland Browns...uh, never mind; Craig needs a Techy carb? I don't know about this one, but to each his own; I know there are many more things that I can't think of at this time, but I will add them as I remember. Most of all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Hi, Wheel Horse guys. Jolly Old Saint Nick, here. I been going over my naughty and nice list and see that most of you are on the Nice List. For those who aren't, it's time to make amends and reverse that trend. Only a few days left to Christmas. I have a few letters from some of you, but not all. I have a feeling most of you will want something nice and red, but a few of you just need some tools to keep your red things working like they were when they were new. My "red" transport, at times, needs some TLC, but my head elf mechanic does a good job of keeping it "flying". For those who forgot to send your letters in, please use this thread and this forum that was so generously offered for us to use, to send me your Christmas wish lists. Keep in mind, old Santa's back ain't what it used to be, so try not to fill your lists too much with a GT-14, and especially a D-250. I know how some of you feel about the D series, but it's all good as long as it's red. Myself, I have been wanting a round hood (I'm hoping Mrs. Claus is reading this). I hope you all are aiming to stay or get back on the Nice List. For those who aren't, you might find a old yellow and white thing under your tree. Santa.

It's been some time since I've visited this thread, and I have to tell you that I've really felt the need lately to get back to counting my blessings. You see, life has gotten back to normal by this writing, and it wasn't that long ago that I was wondering if I would even be here now. The every day tedium and little aggravations that annoy us all in our daily lives have crept back to the forefront. You know how a situation or a person can get to you and make you feel anger, animosity and disgust at times. That, coupled with job and family pressures and commitments at this time of year can be devastating to us, causing even more angst. But it is this time of year that sometimes makes us reflect on our lives, and interactions with friends and family, and to see what really matters. For me what matters is not stressing out over people and things I can't control. Those things will be gone from my life as much as I can make it happen. Family, and real friends who are as genuine as I would be to them are what's important. My impending retirement has also given me pause to reflect on a career that started in high school working at Howard Johnson's on the turnpike to make gas money, to a summer in a cement paint plant, and then on to a box shop for 23 years, then to my electrical contracting business, and finally on to three different machine shops to finish up. I'm so grateful for my wife Karen and my kids who love me no matter how much I embarrass them at times. And you of course, my friends here who encouraged me and also gave me strength to fight and get to this day. I know I'm not perfect no matter what Stevasaurus tells you, and I will flounder and be a grump now and then. Just ignore me when that happens. I promise I'll come back refreshed and ready to make you laugh. So again, I would like to take this moment to thank all of you who were there when I needed you. Thank You, Jim

Apologies for the rough cut video, but still think I should share my first 10 minute test run! Still smiling (a lot). Missus thinks I'm nuts! Here you go - a spot of extreme horsin'.

Unless you get it just right, it can damage the 1/2/3 gears in the trans. The one I worry about the most is 3rd as it is the one that is most easily damaged and leads to the jumping out of third problem. On the Hi/low shifter, shifting on the fly is VERY BAD. The fork isn't that strong to start with, and the change in speed/torque from Hi to Low is huge. I NEVER shift Hi/Low while moving, and very very seldom shift the other gears while moving.

OMG...I just looked at my Magic Pencil...it was made in Louisiana. It is tied up in knots over the LSU vs IOWA game...

I heard a rumor that Tecky carbs are on Back order! Santa, please send Steve some colored pencils and a Hello Kitty pencil case for his football picks and some new Mickey Mouse boots for ice fishing! OH AND SOME SOCKS TOO!

You see that Jim...nobody likes you... Seriously, you are my best friend and an inspiration...I am proud to call you friend. It is good to go back through threads like this and remember (I have a couple of them myself). Be talking to you Mate.

Jim ... Thank you for sharing your inspiring thoughts. I can't tell you how much it has helped / inspired me to deal with all the everyday day ins & outs that you too have dealt with this past year & half. I thought it was just me that had these thoughts & feelings dealing with the trials & tribulations of life after surgery , but you have helped me to see better things are to come...one day at a time After what I've gone through these last couple of months hearing this lets me know that in a years time I can look back with a positive attitude and be as thankful as you are today It is good to hear things are going better for you after what you been through and taking time to share your thoughts. Jim, we never met or spoke , but I consider you a friend for helping me through this with your words. Your a good man... again Thank you Merry Christmas Chasm

As promised. The pictures aren't the best and I didn't get pictures of everything. But I bet most of you see stuff that I don't even know what it is.

Blower, weights and chains, the 310-8 tank Is ready for the 6 plus this weekend!

I dabble in some photography every once in a while too.

Thanks for the comments so far guys! Here's a vid, apologies for the quality.... It was filmed on a decent SLR at 50Mbps by my son. Unfortunately I do not have PC hardware or software powerful enough to work on the 2GB of footage filmed over 10 mins... I had no choice but to re encode to 1Mbps windows style! :/ Enjoy

Craig...carbs are not good for you...you should be on the Atkins diet if you want to be healthy...

Yes...it is a thin piece of flat metal acting like a fork sliding the gear...doesn't really take to much to bend or break after time. Remember...these trannys are usually around 30 to 40 years old...parts do get some wear. I know some of my gears started to show signs of wear when I was around 30...a little more wear at 40...I am 60+ now...and with the right lubrication, I just keep going. I also stop first before I change gears...very important.

Santa, I know its a tall order but Peace on Earth would be nice! Oh, and Stevasaurus needs his WH Red Rhinestone Tiara

Better than your magic undies! I shot from the hip got all my picks in before all of the coaching rumors and star player arrests are in. I"M GOING TO CLEAN HOUSE!!!!!!

Creep up on the full mark... Techy's don't like too much oil.

College football is great! Where else can you pick the Champ 53 weeks before the title game is played! B Green NIU Marshall Minne BYU ND Cincy Louieville Mich Mid Tenne Ga Tech Oregon Ariz ST BC UCLA Rice Texas A&M N Texas Georgia S Carolina LSU Mich St Baylor Alabam OSU Missu Houston Ball St AUBURN!!! Luck is on their side!

I'd say something nice but you don't understand "Squonkenese!"

Boom shak ka lak ka, well ya you know first in the Big 10 picks low and behold here comes round two. Can you guys handle it if you get whooped again!!! As always, Go HawKeyes!!!

I'll second that Bob!!! Was just talking about you today, and I wasn't talking to Duke.

Ebay is absolutely ruthless in evaluating their sellers these days. I have been a user since 2008 and in July I was permanently banned from selling. Their reasoning was my shipping speed was below par even though I stated in my listing it would take up to 5 days to send items! I had several sellers evaluate me as slow shipping speed mainly because what they bought was a heavy, cast iron part that I have to drive an hour to ship. I had a feedback of 98.5 percent which isn't exactly awesome but I had excellent ratings in item description and shipping charges. I guess buyers expect Ebay to be like Amazon where the item will show up in two days. I must say, when you have other commitments and not a full time job on Ebay, it is hard to get a package out in the mail that was auctioned off an hour ago LOL. Not to forget I'm somewhat old school like my dad where we don't use online postage. My father has been with Ebay for 14 years and I'm waiting to see where they beat him up next time he wants to sell some Mopar parts. Sellers, do yourselves a favor and check your seller dashboard. DSRs will kill you. Also, as a buyer, remember how harsh they are on sellers so when you fill out the DSR (Detailed Seller Rating), giving less than 5 stars may cripple them. Ebay won't even take 4 stars as good enough. For those of you who want to see the examples I found of others in my situation: http://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Trust-Safety/SELLING-ACCOUNT-RESTRICTED-All-my-listings-are-removed-and-eBay/qaq-p/1283347 Ebay is just ridiculous these days, check this out: http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2013/8/1377220683.html Pretty much sums it up. I'm not even going to bother calling them for further explanation or a resolution. I GREATLY miss the times when buying was at your own risk and people had to read discriptions so they didn't get pulled around by a seller. I'm not implying I would pull a buyer around and take advantage of him but it seems NOTHING these days is something that is assumed at your own risk. I can still remember sitting with my dad after Kindergarten was let out and he had to work for 2 more hours so he would stick me on the computer next to him and I would browse on ebay. He would just say, don't buy anything from someone with less than 95% feedback. Seemed to make perfect sense and was a much better way for a buyer to evaluate the decency of a seller rather than cling to the shirt of ebay when the item they received was not what they wanted. Also, think of this, next time you are buying a tractor part, look at the number of feedback transactions the seller has. I guarantee most of the people we buy tractor parts from have a feedback of less than 5000 transactions. These are the people Ebay obiviously doesn't care much for if you read the second link. Ebay behaves as if you were driving 5mph over with no other violations and your drivers license gets permanently suspended. Please spread the word! This kind of nonsense won't last long as the sellers are what make Ebay the place that it is! Charlie

Once again I'll be offering at cost Wheel Horse wall calendars professionally printed off of Justin's pdf file. Those of you who don't have a good printer, just want one extra nice or maybe your tractor is in it this year and want a keepsake this is for you. I sent out close to 40 of them last year and no one was disappointed. Best news is the calendars themselves are the same price but shipping has changed some. They are as follows: Calendars shipped to your door (including shipping:) US $ 22.00 CANADA $ 35.00 INTERNATIONAL $45.00 GOOD NEWS IF YOU WANT MORE THAN 1. I CAN FIT 3 CALENDARS IN AN ENVELOPE SO IF YOU WANT 2 OR 3 JUST ADD $15.00 FOR EACH EXTRA CALENDAR. ORDER BY P.M. ONLY. DO NOT ORDER THEM ON THIS THREAD! I WILL ACCEPT PAYPAL (USING THE GIFT OPTION) OR PERSONAL CHECK. I WILL NOT ORDER ANY IF NOT PAID IN ADVANCE. Ask any one who has one of last years calendar they are TOP NOTCH! I will be accepting orders up until 2 weeks after Justin's file is done and is on RS so everyone can see the pics and decide if they want one. THANKS, MIKE

You guys catch this yet? I was going to post it in the how-to section but I figured it'd get squashed there : http://www.wgrz.com/media/cinematic/video/3963207/

You want to see some crazy crashes? These kept me entertained while was at home recuperating! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5_Cn5qAu0

alright, good news and bad news......... before the good and bad though, an update....... cleaned up the head gaskets and a spray with silver paint. new ones will come when its running. let them dry and installed the heads and torqued. filled the engine with diesel and let it soak into the sludge in the oil pan, drained it and filled a couple times. bolted the engine on the hydro tractor instead of the 8 speed it came off. will install all the parts on the engine sitting on the hydro tractor. dismantled the starter motor and cleaned it out. put some fresh grease in the outer bearings and freed up the gear. installed it on the engine and made sure that i had power and it spun over. right, now the good news..... since i had the starter good, i thought id install the flywheel and turn the engine over and see what sort of compression the engine had.... front cylinder.... first bump 50 second 75 third 100 fourth 110 rear cylinder......first bump 50 second 75 third 100 fourth 110. checked both twice, dry, no oil put in plug hole. so 110 on both cylinders is good for me, engine sounds good turning over, no unusual noises so far........ now the bad.... tested the ignition module and its bad, couldn't get it to drop voltage as i rotated the engine, constant battery voltage through the engine revolutions. i read a thread on here about how chuck (soi) used a test light to test the module. tried that and also used a magnet and passed it over the eye from both directions, flipping the magnet over to make sure n and s poles were passed over it. no change....... so more $$$$, ordered a new one from onanparts.com along with a new rotor and some carb kit gaskets and condenser. also ordered another 3 ohm harley dual fire coil from the same place i got the one for my 1st 416. at least i have spares for the 1st 416H if this engine doesn't work out.... the more i get into it though, the more it looks like the p.o. had a no fire issue and gave up on the engine. then it got picked for parts. the engine has less than 600 hours on it, the same as my 1st 416. so hopefully in a bit more time and money it will become the engine for my next build......

I waited for the ones with helium also and wouldn't you know it, one of the kids got ahold of it. MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.

I tried that Steve, then learned... there's no amount of protein, fat, and fiber that's gonna fix my Techy.

Wow Matt that looks amazing.

A new Techy carb would be nice... then again, some coal would heat the house.

Very nice looking setup there Glenn. I'm in the short chute group too. They are calling for a good amount of snow this weekend here. It will be the first time I've been able to test it out , but I'm confident it'll do just fine. The videos I've seen of them working show that.

Every chance I get....

Really GREAT thing you are doing. It reminds me of my shop class days. To this day 30 years later I am still very good friends with my shop teacher. A couple things I remember was him starting up a 265 Chevy V-8 in the class room. The flames shot out as he would rev up the motor on a engine stand. The other thing is the first day of class every year. He would get out this huge chunk of hair and tell the story how this kid lost it in the metal lathe. This looks like a really great project. Those skills will last a lifetime for those kids. They are learning things that only hands-on can teach.I give you TWO THUMBS UP!!!!

Not a w-horse but from your side of the pond!,looks fun!.

Update again for tractor club! Sorry for the delay for those of you that look forward to getting these updates! Well like most of the country.........we are flat out freezing around here. Though this might not pose a problem to some, it really puts a wrinkle in what we are trying to do here at school with our club. If you have been following along you know that we have run in to some issues with getting enough heat in to the building. As I mentioned last week, I had a few gentleman stop by and look over the building and get an action plan in place to insulate the building so that we can have a warm place to work over the winter months. After a few phone calls and trying to get it set up to have electric run out to the barn, things changed for the better. I was then approached by these men and they said let's skip the whole idea of insulating. I was kind of confused and bummed at the same time. What was coming next was something I never even dreamed of. They said "How about we just build you your own building exclusively for the the club?" I couldn't believe what I was being told and asked again what they were planning to do. They decided it would be much more beneficial to just build a 12 x 20 shed that will be fully insulated with lights and the whole 9 yards. If I could perform a cart wheel I would definitely be doing them right now. I have to get board approval through the school system which is just a formality, get my permit from the city, have the 220 electric service run to the new area, and the building will be built and then transported to the school property. I keep pinching myself as this is surreal. Now that the ball is rolling I am hopeful that we can get this building in place by the beginning of the new year. This is a great addition to the club for sure. Last night we had change things up as we couldn't even work out in the barn as the temperature was just too cold. We moved quickly in to the computer lab and started researching the history of Wheel Horse tractors. It was a good refresher for me and the kids learned some very valuable information about the progression of the company. Many questions were asked and answered and the kids seemed to really enjoy digging deeper in to the history of the Pond family. Needless to say the last couple of weeks have been amazing. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that this project would turn out the way it has thus far. Continue to check back for updates..........things seem to be getting pretty exciting! Sorry for no photos this week!

I just heard from a friend in Michigan. He says it's been snowing heavily for 3 days. His wife has done nothing but stare through the window. If it doesn't stop soon, he'll probably have to let her in!

Here's mine, been reliably getting the job done for a few thousand years.

In 2003 we bought a new VW Golf TDI for my wife. A very cool little car, that got over 40 mpg with her very heavy right foot. Unfortunately it was plagued by electrical gremlins (all covered under warranty) that drove us crazy. The cold icy night that left her stranded at work while 8 1/2 months pregnant was its last in our possession, it got traded in on a Subaru the next morning. It was a shame, it was a well thought out car. Loved the heated seats and mirrors. A very quick and sweet handling car. But the problems we had (and the amount of money we lost on that car)would make me very reluctant to buy another VW. Glad that you have had a better experience than we did.

A neat trick that works, put in or take out a little air from the back tires to level out the blade...have to do it to the back tires. You can turn that scrapper bar over to use what is the top edge, if it has not been done already. I also set my blade height a touch off the concrete, with the star wheel, this saves some wear on that edge by taking the weight off the blade. BTW Welcome to Red Square...

Here's my 4x4 C-101

Napa # is LS6226

I know just how you feel. I was a long time lurker that has only recently become active on the site and I too have been totally impressed with the help I have gotten from the membership here.

It really seems like a long time since I did my last update. Since it is Wednesday night, that can only mean one thing, Tractor Club Update!!!! The day started, as far as the club is concerned, over my lunch break. I met with a couple of very nice gentleman that were laying out the plans to give us a warm place to work this winter. The ball has been set into motion as they will be making some calls to their friends and seeing what it will take to get spray foam insulation up as well as a lower ceiling put in. I am overwhelmed by their generosity to say the least. Tonight the heaters were working as we had a great night to work with temps in the mid 50's during the day. Sanding commenced and the kids became encouraged as I mentioned that I will be getting some parts sandblasted to help speed up the process. We spent about half of our time sanding and the other half of time working on a teachable lesson. We hauled in a 12 h.p. Kohler that has a broken rod. We started taking this motor apart and stopped periodically to explain how each part worked and was able to produce the power needed to actually make the tractor work. It was just as rewarding for us as it was them. I am hopeful that they were all able to walk away with a little more knowledge on how a gasoline powered engine works. Here is a photo of the kids around the engine as they were removing the head bolts. And of course we can not leave out these professional sanding machines! Earlier this week I received a very nice surprise. A gentleman named Ron Greco, not sure if he is a member here or not, has been following our progress on the Wheel Horse Junkies Facebook page. He informed me that he has been very impressed with the work these kids are putting forth and has purchased a t-shirt for each kid from T&H Creations. The shirts should be arriving within the next week and will be a very nice and generous Christmas gift for these kids. They have no idea of what is being done, but will be so excited when they receive them. I can't wait to see their faces! Thank you Ron......very, very cool! This has been an amazing journey and I want to thank all of you for being such a huge part of helping shape these kids lives! Merry Christmas to all of you!

thanks guys a few pictures this morning in the daylight... can you have too much front axle articulation?

Hmmm, I struggled to find information on the usage or manufacturer despite finding the drawings and parts lists. Yes they were used on at least 2 flavours of mower and this took some hunting down.... Here's the early blueprint of what I was trying to achieve long before I tracked down an axle

Just because I dug it out today, I thought I'd post a picture of a 1961 dozer blade when not mounted on a tractor: