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NOS!!

As most of you regular forum members know, we have been in a transition period preparing for retirement. At this point we have completed the move from our store to home with all our equipment. We will be finishing up a rather large sign order soon and will be able to attend more shows and focus on our website. 2014 will be a welcome and exciting change in our lives. First part of our plan for the website is to add a clothing category to the webs store. embroidered and silk screened items of all kinds will become available in the coming weeks and months. Also there will be a new promotion for SUPPORT MEMBERS for 2014 (More info on this after Christmas). We have added free shipping anywhere in the Continental US and will continue to do so for the entire year of 2014 Thank You all for you support and patience over the past 6 years. We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the BIG SHOW again this June. Feel free to post any ideas for the clothing category.

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

Will go well with this one I already have.

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

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.

2 sets - skinny for the winter, fat for the summer. Turf tires + chains + weight on 8.5 rims and 4.00 -8 tri-ribs for winter grip. Ag's on 10.5" rims for summer posing. Plus 4.00 -8 tri-ribs, because tractors are supposed to have skinny tri-ribs year round.

I got ALOT painted today. Camera isn't working good right now but I've got two pics of my frame. I got a sag as you can see. Of course it would be on the outside so EVERYONE can see. The rest of it looks really great. As you can see on the front of the frame in the other picture I got very little or no orange peel in most places.

My first half century mark today, so...thanks for the well wishes guys, Don(verosd)is right...I had the graveyard shift plowing at the Academy last night(happy birthday, huh?)...started the shift in an 8 ton Chevy dump truck, which is outfitted with sander and plow. The plow's pump decided to seize up half way through the snowfall portion of the storm...of course maintenance doesn't have a replacement pump on hand. So, I had to swap for another truck...by the time I got back on the road, the storm had turned over to a sleet, and freezing rain event on top of our initial six inches of snow. Always fun(NOT!), running double time, tryin' to play catch up on your route, in and unfamiliar truck. Then, the fun really begins when your shift ends, and you come home to a driveway full of the same...yep, there's the big SIGH! Not this time though...Mrs Rules surprised me with all the outdoor Christmas lights on, as I'm coming down our street, I see she's out blowing snow out of the drive, with her new Toro electric power shovel I got her...such the heavenly sight to behold. You know...there's just something about coming home to a clean driveway after you've been out plowing all night...trust me, that alone is a wonderful birthday present in itself. Makes me want to bust out in my happy dance, just thinkin' about it.

Happy Birthday Craig another year closer to 100 Have a great day

I use this one.

Just thought I'd give a quick update. I painted the grill to the OE semi-flat black finish, and installed the headlights as well as the front Case decal. I'm hoping to start on the mower deck tomorrow. HERE IS A VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Innr_zXg-ZU&feature=youtu.be Matt

here's my RJ58 custom stainless Brian

This little rig was built from spare parts to cruise around at the tractor/engine shows. Powered by a Kohler M8. Lots of fun to drive. Technically not a "worker" but it worked to ride me around instead of walking

All of mine are workers, and most have a few "non-correct" parts to make them custom. But the Ranger is the most custom: Its my usual "go-to" tractor for just about anything except mowing, the pull start Kohler never has a flat battery, its easy to get on and off, you can pick up sticks etc without leaving the seat, and it does everything I ever ask of it!

This month IMO is gonna be the best one yet- custom tractors! Post them up...

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.

Hi Darg, That "ticking" as it is being pushed is also pretty common and nothing to get worked up about. However, when you do push your tractor with the Eaton 1100, you should move the motion lever full forward before you start to push it. Eaton 1100's are rebuildable and parts are available. As far as a warm up, I let mine run at 3/4 open for about 5 minutes before moving it. It is not advisable to fire and go with a hydro and especially in winter weather. I will move my tractor from inside the garage after a minute to keep me from becoming even more confused than I already am on pure air. After I get it out the door, I let it go another four or five minutes before I go full throttle and under a load.

i have a 2 stage blower on my 95 520-H and yea it's a heavy sob, but i will out throw any of my neighbors walk behind blowers in just about any condition. we had about 3" inches of snow yesterday before it turned to rain and shrunk down to 1 1/2 to 2" with a ice crust on top. it went through it like a hot knife through butter. there ain't no way i will ever be with out one if i can help it. that's just my 2 cents worth eric j

Just a quick update on this project. After discussing the rebuild of this motor (216ci) with my uncle who is an engine builder he convinced me not to touch that motor as it is not fully pressurized. He, along with others (Thanks Chip) told me to find a 235CI which is the updated version with fully pressurized motor. One of the guys who works for my uncle told me that his sone has one that is in his 56 Chevy 150 (bel air) that he was planning on pulling to install an LS motor. I went and saw it and heard her run so that is the one that will go in my truck. There will be a few mods and I will need to use my original tranny. The 56 is already upgraded to the 12volt so that means I will be updating the truck to 12 volt too. Did not plan on that but I have to now which will be better. The guy who has the new motor needs a month of two to pull it as he has a few other projects ahead of that. He also has a bodyshop so I may be able to work out a deal with him to clear coat the truck. The only thing I plan on doing to the motor is to replace the valve cover gasket, clean the motor and install it. I included a picture of the firewall below so you can see how the motor color will complement the engine color. I started to recover the seat. It was pretty beat but I got the frame cleaned up, primed and painted. This afternoon I went and got the new burlap and foam etc to start to recover it. I had to fix the backrest frame with 1x flatstock too. Below are pics of the new motor and seat. Slow and steady on this project.

I have run 8.50 AG's and was never very impressed with them even with wheel weights. I went with these and they have been fantastic!! I used them just this weekend for snow removal with a 48" plow and I also spread and leveled around ten yards of fill and another five yards of topsoil this past year......NO ISSUES! I have 75#'s on each rim and do not run chains. These are 23x10.50's on the wide rims (pulled off a GT-1848) but they come in a smaller width for the rims on your 416. I had a tire shop stick em on and they way overfilled them so they look a bit "balloonish" (is that even a word?), but once I aired them down they sat nice and flat. Mike......

Here's what I use! It isn't red but plows and blows better then any Wheel Horse I ever owned. Can't beat the live hydraulics. I only wished the Ponds added them to their product line.

Myself, I would not go overboard on width. Narrower tires up front steer easier. I went with 8 inch wheels up front instead of the sixes. And I have two sets of rear - one wider than the others - and I prefer the narrower ones. Plus my chains only fit the narrow ones. But there are some cool wider tires out there... to each his own. Good luck.

Damn Volvos…Cant believe the seat just fell right off

Here are a couple of photos of my latest attachment for Tom and Scott's 2" receiver hitch. I bought the Suitcase Weight bracket from Greg Parnow (Heavy Hitch.) It is a perfect match for the 2" hitch. It can hold up to six suitcase weights (43 lbs. each.) My Lowe's only had two in stock. This is on my C-105 which serves as my backup plow and general plow year-round. I needed some weight on the rear as both of my 5xis have wheel weights installed. Santa has indicated that "she" is bringing a pair of Ags for the C-105 this year! On my shelf waiting for an install is the hitch for the 520-H that I received this week with the 2nd 5xi hitch close behind. Tom is also fabricating a receiver mount for my HF crane. I'll post pictures when I get it. These really increase the versatility of the tractors.

May all your Tecky's start!

Craigs hard at work at the Point! Go Army! ah, maybe next year...

Hope you have a great day!

Thank you all once again for lifting me up and helping me remember all that is good in my life.

Jim- I'm reading through this post for the first time, and I had no idea you were going through all of this. I must say how relieved I was to read about you have come through very well. I'm sending belated prayers anyways my friend. -BK

Okay, a couple good points have already been raised... Pulling the wheel - Do not hammer on the shaft like in other situations, this puts force in that very area that is already the weak point on this system - the bottom of the aluminum housing. I use a puller commonly called a "clamshell puller" (probably not the real term, see pic below, thats a HF set about $20-25) besides most pullers wont even fit around the wheel anyway - I did use some light blows to "shock" to help break the bond - used generous amounts of Kroil too. Even with all that, a wheel may just not come loose and drastic measures like Marv had to resort to be required. From the looks of mine, I didnt think I had a prayer of getting it off, bad rusted, but came pretty easily. The parts diagram wasnt of much use, especially in determining just what had to be removed when trying to get the thing out. The 'box' is mounted to a weldment bracket which in mounted to the frame and the underside of the Sundstrand pump (I like to have never found the 2 under the pump) By that time I had disassembled a lot of the dash/battery tray/etc and I pulled it out from the top which takes a bit of wiggling. I looked at a lot of other Ross units - Case, JD, Cub - and there were quite a few, but I didnt know how to compare them. For repair of an existing unit I think now that the main thing would be to determine the shaft/tube length, it looks like? the housing is probably the same. The kit I got was for a Cub (here again it seems the housings are alike) from www.factorydirectmowerparts.com 1 of IH-71930-C91 - Cub Cadet - Kit, Ball Cup @$10.86ea.

Though I haven't been involved in this hobby recently, I am an accomplished amateur cabinet maker. I used to make reproductions of old hoosier-type cabinets. Here is a link to one of my creations. This cabinet was built from scratch. All lumber was purchased from a sawmill, then worked in my shop/garage. http://homebuiltforum.com/topic/62-reproduction-sellers-kitchen-cabinet/

Scale baby

SHINY!!! That is incredible! Combines two of my favorite things. Wheel Horse's and Four Wheeling. Great Job!

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......

Looks like you found some very well preserved equipment. Single Kohlers are by far the most dependable motors that were used on WHs. And the 8 speeds are pretty much bomb proof. With that combo you should be good for many years of use with minimal maintenance. I also own a tall single stage blower and a dual stage. You just can't beat the singles. My dual serves its purpose in deep snow but I prefer the single hands down! Best of luck with it

Nice find. I saw that too, Glad another red square member got it, I also got a plow and bracket earlier in the year, and I'm still very impatiently waiting for snow to test it out!

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!

Thanks Ken! I got to ride it today!! The K301 runs fantastic, and tractor feels great as well. I still have to paint the grill black, and install the headlights. I still haven't started on the mower deck either, but I'll get on that soon. I'm very happy with the way its tuning out, and I know Gary would love it! Matt

Thank you RMCIII, Craig, and Jake for the encouraging words! Thanks to my amazing wife, I had a new set of shoes show up for the Case today. They are Deestone 23x10.50-12 6ply tires for the rear, and two Firestone 16x6.50-8 Tri Ribs for the front. These are my early Christmas prestent, and I must say she has fantastic taste in tires!

Aww, c'mon... just one or two... Here's one... As well as playing instruments I make them, from the circuit design to the woodwork and panels. The middle pic is a laser harp I made for a Jean Michel jarre tribute band.

since brian is hogging this month all to himself and nobody else is posting up their tractors (and theres quite a lot of very nice customs by members on the forum)............ edit: i see that fireman just got one in before i finished this post....... i will post one of mine...... most of my tractors have small custom fabrication but look basically oem, the one that stands out the most i guess is my 1057, it sort of fits into this category.... not what you would call a full custom or whatever, but it has a few non oem details, first and for most would be the vinyl 'blackouts' on the hood and seat pan. another not readily noticeable custom touch is all the cast iron has been smoothed before being powder coated. and speaking of powder coat, all the paint on this one is powder, everything, which means all of it had to come apart and be painted individually, because theres a lot of parts on these tractors that doesn't like to be heated to 400 degrees f for 30-60 minutes....... heres some pics of my 1057......

Well heck i'll through my 1967 Diesel Lawn Ranger out there for consideration. It has a 7hp Yanmar Diesel electric start engine with custom foot throttle. I added a voltage gauge, hour meter, key start, master battery switch and electronic actuator to shut down the engine. I had to "shoe horn" in a battery under the seat as you can see in the picture. The fender and seat had to be raised up with stand offs to allow enough clearance so the battery terminals wouldn't touch. The belt guard had to be shortened and tilted up to compensate for the different engine location. The hood had to be raised and steering shaft lengthened to accommodate the engine. It took about 6 months to complete and a lot of fabrication. It's a blast to drive and really turns heads at the local shows. I reduced the pulley on the transmission down to a 2" one so it really moves.

Come on Steve! Heck, with those new eyes you've got you might see straight through the paint! I wanted to post this picture. I felt like it was Christmas day and I was opening a present while I untaped this.

I originally got Marvin as a beater / back up mower. Was ugly enough. Had a bad Hydro and rusty. It ran sweet and was a blast to drive until the trans got hot. I figured it would be all right to run the blower. i used it to help stain my fence also: Then Vinyl Guy convinced me to go custom. Had to get new sheet metal and a trans at the show. Rebuilt it in July: Took him to the Steam Pageant: Martin will be fitted with a Generac Jenny or the tall chute. Also Has a clevis hitch installed to pull the 10 " Moldboard and a slot hitch for the 8"

This is my new toy,as I said in a previous post I sold my GT14,so I had to get another tractor.I really like this 417-A,the ground speed is surprising.I pushed a little rock with it and there's plenty of power.I got my chains in the mail and am ready. Our winters have been pretty mild,but they say this is going to be a bad one,or as some see it a good one' BRING IT

I'll use a 74 B-100 Automatic, with a 37" snowthrower. Also I'm going to use a 75 B-80 4spd. with a 42" blade as a backup.

Tag Team!!! Nice.