Leaderboard

a quick update: so as with all things, the proof is with the pudding. The PO stated that he had the starter go out and then just parked it last year. after cleaning the engine, changing fuel lines etc and then check out the starter. Briggs decides to have a plastic/nylon gear on the starter(Why?) and it looks like Stevasaurus at the end of the Big Show, but I digress, so buy a rebuild kit (thanks EricJ) and attach it up and engine runs on carb cleaner only, then the gear shreds. Hmmmm. starter alignment looks good, flywheel is fine. a buddy has another starter and all is good. more on Mr Briggs starter woes later. So break into the fuel pump/carb issue (tiny fuel pump springs that I used tweezers to place back into the pump...Mr Briggs needs a talking to from Mr Stratton. still nothing and no fuel getting up there. EricJ reminds me that sometimes you have to give the old girl a big smooch! So after blowing into the gas tank (glad no one was watching) she fires up and roars (at least as a Briggs version of a roar) and take her out in the pouring rain wearing my old flight suit and the neighbors probally are still shaking their heads. The speed of the this faster Eaton 1100 compared to my 88 520 is noted. back and forth in the rain to try to get the tranny warm and she is strong until..... a spray of tranny oil up from the shifter plate dampens the day and I retreat back to the garage. But first, I have to put Dawn, HF part cleaner(it's Biodegrade) car wash down on the driveway and hose and squegee it down...again the neighbors wonder why I'm out there in the rain washing my driveway in a sodden old flight suit. that was my Sunday. I was lovin every minute of it since the wife never saw it! Shhhh!

When buying a tractor, and the owner says it's been in storage for a long time... do yourself a favor and pull the tins, you may be surprised what you find lurking in there.

If that's an implication that you're pumping through the original pump with the electric pump, bypass it immediately. The last thing you want is a ruptured pump diaphragm allowing fuel into the crankcase.

In another post there was conversation on buying American and how some try to do it when they can. I found this website and thought some others might appreciate it as well. I have no association with this site at all. http://www.americansworking.com/

Felt short, been working 9 hours. Still working part time.

FINALLY have the crew together (including my 48" squeegee ) for this year's winter weather. It started off nicely in December, and hopefully the rest of winter will be full of snow!

Got a 104" belt this morning and it is working just fine so far. Blew snow for about two hours cleaning up the bits and pieces the plow guy left. Finally getting some use from this unit and I think, with a little patience and practice, I may even be able to keep from sliding sideways when I get too close to the ditches. Happy New Year to all and thanks for your help. Bob

Yes storm work is bad and dangerous work. I was a Journeyman Lineman for 41 years, had plenty of storms summer and winter, very dangerous work. I went on the storm work yes for the money, but also to help those that did not have power. Most times my family had power and so I needed to help those without. Please have patience, these men and women have a very dangerous and difficult job, under very bad weather conditions. Usually 16 hours on and 8 hours off. Please say a prayer for safety for them all, I know I have walked in their shoes. Bob Blough , JL retired.

I agree with Mike (squonk) ! Don you would have had a youtube hit with that tranny oil spray event!

I should have know better. When I turned it over a live one bailed out.

Well after using my snowblower it's become very clear that I'll need some form of protection from the snow. However this cab is going to be slightly different as I want to be able to remove the front frame work in the summer abd use the top as a sun screen. I'm using electrical conduit for the framework and have black and clear vynil for the skin. Here is the progress so far:

I FINISHED THE CLEANUP ON MY 1988 312-8 TRACTOR. HERE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT. I WILL TRY TO SELL IT IN THE SPRING. IT HAS 3 YEAR OLD 42" DECK AND 610 HOURS ON TRACTOR. BOWTIE IN OHIO

As any of you with a YouTube channel will of noticed by now, Google is forcing us to have a Google+ account so we can reply to "all" comments (They have really messed the comments system up as it happens, making it much harder to find all the comments). As I like to reply as much as I can (even if I'm sometimes a bit slow doing so) I good myself a Google+ account +UkWheelHorseBloke if your interested... The trouble is I have no idea how it works or what I should be doing with it! I've never been a chap for social media sites and have no interest in FarceBook or Twatter, so I'm just not used to that sort of thing.. People have been adding me to their Google+ circles, If I don't add them to mine can we not see what each other is posting? It's all very confusing

I do have to say I got my revenge last week. I was changing the oil on the C-165 and sat the pan under the tractor and pulled the plug. Came out an hour later button her up and refill the engine. Went to drain the used oil and found a strange "blob" in the used oil pan. Mouse had fallen in the pan and couldn't get out. Well, one less to worry about!

You will find out after the first year you never worked so hard in your life!

Just like I said in our birthday post. You won't have time to change your mind now!

Three more and I'll have one for everyday of the week!

So...I made the switch over to the five holer today, and finally got my plow mounted up. Just in time because the Weather man is suggesting a "significant snow event" may be coming in Thurs of this week..should have just enough time to put the vinyl back in place on my 520's cab too... then I'll have my two biggest 's on stand by, at the ready to tag team it...if need be.

Looked familiar ground. Was up that way about 20 years back and drowned my Land Rover S111.

I think we had about two pounds of mice house insulation blown out of 12 horse Kohler motor on a C-160 that sat for seven years! Beats all I ever saw before! Must have been a condo arrangement!

so up here in Ontario we got hit real hard with an ice storm like no other,where I live it ice rained for 4 full days,knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people at Christmas of coarse,its been a week and some people are still with out power,the wheelhorses for the first time ever were completely useless,coulnt blow or plow or even rip and I have a mid mount ripper,lucky for me I own a skid steer or it would have been bad,i did a lot of neighbours to help out,i hope every body gets their power back soon

Okay. Let's start with the 8HP. The K181 could have either a vacuum operated, or lever operated pump. I think the K181-30108, which is common to many model Wheel Horses, originally came with the lever type, but I have found some with the vacuum style. The vacuum type pump found on many older ones, uses a diaphragm that is available from one of our members here, buckrancher. Give him a PM and he will send you one for a very good price. The lever type is more of a problem. There is a kit available from this company: http://www.maritimedragracing.com/antique_auto_parts_cellar.htm I have not had any success with their K181 kits, although others have. The screw holes in their diaphragms are not punched in the right places and they don't fit correctly. They may have corrected the issue since I bought two of them last year. The K241 and K301 pumps are the same, and kits are available from the same place. I have had success with them. However, having said that, it is important to remember that the kits are only going to be as good as the pump you are putting them in. In other words, if the inside of the pump is corroded or otherwise in bad shape, a new kit is not going to work. If you are not concerned about keep your engine true to the original design, my money is on a new plastic replacement pump, which if you shop smartly, you can get for just a little more than a rebuild kit. Good luck!

very nicely done. i have the same set of photos. but in reverse order.

You should have filmed it all. Would have blown up Youtube!

i think im going to take it off and go see what the local shops have got. thanks for pointing that out to me

Could it be a blown head gasket and worn piston rings allowing the oil to get to the top of the piston?

Hi Ray, welcome to the WH mad house.. Have fun

Amen not to get religious but I believe this was not per say a Christian nation but this country was founded on Christian values not say the founding fathers were Christians but the country was founded on those beliefs and the farther away we get from the those values the worse shape it will get like Phil Robertson of duck dynasty getting taken off the show temporarily he's Back on now but u don't even have to be a christian u can use the bible as a guide on how to be a good person there taking in god we trust off everything it frustrates me now people are starting to get mocked for being Christian I got no beef with any religion but more people should look to god for answers including me instead of trying to control are own destiny Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here with mud daubers except they were long gone but their mud wasn't. Thought it was just a weak battery at first and then found out the large dirt ball was there on the flywheel when the starter wouldn't turn the engine over.

Hell I almost burnt down my neighbors 1920 wood floor garage . Learned my lesson

Pull the fuel supply line off the pump and see if gas runs out freely there. You could have a problem ahead of the pump. If the gas runs freely then reinstall the gas line, remove the fuel live from the carb and engage the starter for a few revolutions to see if it pumps fuel. If it does not, then you know what to do next (replace the fuel pump). If it does pump fuel then the carb needle may be stuck in the seat. This would not allow the pump to move fuel into the carb. Todays gas can cause the needle to stick in the seat if the tractor is left unattended too long.

Are there any machine shops where you live that are able to put a brass bushing in the carb body? You really need to have that tightened up or the carb will never be right! You will be surprised how much better the engine will run with a good carb on it.

That happened to me with wasps ( I'm allergic) last summer. Had just bought it, PO could never get it running. Boy did I high step outta there fast!

I had a hotel constructed in the muffler of an old MTD I had. I didn't know it was there until a ball of flaming material come sailing out of the muffler.

nice, everyones dream machine, the big 520. Glenn

Here is what i got its a gt14 with a homemade loader and cab.

Wheel Horse had special belts made (by Gates Belt), they were heavier duty "Agricultural Belts", type 'H', and they used a slightly different side angle or bevel than regular belts do. They cost about 10-20% more than regular belts, but seem to give a much much longer life, often 2-3 times. If the belt is running at a high speed, for long periods & under stress, I would recommend definitely going with Wheel Horse/TORO belts only. Usually belts seem to stretch in use. In the WH book I have, ("Drive Belt & Blade Usage Charts", #492-0392, Nov '00), could not find a 104.35" belt listed; but it is very common for WH belts to be in fractional inches. Post your blower model; (ie. a '98 44" 2x Blower #79366 took #100-4164 Belt)

It's getting crowded here down in the basement.... -BK

3V315 Gates or Napa .38"x31.5" Believe this is a raw edge automotive belt. The original 1583 in the belt chart is listed as 3Lx33" but believe that is wrong. Should be 31-1/2" Garry

My wife can tell when I have been in the garage!

In addition to the "Tick Tubes" to ward off ticks, this fall I purchased six boxes of "Fresh Cab" to ward off the mice and squirrels. So far, so good. I also bought a HF Digital Inspection camera. It was originally intended for use on the tractors, but I have found more use around the house going behind walls scouting out for future remodeling jobs.

Thanks Shorts and Mike. That's something I'm not familiar with but glad you drew it to my attention. I will check that out on Monday. We have a national company here called Canadian Bearing. I did check there for some of the other parts but Toro oddly enough was no more money. I'm sure the shaft will be a lot cheaper though. It might even be cheaper to have one done at a machine shop. There are only two key ways so it's just a matter of length I guess. A full length keyway is no great deal is it? I called my Toro dealer and the shaft was $179.00 plus we have 13% tax here and the pulley is another $57.00. These things are not cheap to rebuild but on the other hand there isn't much left that can go wrong. They never break until you need them. Can't push much more.

testing how good they go offroad.... be for i realised what i have will get some close up shots asap

Ya notice I didn't say Richard. Last night I watched the Richard Van Dyke show. Doesn't have the same feel!

Hi John, Attached is a picture of the back of the tractor, you get a better view of the piece of pvc pipe near the bottom of the cab. That is there in case the blower chute becomes clogged with wet snow. I push the pipe down into the chute, some of the snow goes inside the pipe, pull it out, shake out the snow and repeat. The pvc is pretty harmless to the metal of the chute. If the snow is so wet that it is going to clog the chute, my glove would get soaked cleaning it out, so this is the solution that I came up with. Luckily I don't need it too often, but it is nice to have out with me when I need it. Rick

I picked this little True-Trac walk behind tractor up from my brother Dave via one of our trades, he is also known as JimmyZ. He picked it up from my brother Jim thru one of their trades. I must say, I didn't think I'd have much use for this little walk behind. That is until I tried it, it is fun to use! It has more power than you would think it would. It has a little Clinton engine for power and it has a nice posi that unlocks when you turn it around. It has some real nice heavy cast iron wheel weights on the inside of the tires. I have a lot of walk ways that I clear at work. I have a real nice Ariens snow thrower and Ariens snow blower to use at work. Trouble is, when I salt the walk ways before I leave for the day at 3:30 (so the employess don't fall, law suits etc.) I often come in the next day and have a nice accumulation of fairly heavy mushy snow (thanks to the ice melter) that plugs up both of the Ariens machines. I then wind up having to manually shovel, which sucks, and at 45 I ain't gettin any younger. I'm going to take this walk behind to work and see if it helps with that problem. I was considering bringing one of my Wheel Horse's to work to help with that issue but in all honesty I think this walk behind will be easier to use...We shall see!

Steveo , If i was twenty years younger there is no way that i would stay in UK any longer, especially the way things are here nowadays & i would gladly take your offer & move to the states . Our Government has just about finished to country off , & they do not give a toss about how people are surviving here . Dont get me on this one If you really want me to sound off . I once was proud to be British but not anymore , because Britain is not Britain anymore

I use straight 90 wt in all the transmissions that I have...and the ones I have rebuilt for others. After I finish rebuilding one, I bench test it for about 1/2 hour while using all the gears. I clamp a 1/3 hsp motor to the bench, run a long fan belt to the trans drive pulley, and plug it in. The speed seems comparable to driving at full throttle. The reason I tell you all this, is because I can look down the shifter hole with a flash light and watch what the gears do to the oil. The transmission gears, literally, throw the oil all over the inside of the trans, and I have done some of these transmissions in the winter months. This is how the parts of the transmission, that do not sit in the oil, get lubricant...like your shift forks, all of your bearings, the axles and your fork gears...(keep in mind that oil has to get through the #1533 bearings and run the axles to lube the outer axle bearings). With all that being said, I am not sure using the thicker oil, especially in winter, gives proper lubrication. I would think there is no way I would want an oil viscosity in my trans that bogs down the engine. Just my thoughts on it. What do you guys think about mixing equal parts of Tony's 140 wt oil with 40 wt oil and thinning it to 90 wt???

Charles that might be true about the 325 but I'll never find out for myself. As you know, some of us just like to sit back and kick it old school. :ychain: