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Had planned on using the C-120 earlier this winter, but just now got it set up the way I wanted it. Tonight was it's first workout in the snow and It did pretty well. Google decided my picture needed some animation, and I have to say I agree...

This post is two fold. Today's snow pics on the 416 first. Then my follow up question.

Im using a 1971 Ariens walk-behind..just got in from clearing the driveway: I also have a 1964 Wheel Horse model 854 tractor. I would like to find a plow for it, to use for smaller amounts of snow, and slush.. I will probably begin looking for a plow next spring/summer.. Scot

The truth is, the GT14 is NOT a Wheelhorse! It is actually a WORK-HORSE! Yesterday VS Today! Yesterday: Today:

Brandonozz...this is for you...I suggest that there are teams all across the country that you either like or dislike for any reason. This pool is set up to pick the teams that you think are going to win. With that being said...I would like to offer my TOP TEN LIST of teams in all conferences that I kind of like and would like to see win in certain games. I am just doing the like side of my list... 1. Illinois...just because 2. Northwestern...same reason 3. Wisconsin...roots there and the rest in no particular order 4. Arkansas...just do 5. Oklahoma...lots of friends there 6. Maine...was stationed there 7. Syracuse...I have no idea why 8. Appellation St....the last no name team to beat Michigan ...how great is that?? Let's face it...every team lives to play and beat Michigan...Illinois got them a few years ago on Halloween...things you do not forget. 9. Any team playing the SEC..they really do have the best conference 10. Any team playing the Pac 12...just because they always seem to have the Big Ten's number...although Michigan St. got Stanford this year. 11. OH OH...I have to put in Northern Illinois University...they have been excellent to watch for the last 5 years...beat Iowa 1st game this year. WOO HOO!!!

I had to switch the plow to the 518xi over the weekend. Thought that I would take a chance and didn't take the time to put the chains on. It actually did well on the turfs thanks to the weights. One neighbor's driveway is about 15 degrees and it walked right up. Here it is after the 5" we had last night.

And here is the mini barn for the steed himself. I built this out of a shipping crate. I lucked out and picked up the roofing from a good freind for free. I have a total of $40 wrapped up in this thing. 2 boxes of hardware and 4 2x4's. Its my mini cabin lol.

Just found the forum. Had the GT14 for years. Great plow machine! Bill

My names Trent from Pennsylvania. Here is a before and after of my 657. I love my tractor. Picked him up last may for 250 bucks. Made some changes on how i wanted him to look :)

I like to wait to the last moment to put the snow equipment on -- I guess tomorrow is the day -- The forecast for the St. Louis area is 8" of snow by Sunday PM with temperatures getting down to -10F -- I won't be able to ignore the snow in the driveway -- I will be taking the 37" SD off the 310-8 and putting the snow blade; chains; and weights on -- Maybe I just not a "northerner"; I never look forward to snow duty; mowing seat time I enjoy and look forward to; plowing snow not so much At least now I am putting the snow equipment on inside a garage -- In the '90s I would have been laying in the snow putting the blade on -- That is a little bit of progress

Here is coming back from plowing for an hour and the fourth driveway. I forgot to factor the wind chill for 11 degrees and moving at 7.4 mph with a bare hand holding the phone! Click on the picture.

Boomer Sooner !!!! And a big shout out to BK as being the only person outside Oklahoma to think we had a chance. Wow! My voice is gone!

For those who may have an interest in this subject, that new owner is me! If you feel inclined to investigate, you can find the Speedex tractor forum here: http://speedexforum.com/

Congrats Ian .......6 years on here eh!. And nearly 4 of those spent working on one Tractor !!! .............................................. it was well worth it though . Thanks for being on here

Last year I used the chain and it worked great. The plow blade followed the ups and downs of the driveway and curb. The solid bar doesn't follow the surface of the driveway as well. Next year I'll be going back to the chain and staying with it. The blade is plenty heavy. You don't have to worry about it rising up over the snow. I'm talking about the two attachments that lift the plow. The chain version attaches to the mower deck lift bar.

Used this cub last winter, sold it because my drive was too small. I do it faster with the 42"on the 416-8 than with the 54" on the big cub. This year the 416 is in process of donating its onan p216 and steering to swap onto a 520h I got with a shot engine. Since we got 5" this week and expecting 8-12" this weekend I've got the 42" blade on my 90 520h. I don't have a plow extension, so if I can't angle to the right because the blade hits the tire. If I angle left out doesn't rub the tire, but it's so close it pulled my roller chain off. Either way, the tractor is wider than the blade when it's angled. Here's a shot of the 416-8 with the blower from last year... Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Ahh Grasshopper...Zane you are becoming the master...excellent my friend. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I'll start at -20 F and so will the tractor if we have to. Lower than that we wait. -30.2 F here this AM and it got up to -22 F so we took the day off. Garry

I prefer tilling. I don't have a Wheelhorse rear tiller, but a couple of walk behinds - the big one being a Troy-Bilt Horse tiller. Having said that, moldboard plowing is a hoot! I recommend seat time doing it regardless of the real reason for gardening...

I'll try to get a longer, better video next snowfall. Rich was almost done when I remembered to do the video. This Honda powered 520H with the 44" two stage blower really look's cool when there is a substantial amount of snow to blow. Red

Nice video! But...... We need video of this snow blowing to be at least 5 or 10 minutes...

We don't get much snow around my neck of the woods, but when we do, I've got either a 314-8 or 520H ready with a single stage snow thrower. Since you already got a single stage snow thrower that fits the 300/400/500 series tractor, I would recommend going with a 520H. If you got a good running Onan 20 hp, it is a beast. You will likely slip a belt before you stall the tractor and the more you load-up the single stage snow thrower, the further it will throw. I think I have read that one of the reasons Toro went with the Onan was increased torque it when used with the 60 inch deck application. Snow throwing really requires a lot of hp and torque if you are fully loading the snow thrower and the Onan's got it. The Onan is also a sweet sounding engine too... One question - on your 16 hp engine, are you running at full throttle? While I prefer the Onan 20 hp to my 14 hp Kohler Magnum for blowing snow, I don't ever recall having a problem with the 14 hp struggling either, but I run full throttle with both the 14 hp Kohler and the 20 hp Onan. What the 520H brings to my snow throwing duties is hydro lift and gear reduction steering beyond the 314-8. With the foot control I added, the 520H should be an awesome tractor for snow blowing duties. Good luck! Bill

Hey Glenn, nice roost! That 416-8 with that single stage blower is really clearing a path. I do understand your concerns though with that (500ft?) driveway in a much deeper heavier snowfall situation. Hard to fault a larger tractor with the 44" two stage blower. It's not just the width of those units, but the larger diameter auger in a higher housing. Designed for deeper snow removal work. As always add $. I'll struggle along with my walk behind unit. See you later for a coffee.

I personally would just leave it alone... door art is the "In" thing... another words if it wasn't there originally than its not the way is should be. Nice clean original old truck... says alot more, IMO.

Glenn, I agree with Don. The 2-stage is at least another 100 pounds more than the single stage and off-season are harder to store. John

It pains me to pick a SEC team to win but with the exception of the Irish (I don't ever think they will lose ) I try to pick the one I think will win (not too good at that, am I) The championship game has a twist though. I don't want either team to win but I'm thinking that's not an option.

I stayed warm and dry this year for snow removal, helps having an 18 year old at home with nothing better to do. But now I have to fix(well point and tell him which part to take off next) what he broke again.

Can I borrow that rig? We have 5" on the ground and they are calling for up to 12" more in the next few days. I think that will be the biggest snow total here since the blizzard of '78. Guess my 1077 and the blade will get a workout. The UTUBE video worked fine here.

Awesome video. Cool the misses was into it as well.

GO BUCKEYES

Good post on preparing the snow thrower! Just curious, why do you like the single stage over the two stage snow thrower? There are several reasons for me. The first one being the 2 stage definitely requires more horsepower to operate. I think in reality the 20Hp Onan is necessary. I know others with smaller engines do it too but my M16 was really working hard to run that blower with any amount of snow. There is more power loss in the design of the 2 stage. Any repairs will be more involved especially if the gear box is damaged with the 2 stage. The single stage is a simpler design and operates with less horsepower required. The transfer of power is more direct and in line as opposed to the gear box necessary for the 2 stage. Next is the shear size of the unit. The 2 stage takes up more space for storage and is quite a bit heavier than the single stage. 380 pounds is a lot of weight to be out front of a tractor the size of the Wheel Horse. I could feel the tractor frame flex under the weight of the 2 stage from time to time depending on grade, angles and approach to snow banks. The single stages lifts higher giving more clearance in snow bank approaches. I always found mounting the 2 stage to be a chore especially transferring load to the front spring. It takes much more effort to drag it around, line it up and engage the front counterweight spring whereas with the single stage connects quickly and easily with much less work and parts involved. Right now the snow here is dry and I do not see any significant difference in the ability of either to throw snow. Maybe the 2 stage throws snow a bit further but 30 feet vs. 40 feet but that really does not matter to me. The two stage did not handle slush very well and so I doubt the thrower will be any worse. If it is I can quickly switch back to the blade with much less effort and time required to do so. I'm not crazy about the high rpm necessary for the single stage auger to run at but other than that I have no criticism of the thrower. They are well built, easy to work on and simple enough to maintain with chain lube and chain tension being the two most important concerns. I'm not knocking the 2 stage but for me with the equipment I have I now prefer the single stage. I think it will always be easier to repair in the future once Toro stops supporting this model with parts and I think we all know that day is coming.

You guys are too funny! I have since sold the 312 after robbing the deck from it, but the 876 is sitting in my drive way and will be on the back burner while I get the C100 running. The 314 is in the building. One other thing is that I would also like to stay married as my wife is pretty cool. Gotta keep the women folk happy!

What a great story and a fantastic restoration! Fantastic job Lars :eusa-clap:

here is the 414 dad gave me for christmas ...been in the family since neww 1985.

Yes. Pictures don't do it justice. Go to redoyourhorse.com. its easy. I think you'll be very happy with the results. And if you're a supporter you get 25% off. Thats worth it.

Where's the remote???

There is an old small engine shop by us that use to be a Wheel Horse dealer. I knew he had some old parts tractors in the back, so I stopped. He had no suburbans. He thought he had some old parts for one though. Sure enough, he had the differential case that matched mine in the number of teeth. It was missing the axels, axel gears and the spider gears. Those he could not find. Since mine had only chewed up one side, I can use the good one and only need 2 spider gears and on axle gear to complete. Sometimes a guy gets lucky. Thanks for the help.

seen that one before - always raises a few questions as to how much 'processing' was done afterwards!

In his off season, I have Rudolph to help me out... -BK

Looks like John's playing solitaire.

Dang! I was just in High Point over the holiday. Of course the wife told me "No CL while we are down in NC!"

The decals vinylguy (terry) made me look absolutely amazing. Here's a few.

Here is the customized Gravely plow. Shortened the frame 18". Narrowed the blade 6" so it would fit in my shed. Removed the pitch lever and linkage, removed the scraping blade due to my gravel driveway. All in all i eliminated roughly 40lbs. Those plows are no joke. It was a gift from a co-worker so i worked with what i had.

Looks like I'll be looking for an original rear attach...thanks to Steve & Terry for getting me straight!

Yes the windows slide open. It takes two people to handle the cab, first take off the steering wheel next the loader control rods then you put the cab on and reattach everything. Very simple. I also remove the doors it makes it easier to handle.

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

I recently added this 1/2 inch piece of HDPE to the bottom of my worn skids. I wanted something that would glide over my concrete drive and stone parking pad. They work much better. Hope they last at least a season. So far they've been used on about 50+ inches of snowfall.

UHMW: Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE), or high-performance polyethylene (HPPE), it has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 2 and 6 million u. The longer chain serves to transfer load more effectively to the polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interactions. This results in a very tough material, with the highest impact strength of any thermoplastic presently made.[1] UHMWPE is odorless, tasteless, and nontoxic.[2] It is highly resistant to corrosive chemicals except oxidizing acids; has extremely low moisture absorption and a very low coefficient of friction; is self-lubricating; and is highly resistant to abrasion, in some forms being 15 times more resistant to abrasion than carbon steel. Its coefficient of friction is significantly lower than that of nylon and acetal, and is comparable to that of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon), but UHMWPE has better abrasion resistance than PTFE.[3][4] It can be purchased at McMaster Carr and/or Graingers.

Etch primer is only to be used on bare metal. I don't use it myself. I found that epoxy primer sticks to pretty much anything, and it doesn't have to be sealed like etching primer does.

I have found mineral spirits to be goofy. Have you tried wiping for prep with lacquer thinner? Charlie