Leaderboard

Browsing through CL last week I run across an ad for a "Hydro Wheel horse"I got a vague pic on my phone and it looks wretched.I venture out into the ice packed high country hills of Dimmock township PA and find a C160 auto frozen in a shed.Been there a year and ain't been started.The relief valve on the ol girl would budge and I had 50 yards of straight up hill icy driveway to conquer.I gave up!lol.He put a charge on the battery,I found my way back to his backwoods estate and this ol girl fired right up and drove herself on the truck.Came with a vgc rear discharge 43" deck but then he told me he abandoned a rototiller and snowblower at his last house!grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I am goin through this sweetie and giving it some love cause this is the first sundstrand with the parking pawl intact of the 20 or so I've had!woot woot!

Well it started snowing here around 5:30 am today. I cleaned off the drive about two hours ago and you would not know I was even out there when looking out the window! I used the 1963 Wheel Horse 633 and she amazed me several times when pushing a very heavy load of snow!

Another vote for the hand warmer packs. I don't really know why but the last few years my hands start to ache like hell when they get cold. The hand warmers help a lot, as does a liberal dose of Jack Daniels afterwards.

I think I have snow pushed 12 feet into the yard on each side of the 24 foot wide concrete drive! Just finished the second round! Moved another 4 inches. We have every bit of 10 to 12 inches of snow! We used the broom on the dogwoods because the limbs were about to the ground! And it is raining 45 miles southwest of here? Crazy!

Made my annual run to the after holiday RIte Aid toy sale. Picked up a few goodies for the kiddies next year

Had the 314 out yesterday plowing & it kicked azz The brake pedal conversion worked great, the new chains bit without spinning once & the flashing taillights kept me safe ( as if they couldn't see my fat azz on a big red tractor, but better safe than sorry ) Yea I know the drill ...pics...pics...pics Brake pedal & linkage removed New brake linkage install on clutch arm & adj. up. A return spring added to help the cheesy damper thingy Click on video of lights Its a little different working out of a wheel chair, but we gotter done !!!! Chasm

Thankfully for once I don't have to tear this hydro apart.Some mobile 1 and a new filter and I finally have a good one!I have had these ol Hydros apart so many times only to be let down not able to get replacement parts!Got a shed full all with the same problems!

I wouldn't suggest putting anything other than the proper oil in a Hydro. Kerosene or other products may present problems; multipal oil and filter changes will not.

What a great forum! I really appreciate all of the replies, have never run into a friendlier group. I decided to search for a Suburban,but will consider a Lawn Ranger if a good buy comes along. Can't wait to get started and work with you guys. Thanks again, Rick

That's right...let no grass grow under your feet... when they pop up, you gotta drop what your doing, and get on the bus gus. Buy 'em now...pick 'em up later.

That's not poaching... all's fair in the love of 's.

A while back I asked the boss if we could 'charge' all the employees a new unwrapped toy and the 'cover' fee for the employee Christmas party. Of course then knew it was for Toys for Tots. It went over big and I had the bed of my full size truck (with a cap) completely filled as well as the interior (supercab). I delivered them to the Marines during a live radio broadcast (I think the old B100 in South Bend). Toys for Tots is such a worthy cause. Children need cloths, shoes etc. but they need toys as well. I donate every year but never thought about buying them during the after Christmas sales for the following Christmas. What a great idea!!

Martin, if you sell a tractor you can buy a pair of gloves from "Thewarmingstore.com". Lol.

Sorry if i misunderstand the topic (I'm not that good with English) I have an electric clutch/pto on mine, and unless i run it somewhere near full throttle when the clutch/pto is in use + lights is on..it slowly discharges the battery. The pto/clutch draws about 5-6Amp and the lights takes another 3-4Amps. The engines charging system is good for 10A, but only when running at or close to WOT or the voltage across the battery will drop to much.

Just what is there not to like about the LAGT magazine? Brandon, Kate and their staff produce a great bi-monthly magazine. Although, I am partial to Wheel Horses, I really enjoy reading about all makes and models of lawn and garden tractors and the people who collect and restore them as well. Thoroughly enjoyed the Jan/Feb 2014 issue and I am already looking forward to receiving the next issue.

That's nature's way of telling you, you should have bought a White Toyota . Great pics and 633+, Thanks. Just relentless torrential Rain, flooding, high winds and mild Temps over here. Glad to see your back to health .

I have always run my Kohler K301 at WOT, and do the same with my 5xi twin cylinder, and yes the 5xi can drink the K301 under the table. I am a believer in the WOT principle when operating attachments for the reason that these attachments are designed to be run at a particular RPM for peak performance. The cutting deck was designed for a certain blade tip speed, to lift the grass before cutting, and to properly discharge the clippings. The snow blower or thrower is designed to throw snow of varying density. Someone ran the calculations of what would be the optimum auger and fan speed, figured out the needed gear ratio to get this from the engine, and they did this using WOT rpm's as the basis of their calculations. Can you run at less than WOT and still get "good" performance, yes, but I'm going to guess that you are not getting the optimum performance that was intended. I would also think that the added rpm's add a "reserve" that the designer calculated for, so when you hit that thick clump of grass or snow drift, you don't burry the engine. My machines have always been happy to run at WOT all day long when running attachments. If I'm moving dirt, then I am all over the throttle all day long. I would also venture to speculate that from the designers point of view, it is easier to design the implements to run at WOT, because they can then specify in the manual to operate at WOT to the consumer, rather than say to operate the blades at 2/3 throttle, the tiller at 3/4 throttle, and the snow blower at full throttle. The WOT specification takes away some of the judgment call that you would be leaving with the consumer, who would then be calling the factory to complain that at 2/3 throttle the deck is not cutting the grass well, when in reality they are operating at 1/2 throttle but it looks like 2/3 to them. Ask me how I know this would happen. When building equipment that is a "consumer product" you have to make it easy and simple for the average person to operate. You take away as much of the variable in operation as possible. Hence you specify WOT in the manual. For many on this site, you understand the inner workings of the hardware better than an "average consumer", and can be free to make you own judgments as to what rpm you want to operate your attachments, and make your own decision if you are degrading performance or not. It is no longer black and white, we are now thinking in color!! I think that these engines are going to provide adequate cooling and lubrication at a wide range of rpm's, and that WOT is not required to for these reasons in most lawn tractor applications. If you consider a snow plowing application, you really don't need WOT to plow a small snowfall of powder, so why run at WOT if you don't need to. The engine will be happy at 1/2 throttle, and it won't overheat and it won't starve for fuel or lubrication. That's my take on the WOT principle. Rick

you're looking at the empty popcorn bowl! You old fellers really should wear your glasses more often!!

rtf, It was 42 years ago that my family purchased its first wheel horse. I was just a kid at the time, and this red machine gave me such a thrill. You feed it gas and oil, it makes lots of noise, and you get to control it. When it breaks you learn to fix it. You learn to read a repair manual. You learn to read a parts diagram. You get to go to the repair shop and purchase some parts that you are going to get to install. You learn what tool is the right tool for the job. I can remember putting together a list of parts, and having to wait until Saturday when dad would be home to take me to the parts shop. All of these experiences have led me to a life of loving machinery. I think that if I didn't have that wheel horse when I was a kid, I wouldn't be able to do half of the things that I can do with my hands today. I have never been without a wheel horse in the last 42 years, and highly recommend getting your grandson his first tractor. I would make it a priority to teach him about safety around the machine. Wear safety glasses when cutting grass, and wear ear protection when running the machine. I think that the constant ringing in my ears is probably from all of the seat time I have had on the tractor without wearing hearing protection. I wear it all the time now, but when I was young I never did, and no one told me to. I wish you lots of luck, and I think that you will find this web site a great resource for you and your grandson. Rick

I spent yesterday in single digit temps and wind to dig this old guy out of the snow. My boss got it from his girlfriends mother for scrap price, I'll probably get stuck getting it going again. Not sure if I should be or ? Not much info on it other than it was parked and the battery removed, then the husband passed on and it has not been run in a couple years. The plug wires look new and the right rear tire is new, somebody did use it and put some money into it. The serial number on the engine is on a horizontal surface facing up and rusted. There are faint shapes in the corrosion so maybe some black paint and a sanding block will make them stand out better once I can get it into the shop. The shifter rotates about 90 degrees, with three detents. Forward, neutral and reverse? Numbers cast into the left front of the block at the bottom. There is a f inside a c then 3d4. Just to the right is a 2. Casting on the right side of the block. Any help identifying this old guy would be very much appreciated.

Sorry no video but here is a still. This is the GX690 Honda. The limiting factor now is the clutch and belt. The motor never slows down. so you either smell burning belt or the squeal of the clutch slipping. Or a little of both.

Hi Guys, I might as well take a week off work to tell you everything I have found on the one I used to own! Some main points: Keep front PTO shaft bearings lubed, the PTO shaft also holds the axle. A renault dauphine fuel pump can be used. It is what I did. Just make sure the one you buy has one inlet and one outlet. There are 2 weak points I found on the transmission, the first is the trans is a worm shaft style. The worm shaft is supported by a double-raced ball bearing that is held in place by two thrust washers. These thrust washers broke on my tractor and I ended up making my own out of two washers from a Chrysler 8.75 rebuild kit. I had to make them smaller but they were hardened steel. The second weak point is the differential worm drive is brass. You MUST USE a GL-4 oil because it is a "soft" metal. Adjust your valve lash Several things like the clutch pedal and hydraulic rock shaft are non greasable. I suggest removing the parts and drilling for grease zerks. The hardest thing on the transmission is sudden impacts. Hitting big cracks in your driveway, curbs or moving piles of gravel are what killed my trans. When the worm shaft thrust washers broke, it shoved the PTO shaft out of the back of the transmission. I highly suggest NOT using a rototiller. They are extremely hard on the transmission. I ended up replacing the rusted muffler with one for a Ford 8n The distributer bushings commonly wear out. I replaced my entire distributor with a new one off of ebay france. Here are some pics I have: Oil pan off: Cub cadets used the same snowblower besides frame and gearbox: A lot of snow 4+ feet I can't seem to find any transmission rebuild photos but absorb whatever you see on this site as well. It has been dormant for a while: http://wheelhorseweb.com/

Steve, having gotten out the microscope, it appears to be a very tiny 1949 Chevy 3100.

Looks good to me. Marvin

Looks like a fun little project for all your spare time Jim!

Nice freebee Jim. Looks like it wont tack much to get it running.

Neat lookin' tractor... one just like it on ebay now. Good luck with the project Jim.

HEY! Don't scrap that stuff... there's still a lot of good parts there.

Nice find and what a beauty!!!!!

Hop Bottom is poaching in my neighborhood...Kingsley, PA Nice save...I missed that one

Hop Bottom ?? Nice save.

c-195 + 400lbs wheelwieghts, chains,blade = 1 bad a## snow removal system...

But then where you attach the thrower? Perhaps a rear-mounted winch with some pulleys and a bellcrank / Z bar under the tractor frame to turn the winch pull into a push and raise the thrower using a modified lift tube?

I think it depends mainly on the age of the thrower - but I don't know specifics. I converted my 1986 thrower to the tall chute with gear rotation and it was a simple bolt-on swap. You could also fabricate a slightly smaller diameter / taller chute or adapt one from a different brand of thrower / blower.

^ let us take a moment of silence for the fallen ones

The glowing might be something rubbing underneath the tractor and getting hot. And the carb does need cleaning and adjusting.

Forget the 420(LSE ~ or Limited Special Edition) as an economical choice for a "worker". They were exactly what their product name implies; a low-production unit (200) that sold with an MSRP of $7995 new and some pristine specimens are still getting a good portion of that now ~ if & when you find them. A 418-A would be a more logical choice over the LSE, but they aren't the easiest thing to locate either, being offered only in 1987. (total production unknown) A few options would be to buy an xi series, repower your 416 with a 20+hp ohv engine (Kohler Command, Briggs Vanguard, Honda, etc.), or find a nice GT-1800/1848, 520HC/H with a non-running engine and repower it with one of the afforementioned engines.

The "electric" part of the PTO clutch is the method of engagement. It's an electromagnetic clutch - and once power is applied to the coil, it is (supposed to be) locked at the same speed as the engine crankshaft. Engine rpm is directly relevant to the attachment rpm. The only exception to that would be if the air gap is too wide or the clutch is just worn out - then it will slip. An out-of-spec air gap can also cause failure of the coil. I doubt you see unacceptable heat in the hydro - even in the summer - unless you are really working the tractor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I won't pursue the lead topic..... I have a 7.3 IDI diesel and can burn almost anything except water.

How about a big glass of my moonshine against one of your Rock N Rye at this years show? I'll give you a big hit of it anyway so it's not technically a bet but... I see what your saying after rereading the post I'll take a shot of both

Auto sock http://www.autosock.no/

Yeah, Got mine a few days ago and read it from cover to cover....wife also read it. If I was younger, I would enter the WH contest! On another forum people were upset with the "new" L&GT magazine and talking about not renewing their subscription, but I like it and have renewed for another 2 years. I love the short 2-3 page stories on GT's and other related items. Great Job Kate & Brandon and their crew of writers.

I did not see the post about the ID tag location before I came in from the garage for the night. But what I did discover is the old switch has an "M" connector which I have read is for a mag type ignition. The new switch I bought does not have the "M" connector, but has an "I" connector. Looks like I got the wrong type, so back to the parts store tomorrow. I seen switches at the store with the "M" connector, but the also had a "G" connector which I assume is a ground. Would that connector just be hooked to a chassis ground on the tractor?

Got the pictures taken. Do you have an email? Too big to upload on this thread.

+1

Those little angle brackets are only used for the left most picture in Dave's post. If you download the snow plow owners from the "manuals" section of RS, it will show you how to position the angle brackets. Also the brackets, as I recall, are only to take up some space between the vertical bolts and the transaxle housing. As Terry has stated, there is also a note in the owners manual that the brackets are only for 8 speed transaxles. Why are they (the transaxle size) different, when the axles are the same size? Probably "it seemed like a good idea at the time". I worked in engineering for 30 years and one thing I learned is while many design decisions are thoughtfully made, many more are left to the discretion of the draftsman and then they get perpetuated on each subsequent design. By then, it is too late/costly to change the tooling so a "quick fix" is implemented. This is what makes working on machines that were designed in the 50's 60's and 70's so interesting.

The middle and right hitches are technically the same, but the one on the right has had a latch improvisation. They were used with the '63 to '69 blades with the true A frame that mounted "inside" the hitch bracket. The mounting pin on those blades protrudes beyond the outside of the frame. Example: The GT-14 rear hitch is extremely similar, but I think they had the top corner(s) beveled to clear the hydro motor.

They're all winners in my book.

More pics to follow.

Looks like someone cut the original hubs down and made adapters to fit the shorter 1 inch axle transmissions. The axles should be the larger 1 1/8 inch axles

Yes JT push the dipstick all the way in. It is difficult to read with clean oil but you should be able to see a line of oil on the dipstick. If not add a bit more until you do see it on the stick. I know my 18 auto calls for 6 qts but it actually fits a bit more. Just dont go too crazy or you will overfill it.