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Sorry- but I'm not buying it-the FORD part maybe accurate- but not the 312-8 part. When you add in "loaded rear tires & Chains" NO-WAY. My C-125 will push 12" of snow with just chains-no problem with ice either- It's OK to blow your Horn about the Ford-but don't bash the Horse-just get rid of it if you don't like it.

I recently installed the tiller on my C-160, and with the tiller raised the front of the tractor was way to light. If I wasn't very careful releasing the clutch, it would do a wheelie, and drag the tiller on the ground. I have an old junk JD F510 that had some small weights on the back, and I figured anything from a John Deere makes good Dead Weight, right? Anyway, I had an extra mule drive laying around, so I made a few modifications to it, and bolted the weights on the front of the Horse. They snap right into the tach o matic, just like the mule drive does. Now, unless I just dump the clutch, the front end stays on the ground. Here are a couple pics, and yes they are from today. We're still gardening down here, although we're expecting temps close to freezing tonight, which is why we put bags over the tomato plants. This garden actually belongs to my good friend Byron, who is also a member here (byrunner). I help out with the equipment needs, and we're also tending it right now, as he is out of the country for a month. Matt

I see a pattern here... either one we bought new ourselves or a new one that belonged to our dads. The one I most definitely will hold onto is the 1962 552 that my dad bought new when I was just six years old. My dad sold it back in the '70s. I got it back from the family that bought it from my dad 2-1/2 years ago after not seeing it or knowing of its whereabouts for nearly 40 years. I am currently restoring it and enjoying every phase of the restoration project. She should be completed by the time the Big Show in Arendtsville, PA rolls around this year. I am hoping it eventually gets passed down to my grandson who is now four years of age.

Craig, I have those drive nuts and the recoil springs for these starters.... Charlie

Jim...we would not have to pull the snow chucker...and count me in on the ice cream... didn't we pull that all the way back to Michigan that year??

My C-175 stays no matter what. Even if I have to repower it with an Onan someday. (Still has the original KT17 Series I in it)! It was my first Wheelhorse and it still gets used year-round.

Great looking orginal! I found a 401 in orginal condition and plan to keep it that way as well. I think the little round hoods look best when their in their work clothes.

Exactly! Whether it's caused by mechanical failure - like an axle shaft bound in the differential end cap, stuck spider gears, etc. or by improper installation of the pinions - a locked differential will make it very hard to do anything other than go in a straight line. Put the front tires on a slippery surface and you might as well remove the steering wheel and sell it on eBay.

My 857. My Dad purchased new in 1967, I received it in 1998 and has been worked with and played with by 4 generations of our family. The youngest being 8 months old went for a ride over Christmas. Last week it went from pulling pine logs, to being ridden by an 8 year old all within an hour. It is indeed a multipurpose machine.

Sounds to me like there are two different problems Swarfeater is dealing with. With the blower on your having trouble getting the tractor to move forward because the weight of the blower hanging off the front is causing the rear tires to break traction. With the plow it seems the opposite is going on in that you don't have enough weight on the front tires to get the tractor to turn. I would say that getting some extra weight out back when using the blower and getting tri ribs or roller chain around the steer tires when using the plow should solve your turning problems.

Same as Jack. The 1991 312-8 that I bought new would be the last one to go. Just look how happy I am in my Avatar pic

Dave, I did wear socks on one occasion...not because of the cold though. The snow was 10" deep.

I just plowed all of the roads in my private neighborhood the other day with my 417-8 that has chains and rear weights. The snow was 5 inches deep and fairly heavy, no issues whatsoever with traction or steering. Anyone that has been to my house knows that there are hills everywhere, and steep ones. I know that my tractor is a little bigger than yours but I've also done it with an 854 that is smaller than yours with no issues either. If you have the smooth ribbed tires on the front maybe its time to get some real tires. I've pushed 2 ft. of snow with a Wheel Horse so you are going to have a hard time convincing me that a Wheel Horse can't handle 2 inches...

I am a lttle mystified by your experience. My dad has a 312. 48" plow, rear weights and chains. The front 100' feet of his drive is steep. I can easily plow 6" of snow going up the hill. Never spin a wheel. Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

Surely he is wearing socks when plowing during the polar vortex cold snaps!!!!

Just...NO SOCKS ALLOWED ... during the plowing competition.

10 feet should run about $20. NAPA around here is $18. When you make up the new chain, take five more minutes to make up your "spare" chain. I take the second one and put it in a zip lock bag with a couple of extra master links. I know that the chain will never break unless its freezing cold and I have a lot of snow to move. The last thing I want to do at that time is count links and cut chain. Keeps the blood pressure a little lower when the @#%& hits the fan. It's cheap insurance. You did better than us, I only got about 6" here in CT.

I got it…Thats exactly what I needed..Thank you. Ya know John I never really thought about it, but with him being 74 he won't be here forever. I'll need to sneak some in when he's not looking. He hates the camera but I need to keep some of these memories alive…..Thanks Burrly

No he's not Craig…he couldn't turn on a computer if his life depended on it…probably would look for a hand crank somewhere. I laugh at the amazement on his face when I'm over there with my laptop and I'm using my iPhone as a wifi hotspot to get on here to look at something we have a question on. He can't believe all this stuff comes through the air… He's a great Dad. Even welded the cast iron on my block where I broke the ear off the exhaust port. Local engine shop told me $400, it took us about 15 minutes and 5 bucks. Plus I didn't have to take the engine out of the tractor. I now have a complete sealed and working stack on the 18. Its been great to see him and my son working together on it too.

Firing up the 1977 B-100 to get started on the 4" now, 8" to 10" total to come later. Pictures will follow. So, here's the old man all bundled up in his snow suit. The 1977 B-100 has been sitting out all winter, just covered with a tarp. As I have said before, it never fails me. I grabbed the video camera and started to take a video after I started it. Don't you just love the sound of a properly tuned Kohler singing in the snow? View from the drivers seat as I plow snow in 3rd gear.

Can you imagine if the Big Show was this weekend??? Snow plowing competition, jousting with snow blowers, huge bonfires, roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate, chile by the cup at the concession stand, hot toties, angels in the snow...OMG...where is my lawn chair??? Where is the snow chucker?? Listening to "California Dreaming". It would be like being at Scott's Meet & Greet"!!! Snow skitching behind a horse. We need to celebrate winter with the horses. What do you think. :banana-skier: :banana-skier: How about Wheel Horse Hockey???

Since its already open.... I like to give the shift rails a little tickle. Clean out the bores that the rails slide on and the ones that the balls and springs live in. Polish the shafts (scotchbrite) and check for burrs on the sides of the grooves where the detent balls sit. Often you will get a little burr where the ball rolls out of its groove. A few minutes work there can make the trans shift a whole lot nicer.

I find it kind of neat. Unless I counted wrong, 10 of the replies to the question so far, contained "Grand Dad, Dad, Son or Grandson" somewhere in the body of the reply. Folks often ask me why I get wore out tractors and spend the time to fix them up. Just think, in 10-15 years someone on this forum will re-ask the same question......I wonder what the answer will be then. Hopefully, even then it will contain the same words. If we are lucky, it will be memories about the same tractors we all have now. Sometimes I even try to pop a wheelie on that 857, then look around and make sure Dad didn't see me.......and he lives 120 miles away!

I've never seen a date stamp like that before Martin. The gears look Ok to me. If there is a burr or a rough spot anywhere then I would polish that spot a bit, otherwise I'd leave them alone. I would pull the ball bearings out of the case and have a good look at them. I nearly got caught on one trans when the bearing looked good from the inside of the case, but the other side of one of the balls was pitted right through the hardening. I still have that bearing, I need to take some pics to show how easily you can get fooled.

going to start another chapter in this story. I've been stripping the 416-8 and cleaning up parts. its going to get a rebuild. right now i just have a bunch of painted parts laying around and before i can start assembly i need to redo the trans. i don't know how it runs as i never got to drive this one. it looks ok and the oil is a good color. but i want to paint it and make it look as nice as the rest, so its been torn down and will get seals and any bearings that needs replaced. split the case tonight and heres how the inside looks. nothing i can tell out of the ordinary, some gears look like they have been crunched a few times, but i think with a clean up all are good. bearings look good as well, so looks like just new seals and a case gasket. would like some opinions on condition from some of the trans gurus on here (you know who you are)...... if you guys need more pics of the individual gears they are all out on the bench now so i can get some more pics next time......... also, has anyone come across these numbers on the top of the right hand axle tube before, looks like some date code?

Very nice job matt! I like how they look.

Ahh...there you go...thanks Terry.

My late grandfathers 875 he bought new in 1965. It's the one I got to drive as a kid

I would say my GT-1142 my grandpa bought it new and I never knew him so its all I have to remember him by. I respect the tractor and will never let it out of this Desko family nor would I let my dads D-160 go because that's the first horse I learned to ride

Could you make one from a piece of hex rod (McMaster Carr 6512K43) Then have it hardened? ...........I don't know much about metals, just a thought.

He was cool with it.You would have to know the guy.He worked on one of the same trucks and couldnt figure out where a spacer went.Tossed it.I let him put it all back together and when he put the tire on and couldnt figure out why it drove funny,I handed him the spacer and then we had a lesson on front ends.

I wouldn't want the payback LOL

Nice job on the weights Matt But my question is.... why is it green there & not WHITE ????

Looks good Matt, how much weight is it adding to the front?

We did that to a guy at work one time. He had a carburetor off of a japanese utility truck and I took an old ball point pin inner spring and laid it in his pile of parts on the bench. He went round and round trying to figure out where it went and when he gave up and went to lunch, i took the spring back. Then he couldnt find it so it made it worse. Finally had to tell him. Good fun. Were still friends, lol.

With the ambient temps we've been seeing lately... I doubt it will be overheating anytime soon.

I know the feeling as I have never had a GT till this year, only the 4wd CUT for years, CUTs are brutes (even with unloaded tires) compared to GT class machines and most tasks we have for them you can just "muscle" through, no finess required. I have used the WH this year as the primary snow machine because snow amounts dont justify dragging out the CUT and the WH with the hydro is just so much more maneuverable and with the smaller blades/blowers and do a cleaner job at my place. From using the blower on my WH this year I can tell you if steering doesnt respond pick the blower up a tad and it will put weight on the tires, the blower likes to run straight lines even with a 16hp on the frame mine will stop responding and I lift the blower a tad and resume steering, pretty much same with the blade.

My 704 is the keeper

Loaded Tires do not add that much weight. I only somewhat less than 5 gal of beet juice in my D200 rear tire. That is lessthan 50lbs. Your tires probably dont't have that much calcium. Put 50 lb weights on each wheel and another 50-75 on the draw bar and with chains she will push. The bike chain in the front tires will also help.

ok, firstly, i am not bashing the horse, and i was certainly not comparing it with the ford, not exactly apples and oranges but more like abrams vs ar15. my point was this, with the snow blower on it would not pull itself up a frozen gravel driveway (about a 12 inch rise in 20 feet) in 2 inches of snow. would not do it. took the blower off and it would not turn sharp enough on a 30 foot wide driveway to turn around. i actually put it in 1st gear low range got off and pushed the front end around by hand. and yes the tires ARE calcium filled, front AND back, and wears chains !!!! this is western pa and we do get some snow once in a while. its not that i was expecting the horse to perform as a full size 4wd tractor do's it's simply that i was shocked by the total lack of ability in these circumstances. in fact i never used a machine so small in these conditions, the farmall cub is my smallest. but i am not going to mess with the blower any more, i got a 520 swept axle to install on the horse and a pair of 26 inch ags for the rear and am looking for some wheels and triribs for the front. this is to make room for the 50 inch mower im putting together for it. truth is when you use a 4wd tractor for everything for years, i guess you get kind of spoiled, and i certainly am, used it to pull a big dodge ram up a bank out of a ditch the night we got the snow. and the ford tires are NOT filled with anything but air. long live the horse

Have had great luck with my 1979 c-101-8. I have 80 lb. on each wheel, chains and a 10 in. cement block full of cement bolted to the hitch in the back. No weight on the front but that would help sometimes. Was trying to fine front wheel weights.That little tractor has pushed a lot of snow and dirt. One winter my neighbor Bill age 80's tried to get his car up his driveway, pulled up and then backed up and tried again. Well on one try he backed up for another try and forgot to put car in drive.Well you know what happened, hit the gas and shot back across the road and into the hay field about 25,30 feet. Got the horse out and in short order pushed out enough snow to get him out.About 16 in's of snow in that field. I told Bill this is a fine place to park a car,he just looked at me and laughed. Love my c-101-8. Bob

Finally remembered. I give you, Megatron!!!

Hello again, I have been hard at working doingall linds of things and im sure you all will be happy to know that the machine is back on all fours and she is coming back together faster than I thought it would. The tranny is painted, I got a new shifter boot on there, all new grade 8 hardware and the wheels are back on as well. The frame is painted and hooked up to the transmission and the front rocker bar and axles are on there along with the front wheels.pictures coming soon

Not the best image, but these are the rims.

Sorry for all the posts guys, I was just anxious about my new gauges. I know the hour meter isn't stock but there was one in the dash tower when I got it so I bought a nice new one. Plus it will help me keep up with oil changes and stuff. I tried to get an amp meter that looked as original as possible. I really like them :)

Re wigs and courts - "There is no urgent need to go discarding something which has been out of date for at least a century" Lord Donaldson 2003. Not knowing much more about the history of wigs worn in court than I shared earlier, I decided to research a little further and came across a pretty full account here: http://sixthformlaw.info/01_modules/mod1/1_4_legal_personnel/1_4_2_barristers_solicitors/04_barristers_wigs.htm (which Includes the battle to get rid of wigs). Agree absolutely, the press are in the business of selling papers, politicians ply for votes, but time and time again we stand together and our servicemen lay down their lives for the fundamental values we share and hold dear. Andy

Where are you located in Maryland. Here in the Westminster area it was -1 when I had to start the B-100.

Beings you got that smart phone you need to capture some of those moments (of your Dad and son both working on, has got to be cool) so you can look back when you are your dads age. Hint, hint Always nice to have pictures

Here is my GT-14 with LED's. Click for video.

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