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I had the tractors outside today so I could do a little shop cleaning so I figured why not take a few pics. First up are the round hoods, my customized 61 Suburban. Next down the line up is my sons customized 60 Suburban with an electric start 8hp Kohler under the hood followed by my mostly original 58 RJ and my sons 854. The last pic is of the main workers, my 417 and 657.

This was my first blower I had back in 2008, mounted on a well worn out C-141 8 speed, we had about 4" of snow and it did a pretty good job, just had to keep a eye on the oil, the tractor drank a little, a buddy still has this tractor.

I purchased my 516H 3 weeks ago off craigslist. I traveled an hour and a half to find a dirty, but well running tractor with no attachments. The seller informed me of a snowblower at a hardware store half an hour south on the coast that had been sitting in a field for over a year. I bought the tractor for $450 and went to the hardware store to see about the snowblower. The seller of the tractor told me he had talked to them and they would sell it for $200. At the hardware store they screwed around with me a bit on the price. They told me $300 was their last offer. As I was getting into my vehicle to leave with the 416 on the back they came running out and told me I could have it for $200. I dragged it quite a ways through the field, with over a foot of snow, but it was worth it. I ended up with a hardly used tall chute snowblower. A little over an hour later I was home and started to clean it up to see what I had. I mounted the snowblower in preparation of a storm that was approaching. I had a great Toro snowblower that I bought brand new 2 years ago that I had recently given to my mother for her house so I needed to get this thing going in order to get out of my driveway (which is 200' long). Well I soon found out that the hydro was weak, missing the reservoir, and needed fluid. I was able to take care of the storm, barely. Dennis from this board sent me a message and I ended up buying a rolling 520H chassis from him a week later (much thanks). That night I completed the Eaton 1100 swap. What a difference, night and day. Here is a photo of the tractor as of this evening, tires are from the rolling chassis, sheet metal slowly being painted. Hood is next, then blower. My wife thinks I am nuts. My daughter on the other hand is right there with my insanity. My 252H will be sent to my mothers house for lawn mowing duty. Happy as heck to have a real tractor for once.

Hello all, A lot of you guys know I have been sick. I have been Battling cancer and been doing good with it. Its giving me a chance to think how short life is. So I Want to build a Hot engine for a project im working on. I was going to build a k341 Kohler, started picking up some parts. Like everything I do for some reason I have to go over board. Well I started with a stock block. Picked up a used crank stroked to 3.75. Then I find out the engine I wanted to build you cant use stroked crank, and the max bore size was only .030 bigger then stock. The more I looking into it I wanted MORE. So I have collected some really nice bunch of parts to play with. Im not using the stock block. I picked up a J2 after market block Very HD. 10,000 all day Billet cam with a .625 lift, billet rod, and piston. The stock size was 3.75 bore. The new bore is 4.125 and I have still more sizes I can do. The crank I found out wasn't as good. so I ended up buying new, Billet crank . 3.75 stroke. The engine building thing is so many ways that guys do thing , no one will tell you anything, as far as port size angles any thing. The block I have I have to machine ports lifter holes center lines aren't the same as stock. so im working everything thing out 3 time before I do anything. here's some pictures of the parts I have so far.

Saturday was a 70 degree day here in Richmond, figured it was time to stretch the 416's legs. It has been a extremely wet winter, and my driveway has taken a beating so I put the grader blade to use. Hard to believe we will have couple inches of snow on the ground tomorrow!

Here is all I can tell you without actually seeing the tractor and fixing it for you. The picture below is how current flows when the key is in the OFF position. When the key is in the ON/RUN position, the current flow is as shown below When you turn the key to START, the current flow to the starter solenoid is as shown below in green When you release the key from start, the current flow returns to the ON/RUN position, and the starter stops running. If it does otherwise, you have either the wrong switch, a bad switch, sticking solenoid, or you have it wired incorrectly. Since the tractor will start and run, the assumption is that the seat switch, pto, and clutch switches are all working correctly or have be bypassed. EDIT: I'm withdrawing the solenoid statement because if it were to be sticking, the starter would be running even with the key off.

Yes I have a FEW more tractors here now, and Thanks on the Barn, I built it with help from my 3 brothers it took me a whole summer to build it, but I can say I did it. and it's full of Wh's and parts. Here is a pic from today my son took, we had about 5" of fluffy snow but the tall shoot on the 520 still throws it pretty good.

This is what it is all about...the Giant Claw...awesome

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Think that stump was signed by Cecil?

Actually I love that video! It's one of the best I've ever seen about blowing snow on a small tractor. It comes down to rpms and the design of the blower (it's a bervac or bercomac same design). I have a fraction of the collection that a lot of the guys here have! I liked having everything set up the way I want no switching. It's not that hard to switch but soon you'll start seeing deals for tractors that you just can't pass up. Then all of sudden you have a collection. Again my father in law has a brand new jd with fel and also a grasshopper diesel and he thinks I'm crazy. But here's what I think is crazy I can do 90% of what he can and I spent 1/6 what he did. But this is not for everyone and I totally get that. Most here won't argue wheel horse was the best ever but just the right mix of affordability durability and work ability and interchangeability to make it worth it keeping them around. If we get much more snow I'll post a video of my rig to see how it compares to the one you posted.

CURSE YOU RED BARON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

worked on joining the inlet manifold back together today. firstly i had to clean off all that crud and corrosion..... then both pieces were subjected to a scotchbrite rubbing all over, while my fingers were subjected to getting worn out just a little more........ then i gave both pieces a good wash with brake cleaner and got some rivets and permatex #2 for sealing. i use ultra black for sealing just about everything but supposedly it isn't recommended to use on parts subjected to gasoline..... put a nice flat bead all around the sealing area on both pieces...... placed both pieces together and now time to rivet...... used 1/8 aluminum rivets to join the halves back together..... finally i cleaned all the excess sealer off to make it look pretty..... thats all for today though, sitting inside red squaring.......

This is a long story so bear with me. My wife and I go to my brother's Elks lodge for Friday dinner quite often. The last time we went a little over a month ago, sitting at my brother's table was a man named Bob Shinsing. Quite a friendly fellow and we quickly learned he had been an aircraft mechanic during the Korean war. As we talked he told us about his hobby of making airplane bird feeders. He showed us some pics of them all with different themes. I got thinking he probably could do a plane but I didn't want to ask. After we left the first thing he says to my brother is, "Do you think they would like one of my planes?" Of course my brother said yes and suggested the theme. Fast forward to yesterday and a certain Dino finding a box of VCR tapes of old monster movies on his step. What a surprise!! A giant "Saurus sitting in a lawn chair in his basement with a TV tray full of chips and his mug watching B movies. On my birthday no less Today I get home late after a really long week. sitting on my porch is this airplane bird feeder with emblems on the tail! .I tried to think of who could have sent it as I only got to know Bob for like an hour. Then I saw the card inside from my brother and it all came back. Needless to say I was shocked! I called my brother and he got a big kick out of it. Gotta figure out how to get on next year's calendar! Enjoy the pics!

I think I found a 1054 but hood is missing. The tag is below...

Turn it into dessert. Make a few Oyster pies. Hot from the oven. Invite the Boys and families. ENJOY !

I saw a RJ35 for sale on Ebay, it sold today for the opening bid of $250.00. It was up around Cleveland Ohio. Did anybody from Redsquare get that oldie? It wasn't in great shape and didn't have the engine. But a RJ35 is hard to find so it was worth the $250 I would say. Hammerhead

Mike, be careful trying to widen the front of your trailer, most of the landscape type of trailers don't have much frame under them, they rely on the truss effect of the side rails for strength. I've seen more than 1 trailer destroyed by backyard re engineering .

Mike- the motor is a 10hp and the thing that I notice is different from my 953 is the thickness of the rear fenders.... My 953 seems like it has thicker metal than this one. Going to pick it up tomorrow. Comes with a black canvas cab company cab, plow, snowblower and the mowing deck on it.

Finally getting a chance to update our last meeting which was held Thursday night. It was a huge step in us moving forward as we are now able to use the new building. The building is not hard wired but we are able to run an extension cord temporarily so we have light and can run a portable heater. The kids were excited to finally be back in business. We focused on getting the engine torn down and we will focus on getting it prepped for some new paint. We also tore down another 12 horse that had a broken rod. The kids worked with dad and learned how important it is to do routine maintenance. Here is some photos of the club in the new building and back in action....... Of course a little more of everyone's favorite activity........sanding! Still working with the sandblasted and hoping to have the kids apply the powder to the tractor soon so reassembly can commence. Thanks for following our journey!

Now that's funny!!! Almost as good as the little wires on the toy jeeps and tanks pulling them along in the Godzilla movies!

Sounds like you need to pull the shifter and align the 1st/rev fork . Not a hard job ALSO WELCOME TO

I did a Google search and found multiple places that show stock on that part number.

Missus not always impressed with the volume of deliveries some weeks The tyres do look chunky... Chunky is the word!!!

I DID IT ON MY GT-14

I guess I'm one in 6 then.

Missed a spot.

Does the starter drive retract with the key turned off? If it doesn't it may be physically jammed and you may have it wired correctly after all.

definetly remove the sender from the tank during the cleaning if not then recheck the sender with an ohm meter to see if the resistive element in the sender still responds to the float movement. check the demystification guide for expectations on full and empty ohm values. check for dead spots in the readings as you raise and lower the float. the readings should change smoothly to make these mesurements, attach one ohm meter wire to the mounting plate and the other to the wire terminal on top of the plate.

That picture is ANCIENT.....you're place sure doesn't look like that now Kelly, you have a couple more tractors now!!!

I was following along on this one and somehow I missed the ending! All I can say is that what you have done is the true definition of a full and proper restoration. Your work is superb with lots of attention to detail, the tractor look fantastic! I've used Martin Seynour paints before on a few vintage outboards I restored and I liked it. The 857's are one of my favorite tractors, I love the stocky look to them and there is something about how that starter/generator belt guard looks and how it fills the engine bay, I love that look. Its work like this that inspires me to get out into my shop and get my rear in gear!

A few more feet of trailer would make all the difference. The trailer pictured is 10 feet, and I can get the tractor with two stage blower in it.

Isn't the PA state grand canyon somewhere around there? http://pacanyon.com/

And just in case somebody stumbles upon this years from now here is the website for the company that ultimately ended up with ber vac and has information and parts. http://www.radinter.com/snow-blowers

Lane, looks like a nice project. I think locating an engine could be the hardest part…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNremK0cBEg

An update to those who had helped me out. The Dog Point was in good shape as was the jam nut. All ready to go, but, need a new dust boot before reassembly. I greatly appreciate everyone's information. Dust-boot availability? Jeff

In the waning days of winter ,when there's not enough snow to ride the sled , too cold for the 4 wheelers ,no grass to cut ,not enough snow to blow, is permissible / acceptable to sit on your machine of choice & do your best to mimic the sound of it's engine ? At different loads & RPM's of course . I just installed a 3" handlebar riser on the MXZ & caught myself at around 8200 revs surfing across an open field . ( I had the garage door closed ) . Next will be the Raider , I have to brush up on the Kohler in grass up to the axles .Followed by the Outlander ( 400 single ) & The Renegade ( 500cc V-twin ) .

Nice work Martin! You could eat off of that engine. Matt

worked a little more on the engine today..... pulled the bearing plate and timing cover, will be replacing gaskets and seals. cleaned up the aluminum more on the block and other parts. think its almost there. will start to re assemble next week once i get all the seals and gaskets needed.... timing cover removed..... still am surprised how clean this engine is (other than the junk that i found in the sump). considering this engine sat out in the weather with parts missing, manifolds, spark plugs etc. it survived well. the bores had a little rust which cleaned up good, and there was water, mud and whatever else in the sump. i think i got lucky on this one...... main bearing on bearing plate side ...... was some discussion on the forum recently about the ball spacer in the governor being keyed to the cam gear. here is the plastic keyed version.....

AMEN to that! I found one 2-3 years ago covered in rust, hood there but rougher than a cob, no engine, front wheels locked/rusted in place with something messed up, all four tires flat, torn and shot. I have not seen another since in this area for less than $500. I paid $50-75 for this old turd and figured I did well! To me, the one shown here looks like a trailer queen compared to the pile of rusted steel I bought to restore!

If the shift lever isn't broken, it is likely that the dog-point screw holding it in the transmission is either broken, loose, or just plain worn out. This is an easy fix and here is where the dog-point screw is. my direct email is: daveoman@windstream.net

I saw that post and I was like this whole WH/tractor thing has jumped the shark... I'm sorry to be the one to burst your bubble but if you would even consider paying $8000 for a "WH show tractor" or a "WH show tractor signed by Mr. Pond" or a "WH tractor not signed by Mr. Pond" you need to have a cranial CAT-Scan.

Nahh.. I haven't priced out a comparable new one but would imagine like most things it isn't cheap & most likely overpriced as brandy new equipment usually is. The thing that gets me about these stright job tractors & there price points is, i don't think i can get past the common stigma I have about them. With out trying to bash any brand or model, when i think lawn tractor, even real deal tractors like jd, i think of messy mowing lines (circle cropping we call it), hard ability to stripe even when going straight & constantly having to unclog the bagger chute, something commercial mowers like exmark for example don't do very often because they have those turbo chute accelerators, they are great maneuvering in tight quarters & stripe like a dream because of the huge vacuum even without a striping kit. You could drive figure 8's all over the place matting your lawn, all you have to do is just mow over it once & all marks are gone. With something like a lawn tractor it would be much harder to reverse the matting. Personally I've never seen performance of that nature out of straight job/ lawn tractors. I would imagine your also looking at a relativley comparable entry point compared to a deere tractor or the like, say 8-10grand. You can also add attatchments to the xmarks etc. With all that said, i just happen to grab a stander that is not able to use a blower due to design limitations which is a bummer & had i thought ahead i would of chosen different. I guess that's why the price points of these wheel horses seem high to me, I've always just considered them to be second teir in a way, compared to what commercial companies used day in day out to make their $$ & do other jobs a mower can do with attachments. So when i see a 15yr old horse selling for the same or more $$ than what i consider to be a teir1 commercial piece of equipment it makes wonder how they could be worth the same.. Also using "teirs" as a way to describe their commercial capabilities maybe isn't the best way to go about comparing them but it's the best i could explain my opinions. Although you can get almost identical attatchments for both styles the more i try to compare the different styles the more I'm starting to think they the different styles have different purposes but can do the same stuff, just in different ways or speed... Kinda like two different poisons..you know? Apples to Oranges but for the same purpose..? That is very good advice, i should of known better as I've replaced countless trannys but i deff wouldn't have drove it up hills to check, thanks for that one! So what's the deal with the Xi series? How much newer are they? Sorry not up on my wheelhorse.. Ask me about a xmark or wright or walker & ill probably know a little more as i was a landscaper for years.. I pretty much stopped keeping track of these straight jobbers when the zero turn commercial mowers got big. Does the Xi kinda look like the normal run of the mill tractors, just with big tires? In other words.. they don't look like a horse, all streamlined & whatnot? Is that the one you speak of? I'll Google it..lol.. I know how to feel out a rig for the most part, but would the fuse box on these be a good indication of the over all condition with tearing the guys tractor apart to look in Nooks and Cranny's for rot? I can't stand rot!

thanks Jack and Denny. i forgot to add that i got the micro switches through mcmaster carr....... part # 7779K63 $2.93 ea. http://www.mcmaster.com/#7779k63/=qt68r2 trying to put some of the part numbers and prices on here, just in case it helps somebody out......

Finally got a motor for it. It is still not a k90 but probably as close as I can find. Its a k91 with the 3/4" exaust. I will put a 90 serial tag on it. Does anyone know if if would matter if I change the head? I want it to look right, but don't want it to not run right lol. This will get a complete rebuild probably in the summer when I have some money to put into it. Thanks, Jake

Dennis and Mike got it right

I got this finished up today, overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out considering I painted this one myself.

here is my c141 automatic with a tall chute blower, 140 lb wheel weights on the back. (this is the one that was giving me trouble during the storm saturday all is well now) this is a 314-8 with a 42 in plow. put the front weights on for this storm, help steering alot also have rear wheel weights, 150lb of suitcase weights and then another 30 lbs of plates on the plow to scrape better. you can just see the plates in the picture

I remember those back to back storms too, not last year, but the year before...Dec '10, Jan '11 snow season. The single stage on my 520 had our little driveway looking like a tunnel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu48aGgLkzw&list=UUd_ptV1TUpPlW1VhCjxez_Q&index=40