Leaderboard

After snowblowing this past winter and several mowings already, it was time for a bath and a wax. It is a 1990 312-h I got about a year ago, I stripped it down and restored it last spring, 1180 hrs on it now, planning on at least that many more.

In 1985, my Dad decided it was time to replace the old Gravely convertible he had, since he was the only one who could start it, and it was difficult for me, my sister, or my mom to mow with. After considering a few others, he bought a new 310-8 from Hutchinson's Equipment in Hopewell Jct., NY..... In 1985 the 310 had a red grill, and he painted ours flat black, so it kinda looked a bit like the bigger Horses We (I) mowed with that for a handful of years, and made a few bucks from some neighbors, until he bought a Scag walk-behind in '91 or '92. He kept the 310 for a few more years before selling it to a long-time friend of his.... Not sure where that Horse is today. My first WH of 'my own' is the 416-H I have today that I inherited from my grandfather..... Every time I'd help him with maintenance, he'd always tell me I should keep this tractor when the time came. So when he passed, that's what I did.... Kinda feels like he's helping whenever I get to put it to work.... He was an avid (that's an understatement!) gardener, and this year the 416 tilled my garden at our home for the first time!

It's only going to get worse with the total lack of mechanical knowledge of this new generation. The emphasis on "new" instead of "tried and true" is much better in today's society. Forget the fact that the average age of vehicles on the road it 11 years or that the average cost of a new truck is $31,000. You know a friend of mine brings up the fact that the high school he went to was a technical school. When you went there you learned a trade and got an education at the same time. Of course that high school no longer exists. Seems like teaching our sons and daughters something they can actually use later in life has gone out of style today. With all the liberals controlling the schools and curriculum it's more important to be socially aware and tolerant than educated for a useful life. It's just a sorry statement by those who control our educational system.

So with the long weekend, I was able to add some safety factor to my HF lift. I added ramps, rails on the ramp, tie downs to hold the metal ramp to the wooden pieces, stops to keep from rolling too far forward and access to the lift mechanism to raise and lower it. The wrench in photo is only to denote the access hole as the lever needs to be longer to assist with torque. Once on the jack stands, I can safely pull away the wooden additions as it is centered as it would be with motorcycle and similar in weight. All the hardware I had sitting in shop so the additional cost for some lumber and I am still well below what I would have to pay out for for a wider lift. My grandaughter helping me out is a bonus:).

My son kevin bought his first tractor two​ years ago with his own money. He bought a 1975 c160 for $250 and he was only seven years old. That started the addiction. Kevin's first tractor pull photos Fall 2013, Age 7.

Finally broke down and bought a trailer. I've been renting those ugly green ones and well... they're green (and I'm tired of trying to make sure I get it unloaded and back on time). I have been pretty impressed with Sure-Trac, as I remember @shallowwatersailor going through his process and then picking it. There are a few nit-picky things about them that I thought they should have done better, but all in all for the price I felt like I got a good deal. (Middle of the road price point) Its a 6x10, all box frame rails, spring assisted fold-flat gate, LED lighting, set-back jack, 3500lb axle, ez grease hubs (WAY nice) etc., etc. (And it lives at my KY address so no registration required). And I got as spare tossed in for pennies. Already took it on a trip up to the Portland Swap, and its hauled a hefty load of top soil! It tracks nicely when loaded but can be a bit "sprung" when running unloaded. Tosses me around a little bit on the rougher roads. I need some more attachment points, what do you guys use? I was looking at putting in some e-track or is there a better option? I like having lots of options when tying a load down.

I saved it from a trip to the scrap yard. The 3 point is a plus.

​My kids are only in the 2nd and 3rd grade, but they are so far ahead of their classmates in hands-on activities, problem-solving, and reading. Those boys help me with EVERY project from the tractor, small engine stuff, to plumbing and carpentry. They help me with the garden and the chickens...the youngest even asked me the other day if I would still be proud of him if he decided to become a farmer instead of a police officer. These boys are amazing! I grew up learning every aspect of home building from my grandfather. He also taught me how to repair everything he owned, because his generation FIXED things instead of throwing them away. That has carried over to me and will be passed to my boys. I piss my wife off weekly with the "broken" things I bring home to fix. Never owned an edger before, but I've got $5 in the one I fixed this weekend! In high school I took 4 years of mechanical drafting, 4 years of carpentry...was the student teacher my senior year, and competed in VICA competitions for both all 4 years. I went on to get an AAS in Criminal Justice, which led me to becoming a police officer. After 4 years I wised up and became a Fireman! I'm not a rich man, but I am a happy man! I just hope my kids can keep their head in the game and not get caught up on the liberal bandwagon. Oh, don't ask the boys their opinion on the current administration...unless you have time to pull up a chair and listen! Long winded, off topic rant over!

One of the boys must have brought the heat in the middle of the night. The poor Simplicity was missing its head light and was really beat up when I found it Saturday morning! Boys will be boys!

Awesome first ... smart young man there.

I had a very productive last few days finishing the wiring/lights with cousins Tim and Todd. I took the time to really get the barn organized a bit today after all the other work. Here are some pics. Ready for final CO. In honor of Memorial Day I hung the 48 state flag I got from a buddy of mine. I really like how it looks.

some up dates on the db puller

Thought I would share my newest twins that I have adopted over the past year. These both need some TLC, but through my research, there was only 30 painted with this color scheme. Hoping to get one up and going soon and then take my time in getting the other one in better shape. The only thing I am missing is the polo shirt and hat I believe. If anyone has any leads on some of the items, please let me know. i do have the dealer poster already hanging in the barn. If you notice they have some differences in the flames while one tractor is a 15-38 and the other is a 16-44.

Well that settles it....I aint going ! This tractor show stuff sounds dangerous!! Mike....

I don't think I've shared this as I've been pretty scarce on forums since it happened.... but I pulled the trigger on a new trailer. I had the Wheel Horse two-place snowmobile trailer for several years, and while I loved it and had many fun conversations at shows while showing it off, I needed a better trailer to be able to haul to shows and for general use around the home. After long consideration regarding the need of a substantial trailer and the desire not to let this collectible un-restored metal trailer sit outside and degrade in another Minnesota winter I decided it was time. I'd have loved to be able to justify keeping both, but it wasn't a good fit for me. I never officially advertised it for sale publicly, but had told a couple people I was considering letting it go. There was one collector whom I knew was legitimately interested in making an offer if I was ever ready to let it go. We agreed on a price and one of my prize pieces headed for a new home. If he ever decides to speak up on it, I'll leave that up to him, but know that it is in good hands and will be meticulously restored, I have no doubt. This picture really highlights just how small even the two place snowmobile trailer is. With that part of the deal done, I began seriously looking for it's replacement. I wasn't in a hurry as show season was over and I didn't have any immediate hauling needs. It was likely going to just sit in the driveway over winter anyway. I had some bad experiences with a couple dealers along the way, but eventually landed with this 14 foot PJ Trailer built how I wanted. They had trailers in production, and I was able to get a change order done specifically I was able to get the bi-fold gate, removable stake pocket spare tire carrier and color I wanted. Sides are completely removable so if I need to run just the flat deck, I can. I like that because the trailer's stability isn't dependent on the sides keeping it from being wobbly like a lot of them you see. Pretty happy with this, it pulls nice and smooth. Looking forward to some nice trips to shows with it!

Nice! Now put that fender up on a shelf so it doesn't break again!

Craig, check the battery voltage at rest and then again when activating the start windings. If it drops below 10 at crank, try another Battery. If it stays good and high try rolling the motor by hand and trying it again. Possibly a bad spott on the Genny commutator. Or bring it here and I hang on to it for a few years!

Sorry, they are completely different. They are not compatible. 99% of D-250 attachments are D-250 only, but any attachments from the D160, D180, D200, and 18 Auto are interchangeable, I'm pretty sure.

Came with a bunch of extra parts, original reciepts, manuals, brochures... and the original muffler was in there...had it on there last night, but it's crazy loud with it. Think I'll just use if for display only...and run it with the quiet one pictured...maybe turn it upright with a rain cap on it.

New arrival here today.

I grew up with my father's 1979 c121 and inherited it in 1988 when he passed. I still have it and will never sell it. I hope to be able to pass it on to one of my kids some day.

Glad to hear you found it and saved it. Those Gt14s are beats and the three point linkage setup is a bonus! I'm not wanting to take the thread too off topic but I agree with what has been said about some of the current generation not being very practical or not having the desire to repair and fix something and instead just having the "We will just buy a new one" attitude when something breaks. Personally, I love repairing and preserving these vintage garden tractors and with my being only 16 years of age it seems quite rare people my age are into this sort of thing, which is a shame really as I think it's a very enjoyable hobby that can teach you a lot of useful skills. Tom

546cowboy you nailed that one. I wrote a long winded reply about todays generation. I decided to delete it, did not want to open a can of worms. So I will say it again you nailed it cowboy.

In all seriousness i am curious to what the right collector value on my n.o.s 1972 raider 14 is? Or How many machines In trade that are original or restored you'd take if it were yours ? This is a curiosity I know what i paid but there is a diffrent answer from diffrent collectors.

So my job has me traveling often and one of my "worksites" is Pearl Harbor. Been there maybe 15 times but never had the time or was with other folks who had already been and didn't want to go again to the Arizona Memorial. I just got home today from a 3 weeker so I had a couple Sundays off and was alone for part of the time so I went. I am so glad I did!! I'm not a museum guy and if I'm in one I usually breeze right thru.....but at the Arizona I spent almost 4 hours taking it all in....the movie....the boat trip...the memorial...the museum...and the grounds. They open at 7am and only have a limited number of tickets per day so I was there bright and early at 6:40am and I was still a 100 or so deep in line and when 7:00 came there were probably 400 people behind me!!. I got my ticket for the first showing of the movie which then leads directly to the boat to take you to the memorial. At the memorial the first thing you notice is the smell of oil which is still today (after 74 years) leaking slowly out of the battleship. You can see it coming up and then hitting the surface and quickly spreading out. Getting there early meant the water was calm and I could see a whole lot more than you would if the water was disturbed by waves. The feeling out at the memorial was somber and there was no loud talking, screaming kids and no one yakking on their cell phones....it was a very respectful crowd. There was a tour guide who was full of great stories about the Arizona both before and after the attack. It was interesting to learn that Elvis Presley was a huge contributor to the Arizona Memorial project! Of course I remembered my camera...here's a few pics (and two selfies....I gotta learn to smile). Mike............

We're doing scars in "Top This" !

​You wont regret it John! Mike....

Very nice Brandon I'll be watching for comments on tie down points. I've debated e-track myself for my new trailer. My hangup is that I think I'll occasionally haul dirt, rock, compost or mulch on there. I'm not sure yet if I want to be bothered with having to cover the e-track on those few occurrences, versus the versatility of having rows of tie down points that allow you to pull the load straight down to the trailer eliminating a lot of chance of load shifting. I don't personally have concerns about the tie down strength, I think they're more than sufficient for garden tractors as long it is installed completely and properly.

Nice first horse, any pics?

What's the voltage at the battery?

I like the mix of the old colored wheels and the late model body work

No I don't. I think I took a piece of rope and used that to figure out the length.

I'm pretty sure drool on the paint will add some serious de-value factor to the equation...

10-4 on the tail chasing, RedRanger! Rattle can paint is just to thin. I took an old belt guard down from the wall that needed painting anyway and stripped it and shot two coats of primer on it, waited a day then gave it three coats of Regal Red i had laying around. Waited another day which included baking it in the sun. I shot it with 5 successive coats of Krylon clear coat and I'm going to wait a few days on it to cure well then wet sand it. Just with the clear coat, I can see what your saying about not needing to try to sand the base color. I don't have a buffer/polisher and my late father's buffer has an electrical cord that crumbles in your hand. For all the more I would use it, I may be off to Harbor Freight.

The first thing I would do is look at the fuse block on your tractor. Look for pitted, thinned or burned contacts on the fuses. Next.......check your ground and make sure your battery terminal posts are clean. Make sure your connections everywhere on the tractor are not loose and for extra measure, take them off and touch them up with an emery board and reconnect. Spray your connectors with contact cleaner. Lets eliminate the simple stuff first. You have a battery ignition so if it isn't charging correctly, you will get weak spark then no spark at all. Do the above and check back with us, Bubba.

Was able to rustle another across the NY/CT border today... you can clearly see, it sure is thankful to finally be free.

3 grand maybe. I think it was you that told me an NOS 420 sold for 4500 so that is what I'm going by. The Raider is wicked nice but it ain't an NOS 420 with all that Chrome, the leather seat, the 20 hp Kohler and the limited run of roughly 200 made on the 420 there has got to be a 1500 dollar difference between the two. I think the Raider can be duplicated for probably 1500 bucks if a guy wanted to do one and if he did all the work himself. Naturally it won't be NOS. I wouldn't want to be the guy that sells an NOS tractor to someone that thinks it would be fun to cut their grass with it. Even though that is what they were made for it would be a shame to see that happen after all these yrs of it remaining MINT. At the end of the day who really knows how to value an NOS tractor, I think the only guy that can tell you that is the guy that is serious about buying one...

And you DO NOT need the "power flow bagger" set-up for that deck to bag the discharge -- The 37" decks were apparently designed to generate extra lift/throw -- There is a factory 2 bag collection system with a 3 piece HDPE (I assume) tube system to attach directly to this deck -- Optimally this would be used with a special replacement "high lift" right blade (has extra large fins on the back of the cutting area) -- Special blade is NOT required 12 horses will do all of the cutting/blowing (I am assuming you won't try to run a 2-stage blower) you could possibly want to do -- You will always lose traction before running out of power -- My experience is with a 310-8 which would supposedly be equivalent to your 312-A in that the hydro consumes more power than the geared transmission

Did you check the nylon bushings on the idler slide?

Is the Plug in???? Nice boat!

Go to partstree.com and type in the model number for you're deck, you can the get a exploded view as to where the pulley goes. The spindles should have no play of any kind, and when you spin them the bearings should feel smooth an free. If the feel grainy or have a sandy feel to them the bearings should be replaced.

​Thanks James, the new air filters certainly look much better than the over sized ones I bought by mistake ​Thanks dude, she's a long way off being finished but a test run video or two will be appearing first ​I miss my E-tank, but sadly there is no place to put one at my new workshop.. There is a swimming pool on site, but I don't think they would be too keen on not using it as a swimming pool! Well, what a week that has been! My step daughter has been seriously ill for a few weeks resulting in her being rushed into hospital for an emergency operation last Monday. Since then she has been staying with us and quite rightly so my workshop time this past week has not really been much! The good news is Lisa is now recovering quite well, and life is slowly returning to normal for both us and Lisa What workshop time I have had this week has been taken up with welding.. The inside of the chassis where it meets the front axle has been plated up giving it a smoother look and thus changing my plans on how the front end will look.. The outside of the same bit of chassis could of been welded up and ground smooth, but it would never look as smooth as the inside bit.. So a cardboard template was made and some WH panel off cuts were dug out. Resulting in.... The very front of the chassis under the axle needed tidying up, and as the whole build has a Hot Rod feel to it I thought the chassis needed the same touch.. Three bits of plate and a bit of box tacked together. Which go here.... I would of welded them on but early Wednesday morning I ran out of welding gas.. I wondered why the last of the gas vanished very quickly and found a welding burn hole through the rubber pipe! So watch out for flying sparks guys and girls! New gas didn't arrive until late Thursday afternoon so instead of welding I did some cutting.. Eight plates marked out on some 5mm thick steel. These would of been easy to make had I not wanted the curves! It wasn't until yesterday that I got the chance to weld all the new bits on.. Lot's of welding and lot's of grinding the welds smooth, but it was worth it

Makes me miss Smelt fishing in Lake Michigan. I know, not quite the same, but fishing none the less. Nice project results, Ed. How did crabbing go? The best I can do for crabs is "Nick's" near Baltimore Harbor, and "Tidewater Grille" in Havre de Grace.

Hello and welcome. If you don't find the mule and if your close by stop over and I'll give you one Duane in Canajoharie

I agree Jason...Very Nice!!

This past weekend cousin Timbo and Toddbo came over and we continued to work on the lights in the barn and outside. Maybe one more weekend and we should be pretty close to being done. Got the sign hung on the wall over the main door. I made the frame out of 1x rough cut shiplap siding. It comes off pretty easy to get at the lights behind the sign. Here are a few pics.

All mechanical work is done, I am repairiing the plastic fender now. Have the key installed in dash and used original choke and throttle cables. New Headlights installed. Broken fender will be repaired with a piece of 1/8 ABS, sheet metal and JB Weld.

The new Models are out!

You did great, always good to save a Horse.

Randy,both sides fire everytime piston comes to top but only one cylinder at a time is on compression stroke,sounds like carb is set to rich,lean it down a bit and see if that helps,Rick