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Well, I really wasn't planning on another boat project! The boat is a 1955 Dunphy mahogany ply with its original 1955 Johnson and original trailer. It is almost 13 ft. long. Being a wood boat I really doubt there are many of these left out there and most buyers opted for the 14 ft. model. The boat was a barn find by my brother and he just HAD to tell me about it. I purchased the boat from the original owners son. (His father is still living at 87 but now lives in New Hampshire) The boat was last used in 1977. I got it home safely this past Saturday and immediately started working on it. I'm up in the air about what color to paint the bottom. The bottom color on it is the original factory color, Dunphy painted all the bottoms of their boats this color. I really don't mind the bottom color, Mr. original himself Stevebo says, red bottom and red interior cushions. I was thinking factory color on bottom and maybe hunter green cushions or a medium blue? maybe even red cushions? I promised the previous owners pictures when done and they can even go out for a boat ride with it. They were pretty excited too hear that. Since it is rainy today, when I got home from work I pulled the carb to clean it and pulled the flywheel to have a look at the ignition. Carb was spotless clean and after cleaning and checking the gap on the points I had good spark. I put it all back together and decided to try starting it. Within a few pulls she was off and running. Nice to see that after 38 yrs. being idle this is still a great motor. I will now order new maintenance parts for it.. You can tell the old timer really took care of his stuff, the paint and decals on the motor are near perfect, I won't do doing anything in that area other than keeping it clean and waxed.

Gave dad a call late this afternoon and asked him if he was up for a 4 hour road trip. Next thing you know the trailer was hooked up and off we went. Had a great time chatting after yet another Horse. We haven't gone after many lately so this was a good time for both of us, especially since it was a bucket list tractor. this one is far from perfect as it was used to mow the lawn and blow snow in the winter. I know, hard to believe right? She has some dings but with some TLC should turn out ok. Some of the chrome will be redone in the future, while the rest isn't too shabby and should polish out ok. It has 772 hours on the working meter and is #85 out of 200. Some damage is a little disappointing, but the most important thing is that it exists. This one has been owned by a few folks and the seller was unaware of what he had.

Stevebo didn't mention that when he was at my house I had mentioned I will be selling my Duratech Runabout. He asked how much, within seconds he was in his truck digging the cash out of his wallet! (or his secret safe?) I know if he ever decides to sell it I'll get first crack at it. I told him the next day I probably should have waited till I was done restoring this boat to sell that one, his reply, I can rent it out to you by the week! Always the nut buster! Come on Ken.... I just wanted to "motivate" you to get er done !! I had no intentions of buying back my old Duratech even tho my boy has been asking me to take him tubing/skiing. Non of the other boats I have will do that. From a previous barter Ken and I made I had a rare 1958 Johnson 35 (with a 40hp power head) just sitting in my basement waiting for the right boat. It happens to be the same year as the boat which is a good thing. When Ken told me about this Dumphy he asked if I wanted to do a barter for my 58' motor for the 25 hp that was on it. I said sure. Then Saturday when I stopped over to see it he tells me that he wanted to keep the original motor on the boat that came with it which I agreed it should stay as is. That 25 is really clean... So I put 2 and 2 together and quicker than I knew I was dragging the Dura home again. This time a "little" nicer than when I sold it to Ken. This is very typical of Ken.. He almost ALWAYS improves whatever he gets and if not he will maintain the quality of it. When I got home I put the motor on the boat and Sunday we were tubing !!

I just finished a rebuild on my K91t and just wanted to post a couple photos, she started on the second pull and ran great.

Yup. Chainsaws and Wives, don't loan 'em out, they never come back the same...

I was going to suggest a set of hubs and bolt on rims.....etrailer.com has some pretty good prices and shipping is not bad....I thing the 8X7 rims are on sale....or they were....for 15 bucks..... I saw 1 inch 5 bolt hubs for 20 plus shipping....I'm sure the 4 bolt are priced the same..... I really like the look of bolt on rims.......

Good thing my wife loves me. In a month or so, I've bought 3 WH tractors. I just picked this Commando 8 up today specifically to move some dirt and mulch. Unfortunately, we have had so much rain, it's too wet to move it. You can see the mud on the 520's tires

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/11-tractor-1964-1054-da-om-ipl-wiringpdf/ Check out this manual. It has the details on how to adjust things.

I think Stevebo lent a tractor to a neighbor and they rolled it! Certain things I won't loan out, other things I really don't care. One of my neighbors had a quadruple by- pass a few yrs. ago, he is only 48, a yr. older than me. Kinda surprising because he takes excellent care of himself. For the past two yrs. I have let him use my snow blower every time it snows. (he doesn't have a place to store one) Its a real nice Toro 7/24. He was real hesitant about borrowing it because he didn't want to mess it up. He is somewhat mechanical and he ain't no dummy and has excellent common sense. I told him I bought it for 75 bucks at a swap meet and that I could care a less if it blows up or if it self implodes. I'd feel much worse if he keeled over lifting all the snow we have been getting! Now, when it comes to those neighbors that just don't care or have a clue, and we all know every neighborhood is at least half full of them... Well, all I can say is you just can't help everyone! Its kinda funny, I have determined over the yrs. its usually the people that ask for help are the ones that don't need it.

A couple beers before you get in the seat, another for the cup holder... then stab it and go. Pretty sure you'll have all kinds of overlap going on.

Another Toyota just about broke in!

I lent a push mower to a neighbor once. It had a Tecky on it! She mowed half her yard with it and stopped. Next day she comes over and says it won't start. I walk over and the carb is laying on the deck! I put the carb back on and she finishes. Mext time I use the mower I go to start it. Pull the cord and the whole motor spins around. All of the engine mounting bolts are missing! True story!

The more overlap you have the more seat time you get, may want to half-lap and get even more seat time!

Last weekend was the 4th time we have met. This time at Newby Hall near Ripon, there were 25 entries from as far south as Brighton and as North as Edinburgh. Heres some of my pics

Hi all, I am a wheel horse man at heart but I couldn't pass up on this cool little machine, you don't see them very often over here. It's a January 1963 Original, complete with three-point hitch. After a wash and parked next to my C-120 It needs some parts and a good service but I have got it running and it runs sweet. Are there many other Cub owners on the forum? Tom

I had the herd outside today to do some cleaning and first start's of the yr. in preparation for the Big Show... Even shot a quick video... http://vid187.photobucket.com/albums/x201/flyinaceman/20150610_180322_zpsxej6u5gn.mp4

I'm no mechanic, but that doesn't look quite right

Nice...now if it said Wheel-Horse tractor and, included the logo... I'd be overjoyed.

My whacky neighbor of 27 yrs just split with his wife and moved into an apartment. For the past 20 yrs. he has asked to borrow a sledge hammer. I didn't own a sledge hammer but every year he would ask. He cleaned out his garage last month. I'm in my garage and he yells to me, Mike do you want a sledge hammer? He's holding this old sledge hammer. I now own a sledge hammer! Steve, If I had a Tecky powered push mower and you wanted to borrow it, I first would have questioned your sanity. Then I would have said take it and don't dare bring it back!

Mike, if I needed to borrow a lawnmower from you, and you loaned me one with a Techumseh on it...I would do the same thing. Of course the carburetor is on the deck, that is the first thing to go...and if I had the time to get the engine loose, it would become structure in a river and probably have a Bass hiding behind it.

It crossed my mind, but no I did not. I hopped back in the truck quickly and snuck back across the state line before I was recognized for poaching another Horse.

You do realize that the non-shaker plate oil pan for the 16 HP is the same as the 10, 12 and 14, BUT they won't fit a K341AS (shaker) engine. The base of the block is smaller to accommodate the smaller oil pan.

Did ya let him know what he had AFTER handing the money?

Sheeesh! At least you Marines had boots. We Army pukes walked the flight line barefoot 5 miles, uphill both ways!

Was at home, listening to my neighbor cut his lawn. He never picked up sticks or rocks first. Heard the lawnmower hit a huge rock, and bent the shaft on his motor. He immediately asked me to borrow mine so he could finish. I told him try the other neighbor, after I stopped laughing.

nice herd! and by the way it's nice to see the snow's finally gone

The main advantage is not having the grass flattened by the tires before mowing. The groundsmasters were a good example. The z's aren't too bad either.

The first bit of advice I have for you is to never go back to that small engine place! You have a Sunstrand 90-2062 which is specific to the GT-14, but nearly all of the components are interchangeable with the 90-2046 which was used on the 1968 to 1973 smaller Wheel Horses. If parts are needed you can place a want add on this site. Before you throw in the towel on this you should change the fluid and filter. You will want to get a NAPA 1410 filter. If the fluid you drain out is red, replace it with Dextron; if it is amber, use a good quality 10-30. There could be other things that require attention, but this would be the first step. Keep in mind that a Hydro should always be operated at 2/3 throttle or greater. Higher RPMs provide better cooling for the engine and transmission. If you want to look at the manual for the tractor or transmission they can both be found on this site. Hope this helps. Let us know how you make out.

I use sealed bearings on all my show tractors to keep the hubs clean, but regular unsealed bearings on my workers. My reasoning is that the workers gets down in the snow and mud and having the entire hub filled with grease keeps the water out. Having no grease inside the hub invites water and ultimately rust.

Wait till she finds out I need to build a shed now, LOL

The smaller size (16 x 6.50-8) works better with the standard wh front wheels (5.38 wide x 8). over on the JD forum (weekendfreedommachines.com) they talk about the two widths of the v61 tires and their suitability for wheel sizes. general opinion is the 16 x 6.5-8 works with the common 5.38 width and the 18 x 8.50-8 is better suited to the wider JD wheel on the bigger tractors (i think its 7 inch but not positive). as mentioned above the d series Wheelhorses use a wider front wheel. the key for proper fitment is to look at the sidewall profile from the front. those wider tires look right with the wheels on that d pic above this post. here is a pic with the smaller size on smaller 5.38 wheels (400 series) on my 416.... sidewalls look similar on both, in my opinion both of these pics show proper wheel/tire sizing.

I really only want to take two tractors to the show this year but I think I might just have to stuff the 420 into the back of the van (which I hate to do as its awful clean in there) and put my sons 854 on the trailer along with the Suburban. I bought the 854 off Buckrancher at the Big Show 3 yrs. ago for my son Cole. Haven't had to do a thing to it other than keep it clean and change the oil... She does cut the grass every once in a while, hauls fire wood every now and again and makes the rounds at all the local shows.

Since owning my 520 for about a year now with zero issues, I decided to pull the engine to clean it up, adjust the valves and change the oil. So I get the engine out and set it on a bucket. No problems so far. Pull the air cleaner housing and engine tins. Piece of cake. This thing is WAY OVERDUE for a good cleaning. The top of the engine and valve covers are just full of crud. On to the exhaust bolts, the front two come out with no problems. I move the crud from around the rear two bolts, but there is only one bolt. I think to myself, that's weird. On to the intake. Loosey 4 bolts, no problem. Then I pulled the intake manifold and took a look at the intake valve area on the rear and low and behold, a crusty and charred exhaust bolt! The sight of this immediately flashed back memories from 25 years ago.... FOD! For those of you that have never worked around aircraft, FOD stands for Foriegn Object Damage. I still cannot believe that bolt did not jam the intake valve. Feeling lucky.

For what? I was referring to the big Johnson on the new boat.

CONGRATS welcome to the 420 club Brian

i know better than to loan anything out , but recently after a co-worker asked repeatedly and promised to have it back in a few hours i loaned him my engine hoist...... three weeks later and several requests for it's return i had to go over to his place and drag it out of his garage why can't someone figure out on his own that if he had brought it back as he promised i may consider loaning it to him again? making me go hunt it down he will never even see it again

Stevebo didn't mention that when he was at my house I had mentioned I will be selling my Duratech Runabout. He asked how much, within seconds he was in his truck digging the cash out of his wallet! (or his secret safe?) I know if he ever decides to sell it I'll get first crack at it. I told him the next day I probably should have waited till I was done restoring this boat to sell that one, his reply, I can rent it out to you by the week! Always the nut buster!

Congrats on your find! Love those chrome rims!

Just better stick to a one door shed... makes it harder for them to leave.

Another activity Wild Bill can Em-CEE !

Most of the problems I see with our equipment at work are fuel related and user abuse. Lets face it if you treat it like crap thats what it will end up as. I have an old 30cc Green Machine weedeater that is at least 20 years old. Its a beast. Use good fuel, clean it after use(not with water) and it will last you a long time.

My recollection is the caps tested defective due to high ESR series resistance. Physically, they did not vent, just dried out.

We were Marines. We walked and picked it all up by hand, LOL No money in the budget for machines

A video showing how that works... would be better than watching paint dry any day of the week.

Given just the two I would go with the Stihl. I have a few of their saws without alot of grief but I know what old red is sayin. The echo is a throw away and the Stihl has a few more cc's I believe. Both of them are one of their "occasional" or "home owner" use models so don't expect too much out of either as them will not stand up to professional abuse well. I tend to stick to the pro grade models but then I have a huge area to deal with. Personally I would look at the Huskys but stay away from the Crapsmans at any cost.

I hope you were wearing a mask when you took that off the guys hands. I can never find deals like that.

Jeff, I would personally change the oil a little more often, maybe one more time in the summer (with 30 weight oil, I think) and again in the late fall or early winter before you start blowing snow (10W/30?), then back to 30 in the spring. Make sure you take care of the other normal maintenance chores on this engine too, new spark plug once a year, fresh gas, check the points every once in a while, keep the carb clean and adjusted, that sort of thing. Your Kohler owner's manual will have all the details.

It looks like a 1988 520-H. The ignition key location was changed for 1989 to left of the steering column. You will notice that the motion control lever slightly interferes with the ignition key.

Picked it up today, F450 4x4 440hp and 860 lb-ft torque First new vehicle we've ever bought