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Hi all, Picked this one up a few weeks ago but haven't gotten a chance to post it yet. Found this one for sale on the side of the road about 10 miles from home! Its a 550 and I really like the original paint on it. I'm planning to go through the motor and trans on this one and just leave the paint as-is. Looks like it has the original engine too, it has a h60 tag on the shroud but has the indent in the back side of the block like I've seen on lausons. I'm also thinking about repainting the wheels on it, but still haven't decided yet. I will probably see how they look after being pressure washed before deciding to paint or not. Anyways, heres a couple of pictures. Jake

This horse was found upside down in a dumpster by my friend(tunaslayet). He brought the oil-covered 312-8 to my house with a crushed hood, broken steering wheel, and crushed center console. The hour meter read around 1000 hours, but the engine ran with little effort and the transmission shifted smoothly. I quickly began disassembling the horse and fixing/replacing any damaged parts. Sourcing a steering wheel proved to be a challenge, so i retrofitted a boat steering wheel which came out great and was very inexpensive. I cleaned up and repainted the entire tractor and freshened it up with throwback redo-your-horse stickers and fresh turfsavers. I initially began to set this up as the mower that it once was, but shifted my focus to creating a front end loader after my friends father hooked me up with a great selection of hydraulic equipment in exchange for a custom cabinet. I quickly found a loader on craigslist in Maine. The loader was properly sized, in great shape, missing most of the hydraulic components, and well built from PF engineering plans. I quickly picked up the required steel and began fabricating. Here is the 312-8 the day I got it. The loader on the day I bought it in ME. It is nested with a Kwikway that my friend (tunaslayet) purchased on the same day. We both sourced loaders in ME and took the road trip from Southeastern MA to pick them up. Very exciting weekend. Initial mock up of the loader on the 312. I sacrificed the attach-a-matic and welded it directly to the frame. I decided to modify the support trusses to allow for better PTO clearance and maintainability. I added a slight bend and welded a support gusset to add strength. The PTO and belts are completely serviceable without removing any components from the loader. The back of the frame is supported by 3/8-16 carriage bolts around the rear axle. The weight box is small, but designed to tightly hold a 220lbs stack of exercise cable weights. The weight box alone adds another 40lbs. Wheel weights will soon be added. Here are all of the loader parts painted and ready for assembly. Upgraded to a 520 swept forward front axle with gear reduction steering (Thanks Dennis!). I used trailer hubs instead of the 520 rims. After countless hours of wire-wheeling, grinding, welding, painting, and day-dreaming, my re-rehabilitated 312 is ready to do work for me. I just had to lift something for fun, so i threw my troybilt commercial walk behind mower in the bucket and took it for a ride. The loader lifted the mower with no effort at all.. I may try to lift my 416-8 for fun. Thanks everyone for the help. -Justin

The 875 was busy today.... mowing trails and hauling apples for the deer,deere, dear.

I'm willing to bet those apples would make some good cider.

check fuel flow from tank first remove incoming line from fuel pump and hold it down below the frame gas should pour out if not clean tank filter and replace inline filter and try again be sure gas tank is half full brian

Hey Joe from Feasterville, See if this helps: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/16582-help-my-shift-lever-pulled-out/ And

I like them both just as much. I'm lucky and have good access to tools to do body work so that probably is why I don't mind doing it, I like going through the transmissions and motors on my tractors too, guess I would say I like both of them pretty much the same.

Good poll. I hate body work. I can never leave it alone, I can't stop playing with it, I always have to touch it before it is dry, and I hate sanding. I would rather change out a kitchen faucet and I hate plumbing. My blood pressure is up just typing this response.

Nice photos, and I vote for a fresh, hot piece of apple pie with a dip of vanilla ice cream....Now I made myself hungry!

Ironically, I have bought and sold off Craigslist many times...from vehicles to boats, tires, and hammocks. Never once have I experienced anything "weird" as a buyer, rather it is usually someone who clearly doesn't have the same level of OCD that I have. For the most part, everything has been as promised and spot on. As a seller, however, I have seen it all. Quick example is when I tried to list a 1988 Ford Ranger XLT super cab 4x4 for $600. The truck was a two owner, had some typical rust over the rear wheel wells, but ran and drove extremely well...$600. Long story short, I got trade offers that I could hardly believe. One local guy...get this...offered me three chickens and a porta potti for this vehicle. I politely declined and told him that I really enjoy the chicken that Kroger and Costco sell, and that I live in KY and we received indoor plumbing and shoes like two months ago. Sigh...this world is something else.

Steve, I'm with you and Bob on this one, I'm not very good at body work and hate sanding plus I'm just not set up to paint and that makes it a real hassle to get anything done.

Great weather just a tick windy. My friend Butch was here today with his 1067. Couldn't get a good pic of the site because once again my nemesis, the local IH club, parked a truck and trailer right in front of my canopy. Had a handicap sticker in the window and an old guy drove it in. didn't have the heart to ask him to move it so we used the trailer for a bench! Lot's of pics Pic of the site. Couldn't get Butch's tractor in it because of the trailer Shot with Butch's tractor HIGH NOON!

The fuel cap has a vent that allows air in as the fuel is used up, if the vent is plugged it will cause the a vacuum in the tank and prevent the fuel pump from working.

The camera setting accidently got bumped to the "WONKY" position. They do make good pies.

Joe...Welcome to Red Square you are in good hands.

I'd rather have my hands and face covered in grease and oil then paint and dust. i do like painting tho. bodywork not so much

I have done a lot of Bondo and Fiberglass through the years, and sometimes it looks pretty good...thank God for spot putty (easy to sand). My problem with that stuff, is trying to get the right amount of hardener...you want some time to work with it, but you want it to set up and be sand-able in a couple of hours. I've had the stuff set up in a couple of minutes...all the way to 3 days later (still tacky). You want to take a couple of Viagra and grind them up and mix them into the paste. You sprinkle that stuff on the potatoes in your pantry and they will stay hard for 2 years. No...give me the wrenches and a can of Sea Foam.

All of my horses have assigned tasks. Some are not used very often but other than the snowblower/plow machines they get dirty working. Can't see much point in glistening paint covered with dust/grass. Besides I do not have the patience for body work, there is always more sanding needed, runs to be fixed, or bugs landing in the wet paint...

Joe if you can't get it. PM me I am in Trevose.

I agree with you Steve. I can't leave well enough alone, and end up messing body work up trying to be too perfect. When a bolt is tight, I put the wrench down...easy enough.

Sounds like this world needs more body people! Now, if only I could find one...

Well I have a 607 6 = HP on the engine and a crack at the manufacturer 0 = manual start (5 = it's electric, bogey oogey oogey oogey - for those of you that get that joke) 7 = year of manufacture That said there's a lot of clues you don't know you have yet - If I may speak as a new guy around here. Oh - Welcome to RS! So much info here it hurts the brain at times but these guys are most excellent when it comes to info. I used to have a TJ too - miss that machine...greatly Start taking pictures of the dashboard, the engine, the attachments and so on. Are there areas that are painted over that look like a decal was there? Could be a clue - and so on.

I enjoy bodywork. It's the painting I struggle with. I don't know enough about motors nor do I have all the special tools needed to do a rebuild but it's the most enjoyable part for me because that means I'm spending quality time with my son and grandkids usually for a weekend.

Love building a smooth running kohler!

I like both! (but I'm not an expert at either) like to make everything work and fit just right! Then I equally like to blast sand & paint, I just wish I knew more to move from the Rustoleum to the automotive paints After a hectic day at work i can sit and sand furniture or tractor parts all evening long!

I'm lazy. I leave the dents in. Adds character. Just got home from the steam show and all the Farmalls have dents. I got turned off to body work in college. Saw a guy sit on a running body grinder! When ever I buy paint, the dude mixing it always adds the runs to the paint to make sure I have enough. At least with mechanical work, if you have problems you can blame it on the metric system. And if your working on a MG, you can curse George Lucas

I have to agree with you Steve. When you tighten a bolt, you know it's tight. I don't know how many times I've left a finger print in uncured paint, or sanded a little too much on an edge. Although most of the time my end results look like I know what I'm doing, I am just too impatient to be a good body and paint man.

The Tecumseh and Kohler engines both have a mechanical compression release built into them to make them easy to crank over, the down side is that this also results in lower vacuum on the intake stroke. Since our carburetors require a great deal of air flow through the venturi to draw fuel from the float bowl into the compression chamber the reduced air flow requires a little human intervention, we need to pull the choke. I you are running a little on the rich side you may not need to.

If you are planning to use it I would go with a 63 or 64 model, they have better steering than the other ones which you will want for mowing. But the 702 I have is a very nice work tractor too, i use it for plowing but I like the steering my 854 has much better. I'd look for a 753 or 854

Clip Round hoods are fun, I have 2 702's (one of which has been in my wife's family since 1965), a 502, and my 854. Any will cut grass and plow snow - within limitations. There are 2 styles of gear driven rear discharge cutting decks that fit, either 32" or 36" - nothing bigger. The plow is 42" wide and even the 8HP 854 can only handle that, nothing wider. The 702's have the one piece fuel tank with removable dash plate, the 502 and the 854 have the leak prone 2 piece bolted and gasketed tank with fixed dash panel. My favorite is the 854, as it has the K181 motor, cambered front axle, and the adjustable down stop on the implement lift - great for skimming the plow over grass at the end of the driveway. I swapped the tired 4 speed in it for a good 8 speed from a C 81 - that gives the rear a wider stance for better stability on hills. Funny thing finding round hoods, they seem to find you when you are not really looking ....... Bill

We have a member who makes a nice replacement. See @GlenPettit in the Vendor section.

Is that wonky... a filter on the camera?

Any time that an engine quits, and then starts again after sitting for a little while, I always suspect a clogged gas cap vent first.

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. (kind of looks cool Wonky)

As the weather warmed up this afternoon I thought I would have a go at painting some more of the tractor. Mixed bag of results really, a bit of orange peel on one, a run on another, and then I ran out of paint. I also manged to strip the front wheels and give them a coat or three of primer.

Pretty cool to just go gather apples for fall. It is the kind of thing I miss living in town.

Trevose and Feasterville. I lived in Neshaminy for years, right by the mall.

The roll pin groundhog47alludesd to usually protrudes further on one side than the other. Using a ROLL PIN PUNCH, drive the pin from the shallow side (recessed side). The ebonite knob breaks easily but, if yours is already broken, who cares....in that case, break off the knob any way you can...you'll be left with the brass insert of the knob. Now you can more easily drive out that roll pin. When attaching the new knob, first align it with a loose fitting small nail from one side. File the end of the nail FLAT and slide it all the way thru. Then, from the other side, start to drive in the new roll pin which will simultaneously drive the flat nail out. It helps to file a point on to the new roll pin...lets it easily find its thru path. Leave the nail in place until the roll pin drives it out. DON'T hammer directly onto the roll pin....hold a separate (square) drift pin against it, then hammer onto that drift to drive the pin into place..

Yes, I hang my work hat at hensler's where there is more shop space to tear into a project, so I often stick a horse in their shed. I'll give you a reminder this weekend and appreciate your offer to check your parts bin for a rj hitch. Scott

Suppose I can give that a try.. don't have one small enough though but suppose it is worth getting some smaller ones to try it.. First I am going to try to take a small punch and try to knock it loose.. That is if I can find it.. my son has been rebuilding his transmission and transfer case in his first gen Dodge Cummins.. so not only has he taken up my garage space.. he also has my tools scattered throughout the whole shop.. LOL

LOL!

thanks for the input guys, I think I'll try my luck over in the classifieds. Price might scare me back to bolting on the modified hitch i i'll

Nate, You can do it.There are lots here that can help you.If the cylinder doesn't need boring you should break the glaze to help the new rings seat.You would do this with a spring loaded hone.If you don't have access to one you could create a cross hatch pattern by hand sanding(gently) with 220 grit wet or dry sand paper. You are looking to create a lightly scratched surface with scratches roughly at 35 degrees.The Kohler service manual is available online and shows what the scratches would look like.The manual I have is on CD and was less than $11.00.Well worth the cost.Luck,JAinVA. Jim

Yeah, good luck with that one! Here's what you can expect: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/37762-is-your-kohler-happy/#comment-337126

I'm lucky enough to have some access to a workshop, and have utilised the sand blast machine. So far I done the rear cover, seat support plate and spring bars, the foot boards and belt cover, the opposite side cover, the piece over the sticks. I would have done the bonnet/hood but it was to big for the cabinet . Some bits have ben primed already, I've painted the hood (all rattle cans) quite pleased with the finish, no filler just primer an good ole hand sanding.

Almost up to date now guy's.. A close up of that gauge for you. After looking at the photo's of the front of the hood, I just wasn't happy with the way the new slot's looked... A reminder for you. But what if the slot's were wider to match the original slots?? A quick bit of masking and a squirt of matt black paint to trick the brain into seeing wider than they are slot's and it looks much better.. So Monday the slot's will be widened and tidied up. I didn't enjoy the filler work on the wheels at all.. Too small a space to sand easily!! But once the wheels had had a coat of IH white paint it was worth it I didn't plan to go quite so far with the bodywork before the shows, but I may of got a bit carried away.. The fender pan was panel beaten to get the shape as best I could before being hit with filler/bondo.. A bit more filling and sanding to go but it's almost there now.. Oh, and a bit of news... Nigel and I were explaining to a Gent yesterday about WN and telling him that we were struggling to find somewhere to do some speed testing, and the car park is just too small.. The said Gent said, "No problem, bring it up to my place"..

Afternoon guy's, loads more WN progress for you.. The slimmed down wiring loom is now fully wrapped up in black tape, 90% routed and plugged in.. Working out where to put the voltage regulator took quite a while.. In the end I made this bracket and welded it to the chassis. The "open" design is to let air to the back of the regulator to help keep it cool. I also make up a couple of these.. Which were welded to the battery box/tray thingy. Ideal for mounting the starter solenoid.. It's been a busy few days in the workshop, with Rural Past Times coming up I was even in the workshop Sunday! The wiring was 99.9% done by Sunday lunch time, just one safety switch to fit when I get it.. So I spent the rest of the day fabricating this.. Now you see a mess of wiring.. Now you don't A closer view for you. A lot of template making time went into getting the side panel looking just right.. Speaking of templates, here's the right side template taking shape. Transfer to steel. Bung steel in the sheet metal folder.. Fold a 90 degree bend.. And then forget to take photo's of the other stages, so have an almost finished side panel shot instead A top cover for the main body tub was made, and as the fender pan sits a bit lower than the body tub I made a curved panel thingy to help blend the two heights together.. It will also add strength to the front of the fender pan when it's fully welded on. A view from afar.. Pete dropped in for a visit Tuesday which resulted in the fuel tank being removed!! The reason? Well, Pete had not heard WN running and as I needed to check my slimmed down wiring loom still worked and I didn't cut out anything that I shouldn't of, we decided to fire her up.. It was at this time that the leak free tank decided it wanted to start leaking, and I started to wish I had put the tank sealer in that I had bought!! Then I had a better idea.. Unless WN's engine is warm she has always had a bit of a starting problem with fuel not getting to the carbs.. The problem is the tanks fuel tap is below the carb fuel inlet.. Even though the actual tank is above the fuel inlet and logic says that gravity will do it's thing and get fuel to the carbs through a looped pipe, gravity seems to have other ideas! Also when I tried to drain the tank I found the vacuum side of the fuel tap wasn't working that well! So the plan is to cut off the old fuel tap, weld the hole up and fit a new fuel outlet at the base of the front face of the tank which is the side facing you.. This will put the tank outlet above the carb inlet The only problem is the tank was half full of fuel today, so after draining and soaking up the last dregs of fuel with a rag, I filled the tank up with a water 1001 stain remover solution... I know washing up liquid is traditional, but I didn't have any.. All being well any fuel vapors will be gone by Thursday when I was back at the workshop next, and I can cut and weld it without fear of being blown up! Thursday had arrived so... The first job on the hit list was to tackle the fuel tank.. Once I had drained the water/cleaning solution out and dried the inside, I took the tank well away from the public and stuck a blowtorch in the filler hole... I already knew from the smell of the tank there was no explosive vapors inside, but I had to try to make sure.. Nowt exploded so I warmed up the grinder and welder and set to.. The outlet pipe was welded to the inside of the new plate first, then the whole thing was welded on a bit at a time to make sure nothing warped.. Not the best of photo's but the tank outlet is now above the carb inlet, I just need to fit an inline filter and tap somewhere.. The welds have now had a light tidy up, sprayed with red oxide and the inside sealed up with tank sealant just to make sure it doesn't leak this time. While I was waiting for the tank welds to cool I fitted an extra gauge... I've no idea what you would call it (a better photo coming tomorrow) but it's basically a vacuum gauge which has been following me around for more years than I care to remember.. So I fitted it All the new panels are now painted and bolted down.. Yes I will be painting the bolts I have always been a bit worried about the engine getting too hot due to not enough air getting to the radiator, so today I cut a few extra slots in the front of the bonnet.. This isn't the best of photo's and the slots do look better a little further away, but I think the extra slots need to be wider to closer match the original slots.. What do you guys think? Although I won't have time before Rural Past Times to do a full paint job, I do want to get the wheels painted.. So off came the rear wheels for a bit of "hide the welds with filler" action... I'm not looking forward to sanding them tomorrow! While the rear wheels are off I thought I'd take a look at the fender pan.. This join does not look to bad.. Until you put a straight edge across it!! Lot's of loud hammer work later and it's getting there..

Thanks Pullstart, that slab of brass has saved my bacon more than a few times when I've blown holes during welding. Thanks JC, more driving video will be coming over the next few weeks. At the moment it is far easier for an old fart like me to work on WN at bench height than on the ground, and there are a few bits I want to get done before she hit's terra firma again. She is booked in to her first show 8th/9th of August and lot's of people are waiting for a drive, so I expect there will be loads of driving vids coming up Today I managed to get the ignition barrel fitted.. Space is getting a bit tight in there! Marking out the correct place to drill a hole through the panel for the ignition barrel was interesting to say the least, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The barrel is flush with the panel.. While I was drilling holes in that area I also fitted the choke control. And now onto a part of the build I was dreading... Sorting out the electrics!!! I forgot to take a photo of the wiring loom before I started but once all the old insulation tape was removed (a horrible sticky job!) I worked out which bit's of the loom I needed and which could go.. This is the removed pile, basically all the lighting, brake lights, indicator, and horn circuits.. The loom draped over so I could work out what has to go to where.. Starting to look a bit better, well tidier at least If all goes to plan I hope to have the wiring done and the engine fired back up tomorrow.. Fingers crossed I didn't cut any wires I shouldn't have And for you viewing pleasure here's the latest WN video... It's a bit of a long one so best get a drink ready beforehand

Morning chaps, yesterday was all about metal.. To cover the hole that normally has a plate with an ammeter fitted I made up this plate... The curved bit covers the steering column where it pokes through under the dash. I forgot to take any photo's of it so have a snap taken from the video footage. Working out where and how to mount the ignition barrel was fun. It will go under the dash towards the left which will mean drilling a hole through my freshly made panel above.. Here's the mounting bracket next to the barrel.. The bracket also stops the bike steering lock pin from popping out should the key be turned the wrong way.. And onto today's main attraction... The dashboard.. In my haste to get it to fit Monday I ground a bit too much metal off on the bottom corners. It would of been easy to ignore the gaps if they hadn't of bugged me so much.. So... Off came the dash panel, the offending corners were cleaned up and clamped to a small slab of brass.. Extra MIG metal added to build the corner back up.. One gentle tap later the brass came off the dash.. This is the underside.. You can see where the weld picked up some dirt from the brass. Some very careful grinding later and the corners were sorted On a roll now 3 holes were drilled for warning lights and the starter switch, before I attacked the dash panel with this flap wheel thingy in the pillar drill. The end result after a couple of coats of clear lacquer looked like brushed stainless.. I like the look but I'm now wondering if my airbrush paint will still be any good after 7 odd years, and if I have any fine line masking tape