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Here's the story....I am a career FF, and I do part time landscaping, my own biz. So I'm in this parking lot...and I have my Toro Grandstand (cutting) and my old Wheel Horse 312 Hydro as a mule for my aerations. Both are shoved onto my 12 trailer. Random cable guy in his truck comments on it and asks me if I want another WH, he'd sell it to me cheap. I said, no thanks, I'm good...then he sees my Firefighter plates and asks about that...I told him I do that full-time and do landscaping part time. He then says...How about I give it to you?? WHAT??? Of course I thought it would be in horrible condition...but when I picked it up...I was completely surprised!! He sweetened the deal...he also gave me his Trac-VAC!!!! What??? He just had no more use for it, lives on 7 acres and has big tractors and toys....and wanted to give it to someone who would use it especially a first responder. So to pay it forward...I've been doing all of my neighbor's leaves free of charge. Just wanted to share!!

I brought this home the same time I picked up the 856. I really love these little tractors. It had the wrong engine but i managed to also acquire a correct Kohler k90 for it and promptly installed it . Needs a few minor things but I'm happy to have it.

11-18-1883 Railroads create the first time zones At exactly noon on this day, American and Canadian railroads begin using four continental time zones to end the confusion of dealing with thousands of local times. The bold move was emblematic of the power shared by the railroad companies. The need for continental time zones stemmed directly from the problems of moving passengers and freight over the thousands of miles of rail line that covered North America by the 1880s. Since human beings had first begun keeping track of time, they set their clocks to the local movement of the sun. Even as late as the 1880s, most towns in the U.S. had their own local time, generally based on “high noon,” or the time when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. As railroads began to shrink the travel time between cities from days or months to mere hours, however, these local times became a scheduling nightmare. Railroad timetables in major cities listed dozens of different arrival and departure times for the same train, each linked to a different local time zone. Efficient rail transportation demanded a more uniform time-keeping system. Rather than turning to the federal governments of the United States and Canada to create a North American system of time zones, the powerful railroad companies took it upon themselves to create a new time code system. The companies agreed to divide the continent into four time zones; the dividing lines adopted were very close to the ones we still use today. Most Americans and Canadians quickly embraced their new time zones, since railroads were often their lifeblood and main link with the rest of the world. However, it was not until 1918 that Congress officially adopted the railroad time zones and put them under the supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

I just found this, literally 10 miles from me. Is this engine correct. It has deck, plow, snowblower.....600 bucks Price,,,is it fair for this? How correct is this machine? Is anything right about It? The motor concerns me to. Ok, been doing some reading, this looks like a little bit of everything rig, like a mutt. Thanks, Glenn

The 854 was a barn find. I repaired the ignition and freed the stuck open exhaust valve and now it starts easy and runs good. A satisfying experience!

Since I bought the 520xi last Friday, I've been slowly getting the 520H's ready for winter battle, I put the single stage on (the one that had the bagger on it)yesterday, and today the 'plow and a set of chains on the "Good Friday" low hour unit, so I decided since its warm and dry I would push my grass pile (from sweeping this year) back into the wooded area along our property line,was going good till the turfs "gummed" up past the chains with wet rotting grass and clay, so I had to get out the anniversary with 2stage to tug my stuck "dozer" tractor out of the "swamp" like mess,... I know there's a CUB CADET (FIL's) saddled up next to my 2 's in the barn but hey it's red too,lol, Jeff.

Now the colder weather is coming its interesting to know whats keeping you warm where you live. Here's a photo of my open fire in the lounge that we have going in the evenings it burns logs cut to 12 to 14 inches , sometimes coal. I'll add the photo shortly as its on my pad

Hey Redsquare. I need help identifying this horse. I may go rescue it as it is destined for the scrap yard if it doesn't sell by end of November. It is hacked up but I still see beauty in it.

It's been a while since this post but here is an update. I used this over the summer redoing my flower beds. Worked awesome! Moved 20yrds of topsoil and 6 yards of mulch no problem. It even worked well to back drag old topsoil.

Shaky video here, I know... but shows all those missing pieces in action.

Any pictures of the finished project? I like what I saw but you know us ole goats like lots of pictures.

Are you sure you are turning the engine in the right direction?

Been looking for a 856 or 857 to add to the collection and got this from a buddy. He got it from the original owner and passed it on to me. Needs the fuel pump rebuilt and it will be back in service. I think I'm just going to clean it up and leave it a survivor.

Nice to be appreciated...

Load it up Howard. Inside, outside, and backside.

It does and chains, but maybe some more, I planning on replacing tires come spring then adding fluid,Jeff.

ALASKA 2 door...takes 19" logs.

I see I have a lot of horse schooling to do yet. The trick to learning about them is buying something like that snow blower, then searching for and gathering all the missing pieces! That's how you pay for the schooling, or at least that's how I paid.

So I had some scraps laying around and thought how nice it would be to eliminate the wheelbarrow. So it began. The creation of a Johnny bucket.

Here's a couple of photos of my 400 here in the uk with hubcaps fitted

I have already sent message to owner. Now if only I could get out of work early. Maybe i can tell my boss I am a horse doctor as a hobby and there is a horse I need to go save.

1961 401. like others wrote, but wrong engine. The blower is a 1962 ST302/3072. Made to adapt to that tractor but missing the mounting adapter, lift bar, foot pedal, chute handle, chute handle support bar, chute rotating belt pulley and belt and the belt guard for the engine belt. All can be reproduced. Snow plow will fit and has the mounting adapter but missing the foot pedal to pull the index pin. That tow bar is from a 1960 400 because the rear hitch was used for the deck lift on that model.

They didn't Tony. In 74 & 75 the B's had a shorter wheelbase and were 4 speeds. In 76 & 77 they were identical to the C's except for the rear tires, seat, steering wheel and a couple other minor things. In 78 the B's became lawn tractors.

The chain is rubbing on something in the last picture. There is a flat spot worn on the links. The auger sprocket appears to be in excellent condition. I would get a 10' length of chain which makes 2 and replace it. A worn chain is what wears the sprockets. With the chain off feel the condition of the bearings in the idlers and auger. Would you mind checking the model and serial number? I see 6-6212 and 642879 but hard to read. This may be a 1970 model. Garry

Ed and Jeff..............you 2 have it coming,,,going and leaving...Wow........if these 2 machines ever get stuck...we will have our hands full.. those wheels have to be murder to mount up...Guess im going heavy this year..... I will be mounting my blade and adding the new edge this sunday....Boy am i gonna be tired.... I normally run a 42 inch blade.....i have a brand new 48" plow blade,,,,think its to much for my 8h.p.....and all the weight ?? Go big or go home?? after the snow falls is not the time do find out i have to much blade and not enuff ponies to push....

Howard, yes I was going to do inside (farmall CUB) and whatever I found for the outside but I wanted to keep hub cabs on as well when mowing without fluid for now, but since I'm replacing the well weather checked/dry rotting O.E. Dico tires I'm going with fluid and those, I have 75# weights fluid and 120# on the rear of my anniversary cab 520,Jeff.

It's a 61 suburban for sure. Engine is incorrect and should be a Kohler k91. Fenders and tool box are missing and that together with the wrong engine and the hood being cut up in back really hurt the value of the tractor itself. The blower and blade are worth a few bucks for sure. The deck looks rough and missing some parts. The wheel barrel is a off brand, not really of any value. The most I would pay is 450, MAYBE 500 as long as everything worked. The 500 is if you really want the stuff. Hope this helps

Couple more signs here Ed... you might want to keep a look out for.

Photo dump, almost done. Runs good and drives good. Although this isn't what it was supposed to be originally, I have bought another horse 40+ years of service! That's Mainly why I like to do these restores!

Nothing nicer than an old earning it's keep.

Rustoleum roasting by an open fire.... About to suffer Mrs Ks ire Were you painting inside again..... Just calm down and count to ten Little horses need to shine,,, Even in the winter time.

here's my heater...jotul f55 I believe. The forth I've had in the house. I grew tired of buying cheap Craigslist finds and finally had to pony up...well worth the money and even got a tax rebate. I heat from the bottom up and can do it on 3 cord or so on a cold winter

I admit to using both wheel weights and suitcase weights. Although it has been said that weight hanging off the rear will wear the bearings and seals, wheel weights will cause wear on the hubs and axles. The rotational mass tries to continue rotating so it is left to the hub screws and key in the keyway to stop. The screws come loose and the key eats away at the keyway cut in the axle.

I took it apart and have the parts soaking in acetone. It looks like I should be able to just clean it up. Wish I had a piece of whatever that gasket/diaphram is made out of though. The carb body is in the carb soak can.

I need some ballast weight to counter a two stage blower on my 520H. I have 2X70lbs wheel weights, but that was not enough. So I welded up a hitch with 2" sq. receiver. Inserted a hitch upside down. Added a piece of 1" all-thread. Then stacked up some Wally World cheapie 25 lb. barbell weights. Now I have over 125 lbs hanging out back. I'm not sure this is what you had in mind, but its what I've done.

are you referring to this Jim? ---> When to Paint Wheels there's also this one from about a year ago... -----> year ago and this one before that ----> older topic

Thanks! Just a little . Lol

Great story, and nice job paying it forward! They don't have to know you actually get to have fun doing it!

it's beer thirty!! Five o'clock somewhere!

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Howard the fluid filled ags and weights haven't been off my anniversary since they were put on, I'm AG tire person myself, I have hills to mow and the turfs just don't cut for me and I'm fine with chaining up for winter and obviously chains on turfs didn't cut it in clay and rotting swamp grass lol, BTW that's how my turfs ended up plowing snow ,Jeff.

What a great payback. Good story, thanks for it. Glenn

Jeff.............I have wheel Horse Weights on the outside of my wheels..........................I have a set of what you have./// Are you telling me,,i can get both sets on my tractor???? Say it isnt so.????? Hot Dayummm..um Howard 857 Horse in Va

Talk about thanking for your service...A free Horse and Vac !!! And thank you for your service .

Put the good new one on and use old worn out hub as the puller. Add a second set screw 90 degrees from the existing one.

In the last week I'm 2 for 2 freeing hung valves in Kohlers by pouring ATF down the spark plug hole and letting them sit a couple of hours.

Yep, if the hub slides right off you have to fight the key. If you fight the hub, the key comes right out. Either way you have sore knees from all the crawling around!

Just a thought you may want to consider Jay. I have used multiple lift assist spring on my manual lift blower (before I got the 520H) . I made the springs from old scrap garage door springs, and with a turnbuckle was able to totally tare out the weight of my blower. By tuning the spring tension with the turnbuckle. I was able float the blower several inches above ground level and as it entered the snow, the additional snow weight pulled it down. It took maybe a 10lb pull to raise it to max height and 1-2 lbs push to hold it down in scraper position. The same principle could be used on your bucket where the springs were tensioned to tare out the weight of the bucket + half the max payload. The electric lift would then only need enough force to lift or lower 1/2 the payload weight. This would greatly reduce the stress on the bell crank. As always, with stored potential energy, caution must be exercised.

That is too funny!..... Perfect..... I don't know but I think I'd have to pour jusssst a little bit of salt on that wound.