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This is my first post on the forum. I am about to do my first lawn tractor build. My dad picked up this ltitle Wheel Horse for my kids around 6 years ago, he never done anything with it. A little over 2 years ago he died. It has been setting there by his barn reminding me of him and his purpose for having it. Today I picked it up and brought it home to my workshop and started disassembly on it.

Prairieland Heritage Museum in Jacksonville, Illinois will have a Swap Meet and Sale on March 11, 2017. The Wheel Horse items of the lat Earl "Tuffy" McEvers of White Hall, Illinois wil be sold at this Swap Meet and Sale. Earl attended the 2013 Prairieland Show that hosted the Wheel Horse as the tractor of the year. EARL'S SMALL SCALE Road Grader on You Tube: He was famous for his smaller scale road grader made from a Wheel Horse hydro transmission that used a 1 /1/2 Horse International Harvester water cooled farm motor.

I use sealed on my show horses so that I don't have grease on my wheels. I use open on my workers so they can be well greased to keep water and dirt out. It's all about personal preferences.

Kids are a blessing and boy do they grow up fast. I'm happy for all of you gentleman and certainly see the pride you have in your grandchildren. As a side note, my supervisors daughter was good enough to get a full ride at a good university for softball. I hope that can be the case for you as well.

FEL is that not a front mount crane ? eric j

Well the weather was perfect and the show was busy. I got to take some pictures but for the most part I spent the first part of the morning buying the gt14 and then the other half trying to figure out how I was going to load/unload it when I did het it. Walking along there were some neat things here and there. Just some of what we saw is here. Some red, some yellow and yes, some green. And then there is that gold,green and blue thing I bought. Had a good time. And my treasure

I think it's risky no matter what you use or how you do it.

2017 "Power from the Past" Show Flyer . Held in Winamac, Indiana -this is always a good show. I have been attending for seven years!

Okay...I have a friend who is a honcho at a local power tool rental shop and he called me this morning to offer me this hydraulic hose crimper. It's an oldie for sure (he says it was there when he started 28 years ago). Anyway, I'm not about to pass up a freebie such as this, so here 'tis. It's a bench mount, but unfortunately I don't have room on either bench at the moment. There might not be much of a cost saving factor here because of my cost for hose and fittings, but I have to check it out.

Before you order new parts from a dealer.....think about whether a used part would work. We have a great list of vendors in our classified section that offer used parts. I bet one of them could have set you up with the correct length choke cable for much less than $63. Mike.........

Thanks Doc. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. I have no clue how it runs. I'll get the model when I get up there next week. My Wheel Horses will keep it in line.

Many of you know about our move back to our home state of Indiana. Well, the closing date has been set for March 10th. I just found out yesterday that the seller is going to leave these two items. There's a lot to mow and I actually thing the seller is trying to do me a favor. She doesn't know that I have real tractors The Agri-Fab will probably get some red paint and I'll just use the trailer to haul the grandkids around. I can see that the mower has an 18.5 hp Kohler Magnum twin and a 46" deck. Does anybody know the model? On my trip up to close I've got a cargo trailer reserved and I'll be bringing my Wheel Horses up. The plan is to leave them up there along with my truck and fly back here. We will then have a semi trailer sitting in the drive to haul everything else. Once we close on this place my wife and I will come back up in her car. When I unload my tractors I'll be sure to keep them as far away as possible from this thing.

Picked up another RJ-58 today that a guy had in his yard. Not as good as my last find but not too bad for $175. No original engine but it had the pulleys from it, belt guard, muffler guard and serial sticker. Hood has a couple small dents but in decent shape otherwise, no holes. Front rims are not rotted and the fuel tank is in good shape too. Check it out. I'm cleaning it up. Ill get a few more pics up soon.

UUUHHHMMM...Front right tire, 5th tread pattern from the bottom on the inside - I see some dust on the tire...

Send a PM to @Shynon...I've watched him remove paint off of original decals with good success.. Just can't remember what he used..

Are you going to repaint the hood? If so remove the decals with however you are going to prep the hood and put new ones on. If not @stevasaurus knows a way to do it.

Is it just overspray, or actually painted over. If it is overspray I would start with something like WD-40 or Seafoam Creep.

Millions of New and Used Onan parts available. Intakes are the same on the P216, P218 & P220 engines. Same carb on the 16HP & 18HP. 20HP carb only the jets are different.

Richie: I was down there at the Flywheelers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday is vendors setup day but they sell a lot of stuff. I was there selling stuff with Rodeny Burger of Roachdale, Indiana. I saw Terry Wolfe and his display from Greenville , Ohio, another Red Square member. I took some pics too and will add here. I had a great time an except for Wednesday's rain the wether was great! They needed the rain down there though -it was awful dry and quite a few grass fires. Saw a Wheel Horse for sale that had an Anderson, Indiana dealers decal on it!

Thank you Sarge will take that tip under advisement and thank you Denny, I find it takes less work by paying attention to the little stuff when building then to get it assembled and say "why the #@€& didn't I think of that when I had it apart and easy to do?!?!

finally got around to cleaning the nos one up

Looks like you have competition!

I got 4 of the horses in the barn.

Well I picked this Suburban up early this summer and finally have some time and nicer weather to get started. I have the front half stripped down to the frame rails and wil be getting ready to do some sandblasting soon. I have high hopes for this one but not looking to build a show tractor. I want to use this one as a pull tractor around the yard and maybe whatever else I can think of. I respect the work and attention to detail of you purists out there( and it's phenomenal !) but I would enjoy it more by using it .Anyways I will post more pics of progress and thanks for a great forum to help me. Be back soon.

Decided to investigate what THIS was all about tonight, (C-120 Auto I brought home last week). Found this... 3 1/2"D x 6"W x 6"L. Worked well to soak up the PB Blaster, lol All gone!

Its kinnda funny,,,,when the tractor is together,,,it seems like just a few parts,,,,, but when she is apart,,,,it seems like a million parts...... thank -you for the 1st 1/4 pics,,,,,,cant waite till the 1/2 time show......... GO TEAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be careful with this as the front axels can't hold the weight that the rear can. I know this because when I was using my FEL as a crane picking up my Onan generator one of the front axels broke tipping the tractor sideways. Then the cut pieces of railroad track I had for additional ballast on top of the rear counter weight slid off. Without that additional weight on the rear,the tractor tipped forward, the generator came crashing down. I had a very short chain so the bucket hit the air cleaner snapping off the carburetor on the generator! Moral of the story is be careful of what and how you pick things up!!!! P.S I didn't have the HD spindle kit at the time.

Many of us have kids and grandkids involved in wholesome activities such as sports and others. I love seeing our young ones involved in these activities so I thought I'd start a thread so us old folks could brag them up. Our granddaughter, Madison, is a freshman in high school this year. Deltona High School is one of the stronger girls softball teams in the state. Madison has been playing softball for several years now and has become very good. I figured she'd make the team but I never figured she would be the varsity starting shortstop especially as a freshman. I was at one of her games and she was outstanding at her position. She fielded the ball very well playing part in many outs and twice caught a low line drive and and got it to first before the runner could get back for a double play. I called her my little Ozzie Smith. As you can see, she's a little drink of water. When she goes to bat if the outfielders haven't seen her play they would come in closer thinking she couldn't hit it past them. Once they got to know her they learned to step back closer to the fence. The team is currently 4-0 and has outscored their opponents 29-3. Let's see more stories and pictures of the young ones you're proud of.

to the Kool tractor and nice story. Thanks for sharing.

Only 5 Onan's? No need for any help until ya have at least 10!

The things we'll do... for more seat time.

A loader is definitely on the list of future projects!

Now on to the engine saga. This is the Briggs 18 opposed twin I got off eBay after some disassembly. It is just flat wore out. Cylinders are about .020 over already and a valve seat has come loose and ran like that for awhile. Governor is missing half the teeth and the timing pin was sheared off. There was a strange spring holding the throttle on the carb in place. I am willing to bet it ran in the condition it's in. Can't kill a Briggs! This is the block I'm rebuilding. Tins, carb, and oil pan are off the junk engine. This one sat for a few years so it had a lot more rust than the junk one. Much more to come!

I actually had one of those that I bought new somewhere around 1996. Finally sold it to my uncle who still has it. It was a really good mower for the most part (definitely not a wheel horse) and was pretty reliable. The only issue for me was that the 3 blade 46" mower deck really struggled in even just moderately tall grass. Left weeds and dandelions standing like crazy. Didn't matter what type of blades I used either.

I like the idea of having the crane in front as viewing the load is a lot easier. The issue with mounting in front is, I am assuming, the mounting point would be the front Attach-A-Matic. That is not as strong as mine on the rear using the 2" receiver hitch. If balance is a problem, just hang weight on the front.

Well guys I started on the 1054 the body seams to be in really good shape. I got the new front tire on, it came with 1 new tire and rim but I have to pull it back off. As I was trying to mount the tire I used silicone spray and it messed up the paint that I sprayed on the rim. I made a new seat and backrest for it. I had to buy a industrial sewing machine but they came out really good. I wanted to make it red like @Martin did, I really like what he did to his. Mine won't come close to his but it will be a lot nicer then what it looks now. @Lane Ranger made his like the original white/black . The seat needs the wood wedge cut from a 2/4 and the padding added but its ready for mouning after I clean and paint the seat frame. All the sewing is done.

The tractors, well and the kids. I still get to visit em all, but don't have to feed any of em. I will still be called on for servicing the tractors, I'm sure. But that's okay too!

The only other one that I've seen that has never been started belongs to @buckrancher.

Bob is one of the best. Gonna miss him at the show this year. Not wanting to turn this into a brand bashing thread but: I like everything IH That is except their owners. We have a big IH club right where I live as well as a JD club. Every show around here I have trouble with these guys. I get there claim a spot and an hour later I'm asked to move or my stuff is moved for me! The IH club needs the room. The JD guys invite me to park my little red tractors with their green ones!

Well, I changed my tune! The Kohler's are easier to work on. I've learned a lot from this site in the last 5 years. I thought the Onan's were to complicated 5 years ago. Now I have 5......I'm embarrassed.....I need help!

It has been my experience that "things always get a little complicated" when in a situation such as this!!! Jim

Found the culprit. An intermittently bad clamp connector. Kinda wet but I took it for a spin. Next step......the loader! My wife keep telling me I have a Wheel Horse problem...I contend I have a too small of a shop problem....

The Big C to the rescue.

I apologize to Trouty and Jim. I am usually not very sensitive about things, but for some reason, I was a few nights ago...sorry. Maybe I should have explained better what I was showing in the pictures. I was sitting around trying to figure out what it would take to get this muffler off with the tools that I had. I have an assortment of pipe wrenches, strap wrenches, etc...but everything was just a little too small. The nipple was solid, and I did not really want to get into cutting it off and beating it in with a chisel to get it out. I looked in the end of the new muffler and saw that only about 3/8 to 1/2" of threads were involved. This had to come off if I could find a way to grab it. I saw a piece of bicycle chain hanging on an "S" hook and I thought if I could go around twice and grab it with a pry bar I might get the muffler to loosen. It worked great. I know to turn the new one on hand tight, and I staged the pictures to show what I did on the new muffler. You may not have seen the chain on the old muffler...same color. Anyway, I am sorry Trouty,. Here are the pictures...the dent in the muffler happened on the way home...the marks that look like scratches are oil from the chain...the picture is set up to take the muffler off. I take a lot of kidding on this site, and I like that, I give it out also...sometimes it may seem like crossing the line. I felt like that the other day...please, if I ever cross the line...send me a PM...I did not mean to. Again to Trouty and JimD...sorry.

so i got my rings today,i tried the plasti gauge and by what it says the clearance was exact,even did it twice,so tomorow i hope to have her running,i just have some tins,linkage,and put her on the tractor,pics tomorow

what I should add too the last post I made Don is in my opinon the first time a posi-lok connecting rod is torqued it should be 260 in.lbs after that 200 in.lbs should be used weather it has been ran in a motor or not