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Well, I haven't posted a lot lately since life seems to have taken over. As many of you know, my son suffered a stroke before birth and technically has cerebral palsy. You would never know to meet him. We were lucky enough to get him enrolled in a medical study to help him gain use of his right hand through Virginia Tech and Carrillion Research center. He is one of about 140 kids from around the world to be chosen. He has a cast on his arm and hand he favors to force him to use his affected hand. We have had to move 2 hours from home 3 days a week. I thought it would be something fun for him to go get a cultivator from Limited12. Tommy has been a good friend for the last couple of years. When we got there, Emory wanted to look at Tommy's tractors. He really liked a couple of Lawn Rangers Tommy had. Before I knew it, Tommy and Emory were off talking about the tractors. They ended up flipping a penny for the tractors. Long story short, Tommy told Emory he would "sell" him both tractors for a penny! I couldn't believe how generous he was being. Needless to say, Emory was thrilled and can't stop talking about his tractors! I told a couple of girls I teach with about Emory's gift. One said, "That's proof that there really are truly nice people left in the world!" I know where a bunch of them are - right here on Red Square! I can't seem to get the site to let me upload any pics. I'll try again Sun. or Mon. when I'm back in cell range. Thanks Tommy for bringing a big smile to his face!

Dear Lord, Craftsmanmowerfreak’s Father has a medical condition that needs your divine intercession. Please guide the surgeon's hands to be steady and effective to do the task at hand, and not create any further damage We pray against any infection or complications. Calm the heart of his family. Give him your peace so his body can heal under the best conditions. In the name of Jesus, bless him to be healthier after this procedure than before. Lord allow this temporary trial to bring this family closer to you and each other. When he is coming out of surgery, let the side effects be minimal. Work a miracle in this whole situation and bless it from beginning to end. Thank you Lord for your blessing on this family. We praise you as we know we are in good hands- the very hands of God. In Jesus name, we thank you for each day. Amen.

Hey guys. My phone died just as I realized I needed to renew my supporter status. Been here so little lately that I didn't realize it had lapsed! Anyway, Emory wanted me to run back out in cell range to share his pictures. His smile says it all and I don't think he'll ever forget this experience. He wants to come to the show again this year, but that is in question due to my dad having to have prostate surgery. Just wanted to share our story! Good night!

I have only been on here a few weeks, but I can't begin to say thanks to all who have already helped me get aquainted with these tractors. So why are these tractors my therapy? Back in 2001, I was officially diagnosed with MS. It actually started long before that, but really started getting worse in 2000 when I had a rather vicious attack that did the majority of the damage that I deal with today. Lost about 20% of strength on the right side, and about 60% on the left side. Fortunately due to the meds I have been on, been pretty stable since then, and I still walk, go to work everyday, and get around pretty good all things considered. But, a lot of things I can't do, such as walk long distances, ride a bike, strenuous labor, and heat kills me. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, many have far worse issues to deal with than me. I accept it as part of life, and thank God I am the way that I am. I have always been a motorhead, bikes, classics and customs, restoration of antique Chris~Craft boats, 4x4's, you name it. Even ran a company for awhile designing and building turbo systems for modern Hemi's. But, that is all in the past. One of the things that I can still do, and refuse to let anyone else do, is mow the yard! (on a rider) Both here at home, and at our Church, nobody touches the mower without checking with me first. I had been looking for a 60's Sears Suburban tractor half heartedly for a while. This spring I got serious about finding one, until I ran across a Wheel Horse and was bitten by the red bug. In a month, I went from none to four! Here was something that I could work on, are classics in their own right, fills the motor head craving, and they are readily affordable. Plus, I can mow with them! So, my tractors are not only cool and collectable, but they help fill that void that my disease left me with. So not only are they my lawn tractors, but they are an awesome therapy to boot! I just finished a 2 year undergraduate course in Theology (4.2 grpt av⛪thank the Lord), so Church, building and painting guns, reloading, and my WH's keep me pretty well occupied! I am pretty anal about what I do, so I am looking forward to turning out some nice looking tractors in the future. Attached are some pics of stuff I have done in the past, and what I have to work with now. Working on a refresh of my 1276 (incorrectly marked as a C120) for the Big Show, but my basket case 854 is the one that will really get attention this fall. (Yes, I used to race offshore powerboats). Now you know a little bit about me and why I love my WH's!

Today is was a great day wheel horse wise. 1) Got to go to Danbury meet and greet and hang out with great people, talk tractors and share knowledge and ride tractors. That in itself would be a good day. 2) I had already planned on adopting one of @fireman 's resto tractors and it was one of the reasons I headed there today but a couple days ago he called and asked if I would be interested in another he was deciding to pass along. I jumped at the chance. So I snagged two very nice tractors to add to my growing addiction:-) 3) My good pal @fast88pu surprised me this morning. He did me a favor as he has a bigger welder and had agreed to weld the centers into my GT22-8 project rims as I had recently determined backspace. However he has been very busy of late and I had not expected he would prioritize the favor. I met him around 8 this morning thinking we would caravan to show and he hands me my rims! Much appreciated! As it allows me to step up the pace quite a bit now on my project. All in all it was close to a perfect day! The RJ58 is well documented by Jeff in the thread: http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/7124-the-rj58-resto-has-begun/ Here the 24x12 is next to the 29x15 TRU powers that will shoe the GT22-8 for comparison

That just shows that there is a God on this earth.

Lucky Dad... Lucky kid... Lucky friend...

Great story and great guy for sure.

WOW !! That is truly a heart warming story. Thanks for sharing.

Harbor freight high lift motorcycle lift and work table in the background with storage underneath. Made a bolt on platform to lift tractor high enough to put on the table, also doubles as a worktop.

Emory is a special young man and it is wonderful that Tommy shared his herd with him. Most of us are very blessed with stuff, but the truly blessed are those who are good friends and share their time together. Emory and you and Tommy have made a memory that will last!

If your boy attends the big show with you I know my boy would love to ride with him...

I have already said it before, there are some great people on this site. You just happened to find one. I hope you and your son have many wonderful times together working on those tractors. God bless, Richie

Thank you for sharing this story. I wish that every one could have such a good friend. Congratulate Emory on his new Horse's.

Thanks for sharing! What a blessing. Enjoy

Glade to see there are still good people on earth with a helping hand. I hope your son enjoys the tractor.

Finally had a little bit of a break at work so I had time to weld together the "faux" grader blade for my Simplicity/ Allis Chalmers tractors that I started last fall. Guess you could say I did some "Reverse Engineering" using some line drawings and photos of a blade and calculation of dimensions.

Thank You. As a reminder, you can change the theme by clicking the Theme link at the bottom center of the page.

I spent the past week in the North woods. Beautiful weather, good friends, and the gobblers cooperated.

Awesome story! thanks!!

Good friends like that are a real blessing. Most of the pleasure is in the giving, but I hope someone helps you friend if he ever needs it. Pass it forward. Jim

This was his uncles tractor (only other owner) and he wouldn't budge much on price. All original paint but I do have a couple concerns. Rear wheel hubs are pushed in on both wheels and the front grill has a dent (but I know really good old timer body guy) , runs on full choke . I think she'll polish up real nice though...she deserves it after 50yrs of faithful service . You can definitely tell the previous owner took very good care of her . So what you guys think ? @elcamino/wheelhorse here some pics of my sons beater . Plan on brushing on a used oil finish , Removable bedsides and tailgate .

Not a great star to Saturday. The GT-14 got away from me. It doesn't have a parking break, so I don't usually disengage the hydraulic when I get off, because it tends to roll.. In this case, I got off to empty the wagon, and the hydraulic tranny jumped into forward. Smashed my car door in. Lesson learned. If you get off, turn it off.

Thanks guys! I spent the day bush hogging at Dad's. Got off the tractor dead tired and Emory asked to ride one of the wheel horses. Long story short, we ended up riding our suburbans and Gt14. I really enjoyed going out for a ride and that tired feeling faded away! You're right about Tommy - number 1 guy. He's not only fair and honest, he's really been kind to my family and I. If you ever need anything, I would highly recommend talking with him! I could never repay his kindness, but I'll never forget what he's done for my son! AC, Emory is dying to come back to the Big Show this year, but we've got to see when Dad has his surgery and how he does before we'll know if we get to come this year. Last year was the best vacation we've taken as a family! Even my wife enjoyed the show. We also spent time in Gettysburg - lots of good memories. I'd like to get back to see old friends and meet some new ones. If we don't make it this year, we'll definitely be back next year!

I don't know if anybody is interested in this at all. I thought it might be fun and interesting to some, however I know the vast majority of you guys do these things on a daily basis and it's nothing new. On a side note most flywheels have some way of pulling them. Not this one. If this is just clutter that no one is interested in let me know and I will quit stinking up the site. My hopes are maybe some beginners may benefit a bit and others like ACman will get pics of parts of my shop. He has ask me to post pics several times. SOOOO.

Nice big Ags in the back seat, 401 in the bed of the truck and a square hood on the trailer, you had a GOOD day.

thats the best story I have read in a long time. thank you for making my day. Glenn

Well prayed 953, I'll add my amen to that!

That's amazing and is great to hear that there is some real kind hearted and generous folks out there. I bet that penny was the best penny he ever made.

Thanks to A-Z Tractor for supplying the pulleys I needed, I almost have the deck put back in use. Waiting on a belt and new wheels and she'll be ready!

I ran across an old lawn mower repair shop that was selling out a few years ago and purchased a Neway valve and valve seat grinder from him. Just got done cutting new seats and valves on a K-91 I'm going through from a RJ 59 I'm restoring. Very simple and easy operation with the Neway valve seat grinder and Neway Gizmo valve face cutter. I was going to take pics to post but forgot to before I came in for the night, I'll take pics and post in the morning. I was just wondering if anyone else uses one and absolutely loves it. I thought I might post a few pics of some handy tool items I have as I use them in the restoration project just for fun. The belt disc sander is what I use to grind the end of the valves off after cutting process to adjust valve clearances and tolerances.

Forgot to share one more thing. Emory drove his suburban today with his right hand!!! He had no trouble and is doing remarkably well with his therapy! Wish I had taken a video, but I was just so excited!!!

Awesome additions to your collection. The rims & tires look bad a55!

With the tank under the seat and a new empty gas line the fuel pump isn't pulling a prime. Fill the tank, remove the fuel line from the pump until gas starts to flow and put it back on.

@Dhodge I personally think these tutorial threads are extremely valuable as we will always have those who are new to the herd and hobby. You may may want to start another thread though and title it Flywheel Surgury or something so those searching will more easily locate it. Either way, I enjoy this stuff and you have some nice tooling there!

Went to plymouth indiana this morning to do some trading and buying. i traded off the charger 12 for parts for some of our wheel horses. also bought a mid mount grader. also had a impulse buy. i seen a sears suburban 12 at guys house and i bought the plow off it for mine. pictures will come soon. i am visiting my dad in hospital

The game plan. I'll leave it at that

That looks great. No worries about the hubs. That happens. Just move them back out and snug them up. Maybe add a second set screw. It kinda looks to me like the rear seals are leaking and they kept the oil wiped off. The carb probably just needs a good going over and I think a good body man can straighten the grill out nicely. Definitely a very well cared for machine.

Truly amazing @dells68 ... you know my cart is your cart . Hope to see you again at the BIG SHOW ! The kids are really excited about going this year .

Check the simple things first. Assuming you're talking about a C-120 make sure the hi/lo shifter is fully engaged. If it was partially engaged and slipped out under the load some grinding may be heard momentarily. If that's ok then there are 3 keys to check which any one of them would cause your problem. The two rear wheel hubs and the input pulley. Remember, only one hub key sheared would stop the tractor.

Check to see if the axle is turning, sometimes the woodruff key shears and the axle just turns in the hub.

Other ideas... Check that all three blades are level with each other in all directions. (Have to remove the deck and flip it over, lay a straightedge or level across the blade ends in several positions to check.) A spindle might be bent out of position. I've heard reports that "gator" style blades may skip or cut unevenly compared to the standard blades with solid upswept "wings" at the back of the tips -- the Wheel Horse decks have a different profile than modern mulching decks -- different air flow. Double check that one of the blades wasn't accidentally installed upside-down. Believe me, we've all probably done it at one time or another!

Older, weaker that's why I started the thread Marv. Back surgery and a hip replacement makes it harder and harder to get up off my knees these day. Sitting on a short stool is the way to go after 50.

Thanks to Luis and Brian for a great job today had a good time with some good guys Hope to see you again. Spike------Jerry -------From Norwalk

As Bob said, the carb. is due for a cleaning. I would replace the fuel line and filter while you are at it.

Nicely done ^^^ X-2

With that scope on the blunderbuss Ed you must just stun them with the glare Ok Ed my apologies. ..in lookin at that beard again me thinks you had that one tied up since last thanksgiving when you knitted it that scarf!

Another one of those rare left side PTO models!