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We just attended our first of four Grandsons High School Graduation. Reed concentrated on math and science and finished 3rd in his class. He will continue his studies next fall at Penn State majoring in astro physics.

What a wonderful day for a tractor show, sunny skies, temperatures in the low 80s and lots of great tractors. The featured tractor was RED! OK, it wasn't , but it was RED. I took my Hot Rod 953 and here are a few of the more interesting tractors, trucks and other vehicles I saw. Fair warning; this last photo is rather hard to look at, but here goes!

Today as I swung myself into the seat getting ready to mow the lawn, I heard a crack. The kind that makes you sick to your stomach. Got off to see what happened and noticed the seat was loose. Well the pictures tell the rest of the story. Fortunately, three hours later, its as strong as ever and ready for another 35 years of seat banging.

It has been 36 hours since it last rained. One the longest stretches recently. The off season stable got a new roof this week and I had to move horses all over including the ones sleeping. Missing from the picture 418A (on loan to my new neighbor) Commando 8 in pieces being rebuilt. and 416 rolling frame waiting on a motor. I do not change implements anymore. No trailer queens here each one has a job, gets dirty and works.

@squonk Seat must be water logged if you had to use the 3 pt hitch to lift it.

The key for keeping some control of the "Honey Do list" is to NOT finish too many too fast because the number of projects on the list will hardly ever go down, no matter how many you finish. As fast as you knock them out, they will be replaced by a new one. PACE yourself or you'll be working overtime for minimum wage!

I showed the pictures to my wife and the reaction was Oh My. Odd as it might be she seemed to be OK with my herd size.Thanks for showing her how extensive the collections can get.

When i showed my wife she didn't say anything. But her eyes said don't even think about it.

You know those special firsts in a dad's life? When your daughter is born, her first steps, first day of school, first boyfriend? Then there is the first run on the horse. Brings a tear to my eye.

Besides the sandblasting session this morning, got another half dozen parts primed and painted. Still have some more that were blasted that need to be cleaned so they can be primed and painted tomorrow. Unfortunately, my console plate and dash plate were pitted to much for just primer alone, so have to smooth them out with some spot putty before priming. Did have a little distraction today, got the Church mowed (almost 2 hrs on a John Deere), and me and the boy (24, just out of the Marines) went shooting with my friend I help in his conceal carry classes, nothing like some AR15 mag dumps to put a smile on the face! Now, back to work. (Note to self, when washing off red over spray from face and arms, DON'T use one of the wife's new white wash cloths!)

I have to do a good job, I live here too

I bought my first Wheel Horse in the early 2k's....the original 1277 that had already had a pretty tough life . Deck was bent , hadn't run in years but hey - it had a solid Kohler in it and was really heavy in comparison to my second hand Husky from TSC . The buddy I bought from had talked about the merits of the brand so I bit the bullet and gave him $125 for it - money well spent . I'll be the first to admit that initial mods/repairs were less than stellar but they worked and have since been corrected . It's done a staggering amount of work in that time and been repaired , modified some to suit whatever I need at that time and still remains my favorite tractor . Sitting now with a broken rear frame plate waiting to again be repaired and put back into service for more pain and sweat - the thing refuses to die and I refuse to give up on it as a result . About the only thing I can compare is my wife or my first car - both have lasted me far longer than I deserved then or now and at least I still have the wife - Illinois roads/salt killed the old Dodge long ago after almost 14yrs of very hard service and 300,000 miles . I put over 400,000 miles total on an '88-1/2 Suzuki Samurai , all the while lifting and modifying it to point of unrecognizeable abomination but boy did that thing perform well as a daily beater/trail rig . This old Horse , by comparison is going to last much longer , just since it's smaller and easier to work on and has to be the handiest "tool" I've ever owned . From simple mowing to grading a ball field , laying out a new driveway and leveling out 14 tons of rock in one day - it's never failed me yet to complete a job . A lot of the "repairs" over the years will be corrected properly this time , and I regret drilling some holes here and there but have the welding skills to fix that along with making a much better rear frame plate section and beefing the frame some to prevent it's spine breaking again . I'm as guilty as anyone here or more about doing a quick fix that needs re-done later to keep working , but it never complains and I don't regret what I've done to get by at times - it just turns into another project later and now I have heavier/newer equipment to do chores with while it's down . Part of the problem over the years was it being a lone Horse around here that had to do it all and it handled that job just fine . Now , I consider it semi-retired and deserves some greater attention and maybe even a new paint job to boot . I've had a full set of decals from Terry for about 6yrs now , good enough excuse to use them and get it done right this time . I shake my head when I look at it and all it's battle scars , but that is character earned from so many years of service - if it wasn't so valuable as a worker the thing should be bronzed and made into a memorial in the front yard , it's done that much work around this area...and is quite well known to everyone here locally . That is an honor few garden tractors can ever earn ... Sarge

Before you install a new lift cable it would be a wise idea to double check your cable tube for wear. Here is a few pictures of what they look like when there wore and where they can damage the transmission.

im getting a shed hopefully this week. Considered building one but this time of year extra time is scarce and we are still unpacking from the move 3 weeks ago. Anyway I had to get 2 1/2 yards (just under 5k lbs) of 3/4 stone. I'd heard these tractors move material very well, I knew it pushed snow great. So I dumped half the load out and graded it out with my 3/12. Made short work of it pushed the heavy pile with ease, impressive.

John; this is the greatest display of wisdom we have seen this year decade! I would add that the better you do the more will be expected of you on the next project, mediocrity has it's rewards. There are several things I have done poorly enough that I am no longer expected to do them.

I'm diggin the yellow Low Boy!

Working yet? How long have you been up? Go, go, go! Just - it's nice to have time to dedicate to something you enjoy with no interruptions! Looking good!

Beautiful herd. It would be fun to see them all charging across the field like a line of cavalry.

Yup. A heart issue will put the brakes on real fast. Hope you can still make the show. Bring your tractor along. John has volunteered to push it around for the parade and cruise!

Ed yeah done good,,,,,,,,, and for the record.........dayum,,,,hes big.......lololol Howard,,,,,,

Showed this to my wife too, she gave me a big hug knowing I only have a dozen!

How many lawn tractors made today will be able or around to accomplish this 56 years from now?

Search for NYLINERS. Those are the split nylon bushings used in such places as hood pivots, PTO handles etc.. Toro, eBay, and Amazon are a good source.

Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations, he must have gotten his intelligence from Mrs K.

Awesome pics Richard . Very good turnout . I'm not even going to pick a orange one ... Oliver 70 for me !

Thanks for the prayers and best wishes. I am planning on being at the show. The exploratory Fri is to see how accurate the sonogram is. If surgery is required it is supposed to be the first part of July. If something changes that I can't go I will be having a tractor shipped and arranging for pick up of an 854 and steering shaft.

Other than lunch; the only thing I bought was a real nice comfy high backed seat that will go on the 310-8 i brought home this week. Got to be careful with the old back!

John, I think that is a great idea. You gave me a few ideas. Thanks Mate.

All you guys looking for pictures...it was raining so hard, did not dare take the camera out of the bag. Sorry. Just kidding...the weather was fantastic...80 degrees and a very nice breeze from the west. Perfect!! To be honest (for me anyway) my eyes were really hurting after the drive. I saw a few people, but not everyone, and I left early to get back home. I probably should not have driven over there today...but I did get out of there before the traffic built up around the lake. I needed to do that. Sorry about no pictures from me this time.

Saw a nice one today.

This pump install was a few years ago. The fuel leakage issue was fixed with a new needle and seat. The tractor has run perfect for a couple of years now.

Since 7am, just finished a 3hr marathon sand blasting session. No wife interruptions, but gotta go mow the Church yard, so still have some responsibilities to do! Should be doing some priming and painting a little later.

The fan gear should have a slight clearance with the pinion gear through it's full left to right travel. You never want zero clearance as that stresses the parts and makes for increased turning effort. The adjustment is made with shims on the lower steering shaft at the rear. Adding shims pulls the fan gear back into the pinion gear on the upper shaft. Garry

The old saying goes "when you are up to your waist in alligators, it's difficult to remember that the initial objective was to drain the swamp". In this case, the initial objective was to answer the question "Does the metal mounting bracket on the solenoid {part #8658} need grounded?" We have established that the correct answer is yes. All the other discussion on whether General Motors or Ford did their grounding better is immaterial.

This one from Harper isn't too shabby; Toro made one like it but I couldn't find a picture of it.

The 4-speed would have one shift lever. The 8-speed would have 2 shift levers. 1973 1974 Best guess. These models used the K181S-30461d engine. Garry

One Mississippi , Two Mississippi ... Actually, these would make great robot chassis. From the land of Yazoo walk behind mowers. I still have mine after 28 years. 1 inch diameter saplings are a breeze with the old Yazoo.

Found this little ditty a couple days ago ... guy said it's a 1967 model. I have no idea what it s. He wants $400 for it with NO motor. I will not use the deck or PTO stuff, deck mountng, etc ... Any ideas what it is, and what it's REALLY worth???

Ed, congratulations, your correct to be very proud of that young man. You have every reason to be. I enjoyed you sharing this family moment, thank you for doing so. Glenn

Just a bit of an update, as I am currently awaiting some rear wheel weld repair and tire mounting, I decided to skip past steps 189 through 213 and proceed to assemble some parts to the frame. 214.) Steering column support Assembly 215.) Hex Bolts 216.) Nyloc Nuts 217.) Installed on frame 218.) Ross steering column 219.) Worm gear housing 220.) Upper ball bearing race 221.) Upper ball bearings/keeper 222.) Upper steering column bearing 223.) Installed 224.) Shaft 225.) Lower ball bearings/keeper 226.) Lower ball bearing race 227.) Spring Washer 228.) Adjusting plug 229.) Retainer 230.) Seal 231.) Installed 232.) Stud 233.) Lever 234.) Stud nut 235.) Installed {This is the wrong picture, it should have the column tube} 236.) Washer 237.) Installed 238.) Hex nut installed 239.) Lock nut 240.) Lock nut installed The manual does not include the hex bolts that secure the column to the support assembly, nor does it give part #'s for these 3 bolts. 241.) Hex bolts 242.) Mounted on support 243.) Hex bolts installed

The 5xi series had the unfortunate luck to be brought to market in the years before, and was still maturing, not long before the economy took a big dive in 2008. A lot of companies pulled back their offerings and focused on lower-end commodity products as a result. Just not enough disposable income to go around. Toro cut back to non-Wheel Horse-branded (Toro brand only) lawn tractors, which were more or less MTD clones. (Can't remember if they were actually made by MTD or not, though.) As the market rebounded, zero-turns were the leader in the higher-end market that the Toro brand occupied -- and that's where they stuck, where the money was. They probably couldn't justify the costs of producing the Wheel Horse line any longer. Too look at it another way, Cub Cadet survived but had to take a step down in build design and quality (not necessarily because of MTD -- they used to build heavy-duty tractors in the 90s, and probably hoped to re-enter that market with CC.) John Deere had the brand presence to keep at it in the homeowner sector, but look how many lower-end lawn tractors they sell compared to the relative scarcity of X-series tractors you see. If Toro had been able to establish a stronger market share with the 5xi series sooner, it might have turned out differently. We'll probably never know what they were thinking or planning at the time. They were certainly enthusiastic about the introduction of the 5xi series in the beginning. Part of me wonders what might happen if an investor could ever buy the Wheel Horse name and tooling back from Toro to have a go at a re-introduction of the name and products...

Looks like an army of horses!

Well after throwing my back out picking up a sickle mower, used a 25% off coupon and picked up this nice little lift table. Now just need to remember to use it.

It's a little short on horse power.

I was loookin at that Steve and thought the same thing but didn't want to ask lest he thought I was a revenuer.

Great line up of Horses and cool photos of some beautiful country. Like Jeff, I'm calling Mrs K now to see this herd so She can see....I only have a slight infection of the WHA.

That is a previous owners concoction. it is an electric Hydraulic pump that operates a cylinder to raise and lower the Sickle arm. Pretty clever. I thought about a HY2/3 pump but there isn't much room on that side of the tractor for your foot as it is. More belts would be too much

Wheel Horse relied on frame grounds ever since they were first made. My 1961 701 has ONLY metal to metal grounding and 53 years later when I restored it, the original grounds were still good. I mentioned that you should grind and place a star washer only because new paint jobs are done differently than the way Wheel Horse did them. They assembled unprimed, and then painted. The exception in my opinion was the '78 and later models that used a cradle mounted engine. Due to the rubber isolation, engine grounding was done via a cable from cradle to frame, and lots of electrical problems in those models can be traced to that cable.

Yea...yea...yea Dad...Clutch, brake, choke, blah, blah, blah...Got it...Now for the important stuff - Where's the bluetooth connection for my wireless headphones? And, does this thing have a wireless hotspot? Lucky Dad - Lucky girl!!!