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Well, I finally got the 857 I bought at the auction in Charlottesville going. I lightly sanded it and clear coated. After getting the engine back together and timed correctly, she is purring like a kitten - very little knock now - it was way out of time (thanks @oldredrider!). I drove it around enough to check it out and it runs great in all gears, idles down nicely, and doesn't seem to smoke any that I can tell, except a little at start up. Below are a few pics including a before and a couple that look a little like something from @AMC RULES. I think I'm going to put on the deck I got last fall and look at the show for a lawn ranger deck for Emory.

Every year I try to do something for our support members who are going to the big show in PA. I usually get started a bit sooner than this but we still have time. This idea came to me a few weeks ago and I finally got busy and came up with a plan. I thought it would be fun to make trading cards that we can swap with other members. They will be 3 x 5 which is a bit larger than a sports card but not too large. Since these cards are about us as support members your picture must have you in it. Does not matter what else is in the picture as long as you are in it. Keep it family friendly though. Along with your picture please pm me your info for the back of the card. You do not need to give your phone or email but remember these are your cards and only the members you trade with would have your contact info anyway. I will need your fist and last names so send me a PM with your info and picture. The proof I post on this thread will not show your name or any personal info just your username and member number on the front. The back of my card is just an example. You can share the info you want. Each support member who posts and is coming to the show will get 25 cards free of charge of course as a thank you for your support. Last year we had over 50 members post for a banner but I had about 10 no shows Again these cards are free to the members who pick them up at the show this year but sometimes things mess up our plans. If that happens you can contact me and I will package and ship them to you for $10 to cover the cost. If you are not sure yet if you are going to the show please wait to order when you are sure. Once you post the image you want I will post a proof back but will not post the back of the card with any contact info. Any personal info will be sent to you in a PM I think we are somewhere around 200 support members now and I would love to see all of you at the show this year. That's a lot of trading cards though so maybe not. You're all worth it though.

after reading all the good info over the years I decided to join, I own several other brand garden tractors but my start was with wheel horse along time ago when i was little and my grandfather took me to the dealer when he purchased his. I still have the hat the salesman gave me. anyway I have a 854 and recently purchased a 551 and 701 (barnfinds) which will be restored hence the reason I signed up. look forward to using the site!

Got our reservation booked last night They said they like to keep all the animals in the lower floor so I guess we will be down there with the Red Square members. Looking forward to seeing you all again this year. Vinylguy

On this warm February day, I got out my cheap HF electric pressure washer, and tried relieving years of neglect on this little bugger, must not have gotten all the water drained out and the pump sprang a leak $79 for 3 years I guess you get what you pay for, anyways before it went totally south I got a good bit removed and went through the spare parts that came along, I believe the mower deck is salvageable no big holes in the shell spindles seem ok ,mule drive missing a pulley and cover, have the PTO rod and lever, what's left of the wire harness, the air cleaner mount with filter and hold down plate but not the "lid" ,75% of the mid tach-a-matic, and the belt guard with a new in the bag drive belt, Jeff.

Hay; I'm on the first floor!

I enjoy converting these small boats. This is the one I'm working on now. It's a 1960's Lund 12'. Installingn a carpeted floor, pedestal seat, dash, remote steering and controls. On the last one the dash was stained and varnished but haven't decided what to do on this one. Where the red was will now be Royal blue as will the front deck which will be aluminum. This one will be powered by a 1956 Johnson 15hp that I just finished going through.

Looking good, need to ask @BOB ELLISON if he can hook you up with a seat back.

Home made escutcheon plate fitted today. 3mm plasticard & an ebay decal

Please understand, the lower flange on these belt guards acts as a necessary support for the belt when the clutch is disengaged. If the belt is allowed to sag, it will contact the engine drive pulley and continue to move. and turn the transmission drive pulley making it impossible to shift gears w/o grinding.

Frequently moving charger around to different tractors and finding a place to set it so the cord would reach the receptacle and battery without tripping on it, I decided something needed to be done. AHA, some used wire fence post and a couple of wheels solved the problem. Marv

Good point. I must do that for others. See, I never forget (smile). Some folks do though. Now back to serious stuff. What were we talking about. Marv

My point is to prove they can nearly live forever with a few minor changes - parts are becoming either scarce or have already gone out of stock, got to be able to stop the wear and save/repair what you have. The cast front axles should never be scrapped - that is one part we cannot duplicate. Same with those spindles - they are far more difficult to make from scratch than you'd ever believe - which is why no one is offering any new ones. I see too many of these parts being tossed and replaced with used - that option is getting pretty limited and driving up the cost of good used parts and causing otherwise repairable machines to get parted out since the sum of their parts is worth more money than the machine as a whole. I'm tempted to see if I can get folks to send front axles/spindles here as a set to be refurbished , but the shipping cost is the problem and makes it something that most can't afford. I do encourage everyone to hang onto those "worn out" parts for the entire steering system - eventually we are going to need them. Sarge

After carefully studying the "N", I decided Jason is correct. So I fixed the "N", but now some of the other letters seem funky. Think I'll go sip some shine.

Pretty sure the Work Horse 800 is a small frame tractor and the C120 is definitely a long frame. A work Horse 800 had a Tecumseh engine which makes the little tab on the 800 belt guard to hold it to the engine different than that of a Kohler powered tractor. Which belt guard are you using, 800 or 120? Make a little flat brace with 2 holes to span the gap and hold the belt guard. Use an old mower deck belt to wrap around the pulleys and idler to measure the belt length. It seems like you're putting together a tractor from different parts so how about posting some pics so we can see what's going on.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and scrap parts is the cousin...looks like a winner Marv, but I'd put some kind of scrap rubber over the handle where you put the clamps from the charger. Just in case one forgot to unplug the charger before unhooking it.

My latest purchase, I was told it was started once and ran for about 2 minuets in 1993 so it’s not technically new anymore but close enough. Now I need to figure out what it’s going in

Got some more stuff painted including the frame! Looks real nice too. Started on the engine. The set screws in the drive pulley took some doing but i got them backed out just enough to remove it. It was scarey. Piston has a B stamped into it. From what i have read that is the bigger std bore? I dont have the tools to measure the cylinder at the moment. Once i get it measured im thinking about getting the complete engine overhaul kit from isavetractors...

I can hear the office staff now: " What's with all these knotheads coming here on Wed. and Thurs. and not even staying till Sunday?"

This isn't a winter project....70F here today. The house across the road from me is being gutted and redone, so last week, after getting permission from the builder, I hauled the kitchen cabinets home. I hung a couple of the wall units in Mrs. Ks garage this afternoon. I luv dumpster diving...and the price is great. The builder was happy to help load the cabinets as he has to pay by the pound to dispose them at the land fill.

Does this picture of my C-120 help?

'Pete, I couldn'a sedditt better myself. As far as I'm concerned, you can't really over-post. I learned a long time ago to get ALL the info I can and sort out what I don't need at the time. Every once in a while there's that little "eureka" moment on that one little detail I didn't know about ... til then. I want to thank all of the contributors of this post for a wealth of info I'll keep set aside for future use. My tractors are both well worn and need to be functional so these "fixes" you're doing ... and best of all ... documenting ... are invaluable to me! I've learned a lot in the last year or so from this forum about many things (not just WH) and it's very much appreciated. I'll be following along here.

Use the Napa 1410 on the transmission

Well we got some snow storms and i got some pics and a couple videos! When it comes to snow the 520’s will do any amount it seems! F318AA56-BA6C-4B4F-8D04-B32F77673884.MOV Little plowing video here ^ 15A58A67-15BB-431A-A4D8-B90965C71FA8.MOV And here ^

So I picked this up for 40 bucks over the weekend..... this is one of the only places on the web that I can even find any reference to it at all. I assume it is because it is not the most popular and has a vertical engine... This one has a 8hp Tecumseh , looks to be in good shape. It hasn't ran in a while but the oil looks clean & hoses in good shape. Is there any info out there on these? I can find manuals for a commando 8 or a charger v8... I am really annoyed that I don't understand how to free wheel the hydrostatic trans yet, so its a problem to move around. When I jack it up the wheels spin opposite (open diff). Gonna try and start it this weekend after I hook up some new fuel lines.

Happy Birthday @ericj, we are all glad you were born!

That's a picture I didn't need floating around in my skull...wow. Very nice, love how deep the red came back - nice job. Bob and I have been discussing the nicer C series seats...not an easy job. Sarge

My bottom is in sad shape but I think it is due to age. My wrinkles have wrinkles.

I love this one of Stevebo and my son Brennanbo.

Here's a blast from the past. This tractor game was posted on here a LONG time ago. Not sure why it came to mind but thought others might like to give it a try. It didn't work using firefox but started right up on explorer. Must be a plugin issue. Give it a shot! http://armorgames.com/play/7548/tractor-mania

The 857 turned out great , when you have time I have 4 units down here that could use your help

Looks great! That sanding and clear coat really changed that tractor!

A close kin to Steveasaurus

Thanks @Vinylguy! Once I find a picture I will pm you.

So far what you've been doing is stellar - nothing to apologize for here at all. Everyone has their own way of doing things - I've learned a lot from others over the years and with that knowledge I add my own twists here and there to solve a problem. I just like things to last a very long time and I don't like doing work over again some day down the road - do it once and be done sort of mentality...lol. I do like how you've shown what age and some minor wear has done - that part is hard to document and pretty rare that someone has taken the time/care to do that - it's a great example of why bronze/brass/steel wear bushings should be used in high stress areas - kudos to you. It fits right in with my argument on why this stuff should not be scrapped - those used, worn parts can be repaired easily enough and kept in service for another 50yrs + with a lot less damage from wear and can be rebuilt again indefinitely - cheaply too. I like to think some day in the distant future someone will see this work and wonder who did it but would appreciate why it's still in serviceable condition... Sarge

Thanks everyone for all of the nice compliments and especially the tips and ideas as this work progresses. I know that a lot of you have been through this restoration work far more times than I have and I truly appreciate all of the help that you all have provided so far. I'll be more than happy to keep posting pictures or any little "fixes" that I come up with along the way, not saying that I have any new life changing ideas that many of you have not already implemented. Most of my ideas stem from necessity, as I encounter issues, study them, and convince myself that there has to be a way of doing this. Usually it works, sometimes it doesn't, but stubborn that I am I'll keep trying until things do work. Sometimes my solutions may not be the best way of doing something as most are not be coming out of a text book, so please, if you see something that I'm doing wrong or you see a better way, PLEASE let me know. I don't take offense to any suggestions as this is all a learning experience and I'm sure that many of the pros on this site have probably forgotten far more than I'll ever know. Anyway, I'll keep plugging away, just bear with me because I'm not the fastest at doing things!

I used their A7019 hardener, 16:1 mix. I've had some issues mixing brands in the past, this left me with no one to blame but me for the out come. So now I stick with one brand from start to finish. There will be an exception to that rule on the sheet metal as Vansickle does not offer a urethane fill & sand primer. Some don't like to wet sand urethane primer (me included) but I like it because it does not shrink over time. Here is a link to their acrylic enamel line up. http://www.vansicklepaint.com/tractor/tta.html This is their alkyd enamel line up. http://www.vansicklepaint.com/tractor/tractorenamel.html

You got it Aaron on the 1410 hydro filter will work great.

JEB, Its just a tractor, Did I say its just a tractor.... Holy tolerances Batman, your detail work is almost intimidating. NO you are not boring us, well at least me anyways, between your pictures and Sarge's "eye burner" answers we're getting an education here as we do all over this forum. That's the entire point of it . Very much enjoying your reports and findings as you go along. Your workmanship is excellent. At some point I have 2 WH's that need a freshening up so all this is a primer of what I'll be into. Thanks for taking us along on the ride. Your lathe may be a tad tired but your work doesn't show it. Very, Very nice job. Chris

Leave it out for a few days until you get the "right stuff" unless it really dusty outside (not likely this time of year) the engine will not be harmed.

i have said it before. but i must say it again, this is a amazing build to follow and your craftsmanship and fabrication are seriously impressive. Great Job!

A few more small parts. The 4 Tach-a-Matic brackets were cut from alloy sheet. At the time I had idea's of making them working units but wasn't sure of the shape of the pivoting section. A slot was cut, to be shortened later, but in the end it was decided to make them NON working. A simple drilled hole would have done instead. Both sections were rivited together at the front. A 4BA bolt and alloy tube formed the operating lever ? for want of a better description, and secured the rear. I have since seen photos of these units in pieces, but still unsure how the lever ? works. Photo's I have looked at also appear to show other holes in various places, so again a bit of guess work was used. The mule drive, again NON working, was bent up from alloy and bolted to the underside of the chassis. The pins which would have attached it to the brackets were bolts with the heads cut down and alloy spacer tubes. Knobs for the front of the removable grill were machined from small plastic balls. Drilled and tapped 4BA first with a bolt used to hold in the lathe chuck. Still need smoothing off. All these items still need painting. Too cold in my garage for spraying. I can put up with the cold but the paint objects and refuses to play nicely.

Just wanted to update my post so you guys didn't think that I gave up yet. Mostly been tinkering around some with all of the custom work and fabrication that needs done. Got my order back from McMaster-Carr with most of the bearings and such that I needed, so I have been busy fitting, reaming, and pressing bearings along with fabricating of a few other parts. Still have a long way to go and quite a few more places that I intend on placing bearings that I need to address yet. This work is tedious and time consuming for me, especially having to do a lot of the work by hand not always having the right tools for the job. So far everything has been turning out OK (I hope) but takes me a lot longer to finish up compared to having a fully equipped machine shop to do the work. I am fortunate to have an old worn out LeBlond lathe for turning a few simple parts, but I wouldn't trust it enough for anything requiring any amount of precision. Oh well, I guess this is supposed to be a hobby/pastime that I hopefully can be proud of in the end. Still waiting for the weather to break also, as my hands are tied until I can get a lot of this stuff painted in my hillbilly paint booth (outdoors) before I can do very much reassembly work. Urethane paint is nasty enough stuff on its own without even considering doing any of that in my basement! Anyway, here are a couple more pics just to keep you all updated on my progress. Made up a couple of new tie rods: Also made a new axle pivot pin: I had mentioned earlier that the bolt had come out at some point, therefore, my frame cross piece was wallowed out on both ends where the pin was rotating in the frame. My fix was to go to Lowes and buy a generic 3/4" x 1" x 2" steel bushing and cut off two pieces as inserts. I fitted and brazed these into both areas of the frame, which I reamed out to accept 1" O.D. of the bushings on each end. Here is a pic: That's about all for now, I'll keep you all updated as best I can. Hopefully by this time next year, I might have a tractor again! And that is not to even mention that I have not even begun to do anything with the mower deck yet! I'm sure that part of the project alone will be proof that we need to start that thread of "fun with bushings" as @WHX14 so correctly mentioned earlier.

I think you will find that the little 8 HP Tecumseh will be more than adequate for the machine and anything you want to throw at it. I put mine through her paces more than a few times, as long as I could get traction, moving anything wasn't a problem. Mine had a 2" ball on the back, and regularly was used to drag my trailers in and out of my backyard as it was easier to do with the tractor than the pickup, also moved several non running tractors around the place with it. This was on cleanup duty after last years ice storm...the little V8 and my C125 both got worked pretty hard for a few weeks after that ordeal