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Did a little weed control today.

Forrest Gump on a Swisher?!?

Welcome to Redsqure. Any Regular gas that you use in your car will work. If you can get non ethanol that's the way to go.

And the garden tractor mafia didn’t disappoint!!! @Achto is driving and @WHX20 looks like he’s checking the activity on Redsquare

Home from the children’s hospital, the only way we knew how to celebrate was to pick some garden and swim in the pool! Got a couple cukes in the past few days...

What a fantastic weekend. I've been attending this show since 2014 (3rd annual) and it seems to draw a bigger crowd every year. So nice to be able to see some friends from around the region and meet a few more new ones every year. Seems like it goes by so quickly, I realized when I got home that I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do. Luckily Lane appears to have that one covered! But I did spend more time walking around, looking and talking to people than usual too. One of the fantastic things that Bret Esse does in running this show is to change the feature brand every year. This brings in a large variety of heavy collections that are different every year, so you really end up with some variety of tractors and attachments. In my opinion, attachments are something that are really starting to make the shows great. Everyone has seen most of the tractors for the most part. Yes there are the occasional rarities or oddballs that someone hasn't seen before... but the attachments... to me that makes a show. Show me what these tractors did for people. They were built and marketed as such universal tools, and there were an innumerable number of aftermarket vendors for so many brands. Anyway... I did take a few pics of some of the things I found interesting that I'll share. Looking forward to next year already!! The forklift attachment for these AC/Simplicity tractors was fantastic. There were four there (3 originals and 1 replica) Got to see one of the originals demonstrated. The Danuser post hole digger A full service trenching tool.... Tractor with loader and belly blade... and rear mounted Hawk-Bilt Groundsaw. Just an example of a new show trend of loading up multiple attachments.... A Level-Lift mower, Blitz-Fog insect fogger kit, Side-Mounted sickle bar mower and rear mounted Mighty-Mac Chipper/Shredder. Many tractors this weekend carried a compliment of several attachments like this. Simplicity Legacy Anniversary Edition... just a sharp looking tractor. An original Struck Mini-Beep... you don't see these very often. This is one that's on my bucket list. I've seen two different ones at this show over the past couple years. Nice little Brillion snuck in the middle of a bunch of Sears and Jacobsen built Town and Country tractors. Looked like a nice little survivor and one you definitely don't see very often. And the last of my pics are a couple of this great REO display.... this is the REO product line before they were bought out by Wheel Horse. Just a great collection to look through and a nice display. Thanks to all the members that could make it and looking forward to seeing you and more back next year!!

You guys are stealing all my thunder with your . I got some video from my sulky rides will try and get that up. Didn't count but sure was a lot of RS regulars there and hopefully get more of the Midwest bunch next year when is the feature and we get our own digs in the horse barn! Pics Horses as faar as the eye could see. Coulter giving a 857 a workout and a ride for me Mike and Tom holding down the canopy during the storm... or are they pretending to be standups on the subway?!?!? The way things should be .. a horse pulling a Deere!!!! Dino wetting his whistle.... did I mention how hot and humid it was??? Mike wondering when is the chain piling gonna start!! Cindy and Dan frying fish!

The best reason for seat time.If you start an engine on a regular basis you won't find this mess.

Again thanks for the reactions, and to think the loader is just one part of the solution to my ‘problem’. I don’t know what your gonna think when you get to see what I’ve got up my sleeve to complement it. All will be revealed on Sunday !! till then...

This was a great score!! While I was off getting ribs ready for supper, Jim stayed at the auction and was able to win the Swisher for me. Scored it for $55 . Awesome job, Thanks again Jim!! Some one had to inform my wife about the new purchase before I had a chance to. All a sudden I get a text "I thought that we agreed on no more tractors? " to which I answered " It's a lawn mower, not a tractor ". It's all good though . It was bought as a non-runner but after a little prestart checking over it fired up on the first pull. After a little more tinkering we had high & low speeds working, as well as the deck. Then a bunch of us had fun driving it around & burning doughnuts with it. It was such a hoot to drive around, I was like a kid that just got a new bicycle . When the community test cruises were over I found a spot on the grounds to try out the deck, I was fairly impressed with cut. Should do even better after I get the blades tuned up. As mentioned Wheel Horse will be the feature at this show next year (2019). Take note of the looooong roof in the back ground of the above picture, this will be the barn for the feature tractors in 2019. It sure would be great to be able to fill it with 's. I'll be adding more show pic's as soon as I can.

This show is really cool and rapidly becoming one of the largest GT only shows around. The flea market alone is worth going to it but then there are the hundreds of tractors of all different brands. Lots of unique and rare stuff that has you saying, “Is that fabbed or factory?” I only got to go for a few hours this year because of several other commitments but I still had a great time. I was fortunate to be able to take all my kids and we had a great day together. Even my daughter told me on the way home that she was glad that she had gone! Needless to say...it was hot and sticky! Fluids were important and Cindy made a spot for my crew next to her in the shade—they were quite thankful. While I was there, this was a common scene, Dan answering questions about the McLean that he fully restored a couple of years ago. Here @CasualObserver takes a look at the “build book”. Claudia and Cindy got to visit a little while... Lowell and Steve solving “the world’s problems” (Judge doesn’t look too sure) Lane did a great job getting pics of many of the tractors and so I figured that I fill you in on our experience. It was great seeing my local circle buddies again although I missed Ryan by a few hours (next time Bro!). It was great to visit with two of my favorite out of state plow dogs—Tom and Mike. I hope @Shynon chimes in and posts a pic or two of his cool find. I enjoyed getting to meet Jason for the first time and visiting for a little while as well as hooking up with old friends. The only expensive item that I purchased was for my sweet daughter. She is an avid reader and there was an antique book seller on site. He had an 1899 printing of Kipling’s Indian Tales. Claudia has been a great help to me and her mother this summer and the book man was willing to give her a great deal on it if she promised to read it. So...Claud came home with a 120 year old excellent condition piece of literary history by one of the greats! I took the Super C. The more I drive that tractor, the more that I enjoy it for cruising around. Can’t wait to restore it one of these days! All in all, a fun run!

Yes definitely read up on the optispark. My dad had two 96 Impala SS’s. He didn’t have them long enough to have the issues. Just something I’ve always heard about. I got to take one on vacation once and it was the best riding car I have ever drove. Felt like you were gliding down the road. Wanted to pass someone?...... no problem as it had plenty of power and for that big of car, it would scoot! I have seen a Caprice wagon blacked out and made into an SS clone. Looked cool but like a big roach going down the road.

Looks like somebunny was giving that tool tray a workout too.

The last of the big rear wheel drive GMs. My cousin had the four door version, burgundy with burgundy leather and every option. Last year when she retired she donated to a veterans organization, still ran like a top. A few years back we took an 800 mile trip with her and the car, I drove at least 400 miles, like Richie says best riding car I ever drove, including my aunts Mercedes. Five adults and luggage 70+ mph, probably still got 15 mpg. When you pushed the right pedal to the floor it would put you back in the seat enough for the wife to say "What The Hell Are You Doing", not 440 six pak stuff but you get the picture.

If you have your wheels off and on very often at all I would highly recommend you switch over to Lug studs and standard lug nuts.

I had a play this afternoon, went looking for something heavy to pick up Yep it’s my lawn roller, 36”x18” it’s full of water, don’t know what it weighs, made no difference. No counter weight No wheel weight No ballast No driver !! I’ll get a video up soon.

Warning: picture heavy post. So here it is, my version of a wheel horse loading shovel, many thanks again to Ewan and Mark for supplying the decals. As this was an ‘Industrial’ type of build I went for a different variation on red and off white and was pleased with the result. Because the unit is reversed and has a new shorter bonnet I thought the rear fender decals would be a good fit. After it’s own photo shoot, a couple of stablemates joined in. Hope you like.

As this is now a completed project I thought I’d post a picture up in this section. (More pics in Restoration’s under ‘Something different’).

Well, I finally got my GT14 home from @T-Mo's house. 625 miles round trip, but I think it was worth it! I will put up a couple of pics, but they are a little blurry because my phones camera isn't taking good pics. I will put up some more pics later and I am going to have a bunch of questions as I look this over. The motor appears to be from 1993, so I hope its in good shape. @T-Mo bought this from @wh500special and said it runs good once its started. The tranny is an unknown but I really want to put an 8 speed in it anyway! Randy

The gas tank is installed into it's happy little shelf space. New shutoff and filter. Trina spent some time cleaning up and priming and painting the air cleaner housing we got from @A-Z Tractor. Speaking of... I was watching the youtubes the other day and taryl the loo loo says use a business card to set the coil back in place. Here's the intake and exhaust..

Thanks guys, the prayers worked! We’re on a 12 day antibiotic plan at home now, she probably won’t hit her 9 hrs a week gymnastic practice for another week or so, but we found the road to recovery, something uneasy about sending your little girl in the ambulance, because they want to transfer to a better hospital though.

In addition to fuel starvation, make sure that the Hydro is disengaged when you attempt to start it. Otherwise your starter and engine are fighting uphill so to speak.

I put down mouse poison in my garage last winter. In the spring I found most of it in a large mouse nest under the shroud of one of my tractors in a separate shed. They stored it up in their nest for snacking during the winter. Barn cats work much better than poison, dryer sheets, peppermint oil or anything else I've tried.

Nope, I never really messed with it, except to try and start it once. It would crank, but had no fire. I did change out the rear wheels and tires with the extra set Steve had. The ones on the tractor were liquid filled and had started to leak significantly and the rims are totally shot and only good for the scrap pile now. I will miss this one, but it was either this or one of my 953s, and they're not going anywhere for a while.

Steve, I don't think Terry messed with it. I am going to play with the motor first, and then start on the rest. I think I will hang a new tank I have, above the carb and start there. This is a bigger tractor than my others so it makes me look a little slimmer! I am really wound up to work on it. Randy

https://www.pure-gas.org/

Another cool toy from the show was this rocket powered Snapper. Unfortunately they were unable to get it to fire properly. Instead it only made a lot of noise and flames. In the pic they have a leaf blower on each tube trying to get it to fire. The owner was getting frustrated, as you know nothing seems to work well when there is a crowd.

That is probably one that Lowell grabbed off the 'net but the movie one has gotta be around yet Don. Wow talk about pic heavy @Lane Ranger....thanks Friday nite storm aside sure was a great show and will get some of my own pics up. High lite had to be the fish fry and the Swisher score!

I dunno Clark..... looks kinda lIke the Griswold family truckster to me!

Thanks @Coulter Caleb and @PeacemakerJack for bringing us al9ng on the ride! My wife and I met because of her truck, an ‘84 S10 with a 305 and 700R4 trans, shackled up running era correct ‘Vette exhaust pipes. She did a burnout in our work parking lot to scare a kid she worked with. I was on a different shift and happened to be walking out to the guard shack for some truck/trailer paperwork. I dropped my jaw and happened to know her name, so I sent her an email to ask her more about the truck. Less than a year later, we’re married and have Jada on the way. Honestly, I just wanted to know more about her truck! Ends up being she’s the daughter of an ASA racing ledgend Dave Sensiba, former teammate of Adam Petty, Mr Richard Petty’s grandson. Racing is in my in law family’s blood, through and through. We still have the S10, I’ve rebuilt the engine after she ran a bit hot drag racing one of our buddies in his Monte at lunch time one day. It needs some wiring attention and could use some body work. 7 or 8 years back we picked up a ‘69 C10 I th the 307 and three on the tree. It’s pretty much all original, except the 307 eats oil instead of gas... it needs some valve guides. That engine sits in storage and I popped an ‘86 350 with a .500” lift cam, Edelbrock intake and one of those Summit brand carbs in it. It rumbles good enough to make a fun ride, but needs a new set of shoes and some cab rain channel rework. sorry no pics of the trucks while we’re at the hospital, but here’s a pic of my father in laws diecast models on a google search...

@PeacemakerJack, Josh that version of the LT1 mechanically is rather solid/reliable but the "opti-spark" distributor is a weak point it's mounted on the front of the engine behind the water pump and the factory original design would corrode from moisture build up, there is an aftermarket replacement that usually takes care of that, everything else should be OK they're basically the Impala SS of the same generation, Jeff.

Just one great garden tractor show folks! This show had 929 garden tractors over four days of the show. Untold number of attachments of ever variety! Wheel Horse has been chosen by Garden Daze Show sponsors to be tractor of the year for 2019 so get your plans together to be here in 2019 with your Wheel Horses!

I got a few minutes last night due to some early rain to mess with my newly acquired D160. I changed the spark plugs, put on the cooling tins, fueled her up and gave it a go. Much to my surprise the ole Onan fired up and ran pretty good with a little tweaking. The trans is strong and all of the hydraulics work good. The float did hang on my maiden run, but I pulled the top off and freed it up and all was well again. I've heard lots of bad things about Onans, but this one starts pretty easily and seems to run pretty good. I'm very pleased with it. Thanks @stratostar250!

Went to start one of the C-175s this morning down in the barn. Turned over twice then stopped. Solenoid clicked but no crank. Jumped it off the D200 no success. Realized I couldn't turn the engine by hand. Also noticed some of the oil drip pads had been munched on. Saw some white stuff inside the blower housing Had to drag her up to the shop (too hot to work in the barn..really need to get a tow set up on the 3pt. I had to pick her up with straps frond the front axle to the FEL bucket...Then back all the way from the barn to the shop. Reminded AG tires are darn near worthless backing up hill even with the york rake hanging off the 3 pt as a counterweight. Took the shields off and found the stuff wrapped around the starter pinion jamming the fly wheel. Part of that mess is some dryer sheets pieces and they are really tough when you try to pull them off.... Guess mice appreciate me providing nice smelling dryer sheet for their construction projects.

An electric fuel pump cured this condition on mine.

It’s not that bad. Mine was very easy because I have it taken down to the frame. The column is nos, lower steering arm is new, front bearing is new and Cleat rebuilt the steering block. I’ll post some photos when get to that point.

moth balls work for me

Mouse and rat poison liberally distributed in the storage area might prove helpful, as well..... Finding them dead outside the confines of the tractors make it much more efficient to contain or inhibit their non-permitted building activities..... I'd much rather shovel up a bunch of deceased carcasses than go through your tractor starting expedition routine.

That is a short-frame dozer blade. You need one like this...axle bracket is also required. Note the difference in the shape of the A-frame.

That tractor is getting some miles on it! I got it from Jon in Centerpointe, IN as part of a trade years ago. I think it passed through his ownership without any tweaks from him. It ran great, but was an absolute bear to get started. Not just hard to start in the sense that some engines are stubborn. This one was tough. But once running, it did great. It had been sitting in our barn for quite a while and I figured I'd get to it someday. Someday never came. You'll note that the throttle linkage is assembled upside down, so "up" on the throttle control slows the engine. Unless Terry fixed it. Have fun with that beast! STeve

The boot around the shifter should be hooked over the set screw at the front of the shifter. Put the shifter into neutral. Pull the boot up. Back off the 1/4" jamb nut and using an Allen wrench back the screw out about 1/8". Pull the shifter straight out. Look down the hole and see how the shifter tabs are centered forming a rectangular hole where the shifter goes into the shift rails. That is neutral and how they should be when you put the shifter back together. There are 2 shift rails the shifter slides left or right of center which is neutral. The front one is rev and 1st. The rear one is 2nd and 3rd. Looking at them will give you an understanding of how it works. You can use a long screw driver to shift gears. Try 3rd - slide the rear rail to the right. The front rail tabs must be centered in the hole (neutral) when shifting the rear rail. Leave the rear rail in neutral (tabs centered) and you can shift the front rail left or right. Just make sure both rails are centered (neutral) when you put the shifter back in. Reason I explained this is it is possible to be in 2 gears at once which locks up the transmission. Wondering if that is what has happened. Placing both rails in neutral and reinstalling the shifter will correct it. To prevent that from happening shift slow until we can explain it. Garry

Like Richie said above read up on it, MSD and AC-Delco/Delphi are going to be your top choices for replacement, and I believe they need to be "vented" so the moisture doesn't build up inside them.

One of the best builds ever! Deserves its own webpage and you could sell "The Book" to build it. Seriously! (add a forklift option too!)

Fantastic work! it was well worth the wait...

Any thing that is in the way of installing a spring remove it. Some where in my garage is a hook type tool that I used for installing the clutch spring, it ain't easy to get the spring hooked on the rear casting hole on the transmission. (on my pulling Wheel Horses I would twist the spring a few times with the tool for extra tension) The strut as your calling it actually prevents unwanted wheelies as it slows down the return of the clutch pedal linkage so not to engage the drive belt too fast, a good safety feature. Wild Bill in Richmond, VA

The hood scoop alone says yes!

too Cool Kevin! Thanks for that great story and of course can’t wait to see the thread on those trucks when you get around to starting one. Please tag me so I can check them out!!!

I would agree with this fish was great! And the swisher was fun to play on for sure!!

Went to the portage show where i met alot of great people this 603 i got for a fair deal yeah its got the original engine the techy i know its not a great motor i herd it all weekend but starts first pull and with the carb tune i gave it when i got home and some bolts where loose on the carb and throttle on carb side was bent to where i couldnt move the throttle linkage but where in business and runs like a top. The patina is what really caught my eye and its my first big round hood nice oil down or what ever you guys think some front orginail tires and correct foot rest and a Chinese back up carb or 2 to be safe and we are good to go!

Thanks chaps for your nice comments, to answer your question Sparky it’s definitely for work! I have a lot of horse poop stacked by our stables that I loaded by hand once, never again! Straight after that experience I started planning my loader, I’ve got a fair sized garden and I’m not getting younger so I see a very useful future for it.