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If I was going to spend 16K on a piece of yard equipment , you can bet it would be a 4X4 and have a bucket on the front

That there is a well-thought-out, highly engineered, high-strength paracord reinforced tent. Nope.

Well, I got the dreaded surge about a month ago. Happened around 1/2 way through mowing my 2 acre lawn. Finished mowing with the choke partly on then pulled machine into shop and cleaned carb while it was still bolted onto intake (it looked very clean inside with nothing plugged that I could see). Well, a couple of weeks ago I was mowing the back part and it started again so I finished with the choke partly on. Another thing I should mention is that before the surging starts there is a noticable loss of power with the machine working the governor very hard for little to no reason. Well a couple of days ago I pulled the carb right off and disassembled it. Again, it looked very clean. Blew it out then I heard a noise. Welch plug blew out. I was holding the blow gun a ways away from the carb too so I don't believe that I should have blown it out Reassembled carb (after I finally found the welch plug on the shop floor) and sealed up welch plug. I just now came in after mowing the entire yard with absolutely no issues. Tractor seems to have more power than it ever has. Even used less gas, less than 1/2 tank to do 2 acres and it was thick heavy partly wet also. I believe that welch plug could have been sitting in there loose the whole time. Whatever the cause was, I am happy now. This was my 520HC. Cleat

Ok thanks ...I was worried he fell out his chair or somthin... well I worry about you Steve when you fall off a bicycle!

Hello everyone. I'm pretty new to the forum but have been mighty inspired by what I've seen. After smoking (literally smoking) an old Craftsman friction drive lawn tractor pulling a firewood cart around at my camp I found this forum and have been learning something from it almost every day. My research lead me to a 312-8 on Craig's List that I picked up from a nice fellow at an affordable price and I've been getting it set up to go to hunting camp as my prime mover hauling a log splitter and firewood cart. I have done several things to it like get a new seat, paint the wheels and foot plates, added non-slip tape strips, changed the air filter, engine and gear oil, and put new tires in all four corners. I also found a matching set on inside and outside rear weights on Craig's List. A few weeks ago I built a 2" receiver hitch for it and then realized it might be too heavy in the rear when hauling the log splitter and a full firewood cart at camp. To counterbalance the rear weight loading I fabricated a 2" x 2" x 1/4" rack for the front of the tractor using the existing holes in the frame to mount it. Had to make 1/2" spacers to gain clearance for the bolts that the hood pivots on. Found a friend with an 18" piece of 6" x 6" x 1/4" (29 lbs) square tube stock that he let me have (he's a great friend). Welded caps on either end after filling with about 60 pounds of lead picked up from a local shooting range. Also welded clips to hold the box to the weight rack and welded two clips to bolt it solidly to the rack. Estimated total weight is around 90 pounds. I still need to drill holes in the rear clips to hold it in place. Also plan to paint it black and will mount it on 2" strips of rubber inner tube. Not being able to leave well enough alone (honestly, it runs in my family) I also welded a 12" length of 1/2" x 2" rectangular stock to the top of the weight box to serve as a tongue for a trailer ball (still need to drill the tongue out for a shackle or a ball hitch). Could be useful for spotting trailers or getting towed out of a tough spot in the mountains. I haven't run any critical welds in 35 years so be kind as you look at my photos. I'm older now, not as steady of hand as I once was, and my eyesight isn't as good as when I was working as a steelworker. Anyway, thought someone else might take my idea and run with it for their own tractor. Thanks for all of your great posts. This is a super place to pick up information and shared knowledge. A pretty cool forum..... Cheers! Dave

Don't sit on that tractor! If you do, you'd look like a circus bear on a tricycle!

Some photo's from Biddenden Tractorfest and Country Fair. I took quite a few, so I shall only be putting them up so many each day. Uploading is a tad slow. More to see as more arrived.

See! The only "smoking" deals I get down here here is other brands. You're close to the prime area. I'm glad you're saving as many as you can. These are a great part of history and I hate hearing of them being lost. I'm going to the BS or bust next year. Hope to meet you there!

A few more. My dream car. 1930's Morgan three wheeler with Matchless V twin. That's all folks.

Pretty much the same thing here Paul, emailed a buddy who works at Kohler and he emailed their IT department about it.

Happy birthday,Jeff.The funny thing about birthdays is that once you have had your first one,you always want more.Luck,JAinVA

Miller suggestion of at least a 8.5" wide rim is ok. 12" wide tires would look much better on a 10" wide rim IMO. This would give less side wall bulge and allow the tire to sit more square on the ground. Here is a diagram for rim measurements.

8.5" is the width of the rim from lip(bead) to lip, the 12" is the tire (mounting) bead diameter most common rear tire size for a garden tractor is the 23x10.50-12 so with that being said the the 24x12-12 from CENTER 24" is only 1/2" taller not much of an issue with fender clearance , 12" is 3/4" wider but may or may not rub the inner fender near the gas tank and or hydro fan depends on your wheels (520s and xi had the widest with the best back spacing) and 12" correct wheel mounting diameter, hopefully this helped clear up things a wee bit, Jeff.

Started stripping down this old girl for a total resto.. will do a thread once I really tie into it and make some real progress. A 1055 PO franken short frame with a big block. Thankfully have plenty of parts to draw from. Once I get the hydraulics straightened out on a 1257 this project gets my full attention this winter.

I think you gonna have problems with it EB... best you just let me come get it....

I must say I love reading stuff like this. It definitely shows the quality of people here and is nice to know there's still good people out there. I second this statement.

I'd be happy to pick that thing up. I work right in Portland. I was at that very same auction. You call Shane from Keenan. ...and you give him my name and I'll take care of it.

A loud machine noise in front of the house this morning brought me out of the barn to investigate. When I came around the corner, PennDot was setting up to trim my spruce trees In preparation of paving the road next week. They had to trim all the limbs that might interfere with the paver and the trucks as they dumped the black top. I told the foreman to take as much as they could, as I was going to remove the dying trees this winter.

looked at a Kubota diesel zero turn at the fair today...special Fair pricing = $16,000.00 ZD1511-72. 6 ' deck and probably pretty fast...but my 1951 Case VAC ($1100) and a 6 ' New Holland Finish mower (about $1000) also gets the job done....

Happy Birthday @WVHillbilly520H, we are all glad you were born!

Whenever I keep my tractors out under the addition (dry storage) I never get mice. Once they go in a covered and enclose shed the mice feel secure and live in there. I keep the hoods open while in the shed.

I just drilled holes for the bolts and used "Stove Bolts"...rounded head, slotted head, and no screwing around with square holes. No using tools I did not have.

Yeah, tell me about it! Seems like everyone around here in SW Va that has an old Wheel Horse asks a fortune for them and parts. @ebinmaine hooked me up with PTO brackets for my short frame tractor and I’m 800 miles south of him! Still got a better buy than anything that could be had around here! He might have a different accent than us but he’s good people! I hope to meet him at the BS myself! Maybe you and him both!

...about 3 years ago...

Nah, you just started looking around for them. 😀

Wish that was the case man. This is probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. Pretty rare up here.... Thanks though!!

You yankees have all the luck with these tractors. Congrats!

1267 1267 1267!

Horse Magic?

If you plan to weld that aluminum dash - make sure the tig is capable of a lot of ac balance control, you'll need as much cleaning action as possible. I've welded up a few that were badly worn from the hood latch eating into them after a broken frame or dash stand, that stuff is some highly contaminated cast aluminum if I ever saw it. The more you talk of this build, the more I'd like to make one, lol. I considered at one time repowering a Work Horse with a Suzuki 1.3L Samurai engine - weighs less than the twin opposed K-482 and pulls 48hp. Not to mention a rpm range north of 7,000rpms, lol. Very small engine footprint, all aluminum and a ton of fun parts available. Sarge

My F.I.L has one of those diesel Kubota ZTR with a 61" deck (had it before I came along) anyways mowed 8+ acres until I took over 3 with the wife, yes if all you are going to do it mow and get it done fast this is the $h@@ but I still prefer my SCUT with 60" deck MFWD 3pt hitch FEL and steering wheel and over ZTR ,Jeff.

Sounds like a good plan to me. Although i can weld aluminum none of my welders are set up for aluminum so that is going to be outsourced to one of my buddys that has a nice tig setup. As far as a bearing support goes i plan to use a steering colum from the john deere 112 that i got a few other parts off of. It has an outer sleeve with a bushing atbthe top for the actaul steering shaft to ride against and it has a nice gearbox type action on the bottom side.i dont think the traditional wheelhorse steering gear setup would be enough for this size of a tractor unless i had a gear reduction unit like on a 520 or similar. Hopefully tonight i will get back out to the shop and see what else i can get done. I think the next step is to get the dash widened and that will give me the dimension of the hood at the rear and locate the top of the steering colum.

Jeff has been in the shoutbox. I pad issues.

What??... Where??!!??

That 8.5 might be the MINIMUM size rim these tires can be put on. 24's can be a bit dicey on a horse unless fender pans are cut pending tread type and how the tires run.

Ya the gentlemen that shows that particular bolens, has got several really sharp machines. This is a Ride-A-Matic that he fully restored.

Made a new scraper for my plow yesterday.

You got a "Big-Block" in that thing?

Definitely seen a few around Craig. I guess what I run into most of the time here is that when you say Wheelhorse Rich. Emphasize the rich. For whatever reason, garden tractors in Northern New England have become some kind of a rich man's premium lately. That said, I'm really only looking on CL. I'm not specifically searching at any given time. I just kind of poke around once in a while to see if there's any really inexpensive ones that I could use for resale to one of you guys or parts for my own machines. I have seen a few of the 3, 4, 5 series that I've referred other people too but never found a square Hood such as I like that I would pay the money they wanted. As far as the four tractors I picked up at the auction... I'm thinking I'm going to combine the c100 with the c 81 and make one good tractor. Both of them are pretty rough but in opposite places, luckily. The cute little custom I'll post in a different thread. It's one that I originally bought for parts but it wasn't quite what I thought it was and somebody put a lot of work into this thing so I don't want to disassemble it. As for the 1267... I haven't made up my mind yet.

You might be surprised to learn.. you're in a pretty rich area of the country Eric. I've pulled my fair share of 'em outta your general vacinity.

Right...the glass broke on his I Pad...real hard for him to type at the moment.

Started to but my Honey and I are more into the square hoods. Only had so much to spend so I concentrated on them.

I have to agree that is an odd comparison.I would have to say also that I can't imagine the average homeowner spending $16,000 to get a grass cutter unless they also had the resources to have a grounds keeper.The VAC can do more than cut the grass which is why I think so many of us still keep the old WHs around because they can too.

Owner says reverse is in there somewhere but no-one can find it.

Just for the record Randy. I'm a pretty good-sized guy at 6 foot 2 and over 250 lb. I look like an adult. But really, I'm only about 5 years old.

We used the B80 Patriot horse to unload and bring our auction purchases down to the workshop for future sorting.