Leaderboard

Well I've had my eyes out looking for a decent deal on a Commando 8 for some time. I really like those 8 hp kohler engine's. I finally got what I was looking for and a little more. I was able to work out a deal on a Horse, Blade, Deck and 55 lb wheel weights and chains. Doesn't appear to be hacked up and looks like its all their. So another project in the line....

Put my “rusty parts” I got from @953 nut on the 953. Trying to keep this one mostly original. Richard was kind enough to swap me some original parts for my painted parts. My brother n law toted them up and met him close to his hometown. Going to look great in it’s original skin tones.👍

This rj was my first Rj. My best friend bought it when I first got into them. He tossed the correct engine and put on a 7hp kohler. It came with duels and also a snow plow. After a while he tired of it and traded it to me for some box tubing I had in my driveway. I kept it the way it came but finally decided to restore it. He hates it now that it's restored but it's not his anymore lol. It took a while to find the correct k91 but i finally found 1 and scored it for 15 bucks. It had over half a inch of bondo on the hood when i stripped it. Its far from perfect and I know it still needs a few things like decals, belt guard and a heat shield but I'm pretty happy how it came out. I like putting it with my original rj (that's another story for another day) at shows. A lot of people like seeing 1 in its work clothes and 1 all dolled up. I do think I'm gonna switch it back to ag tires and put those tires on my suburban I'm restoring.

This old guy gets around.

Free if you drive off fast enough

Hear that Dan? ..Lets get on that! Not sure if I have the patients for a 21yr wait. Heck it drives me nuts that it takes 4hrs for a good clearcoat to get dry enough to hit with a buffer.

The look of a K361 OHV is very unique visually compared the all the other valve-in-block K series engines. You could actually tell the difference from 50-75' away if the engine is exposed at all. The K361 shares the same bore and stroke dimensions with the K341 (3.750" x 3.250") = 35.90 cu. in. (588cc) The compression ratios however, vary a great deal: 7.3:1 (K341) to 9.2:1 (K361) K341 is a 10 bolt head, while the K361 is a 6 bolt head. The valve sizes vary marginally as well: K341; Intake: 1-3/8", Exhaust: 1-3/8" / K361; Intake: 1-7/16", Exhaust: 1-13/32". Engine code number can identify each clearly also. Code (71) = Model of Engine (K341); Code (23) = Model of Engine (K361). K361 head: They both have rod dippers and splash lube. The 2 HP difference comes from the OHV and cam. The rockers on the K361 are oiled by the splash and vapor of the common K Series bottom. They supposedly were only made in 1979-1980. While they are rare, its generally believed to be because they had issues enough that they quit production. Not enough oil gets to the rockers, and valve seats come out. "K361's lack of oil to the rockers and valves is because of a design flaw in the location of the crankcase breather. The top of the engine builds pressure therefore keeping the oil from reaching the top in sufficient quantities. It is a simple fix to get the oil up to the rockers. Block off the factory crankcase breather and install one in the aluminum valve cover on top of the engine. You will have to cut the factory valve cover to insert a breather. Once the top of the engine can breathe it will oil fine. Think of any other engine with overhead valves and where the crankcase breather is. Kohler really dropped the ball on this one." * http://gardentractortalk.com/forums/topic/16803-kohler-k361-any-good/ There is actually one off a Power King for sale at that well known auction site. Pics from the listing: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwjwiJfj8N7fAhUELK0KHfjbCc4QFjAAegQIBxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkohlerengines.com%2Fengines%2Fonlinecatalog%2Fpdf%2Ftp_1288.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1p06NV2wXpPPfkzsoVdnz_ Addendum: K361 block pics:

Please share with me the coordinates, I’d love to come pick some tractors *ahem* moss too...

Now, if you want the original organic free range moss Jim, here's the recipe. Just drag it out to Western Maryland and place it in a drainage ditch. I have the GPS lat. and long. Then return 21 years later and pluck it out of the ditch with an excavator.

Now to figure out how to grow the coveted moss on the hood! I got Dan @Achto working on that. Claims he was a horticulturist in a past life!

We’ll it’s home for good. 👍 Thanks for letting me be part of it’s family.

Glad I could be of some help. I was about to strip them down to bare metal as the 953 they came from is being restored. When Richie posted his conundrum of a half painted, half patinaed 953 it was a no brainer,they belonged on his horse. Those are some high mileage parts. They cam off the 963 I bought from today's Birthday Boy, @Ed Kennell, that was hauled from PA to NC by Van @Wheel-N-It and then picked up by @19richie66's brother-in-law Chris and on to Florida! Looking GOOOOOOD!

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

Bust Out Another Thousand for that hole in the water to throw money into. But they sure are fun!

That is what the Front End Loader is for!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR ED!

16hp is the largest single wheelhorse used that doesn't mean someone could have put a kohler K361 in place of the original motor

Here's my wife's commando. I was buying paint for another tractor I was working on and the guy said I've got something for you. He told me make me an offer I said "Tom I only have 25 bucks on me" he said "Deal!!" It runs great. Needs a few small things.

I bought this tractor a little while back for $50 from my neighbor that was moving out of state. It had been stored for over 15 years and had 211 hours on it when I bought it from him. The machine came with a nice snow plow, mower deck and wheel weights, but the engine wad bad. It took some time to gather all the parts I needed to get it back up and running, but i'm satisfied with the results. I had to replace the 2 front tires, repair the engine, it was ran out of oil by his son. I had to replace pistons, rods, new rings and a crankshaft and now it runs like new. It still needs a little more work to be complete, the pulley covers on the mower deck need replaced and I plan to change oil in the tranny come spring. I also did some touch up paint work on a few places that needed it. This is my 3rd horse and it hopefully will last a few years.because there is nothing today that comes close to what these machines are. Just thought I would share my last project with the members here.

Well I tore the ole girl down tonight and scrubbed the frame, engine, and trans with lacquer thinner to remove as much grease as I could. I was shocked at how much red was still there. Emory even got in on the scraping. Only problems I’ve found are the trans appears to have been full of motor oil😱 and there was this weird green thing hugging the engine! Oh and if you’ll notice I pulled down my sheets I use for curtains to wash them and you’ll see why I have to put them up - my wife’s washer and dryer share one end of the little garage.

Yah ther is... pull up a lawn chair, crack a cold one and watch her burn...oh and make sure you got some extra cold ones for the fire dept....

I have an FEL on the D200...Never used it for snow removal. We had 28" awhile back and the town used a road grader, created a big pile. Used the snowblower. Pile was so high as i undercut it it was falling on the hood of the Electro, but she cleared it.

Loader plans here http://www.pf-engineering.com/ Stick welder here https://www.eastwood.com/ac-stick-welder-lew-k1170.html?SRCCODE=PLA00020&msclkid=3395e1c703ba10478f0abdf22a7a2bd3 Hydraulic parts here https://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydraulics/ And score some steel at the local scrap yard. You're halfway there already so get started!

Eric, I have a real nice Kwik-way subframe complete with axle brackets that would fit right on your C-160 if you need one someday to build your loader,give you a great deal on it and may even deliver it to Hiram.

A big 2 stage blower. No worries about the DOT piles or snow piles from plowing. I did the same method as Paul does. You'll figure it all out quickly enough. Pushing with the blade raised sometimes also helps. That's how I used to push back the big piles. Then drop it to clean up and start a new section.

Indoor tractor shows?? In the winter??? Close to home??? Like the BS?? You PA guys are starting to tick me off!

Lowell, Joette, Scottie sendings more prayers your way. Don’t want to make this about me but for the last 8yrs (I celebrated my lifeday yesterday) I’ve been dealing with U.T.I’s , cathedrals , spasms and pain from head to toe . The wife (my 24hr caregiver) and I know what your dealing with so please don’t hesitate to send a PM . Maybe some of our experiences could help in some way .

On any of my Wheel Horses I get 100 smiles per gallon!

Count the head bolts. A 16 has 10 of them.

Welcome to the forum Jason. You will certainly will find all the help you need here. What you have there with the Tecumseh/Lauson HT55 is a rather rare engine which is much misunderstood by most people. Its electrical workings are a bit unconventional compared to others and unfortunately many if not most found are discarded or destroyed due to the fact that it takes a bit of effort to understand their electrical workings. Many opt to just replace it with something else. Parts for it are absolutely not easy to come by, but I encourage you to stick with it and save it. A few important things to keep in mind with that engine are, ignition switch and solenoid are unique to that engine. They are activated by grounding. Absolutely no voltage to be applied to magneto at anytime. These are the essential things to understanding that engine and not frying anything. Smoke from under flywheel is never a good thing. Most likely coming from your magneto/coil.Probably happened by reversing the diodes although I have never come across that happening from that alone. Those diodes are directional therefor your resistance readings.Current flows through wires coming from under flywheel through diodes and into battery, therefor their directional ability. For the time being you can just remove them until you get engine going. Important specially if there is no battery in the system .They only have to do with the charging of the battery. I suggest that you start by reading thoroughly the information supplied above by Garry our file moderator. You are going to find him a lightning fast and precise information provider.Just one of many invaluable members in here.Meanwhile I will look and supply links to many posts regarding that engine and similar issues that others have come across , some very recent, and I am sure many others will do the same.

Hear that Dan? ..Lets get on that!

I agree. The main reason of asking is because I need to do a good bit of leveling high spots and slopes in my yard, along with continue to garden. I received two quotes so far. They both are over $5200 to do the dirt work. I figured I could buy a larger tractor with box blade for that price and work on it myself, and also have another tractor.

I did the bushing thing in my 1067 build but with no welding. A welder I am not. I drilled the hole out to 7/8" or 1" and loctited a x 3/4 oil lite bushing in. The pin & plate are available from Toro yet & reasonable. I think it was about 15 from a toro dealer. Other guys here make the pins as well.

Sweet deal

I’ve got some trimmin’ and tackin’ to do on the rear to make it square and tight.

So this morning Scottie’s suprapubic catheter was not draining for him so we came back to St. Mary’s to get his catheter flushed. The medical team here decided to drain his bladder through his urethral stent for now. He is in tons of pain and they have given him some IV meds to help with the pain. Scottie’s urology doctor is here helping him through this. Their plan is replace the suprapubic catheter on Tuesday after both medical teams meet with Scottie. We don’t know as of yet whether or not he will need surgery or what they plan on doing. We will wait and see. Scottie did get sent home with some good medication to help with his bladder spasms and his bladder pain.

I was being funny...

If there's a will there's a way...they make self powered units for ATVs

Awesome score for $100. I’d love to have that pump and mounting bracket for one of our tractors. Say, wouldn’t want to make an easy $25 would ya? I’ve got $125 just itching to jump into your pocket!😂. If it wasn’t such a drive out your way!

A Courage engine is total junk. Aluminum block, nylon cam gears and a very poor design. Consider yourself lucky if you get 200 hours out of one. The Cub lawn tractors have them and after a year or two, they either blow themselves up or tear the blocks apart. Built for people who don't mind buying a new mower every 2-3 years.

I used to use the 520H w/tall chute blower to eat thru the road side snow piles. But, my neighbor that shares my stone road, bought a Kubota $WD w/ FEL, so I save the big piles for him.

@ebinmaine thanks for the shout out, It will work, not expensive really not much to change except for the lift point/bar, then the angle from seat lever will now be out board of your foot rest vs the classic style, you won't be able to use the xi series front anti sway bar unit though, and quite possibly you still may end up needing the "extenion" kit for the A-frame to clear the swept forward front axle while full angle left or right...the blade in the pic with the Dxi was for it the other 2 are of a long frame of the 70s I put on my 520H with a hillbilly engineering extenion for 18 years till I actually found the correct kit, last 2 pics BTW I have also modified one of the later 26X series vertical shaft tractor frames to work on the classic series without swept forward front axle good luck, Jeff.

I'll be there with WH Bells on!!!!!! LOL Love this show, great way to start off the year with a great bunch of guys!!!

Jim, I used cap screws just to keep everything aligned while I drilled the new holes for the 3 bolt flanges, then with a bit if RVT I threaded some "set screws" in the end of the auger shaft just to keep the threads viable if by chance I went back to bone stock original.

I have an RR-46 tiller steer. It was actually NOS when I bought it about 15 years ago from dealer !

The k181 on my 857 did the same thing. I checked the valves for clearance and they were fine. I ended up setting the timing using the static method and the mark on the flywheel. @oldredrider Helped me do this. Check back on my build thread about it from last year. Ran much quieter after that!

Great to see another youngster loving these old tractors! My son is more into the tractors than I am. lol

So I would like input on chains for the tires. The horse came with standard type chains, but I’m wondering if those will chew up an asphalt type driveway? Any inputs on “real” chains versus the rubber “band” type chains? Which has better grip, and would the rubber type protect my driveway better? I need to get the plow mounted and to work, here’s a pic of our snowfall last night, getting close to two feet!

Cindy and I and our local circle have a package for him and if Lowell can't come with the other MN guys to the Portage meeting next weekend we will get it to him some how. Glad to hear the old fashioned cards help if even in some small way. Prayers...and keep .

Ok- 1982 is just fine with me. Oh, just a little additional info: rear discharge mower looks to be in great condition, but I don’t have a lawn so will stay in great condition. Just plan on mounting and using the snow plow. Also, headlights worked initially, but don’t now. Haven’t troubleshot yet but I’m guessing the fuse is the likely culprit? I posted pics earlier, not sure where they ended up so here we go again: