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I’ve been made an honorary ember of the GT Mafia! Thanks @WHX24 and crew!

This is so fun! Thanks @prondzy for the Tub Cart hot lap, @Bear G for the Stretch hot lap and @Achto for the McLean hot lap! So much cool stuff to see and do, I’m looking forward to the trip to the diner in the morning for sausage gravy smothered breakfast!

Where I live, northern end of Cumbria, England, Wheel Horses are pretty rare. Most are down south, either brought over by US service personnel or imported from Belgium. Found my C-125 by accident, quarter mile from home while walking my dogs. It was in a microlight hanger a chap was clearing out due to not being able to fly anymore. None runner, but I got it going there and then. Next day £70 changed hands and I drove it home up the lane. Found Red Square and WH fans over here. Chris Sutton and Meadowfield in particular, have become good friends. Got the C-121 off Chris and rebuilt it. Then the C-81 partly restored turned up 25 miles away. So that found it's way here. With going down south to a couple of shows per year, stopping with Chris, more fellow WH fans became friends. Ended up buying the Sears/Roper of AlanR to give it a good home, as he could not keep it after a full restoration. Again it's the robustness, versatility, reliability, simplicity and ease of maintenance that I like. And last but not least, the pleasure I get from using them.

Early morning in the horse barn.

It all started for me in 1962 when I was 6 years old. My dad bought this tractor new at that time but sold it to a neighbor sometime in the '80s. Fast forward to the year 2011 and my uncle found this tractor. A buddy of his was the son of the guy that bought it from my dad. My uncle got it and gave it to me. It was in pretty bad shape and took me four years to restore. I have now been proudly riding my dad's restored 1962 Wheel Horse at many of our local tractor shows for the past four years. I now own 12 Wheel Horse tractors, have met a lot of wonderful people, and am enjoying this hobby very much.

Not sure Understand what an engine heater has to do with this. As far as filtering and resuaing oil it isn't just solids that cause issues there are acids and other liquid chemical by products of combustion

Just as an interesting side note... Trina and I get asked fairly often how much snow we get, annually. This past year was about average. The pile I'm standing beside was covered, all but the top few pieces. I'm 6'-2" with shoes on.

I do the Lone Ranger style horse mount... Stand well back behind your tractor, get a running start, jump up and mount the seat from behind. Yell Hi-Yo Silver and giddy-up, let's go!

Not the best shot, but I was so excited to get it this far, that I had to post. I’m going to put my sickle mower on this fella. I rebuilt the carb, rebuilt the generator, and installed an 8 speed to lower the ground speed. It also gets the 10.5 tires and wheel weights I got from Mike, @Sparky. I hope to mount the sickle bar I got from Rodney and @Lane Ranger tomorrow to take it to our local show next week. Haven’t decided if I’m going to repaint or live with the old repaint it has on it now. Any opinions?

Which would cost more, a couple quarts of oil or a replacement engine?

As I've mentioned before, I worked in a Ford Tractor Shop during my impressionable high school years. Seems like everyone there was a character of sorts. All sorta good small town characters. This will be a running thread that I add stories too as I'm inspired, so check back in if you see the title pop back up. Owner/Boss was a talker and a very conservative/tight old German business man. Parts-man knew his part numbers by memory but was quite a smart-alex....smarter than anyone else in the shop he thought Top Mechanic #1 He was a really good mechanic, short-thin wiry guy, when he got mad his foul mouth would light off and if was really bad large wrenches would fly across the shop and hit the shop walls with a bang. Drank too much Friday nights at the beer joint! Mechanic #2 was just a quiet hard working guy. Mechanic #3 talked with a bad studder, not the sharpest guy, but did a lot of new equipment assembly and general mechanical PAINT Shop Old Guy he had a bit of a foul mouth, but took me under his wing and always told me to go to college and "not to be like all the other clowns that worked there". Delivery Truck Driver Mid-Twenties young guy that got teased about having to make late afternoon deliveries to neighboring towns....had a girl friend in every town. drove the BIG 11/2 ton truck with goose-neck trailer Office Lady A sweet lady that keep everyone's time, part charges and job work orders straight I left off Me High School Shop Flunky - worked afternoons and summers, steam cleaning filthy tractors, helping whoever hollered.. git your *!#* over here and hold this, backup (small) delivery repaired lawn tractors Shop Manager Poor guy that ran around looking lost all day trying to keep people getting there work done and not killing each other. Customers Many that had day jobs and ran the inherited family farm after hours and many full time and many Full time Farmers and Ranchers . Good country folk and some outstanding characters among them. New Customers Houstonites buying these new 10-20 acre ranchetes Location La Grange, Tx settled by Germans, Czechs, Bohemians, all good conservative people. A little over an hours drive from Houston, which was booming in the 1970's Speaking of conservative: Whats the difference between a German and a Czech: One's got homemade sausage for supper and the other has got still has the first dollar he ever made.......I still cant figure out which one is which. 1st Story Bosses Monthly Friday Afternoon - Saturdays Challenge About once a month the boss would leave early Friday afternoon. Parts-Man would come back in the shop and holler "Boss just cleaned the cash out of the safe.... ya'll get ready for "Saturday Morning"! Then he would tell the nice office lady: you better call some customers to come pay there bills - in cash - we need some! So I believe on Sunday afternoon's the boss would drive all the country back roads in the county. He knew every tractor or piece of equipment that hadn't moved in a few many years. Prime candidates for purchase. So on these monthly Friday afternoons the Boss would drive to a corner of the County and make the rounds of the areas' Friday evening social gathering places aka local Beer Joints. With pockets full of cash he would buy rounds of beer and socialize. As the evening wore on I can just hear: Hey ol Joe, you haven't used that Ford 8N up on the fence row in a few (many many) years, how about fifty bucks cash for it. Hey ol Al, you haven't used that Ford 9N and plow under the chicken house in awhile, how about a hundred bucks cash right now for it. Boss goes to next area beer joint and repeats Boss goes to next area beer joint and repeats Saturday Morning 8am Boss to Shop Crew (to be continued this evening)

Just found these on craigslist not far up the road and will be going to get them tomorrow. Five decks for around 125. Not a bad deal!!

With the Iola Car Show behind us, Coulter Caleb and I are getting a couple horses ready to go... Caleb had to remove the mowing clothes from JackRabbit and put on the AG’s otherwise Zach wouldn’t let him take it Once he is cleaned and ready, and GhostRider has the dust and dirt from Jim’s PD last fall cleaned up, they’ll be ready to join Vader to be loaded up. We are excited to come down and hang out with you all!

No brainer.If you don't need them someone does.Save them from the scrapper.

I like Jeff's guess.

Fish on! Thank you so much Jim, Dan, Cindy and Ryan for the fish, slaw, beans and apple pie!

@ronwh @prondzy @Shynon there goes the neighborhood...

Must scheduling both next year.. 😎 Then compare with holidays..

This horse barn shot reminds me of a 1965 advertisement.

Just 24 hours since the surgery and I can see better than ever....w/o glasses. Yep, the grass s green and the sky is blue. While I was having the bandage removed, Mrs K musta traded in her old dull gray van for a shiny bright tan colored one. I had a little trouble locating her in the parking lot.

I wouldn't have a thing for WH's if it wasn't for this site. I bought a Wh with a loader on it stricktly for the loader. Came here to find out what I bought since it didn't have any decals on it and bam! New obsession!!! I was going to put the loader on one of my cubs but didn't have time right then and I have grown to love my 1277. The hydro control is the kicker to the deal. I would still like to put the loader on a 149 cub, but I am going to have to make a hydro control like my WH. I love the looks of my 1277 so much, I just want to restore it to its original beauty! Randy

Friday already??

looks like you guys are already having a TON of fun! Today’s weather was about as perfect as you could ask for this time of year. I’m always torn with this show because of the long-standing tradition that my dad and I have had of attending the Iola Car Show together since 1991. It is the same weekend as GT Daze. 🤔 So...I’ll do what I did last year. Attend Iola tomorrow with Dad and Caleb. Then bring the boys and some horses down by you guys on Saturday. If I can get my stuff loaded tomorrow evening, we should be able to hit the road first thing in the morning and since I have no other obligations, we can make a FULL Day of it in Portage... You guys have already posted some great pics and write ups—keep ‘em coming for those folks that can’t make it...

Bolting the engine down and trying to get this thing into one piece so it can go into storage.

Move over Mafia there's a new club in town.

@Achto showing everyone how to ski

recently replaced all bearings and seals on two 42 " r/d mower decks, they were getting noisy, picking them up used , but solid , zero rust. used 6203-2rs bearings and timken # 473380 grease seals, repacked spindles with lucas , red and tacky grease, also replaced the blade nuts. sharpened blades with a coarse and fine file , no impacts or damage , sharp and clean. added a spindle belt tension pulley on the back side of deck , to take out the belt bounce, very quiet and smooth. also scraped down and rustproofed both decks with chain and cable fluid , and heated them both up in the sun to dry. added martin deck wheels from t/s on rear of deck, and went after the proper adjustment setting to stabilize the deck. lubricated everything that has to move , especially the rear height adjustment handle rod, for easy height adjustment. both decks operate like new, very smooth and quiet , i just consider this to be regular maintenance. one of the decks is on my 82 black hood ,magnum swap, its so good you just have to love it. keep them going , its worth it , pete

The old belt just about disintegrated! Lol I think it was the 3/8th's used on the 8hp, it lasted 10 yrs! I found a beautiful high performance 1/2 cogged belt hanging on my wall. Napa Modac 69H(25-09155) It fit right on without even having to move the tension, rolled onto the pulley "happy & tight", Yard Sale .50, amazing.

This one falls under vintage trucks too as well as the correctly guessed Model A!

Again thank you ever so much.Assistance like yours is why this site is so popular.Hope to shake your hand at next years big show.JimAnderson

Whoops...forgot this one.

Craig, Thank very much! I was hoping on hope you would reply.In searchs about this setup a number of photos of your install came up.You have saved me a lot time and error and I can only say thanks! JimAnderson

Let this ole hillbilly take a stab... Ford Model A ... I believe.

Lot of empty pie jars. Looks like them cups are getting a workout.

In western Pennsylvania, if you don't have hemlock around, you side your barns with tulip poplar. As long as it can dry out, it will last for years. When we replaced the barn siding at our first farm, it was only the second time the barn had been sided. Built in 1890, we re-sided it in the summer of 1976. We put thousands of board board feet of poplar through the old sawmill where I used to work. It was almost all taken by the furniture industry in North Carolina. They used it for the secondary wood that never got seen, like on the frames, under the upholstery of easy chairs and in couches. We sold our maple to the same buyer who bought for the furniture factories but I'm not sure what they did with it. Most of the maple we cut were soft maple varieties with a similar density to poplar. Sugar, or hard maple, when we did encounter any on a logging job, was mostly left for sugar water (syrup) production. With the exception of walnut, our other hardwoods went to a treatment plant for mine cribbing, wedges and blocking. We stickered our walnut and once a year a guy from Germany graded it and had trucks come to the mill for it. We once got a letter from a Japanese company looking to buy paw-paw, Mulberry, Osage orange and holly. They were picky about the sizes and how the endgrain had to be sealed. Several of the other mills around us also got the same letter. After a few weeks we figured out this wood was being used as decorative elements on some high end woods for golfing. We never sold them any of the wood varieties they wanted and I'm not sure if anybody else did. The poplar we logged grew big in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania. 36" to 40" trees were not uncommon and since they competed for light in groves of 80-90% poplar, they grew very straight and tall. Sometimes the first branches were 35' or even 40' from the ground. The downside to this wood was that if it grew on a hillside, a lot of the trees along the top of the ridge would be "wind shook," meaning the core would be broken away from the outer layers of the tree. These were prone to "Barber Chairing." Barber Chairing is of the scariest things that will ever happen to you in the woods when you're felling timber. Watch a couple videos on U-Tube about it. It's a genuine, "Better have things right with the Lord" moment. When the trunk starts to split and it chases you down to the ground you can get trapped, crushed, severed in two, or thrown thirty feet by the backside of the tree. Stay safe and keep looking up, unless you live on a farm. In which case, watch where you're walking! You guys have a great weekend! Dave

I have no idea where four of them are. I took one, put it on the key ring with my spare tool box keys, and gave the bag with the rest to my wife.

Another consideration is that modern oils are a lot more than just a petroleum base. There are many additives that perform different functions. Some of these are used up over time and while the oil will still be slippery some benefits are lost.

Doing a bit Weldtraining for the FEL .weling here a bit.. Welding there a bit.. Make some improovement... Test between to see what Fit.... Looks good, but i‘m not satisfied, have to improve the stiffness. Later i gave all a little RattleCan Paint 8 for a nicer Look, didn’t grindin* too much, just if needed a bit to fit... Finally mount the Parts, to check, does they fit as i Measured and 3D before? yes, they did, another Step was done. The base Console was so far finished, next challenge will be the Mount to Rearaxle. rethinkin how it can be made Removable.

AND THERE YEAH HAVE IT BOYZZ LIFE IS GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I were into nothing but Wheelhorse, the Big Show would be my choice. But from the pictures, Portage looks like a blast. Would be a hard choice.

With a patch, You can only see one point of view 😁

I used a HF gun to paint my truck. It is not a professorial job, but the gun did good I screw up a couple of places but I now know how it did it. As said above it's how clean you keep the gun as to how well it sprays. The other thing is the quality of the paint you are using. The paint I used was $130 a quart with the thinner and hardener. I'm not a painter but I have done some of about ever kind of painting in the last 70 or so years.

@cruisnblue48 Yet another GREAT story with a black & white photo of an original WH to boot. It is amazing how many DADS are the cause of this so called addiction. You are a lucky man to have that tractor back in the family. Thanks again.

Would you like to openly list the locations of the 5 keys so we can help you find them when needed?

I went and bought five keys for it.

Let's cool things off a little with this '68 Commando 8