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The grandsons head back to school Tuesday so we decided to take them to Silver Beach Friday. That's in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph and is where the St. Joseph river meets up with Lake Michigan. It was a perfect day in the 70's and a breeze off the lake. We walked out the south pier but couldn't quite get to the end due to the water level being very high right now. Look closely and you'll see a little white speck out on the water to the right of the pier. We were back on land and walking away when we saw what the white spec was. This tanker came into the river to either load or unload. It was a tight fit. We walked over to the Silver Beach Pizza joint for lunch. A neat little place with pizza that's likely the best I've ever had. After lunch the kids put on their suits for a little splash pad play. Thru the mist on the other side you can see the pizza joint. It was a fun day with the grandkids and driving home I got to thinking that these days won't go on forever. When our kids were this age we "didn't have the time" to do much with them. We were too busy chasing the almighty dollar. Geez! I don't remember where those dollars went but the memories with these young ones will be with us forever.

Been marshalling on the Spadeadam Motor Clubs, Blue Streak Taga Rally today. Held just by the Scottish border. This is run at various locations on private land. Each section has a course set out with cones placed along it, that have to be negotiated with out touching/hitting them. The two that I was on were on farm tracks. Competitors set off from the start down the track to the end, then back to the start. The first set of photo's are of the first section we were on. As you can see it was a tad damp. Turn round at the end. This caused problems for some drivers, if they didn't get their hand brake turn right. Four had to have a helping hand or two. Next the afternoon section. It was more than a tad damp. In fact it never stopped raining. Fortunately my mate Bob and I could carry out our duties, from the comforts of our respective Land Rover Discoveries. 

Well I found an eBay special, 700 Work Horse I bought for the deck to put on the 68 Commando I bought. This 69 came as a parts machine, but all that is there is in great shape. Already pulled the trigger on a Tecumseh HH10, unfortunately did not do the research prior about the crappy coils on these engines. Pill now ponder the repower more

I bought my first 520 new in the crate. It was a leftover ‘97 I bought in late 1998. I don’t remember what I paid for it but in my mind I feel like I got a great deal, ha ha. In 2015 I bought a zero turn and decided to sell it. It gave me 900 trouble free hours. I love mowing with my zero turn because of the speed and efficiency but I missed the 520. In 2016 my mom passed away and as we were cleaning out my parent’s basement I decided to pull out my dad’s C-161 that had been sitting down there for about 8 years. All it needed was a little elbow grease and a tune up and it was ready to go. Dad was a stickler when it came to taking care of his stuff. That got me back into the Wheelhorse game and last year I decided I wanted to build an FEL and I wanted a 520 to put it on. Horsefixer (Duke) had one for sale and with the help of Denny Clarke I bought it and got it home. I love that thing and I am always amazed how capable that little tractor is. My original 520 just before I sold it: Dad’s 161: My 520 from Duke after a few mods: With FEL added:

Father bought my L107 (avatar pic) new in 1967. i use her all year round several times a week in summer and once a week or so in winter. A nice on-going reminder of Father, I could never sell her.

Great pictures Bob. Always a treat to see one of the Great Lakes. It's a very special resource we have here in the Mid West. Lake is almost at an all time high this year. It looks like another 4' and that pier would be under water. It is not global warming, Wisconsin is not making as much beer anymore.

So the original is 84”. Picked up an 85” and 86”. 85” wins.

A few other various pics from the trip and the hike. They're a little difficult to see but note the row of windmills. This is a portion of the dirt road that you travel off of route 201 to get to the p o w camp. 12 miles in the forest.

I figured you machinists and general tool aficionado types would like to see this so I had Trina snap a couple pics. Didn't even remember I had it...

Here are a few pictures from the hike we did. The mountains in the area are literally, numbered. We went up Number Five Mountain. At the top there is a very old fire tower. Part of the ascent trail is the old Jeep trail that would have been used by the fire wardens.

So as a lot of you know I recently picked up a C-145. I sold the engine with the intentions of giving this tractor a little more power with a Onan p218g. Well today was the day I started this project. I mowed the grass one last time with my 518H. It was a sad moment but she knows her parts will be put to good use. I pulled led the motor today and got it set on the new whip. Tomorrow I am hoping to remove the harness and get that all wire up into the “C”. The 518 has an electric lift that will be available in the classifieds along with all hardware for it in anyone is interested. Here he is my progress.......

. Here's what I've doing for the past two weeks. The entire gang was here the first week. Mike Me Mark Reed Libby Owen Julie Jake Grandma Nan Clayton We did some serious eating...ribs and corn. Seafood at Medings and Son restaurant. Crabs and fried perch. Kayaking with my boys. Reed Jake Mike ???? Mark Clayton Owen Corn hole tournament. The gang left and Mrs k and I enjoyed a slower pace the second week. Walking the crowded beaches searching for "sea glass" and watching the wildlife. This is a horseshoe crab that was tagged by the University of Maryland. It is the third one I have found in over 50 years of walking the beaches and righting the helpless overturned crabs.

We spent some time slicing up firewood this morning and began work on another woods path so as to access the last portion of the property that hasn't had a tractor on it yet. Trina used her go-to work tractor 867 to haul the tools to the forest. Also, she has been painting the house this year as she gets time and the weather is ok. There are clapboards to be added and trim to be replaced. Today she used the 867 as a workbench.

Spent a few more minutes working on the monster today. There was a mud dauber wasp nest in the end of the fuel inlet. I decided to take that off and cleaned it out. Then I got looking at the fuel filter setup.... The underside of the baseplate had some uhh.... Stuff in it... I took it off as well and am VERY glad I did so. There was another mud nest inside that as well. I also figured out that the spring holding the fuel filter in place is missing. Hence, there would have been NO fuel filtration. I removed that entire assembly. I'll replace it with a new plastic filter. I also made up a couple of new plug wires for it.

In this country we do something similar.The difference is 4wd,half naked women and lots of beer.

I purchased a 1993 520H with 600 Hours for around $1900.00 in 2011 - my first Wheelhorse/real tractor. It was in good shape with the only issue being the tachometer was inop. Came with a 48" SDD, 42" Plow With Extension Kit, 75lb Wheel Wts, Chains, and a basically new 36' Tiller with all components. Paid somewhere around $1900.00. The seller purchased it from the original owner and was in the hobby with many WH tractors and implements. The engine was never apart and from the looks of it was well maintained. Biggest problem I ran into wads the engine would spool down and quit like you turned the key off every now and then. After it sat for an hour would start right up and run fine. Started happening more often and took quite to for me to find the issue - ended up being the Stator Ring. The most intensive maintenance I've done to it is de-carbon the Cyls and replace a leaky Welch plug. I service it regularly and cleaned the rear Cyl baffles with compressed air after every mowing session. Has 801 hours and do not use it much after picking up a 310 that I use as the primary worker most seasons due to its miserly fuel needs. Installed a cab and ST on the 520 and is now a dedicated snow machine. Included a picture before its winter clothes.

Working *cough*playing*cough* with Hot Wheels today... trying to see if I can cut a furrow in the field... directly in front of my tree stand?

After Dinner, i quickly decide to premount the Quick Connectors for Hydraulics. Now, where i measured the length, i mount them to quickly Attatch if Tubes are delivered. looks really sharp and handling is good. slow but steady it comes to the Final Stage.

In your case where you use your chain saw a lot your method works. For people like me who use it only occasionally using the canned fuel makes sense as it starts quickly and runs well even if it has sat for a long period. Canned gas is a lot easier than the draining fuel and running it out of gas that i used to do if it was going to sit for a long time. Normally 1qt lasts me almost a year. This year i used three because of storm damage and Emerald ash borer. Still easier than mixing and having a designated gas can.

yes grand kids are very special, enjoy them every chance you get, as you know they grow up so fast. my grandson was in Washington dc for a week with the civil air patrol ( Cap ) for honor guard training, at 15 , he talks like an adult and looks you right in the eye with a solid hand shake, great stuff. thank you for the pictures, pete

Looks like a good idea,but if I tried that,I'd have to hide them in my shop...….The Squaw would probably fill them with dirt and plant flowers in them thinking they're some kind of planter.Haha.

The hood is now red. In a few weeks I will wet sand and spray another coat.

Grabbed these 2 little gems yesterday

My next-door neighbor called me today and said come check out these trees that fell with last weeks storm we had in the afternoon. His property comes down the mountain here beside l 65 Just a few short miles from Nashville. There's a creek that follows at the bottom of it that winds and curves down below the interstate . There was some kind of burst that came down through this valley and mowed down several big !!! No giant Normas trees. There is a Sycamore that is at least 3 feet in diameter with a 30 to 40 strait trunk. Also at least a half a dozen or more trees all laying in the same direction . Strange !!! There is also a beach tree with a lot of spalted wood embedded in it ! LOTS of bowl material!! Win ...Win!! The root system itself was at least 20 feet across

I loaded up my 876 with the dozer blade and the C161 with the tiller and went down the road to work on the foundation for the pavilion I'm putting up for a local adoption/foster care agency that I help out on occasion. Just arrived and ready to go Just got done tilling Tiller did a good job loosening up the dirt! Pushing dirt The horses did a good job! Time to go home!

Eric! I assume that is the Jeep trail and the boards are to walk on. Isn't that cheating?

Nice rear meats!

My oil pressure sensor/switch was leaking and I went the tough route to replace it. I agree it is no fun to remove the engine covers to get to it. The down time waiting for the new part and the expense of shipping from the Onan dealer was ridiculous. I wish I would have just bought some copper fittings and pipe and converted to an oil pressure gauge. Just my experience..

I think I have a fuel line leak before the pump, it sounds like it’s sucking air and will only run with the choke... so I’ll limp it back to the barn for repairs. I also lost a pin in the lift link so I figured out I can drag the plow into a turn with minimal diggin... as long as I turned right. Left turn? Harder dig! It also seems I’m not the only visitor in my tree stand!

good ole maine, where are the moose pics, i'd still live there if i could afford it,,, and yes great jeep country as well

Now that I am retired I had to start letting some stuff go. Today I sold my late Dads 312-8, hated to see it go BUT I didn't use it and I needed the room. Goodbye old stallion, sold it to a guy that used to work at a dealership that sold Wheel Horse, so he understands Horses.

the engine tins on an air cooled motor are very important, it keeps the air flowing over and around the engine in a particular pattern to keep the motor cool. Without the tins you may get either hot spots on the motor or just not cool the motor the way it was designed to be cooled eric j

Good thing I’m ocd ....

I still kick myself in the tail every time I think about selling my fathers old Work Horse . Hope you don't regret this like I do.....

So on a hydro the belt goes under the tensioner pulley, I have never had an automatic per say. I have one that's a parts tractor but it never had a drive belt as it never had an engine.

Welding Day. to get another issue Solved, while waiting for the Tubes, i decided to Weld today. Begun with a Front Lever based on Euro quickmount, but i did not use the exact Specs. Also while i found out, that they differs between several Manufacturers. So i decided to use my own „Standart“ but with simply available mounts, i just change the distances. Because the Lifts actually on the Way i still work straight forward without pay Too much Attention to them. try if i can reach my Tilt. So far it looks good.just by measuring. shortly thinkerin on an auto leveler, but it can be mounted Later. even on Ground i‘m fine with Tilt Angles. The Final mount will be made by 2x M12 10.9. They had a ripforce of 4 Tons each, what shall be enough. if it‘s to weak, i simply increased to M12 12.9 with a ripforce of 6 Tons. The bolts are mounted with inner Spacers, that they have more flesh. After finishing that, i Welded the Backstrut in and repainted after cooling. the Paint close to the Welding will be firstly removed with Steelbrush than welded. After the Seam is cleaned by Steelbrush to see what‘s happen. on, cool down than Another Job is done, now have a Coffee. Cool Day for Welding, sun was shining an a bit Wind occurs. While finished Coffeebreak, i just derusted the Link and Painted the basements, even i knew, it must be finished. But Rust comes quicker, than the Tubes... than i again measured the max. angle, i wanna reach.

I think I have it dialed in for the 1000 lbs. class for transfer sled. Man ! My tractor looks naked without all the weight I had on it. 😆

Bob! Seems like the "chase" is ruining everything.

The 78355 was built as a recycler deck but this one has lost it's 86001 baffles leaving a model 78350 deck. The blades for each are different. Garry

This 520 has had a quick make over and looks real nice. Only 630 hrs but she was beat up. Thanks to everyone's help...

Good to hear it went to some one that understands it's value and will hopefully take care of it. Sorry you had to part with a piece of your family heritage.

Well as it turns out we ended up spending five nights in the World War II German p o w camp. It was so interesting that we didn't bother to pick up and move to another location. Here's a picture of the monument at the location. It sits in front of a very large oven that is the only structure left on the site. All of the other buildings and structures were bulldozed in 1946 and 1947. We did do a hike of a medium sized mountain one of the days. The rest of the time we spent poking around the site with or without a metal detector and... Wait for it... Relaxing. I may have to do this in a couple of different posts because Trina took about 6472 pictures and shared a few with me so I can put them here for you folks. @posifour11 I'm calling you into this so you can share all of these photos with your wonderful other half. We'll start with a few photos of some very very old logging gear. The main job of the pows was logging. We found 3 axle setups buried in the woods. One had metal wire wheels. Another one had wooden spoke wheels. Both of those were the front steer axle of old cars, adapted to logging. The third one we found had a wagon axle. Here is a BEFORE picture which is how I found it in the woods. Two other pictures are AFTER I excavated the 75 years of leaves and dirt off the top of it. We buried it when done, so the next person can find it like I did. These next few pictures are of pins and handles that were rotting away in the forest in piles of junk metal and other stuff. In the bottom photo of this part you can see a hook from a cant hook or Peavey. All of the items in these photos are blacksmith made. Nothing is machine-made. Here are some pictures from the camp area. One of numerous barrel dumps. this is a floor beam sitting rotting away in the forest. The conical shaped item is one of many chimney flashing pieces that are still laying all over the camp. Each of the barrack buildings had several of them. The other piece is of course, stove pipe. Believe it or not this panel is one of the largest pieces of a building that is left. Most of it was quite crushed when the camp was bulldozed. This is an ice box. Predecessor to the item we refer to as a refrigerator. One of several dozen barrels on site. They held various items in their day. Gasoline. Grease. Motor oil. And creosote for coating buildings and poles.

Should service the crankcase breather if it has not been done for a while. Also make sure the dip stick is sealed. Between the two of them they should keep the crankcase under a vacuum when running and if either fail it is easy for oil to get sucked past the rings and valves. Garry

yeah that's what I thought, I know the lake house are expensive now. but anything is cheaper than nj! nice pics looked like a fun trip. on you tube there is dude that goes into the European and Russian forests looking for ww2 stuff. It's not in English but the videos are still cool watch.

Best thing you can do for your small 2 cycle stuff. I go through a large can $20.00 a season with my weedeater and two blowers. Prime it, choke it, pull the cord once turn the choke off pull it again they fire right, and no bogging.

Happy Birthday, Jim! It looks like it was a swell time on the lake!

I was able to get a pic of @Shynon doing the chain pile. Showing us how it's done with a gear jammer. This rat rod Suburban with the massive pipes looked pretty cool. As much as I like Wheel Horse's, I like to get pic's of customs and tractors that I don't see a lot of. I'll start with this custom built Oliver 2255. The detail on this tractor was incredible. This Amigo caught my eye. While they have steering brakes, it does not have a clutch of any kinda. Instead it has a shuttle shift trans. This is the only Economy on tracks that I have ever seen. Not sure if it was built buy them, but it was branded & sold buy them. This Gravely built by Studebaker caught my eye. The fiberglass body gives it a 1950's space age look. I'm not exactly sure what this is, but I sure liked the dune buggy look. One of my McLean's relatives was even there. This is a McLean Big Wheel. Single rear wheel drive with one speed forward and no reverse. Oh yea, & what did this company have against brakes?!? That's right no brakes on these things either, must have been where the engineering or money ran out. "Steve on a stick" photo bombing another pic. Sure missed ya @stevasaurus, hopefully you'll be able to make a few more shows next year. I used to miss this show do to a traditional family vacation. I had such a great time at the show that I think it's time for a new tradition.

Yes I see that ... must have been cyber space spook intercepting your pics @KC9KAS feel free to put some here or Jack's thread! Ok now that everyone knows the Steve on a Stick made an appearance from the other thread here we go..... You even got seat time on Dan's rat rod!