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...in the FB group Wheel Horse Junkies. Looking for someone who is interested in putting this rig back to work on the annual tractor show circuit.

I picked this C-81 up a while back when I grabbed the C-145 for Jim. It was apparently a runner, but had been sitting a while and his mechanic told him it smokes and needs overhauling. The fuel smells worse than varnish. I shot a bit of starting fluid in after cleaning the points and away we go! It drives great in all gears, high and low. It sure smokes, but I’d like to see what some sea foam and fresh fuel will do for the old girl! I notice the fuel line is cracked, so I’ll plan a fresh fuel system before anything else.

You can always plow with it but not always without it. The coulter cuts the sod roots and the mouldboard turns the ground over so the sod basically ends up on the bottom of what you turned over. Without a coulter the plow just pulls the sod apart in a random fashion depending on the root mass strength with the sod not all ending up buried. It also requires substantially more traction because of the increased load. I often plant Buckwheat and when about 2-3 feet tall needs to be turned over before it goes to seed. I use a raised dozer blade to push the stocks over say in a north-south fashion. Use the plow with coulter to turn it over in an east-west fashion. The coulter cuts the plant stocks in about 8" lengths and the mouldboard turns it over. When finished you don't see so much as a leaf on the surface. 100% covered. If plowing with trees in the area the coulter will cut the fine tree roots. Without it there is no where near enough traction to pull the plow through it. Garry

Update on this. It's buried in a storage unit until mid March when we close on a new to us home. The deal we had for some land and building a house didn't pan out. Something about a federal lien on the property for unpaid taxes with a bankruptcy and not being able to get title insurance. I didn't (and still don't) understand all the details, but the bottom line is we walked away from the property and building since we couldn't get a timeline on how long it'd take to get the title issues sorted out. We ended up finding a really nice single owner modular built home that sits on a 7.5 ac piece of land. All said and done it's about 100K less expensive then what we were planning to build for a very similar square footage and layout. Big bonus is this one is already done and move in ready minus some decor and paint changes. One nice thing about this property is that nobody can build to the north or behind the property. To the north is a a creek/river that's low land and behind is a completely land locked piece with no easements on it from anybody. View off the back deck: So that's all there is to know at the moment about this project.

My father in-law has been making payments to a co-worker of my wife for this tribute bike. His wife passed away from Breast Cancer and he had a local artist paint this bike for him. It’s been a number of years and he has since remarried and doesn’t ride enough to justify keeping the bike. He mentioned to Taylor that he planned on having Rod the painter black it out again so he could sell it. We talked with her dad and we all decided it should stay as a tribute to Mary, and any other person affected by such a horrible disease. Tonight I went and picked up the bike. It’s a 2010 Harley Davidson Street Glide. It rides great and the bike is beautiful. Sorry for the poor lighting, it’s hard to get a good picture in the barn at night.

I have an roller Xi and a roller gt14 sitting in NC and a bunch if gt14 parts. Something is bound to happen. Want to find a small 3 cylinder kubota and then the fun begins(after the move of course)

Hey now... Are they built to work, or are they built to work?

I know where a NOS 522xi is hiding in the dealers basement...

So while operating my C-175 earlier this year, it sputtered and died on me in the woods. I got it back to my garage and it sat for a while before I had a chance to diagnose it, and when I finally found the time I discovered that I had a stuck intake valve. I figured this out as it would run on one cylinder, and I was getting fuel blowing back up through my carburetor and out the air filter intake. Well I finally made some time to take the head off and check (thankfully it was the front cylinder and easy to get to), and what I found blew my mind. Thankfully I didn't bend a valve, and everything seems to seat fine now and the tractor is back up and running better than ever. It looks like one of my air filter housing screws must have come loose and found it's way down through the carb and into the valve. I am extremely fortunate that it didn't cause any damage on it's way through, and that it didn't get into the cylinder.

I think I would call it a "C-81". Now I know what you are talking about. You know, you can name a kitty cat, but it never comes when you call it. If you have to name it...how about... SEE, ATE ONE!!

I see you have the Black Knight jousting version.

They don't run. Trot. Canter. Gallop.

What's funny is... I'm so new to this forum that I have never seen a running WH tractor.

Easy to work on. Strong. Versatile. Reliable. Modifiable for different uses. And don't HAVE to stay red.

I had added a feature that I hid until Josh could see it in person... I wanted to gusset the lift point a bit, but add a custom touch. I decided a little moldboard would be just the ticket! I really thought it would be cool to grind the paint off the moldboard and clear it, but there wasn’t near enough time for the paint to cure... so Josh will have to finish it to his liking.

I think we corrupted him... now he wants to stick everything in the dirt! You best stick to a vintage gear jammer for that! An xi is for taking the missus to a drive in!

Besides, I’m trying to figure out how to LS sawp an xi

And independently what Model they are, as long as they are Wheelhorses... No other Tractor can be various that easy...😎🇺🇸 for mowing, maintenance other gear, diggin Heavy Snow, in unbelievable height, a Wheelhorse is simply a Garden Tractor which deserves that name.. 😎

Get your paint crew on changing those wheels to the appropriate Navajo white or Linen. Do a little maintenance on it.... Smokes? Who cares!!??!! Mobile mosquito repeller.

All of the above you just answered your question !

First of all, it sounds like you’ve lost loved ones. I’m sorry to hear that. Second, I found Wheel Horse by accident just looking for a mower. Always a fan of old rusty iron more than fancy new stuff, I stumbled upon the 502 I call Putt Putt to tackle my mowing chores for 1.6 acres in style. That little round hood reminded me of the 9N my uncle had at his place many years ago. Now I’m somewhere around 15 or 16 Wheel Horses, between my daughters, wife and I. Making it a family affair has made the hobby very enjoyable for all of us, I especially love their smiles when they’re cruising or working their units. They’re tough, easy to work on, easy to drive and look awesome all the time!

The fact that most maintenance parts are standard items and not overpriced propitiatory junk coupled with a quality product covers it. OH YA, they are cool to.

Well the weekend of plowing with Hot Wheels was some win, some lose. It might have been expected too! When I arrived, the battery was too weak to start is up in cold weather. After a quick jump, I was up and running. I was so excited to get into the field, I forgot the picture taker... so I’ll borrow pictures from other people’s posts. I could have used more traction, which tires were a topic of discussion before I decided to come. The truck tires simply load up too quickly when it starts to spin. The other downfall was the lack of time for weight. With a mixture of more aggressive tires and lots of weight, Hot Wheels could run with the best of ‘em!

Speeding up low range to match high range is quite the speed increase to the trans so expect to do about 40 + mph in high range 3rd. Never really used low range on the hot rod built years ago but I don't remember it matching the speed of high except maybe 3rd low got up there. Tractor used 4 different drive pulleys with 2 on a jack shaft to increase speed up to 30+ mph. Doing the math for the gear ratios and pulley sizes with RPM of the pulleys will give you a good idea

As far as I know, all of the gear ratios in the sundstrand transmissions are the same...ie...the 3 & 4 speeds are the same ratio as the high range of the 6 & 8 speeds. As far as toughness, they are all made of the same metal, but through the years they did make some changes in the number of teeth in the pinions, mushroom gear, the spline of the fork gear shaft and the 2nd / 3rd gear. Most of that was done in the rj58' and early suburbans. The 3 piece 5003 and 5010 transmissions. To me, all changes to what was intended, is do at your own risk. If I made one of my horses mow faster, that would mean less time in the seat, and I would have to carry one of those quart beers. Don't forget, you have to start out in the gear you want to use. Going faster also means starting out faster...which may land you on your back with the horse riding you.

Real big horse babies!

Beat ya!

I’ve got a couple spare LS vehicles laying around...

Here's mine , without the galvanized steel top

It seems to be a beast. Power steering, hi/low transmission. I put wider back wheels and tires on mine. Still finding loose bolts here and there. The deck lift links seem to be a weak item. Both of mine are broken. I will be making some stronger ones. A lot of little items from use over the years. I think I’m going to love it once it is all spiffed up. If you can find a nicer version someone has taken care of and get it, I think you would be happy with it.

@Herder @JCM @Stepney and others.... I think I'd have to enter this into an ugly-as-all-get-out contest. Sure to win. The "cab" such as it is will be removed even before transportation. The pole on the front doesn't go with it. It'll be a good fixer upper for Trina to putter on come spring. We'll use as is til then.

I lined mine with old innertube. worked good. weights don't wiggle. Marv

Newbie... Let me start with a little back story...Airplane guy, helicopter guy. Troubleshooter. Been wrenching all my life. I appreciate how older stuff is (was) made. I mow my tiny yard with a 1978 Lawnboy, given to me from my dad. I have a 1955-ish Homecraft table saw that was my GF's since new (with drill press, jointer, disk sander, etc). Drive a 1972 Harley golf cart in my neighborhood, and just finished a quicky O/H on the engine. I'm the go-to guy amongst my neighbors for small engine stuff, mostly lawn mowers and boats. Learned it all from Dad and GF (greatest fixers ever!!!, sure miss them) Started shopping for a good used mower/tractor for Mom-in-law to mow her place, but tired of throw away stuff. Wanted something made of "bridge iron" and not "tin". Here's where the question is: Why do YOU like the WH's? I'm in South Texas, 5 miles from Galveston. We've never heard of Wheel Horse. We don't snow plow. Down here EVERYONE has a cheap lawnmower, OR a Kubota. For tractor work, it's mostly the Kubota's. A little further north, and you get Husqvarna's and JD's, or scattered iterations of Fords (spent lots of time driving and working on a 4000). My answer is simple: Ease of repair, cost, reliability. What say you?

Ok, this thing is bad ass!!!

Humm... vote for Steve then.

How cool whould it be...seeing Wild Bill interviewing the operator of that rig at the big show.

You be careful, I might just have to call it Steve! When you’ve got kids and so many tractors, you’ve gotta make it fun!

My neighbor has had three tractors since he moved there in ‘15.... and I’m jut still using the old ‘73! Is it wrong that I still smile when I start it and it starts quicker than my neighbors!!😄

Finally i made it.. Today after Doctor i went in registration office and.... Roadlegal - yeah, ok somebody will hate me, if i drove on the Road, 😂 but it was just a huge Goal for me, to solve that. 😎 it ain‘t easy looks bit better with it‘s own Lizence plate. Winter, you can come, i be prepared... even if a Policecar comes along...

Name? Smokey Joe?

Mower hight adjustment is on right side of 42"deck and on left side of 48" deck.

Thats the perfect description of that..... How do I know?? Wellllll, I've got an Onan twin which means the carb is sitting above the heads/valves and twice now I had one of the air filter housings screws come loose and of course it went right to an intake valve. When I replaced them the first time I really got down on the screws and though that would be that. Nope, did it again and this time I DID use some loctite on the threads! Like yours, the valve/seat was still pristine

Putt Putt made the trip to WI this weekend, where I tried out a 10” plow behind him. Probably too much I know, but it’s what I had. The day started out not so pretty, with the plow digging to China and pulling hard to the left. @Shynon taught me a bit about adjusting the plow share(?) to push away from the fresh earth and that straightened me out. I kept adjusting the suck point until it dug right to where it would pull easily and roll the earth well. The little tractor did pretty well, but I could easily use even more than the weights on it! I see how traction on the land side is much more difficult to find than fresh plowed earth. I could probably make due taking one weight off the right and adding it to the left. I’d also like to fluid fill these tires, or get a skinny set mounted up and filled for plowing too. That tractor sure is filthy! It’s ready for a bath, along with Hot Wheels.

The eaton 2 speed hydro would have to stay. I have some ideas.

the first few plowing matches i attended i was running it like this with instead of a coulter another little shear that often runs agains a coulter to throw the trash in the plowed soil. im also not running a convensional coulter as someone somewhere welded a blade on the shear that works pretty good as a coulter. i eventually removed the little shear since it gave me nothing but trouble with trash and stalks getting hung up on it, however, it did mean i didnt have any stalks sticking up in my plowed patch because all of em got dragged to the end of the field. which gave me some bonus points in the match because no visible stalks

wife found work bench someone was throwing out transformed it into a small tool chest ideal for storage of small power tools, hammers, crow bars, tire irons, etc.

Click on the picture. 3 suppliers are listed at the bottom of the page Garry

Agreed ...We'll leave that to Kevin then!

Not sure how gravity works where your Toro Dealer's shop is, but her in North Carolina gasoline doesn't flow uphill without assistance! The carburetor on your 312-8 is located well below the top of the cylinder block. If the float was sticking or the needle was not seating properly there would be gasoline running over the top of the carburetor. The mechanical fuel pump on your M-12 is located low on the block and a very small hole in the diaphragm would allow a great deal of gas into the crank case. The so-called mechanics at the dealership should have known this and repaired the pump rather than wasting your time and money on an unnecessary carb. rebuild.