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Thank you all for the Birthday wishes. It was a rather subdued celebration with the stay at home orders, but we did have a puller pork take-out meal from my favorite smoke house and several phone calls. My wife done gooooood with this years card, it isn't a Wheel Horse, but it is red!

I had a tan version of this hat a few years back. My hiking hat. It was getting a bit nasty but..... I lost it. Tried a couple other full brim hats but they just didn't "feel right". Sooooooooooo..... Trina ordered me a new one... I LOVE IT!!!!! @ZXT @oliver2-44

Nuff said.

Finally got a chance to out shop the GT-14. Overhauled motor, refreshed hydro, Changed ignition systems and added 3 point. Played around with some scrap metal this afternoon came up with a WH recovery vehicle. This setup only works if the sick tractor has a front tachmatic. Have to figure out another set up for older horses. Have to add stabilizer chains and maybe a RAWL (be cool like Jamie Davis Heavy Rescue)

Someone made the comment to me once that it was amazing I never made mistakes in my work. That of course could not be any further from the truth, hence my answer that in reality I make so many that I became really good at not only finding them quickly but also quite adept at fixing them. As a example here is the latest one which is unfortunately a common occurrence when working alone and trying to balance an seven foot long door on drill press. Door just was not against fence and hinge hole was 3/16” off just about coming out back

How's this???

I've been working on this project off and on for just short of 4 years. This tractor has all my favorite tractor components. Diesel, 8 speed, 3 point, and gear reduction steering. The engine is a 3 cylinder Shibuara from a Ford LGT14d. As you can guess, it was not easy to find room for everything under the hood. But with the help of some skilled welding friends we made it all work. The 3 point is winch operated, and works very well. I plan to put a loader on the tractor down the road when I am able to find one. I was only able to post a few pictures in the thread, but if you want to see images from the every step in the build I included a google photos album. https://photos.app.goo.gl/3Hoxk1nWrTwBiJP37 The start of the project Final Mock Up Paint

Took the 654 trail bomber for a little mud n water run!

Today the last part came for the differential. Spent this afternoon and evening putting it back together. Thankfully all the parts were correct and went together well. I had forgotten how much fun it is getting the spider gears in. Those conical thrust washers were kind of a pain. Hopefully by tomorrow evening it will be back on it's wheels again. Be nice to back it out of the shop so the fender can be finished.

finally had sometime to get back onto this project, went through the engine, got lucky must have seen very little use. cleaned up, and painted. now I have to track a stack down, is it kemp? that makes them? next up is to make a little battery tray and wire everything up for the lights. no charging system.

Here's a few pics. It's dirty from cutting grass and the rain yesterday. I will post some mbetter ones when I finish a few more parts to paint... Having a hitch made too. Tommy

I'm a true believer in synthetic's myself in newer engines. But if a 50+ year old engine spent it's whole life running 30wt dino juice and is still running today. Well, I guess that kinda speaks for it's self.

And it out and running yesterday. Love these Eatons picked right up where it left off years ago.Hubs still tight no leaks! Meanwhile my 500 didnt get that lucky lol

thanks Ed. the bonus it comes with the rear axle bracket along with a fair price.

The plow should fit your C-141. You will need the rear axle bracket. A slight modification to the blade angle adjustment lever may be required to clear the right foot rest. Oh, and to the

Since 3 Day‘s we finally get some Rain what is urgently required by Nature. But while i have no real Workshop, i must change some things in it’s priority to a later Timeline. But to do the finish of the Terrace was a good idea, even if it Rains a bit, i can start to work there. So i started by pickup today in the Morning some ornament gavel and i brought it back with the Beast. It was a Funny 3 h ride one Way to our closest Gardenmarket and because of unsure Weather and sometimes Rain, i let the iPad at home. That means no travel Pics - sorry While Kati buyed it yesterday but she was not able to pick that Load, i had this ride Today early in the Morning. She let it positioning outside the Store ground on a Palette, that i can pickup whenever i want. 1 palette fully of packed Gravel. (400Kilos) for the Rear Fork because of few Rain periodes i ride thru the Forrest, to Be a bit more protected against the Wind. After geting it home, i drive immediately into Backyard and set the Palette down. Than i started my Work - until i remember - no Pic‘s no happens. ok, quick grab the iPad to do few Pic‘s The Beginning and the Result Proud Kati on her new Terrace because we don‘t know exactly how many we need, we bought a bit more. so actually 130 Kilos are still in spare now.

Picked this up tonight! 530 hours! 200 mile round trip. Very clean machine

I got my 314-8 a few months ago and just finished a minor refurb. I had reseeded my front lawn and started to roll it flat by hand. Never mind all that fun - hook the WH up and have some real fun.

Well, I lifted up the front and had at the mower deck. Sharpened the blades, they were not bad at all. Lubed the spindles and gears and oiled what ever I could see that moved...including the steering linkage. She steers real nice now. Maybe a video of the front yard mowing tomorrow.

Today it's cosmetics, painted the wheel weights since they were looking grungy. I also greased the deck while it's off and will get to work on replacing the brake shaft seal. One front tire is dry rotted so I'll toss on that spare in the foreground. Oh yeah and added an "aircraft style" switch cover just because

Linkage works too! I made the pedal have less throw and the best part is that I (a below average height adult) can still operate the forward control. Now to duplicate for the brake. I’ll likely build the linkage opposite so there is more brake throw for better control. The clutches in these like either full throttle or no throttle so that needs to operate quick.

Yep, 30 weight non-detergent oil is the way to go. Dino version works just fine

on the topic of oil- i'm a believer in full synthetic for my cars/trucks, but i'm having doubts about using it in these old tractors. i know there's a fair bit of (dis)information on the web, but i read some things about how full synthetics might not be good for older engines in terms of seals and leaks. i'm going to err on the side of believing this and plan to use only dino-oil in the engine/transaxle. i experienced this exact thing in an older AYP lawn tractor, where i did a full synthetic oil change with 10W-30 and it leaked out the rear main seal. the idea is that the detergents are too strong and effective at cleaning out minor sludge which actually helps to seal these older engines which have looser tolerances and old-school rubber seals

That aughtta do.

That will depend on the going rate in your area. When I began my electrical apprenticeship I was making 40% of the scale for a journeyman. Don't look at starting pay as if it is the end game. It is an opportunity for you to learn the trade and for the contractors to learn how valuable you are.

So i have finally just about finished my trial of converting my 312-8 into a hydro. I started this project at the end of November because i was tired of blowing tons of snow with the 8 speed and riding the clutch as well as having to manually move the blower up and down. I have had a GT-1800 that was my grandfathers that the engine blew out of it in 2005. I was going to start a restoration on it back in 2009 and only got as far as a tear down. So i have had these parts stored and moved with me a few times over the year. So i decided to take the parts from that and mock this up. I worked three days on this and ended up getting very sick and it got to cold to work out in the garage with no heat source so it has sat till yesterday. Right now this will be my mowing machine as is until i finish my 500 that i am freshening up. After that is done ill tear this back down and clean and paint things back up. Ok now picture time! Below is what i took of doing the tear down to the chassis and removing the transaxle. The pictures look correct on my computer not sure why they some are sideways.

Your 314-8 is a "long frame" tractor. So you need a long frame plow. Short and long frame tractors were made in 1968, so you need more information. This is a short frame plow. Note the VEE shape from front to rear. This is the long frame plow that you need for your 314-8. Note the parallel frame rails.

The Wheel horse Forum has become a go to place for me. Not so much for all the implements and restorations, though they are fascinating, rather for the myriad ideas that keep percolating to the surface as I read the work and modifications that you all enjoy doing. For this reason I am outlining my “Evolution of a Trailer Hitch.” As a project it began about five years ago when I discovered my father’s 312-8 sitting in the horse stable with tires going flat and running poorly. It was then I decided to bring the little beast home to my wife’s chagrin. “What are you going to use that for?” We only have a quarter acre lot and not a completely unreasonable question. At the time I was sixty years old and told her in a few years I am not going to be able to move my trailers around the yard and when I cannot keep up with the lawnmower I can use it to cut the grass. Today I am very happy to have it to move the trailers from the back to the front for dump runs and spreading mulch. Never did like using the wheelbarrow for that job. Issues - 1. How do I connect my draw bar to the rear of the trailer? 2. Suitcase weight bracket mounted on the back. Parameters - 1. Not loose the drop in hole capability 2. Attach new draw bar receiver to existing standard issue draw bar. 3. Maintain suitcase weight bracket for future use if rear weights needed. Solution - Using the hole for dropping a pin in I bolted a section of square tubing to it. This tubing had a tongue extension with a hole drilled in it for pin drop connections. Parameter #1 solved. This almost worked but the new receiver was too low and would spin about the single bolt connection. Height was solved by welding a second section of tubing to the top raising the trailer tongue to the correct height. Spinning solved by making a collar of threaded rod to wrap around the inside part of the hitch receiver. Parameter #2 and #3 solved. Am I a happy camper or what. Well almost. Used the trailer to move a yard of topsoil and what happens the factory installed tongue begins to bend. How to correct this problem. The solution was hanging right above the hitch. Created a cradle with angle iron and threaded rod to suspend the new hitch from the suitcase bracket (first image). This worked great, but parameter #3 has been negated. Fast forward three years and now retired and read a post by @JCM about rear hitches that made my brain start to whirl. Never did like to angle iron, threaded rod solutions I came up with. It worked, but ugly is the only word for the design. With time on my hands I began to reexamine the hitch connection and devised a new mounting solution. Instead of the rod angle iron cradle I welded (oh yeah bought a new welder this past year as well) a nut to the top o the hitch receiver. Then made a small bracket that slid over the top of the center rib of the suitcase hanger (third image). Welded a leg and foot to this that made contact with the top of the receiver (second & third images). A thread rod was inserted into the nut on the receiver and ran up trough the new bracket. As a nut was tightened on the top it drew the receiver up to the bracket foot and locked it into place (image four). What a fantastic solution. But I still had the rod collar around the receiver to prevent spinning. To me this was still ugly. New solution – two pieced of flat steel welded to the bottom of the receiver to hang on either side of the factory draw bar (image five). Bolted back in place and now have a securely fastened hitch receiver without all the extraneous hardware. Oh yes. Parameter #3 once again accomplished.

@Sam Pasch Get in touch with Smokin" Joe in Polo, Ill...I'm almost positive he would have what you need. 815-590-7395 He used to live in Lanark. Mention my name. The long frame is about 4" longer then the short. Get the short frame...the fulcrum is in the right place.

Nice job Stefan. Now if that gravel is going spare, just load it back on the Beast and drop it off at my place.

Back in business! I need to work on gearing for acceleration but the kids are happy!

One pedal bent and welded...

I agree. I am the same I dont smoke or drink but that dosnt mean I have extra cash. This cancer has set me back big time as far as money goes. My problem is that if i get it .... you best believe I will spend what it takes to get it running.. thats the scary part. I hate to say it might be worth more in parts to someone. I have to go look at it. Chances are if I go looking I am coming back with it..... then what ?

I'm assuming that narrowification makes no difference to larger drivers?

Narrowed and welded!

as eb would say - don't ask me how I know this ... lol one seat spring on my 312 was apparently rubbing / pushing on the top of the dipstick (handle) and it apparently caused the end of the dipstick to contact moving parts in the gearbox and ground a small notch in the end of the dipstick of course this happened after a recent trans fluid change ... so had to do it again the top of the dipstick should sit lower and/or the plate (the seat springs rest on) should be higher ...

somewhere I wrote about this topic, based on some experiences of "buying the right tractor", I have rebuilt, restored some of the rustiest, crusty machines sitting in the woods, I don't regret it but sometimes in hindsight your better off spending the time and extra money locating a more complete, running machine and having it shipped, a crusty 100 dollar machine with missing parts can cost 100's if not more if can even the missing parts, but buying a say a 700 dollars one you ahead of the game. in the end it's what's your comfortable with.

Tractors have been a shop priority lately... but this black kart has been right in the way in the shop. I finally counterbored (by eye instead of with an indicator or pilot of any kind) the lug nut holes with an end mill. I need to fix this bent wheel a bit then we can see how bad the gearing is.

That's what it was when I started out in the 70's. I believe it's 35% now because of the high journeymans rate but I could be wrong. At any rate it's still an outstanding opportunity sweetened even more with a excellent benefit package. The education you'll get, both book and on the job, is priceless.

When I was in high school my district built a new high school, state of the art, huge building LAN, all sorts of network issues. Random slow-downs, poor connections, dropped connections. This was 2003, so wi-fi was present but rudimentary, but worked better than the hardwire. After months of searching we found that the installers laid the LAN cables in the same race tracks as the wiring for the fluorescent lights, which ran right on top of the lights.

neighbor replaced old rod with the wagon

Gosh, its hard to figure out a good place to post updates.Think ill just keep this thread going for the ole 654 trail bomber. Shes been getting a back property ride every 2-3 days and doing great! Fabbed a wheelie bar with a solid link to the hitch lever and added a stop to it. Now can keep the bar out of harms way, and drop it in a moments notice when its time to climb a steep hill or questionable terrain. ...then decided, as if it isnt already a handful, lets beef it up some more! Purchased a .010 shim steel head gasket to replace the .040 stock one, did the calculations and milled .050 off the head which takes it from a calculated, CCd 8.4:1 to 11.5:1, and as long as I was there, ported the head and back cut the valves. Did it make the difference I expected? No. Does it have more authority, a much meaner 'bark', and will it lift the front tires on a roll in second gear without any clutch help? Yep. I truly cannot wait til all this corona crap is over so I can attend a meet and put some names to faces. This ole girl will definitely be in attendance!

In this post is getting my assembly ready to install on the tractor. Because i had the parts laying around from the GT-1800 i put the entire hoodstand back together and ran my hydrolines and pto lever. This set me up so i could sit it on the tractor bolt it together and plug the harness in.

Hard act to follow after @Bear G beautiful piece of work. This one too is a custom build. Ummm lets just say the quality of the build isnt in the same ballpark but a Steam Punk, Rat Rod piece of art in its own way. His is the Beauty and mine is the Beast.

I did a little more “blinging” on my “Black Horse”. I think I’m finally finished with it. (For now, anyways) I especially like how the GT-14 air cleaner turned out with a 6” WH front hubcap on it. i had to cut lip off the back of it, but left 4 “tabs that I bent then siliconed it to the cover.

Room and relocation from PA to FL forced the sale of two that I otherwise would have kept. But now I have a bigger garage

Richard! May you have as much fun today as the Mafia does dismantling a parts machine at the Big Show😂 You add so much to our community here at the Thanks👍🏻 Now a centerfold pic just for you...

It's your birthday!! Enjoy and may there be many more to follow.