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Yesterday we went to mom and dad’s for a cookout. I couldn’t resist getting out the old 875 and taking a few laps. Zach has never driven it and so we got him in the saddle... Followed shortly thereafter by big bro @Coulter Caleb So cool to see those guys enjoying the tractor that I grew up using weekly! My how time flys!!!

Well fellas since I had to sell off my Wheel Horses I felt like I didnt belong anymore. The Lambert and the Speedanza are cool but THIS IS a Wheel Horse Fourm. Well guess what....... Im back in ! Picked this up a little while ago. Saw it on CL and jumped right on it. Not a model I know anything about but it does say Wheel Horse on the side of it ! I am so excited to have it and the best part is that it runs and drives!!! It does need some work... I think the hydro is leaking as a saw a puddle of oil on top of the deck. Checked the dip stick and was hardly any in there. When you raise the deck it seems to come up higher on one side then the other. Seat is horrible, someone glued vinyl on it. Front head light lens busted, rear one is busted and no lights work. came with wheel weights for the rear but nothing else. Still trying to figure it out. I just got it home and off the truck. As usual any info I would love to hear about it. I dont know the year, I believe thats a 16 hp Kohler, not sure but it runs really good. Not a fan of driving it by a stick, seems like something you have to get used to then maybe like. Right now it just seems funny but I only did a little lap in my yard. I think I got a smoking good deal on it that makes me even happier.

Super Nice day Yesterday. Figured I’d get “The Green Machine” out. This one is 60 years old.. (Mfg in South Bend, Ind. 1960) Restored/Modified at The Gundlach Ranch in 2016-2017

Well...I knew this was likely to happen sooner or later. I do a fair amount of buying and selling of GT’s. It is how I have been able to afford to acquire the tractors that I and my family have without breaking the bank. Anyway, I have learned the cardinal rule “Don’t get attached if you plan to sell it!” But that didn’t make it through to my youngest Zach. If it were up to him, we’d keep them all! I had a 1450 Cub parts tractor that I had posted and a fella contacted me about swapping for a 122 Cub with several attachments. I was only into the parts machine for about two bills and so I had some interest. The Cub was built in about 1966 and is a 12hp gear jammer. Paint looked decent and he said it was running good until it was discovered that three of four bolts had worked out of the engine pan leaving it hanging “by a thread”. His son had taken it apart to “fix it” and then lost apparent interest. I happen to have a K301 on the shelf that has a good pan and a broken connecting rod. I can sell all the attachments and have a free tractor. If I take some time, I can get it running and it will be worth somewhere around $500 or at least that was what I was thinking until Zach saw it... He claimed it almost instantly for his own plow mule! He said, “I want to keep Blackbeard nice for mowing grass and blowing snow. Then I can have this cub for plowing, just like you!” How do I argue with that? He is insisting on twin power engine (I have a Kohler Command on the shelf that would fit with a little massaging) with dual stacks and a red, white, and black paint scheme. I know that a hydraulic lift will be necessary for him to lift a plow clear of the ground up until he is about 14. I don’t know where this project will take us but it will be a fun journey to get there..,

I tried to rearrange my small garage to get them all to fit. Anyone have a shoehorn?

Finally posted appropriate "No Parking" signage to preserve the Wheel Horse spaces in the garage. Bolted it to the garage door so it "rides" up and down with the door. As you can see - social distancing is not being observed by the other toys... And a big thanks to @Vinylguy for the great sign!!!

Garden is finally dry enough to till once more and plant!

FINALLY got to mow today for the first time! What a sweet taste of victory, thanks to the help of everyone here. Just a few weeks ago, this C-160 was in pieces, slowly eating away at my stimulus check.. I still want to do a full resto thread on this build, but I'm waiting on a few more parts so I can take photos and show off the @jimkemp muffler I've received at the end . Until then, she's rockin' the very loud, rusted-out Nelson that has blown it's guts out entirely over the years. Sorry neighbors

Spent yesterday and today working on a drainage issue behind the house and getting ready to pour a new back porch. Had to bust up the old slab before I could start anything else. Also, when we get really hard rains I would take on a little water in the basement. This only happens 2 or 3 times a year, but that’s too much. I decided to put in a drain line across the back near the base of our hill to drain the water away from the house and out to the driveway. I’m going to cap the existing sidewalk and stoop to drain the water. Ack away from the house as well. Getting there slowly!

I fixed it!! Check out the repair video....

I got the wife to jump on the old wheelhorse yesterday! She loves the old horse! She told me i need to redo the seat it pinched her. Dont tell her but that was my goal to tell me i could get it redone! LOL This is my wonderful wife we have been together since may 6 or 1997. I was 16 and she was 15. Stacey is my world! We have been through a lot I dont know what i would do without her!

Today I installed a receiver hitch, it's the one on eBay that sells for about $52... I decided not to go for the one that sells for $150. This one's ok, the box section that the hitch slides into is too short IMO and the fit is awful loose for my liking. I was able to fix that somewhat by using one of those anti-rattle clamps, but there's not much for it to grab onto again because the receiver box barely overhangs the bar it's welded to. We'll see how it works before passing further judgement. Worst case I'll hack it up and weld a new box to it. I already planned to strengthen it by running some flat bar struts down to the factory hitch pin, just like that one on eBay for $150... My first jobs are to pull down a couple arborvitae and move a dilapidated sailboat whose trailer has sunk into the ground up to it's axles. Those should be good tests!

The Machine

I added 520 swept axle 2 years ago. I used parts from every style from 62 up to 93

I sure never get tired of seeing the Iron Horse on here! It looks like there was some other non-tractor fun in the background?

While wielding up my receiver hitch, I was wearing an old chamber, short sleeve shirt. You know, wielding project, wear something old that I won't care if a couple of holes get burned in. Only problem was, the shirt was so worn, it did not completely block the ultra violet light from the arc. I ended up with a sunburned belly. The funny part is that the multiple layers of fabric for the buttons did shield the ultra visor light, giving me an un-sunburned stripe up the middle of my belly.

It’s great he wants to be like dad!

Not sure if there has ever been one of these motors posted on Red Square Wheel Horse Forum before ! But this is a Kohler K-101 4 hp motor made special for one company. sharing pictures! You may see this one day on a Wheel Horse!

Take one side plate off and turn item # 17 around so the longer arm is on the left side. Garry

Nice looking tractor!! The C161 was only made in '78 & '79. 16hp Kohler is one beast of a thump-er. The hand operated hydro may take a bit to get used to. I spent my child hood driving a hand operated hydro so a foot operated hydro seems foreign to me.

I loaned the ZTR to my wife’s boss. Picked it up today and noticed an old trailer in the weeds. Freebie! It doesn’t have a tailgate but the way it is shaped with the angled sides makes me wonder if it should be the dump box for my dump truck project...

Got the Patriot Horse out of semi retirement so Trina's mom would have a tractor all her own!!!! Moved the seat way waay waaaaay forward.... Chucked in a battery and filled the tires. Started right up without even any choke...

Parts are suddenly accumulating fast, and scored a bunch more from fellow horseman @Bert on Friday. I started a ‘if you could build your ultimate horse’ thread awhile back and it put a fire under my rear, and with the 520 gone and 1277 running grass duty, now is the time. started mocking things up today: C120 parts machine (that I robbed the hydro out of for the 1277) 8 pinion 8 speed, round fenders, stirrups, late 60s long hood, Brinly hitch, and skipping the original plan for Onan power, going to run a 14hp Kohler, and it’ll probably get warmed up a touch. This one will be running ags and tri ribs for sure! Follow along and make sure I don’t do anything stupid😄

I bought that same hitch maybe 3 years ago. I've had it on two or three tractors now. To be completely honest I was not super impressed with it when I first got it. Thought it was quite light duty for the 50 plus dollars I had into it. That said, I have not had any problems with it except for when I go to install it I have to be conscious of not over tightening because the bolt mount plates are not very thick. I'm not at all fond of the receiver being so loose. Here in our rough forest terrain the trailer shucks all over the place. The person who makes those hitches really should switch over to a thicker stock. That would make the hole smaller so a 2" square hitch ball mount would fit better.

Well, the good part is I have a Deere 750 loader to dig with and carry gravel. Don’t hate that it’s green, no red tractors with a loader! Got a surprise when I went to get a load of gravel at the quarry. As of May 1, they will only load trucks and trailers with closed sides. I understand the liability side, but it’s made it hard to get gravel. Lucked out and the greenhouse up the road had some #57 rocks they were willing to sell. I had just hauled about 10+ tons of rip rap out of the quarry a month ago, all that has changed now!

Whip out the welder

Getting my Roper tiller Briggs engine running after a few years standing, I had to clean the points. Removing the flywheel was easy, tightening the flywheel nut, which is the recoil starter drive was the awkward part. The first attempt resulted in the key shearing on startup. So I made this tool to allow me to torque the nut to the required 65 lbs ft. I could have bought the tool but why buy one when you have the tools and the time to make it.

Didn’t make as much progress this weekend due to working on bendy. But now she rolls... my donated engine cowl has been patched (not the best of welding due to wind)

I have this.

The 16 hp single cylinder kohler is second to none.

I replaced the bearings and brushes on a Starter/Generator today. To hold the brushes in place while replacing the armature I used a short piece of 1 1/2" PVC pipe which is slightly larger than the commutator. As the armature was being inserted the PVC was pushed out and the brushes fell into place. Easy and inexpensive.

Looking good, i like your style

@LandoCommando214 hey look... I had the same tractor!! I can only dream about it coming out as nice as yours . Great job. be proud of yourself. neighbors will get used to it.

That is dad’s Chinese 250CC liquid cooled buggy. He got it out and the kids were having a BLAST on it. Full suspension and street legal where applicable. Judge and Claud had never driven it before but THEY HAVE NOW! They loved it and Judge couldn’t go to sleep without telling me “50 times” that I needed to get Caleb’s “Blue Falcon” up and running again... This is Caleb’s that I bought for him for his birthday about 4 years ago. It has not run in a couple of years. It’ll turn over but won’t start...I’ll start a separate thread and get some input from anyone with experience with the 150cc GY6 engine/electrical...

Huh, i‘m no Kohler expert, but maybe a bit Supercharge will solve your needs, after Engine is reworked.. 😎😇

It is appears not to be the strongest Dimension, but i can imagine that was primary built for Lawn mower dump carts. In that use i see no problems in the dimension. It seems to me more it is planed weak points, what in my opinion is not the worsest Idea at all. If i rethink on my last Plowaction, i know that i underdimensioned the plowmount just with a 1“ pipe Hitch, but while that bend happens, i saved my Plow. A unplaned weakpoint honestly, but it saves my Plow. I think if i had dimensionated that plowmount much thicker, it will break or even rips the Plow itself in half. My Beast wasn‘t be impressed about that happens. but back to the Hitch. So sometimes it’s better to have a planed Weakpoint before you kill your Traileraxle or drawbar or even kill the Gearbox case at all. At least the 50 bucks was not wasted at all in my opinion, because it can be simply improved with a bit material.

So you think I should get a yellow one?

Tried to pull this old iron cultivator with Hot Wheels. I guess it has expired!

Bertie, there is a roll pin holding lever on, knock out pin , tap shaft into case , remove parking brake . Let us know if you can get it out with out splitting case. I would split the cases and clean and check bearings and seals. It's only 4 more bolt. If you do split cases large pin in rear of case needs to come off, can be a pain, soak with penetrating fluid, press or tap out, a little heat won't hurt

Doesn't that just make your heart melt!

@Greentored I’m in on this restomod. This will be a fun build to watch...I like what I see already and you have the good fortune of Mike @prondzy‘s Beast to see roughly what it will look like all assembled.

VERY nice C-161.Been ressurecting a C-161 Eight Speed.Mowed with it for the first time yesterday.Love the 16 horse Kohler.Have fun with your new toy.

Right wheel is running true. The left wheel runs true but the tire has a bit of a wobble. And then the car must have sat on these tires for quite a time. Both the front tires have flat spot as if setting with low air pressure. They are 4 ply nylon and I'm hoping when it get's hot and they are run on the road they will true up. Installed 5 ozs. of balance beads in each tire and it made quite a difference for the better. So far I'm pleased with the results.

I believe the 78-79 C -161 automatic was the pinnacle of the C series. Some may argue that because of the shaker style engine mounts, however to me it’s the Cadillac of Wheel Horses because soon after they started making things too complicated with wiring and electronics that are totally unnecessary. I have most of the 78-79 C-series models made.

NICE! And this one's the right color!!!

Brought it home and put it in another weed patch.

Pulled the tiller off of the 312-8 and put the mower deck back on because the wife wanted to help me mow. I hooked up the new to me dethatcher that I picked up last week just to test it out. It was a fun morning of outdoor work together.

But, by the looks of the last pic you’re done with it all ready!!!???

Follow along I can do. Prevent stupid... Well I'm not so good at that.

It is. The hour meter wire was mangled as was this one. Lesson: never route wiring next to a fan gear and no, not my handywork. Im having to cut out the wiring and redo it. But, hardly anything is worn out on this thing. Steering is tight, very little slop in the PTO linkage. Yes it looks bad from the wonderful Florida weather but overall pretty solid.