Leaderboard

We begin today's 854 progress report... ...with this realization. There are no two ways about this! Things have to get worse before they can get better!

Besides the completed disassembly to a bare frame, I can report at least one positive thing was accomplished here today!

C'mon, it's about boys and toys. We never grow up - the toys just become more expensive and the piles of dirt get higher. I have a 21" 80s Snapper push mower that is still alive and on its second engine (found in the neighbor's trash). It ran a 1/4 acre so I could get exercise BUT I had a C-125 and a Snapper rider anyway. Now, I have two more Wheel Horses because...toys. Toys that move and toys that shoot. Other than occasional adult beverages and adult responsibilities, I'm still under 10...

Simple ... if you cant have a Wheel Horse .. get a Work Horse!

Go big and get done quick.

First off I can truly say this farm is the picture perfect image of the American Farmer. Just beautiful lands and fertile soil. @PeacemakerJack gave me the quick lowdown and will comment more. This is a farm days where Jack's uncles have been doing this for a few years now. Dan @Achto and I have never been able to make it due to conflicts with other shows but from here on this may have to trump the camping at shows! They got just a bit of everything... I'll let the pics do tje talking.

Started today a first Checkup begin with Gearoil after that i try to insert the Oildrainpipe, missed it is 1/4“ not 3/8“ as i thought. Dang, ok so it still be reworked to be tight and not leaky. than i rework the adjuster the Decklever, to use it again. was just gently rusted, maybe while on the long Trail to my Stable. Mounting a Airfilter case on rework the gouvenor To be again spring preloaded. Than Fillup Engine Oit aaaaand Here we go... 6992EA63-96AA-4DD9-95D3-3FD2A716B39D.MOV Yap, success. As a Ignition i use a simple pull push Switch, i have laying arroung, nice, because it‘s a Magneto. So it worked simply but reliable for a first Testride. Fillup the Fuel Than try how it performs while mowing. Deck was not resharpened yet for that. I‘m impressed. So much better that i ever imagine, even on higher Grass.( much better than the 212 with it‘s 16HP Engine) even on Slope you just can hear the Engine works harder, but it did it‘s Job perfectly. While refilling for a Trial thru Forrest, Mart‘l stops with his Huge Tractor near me jumps out and and inspect the Horse. “ Oh holy, is that the Thing we unloaded yesterday ? ya like it to Work eh, hahaha, have good new‘s for you“ i thanked him for the rapid unload that Box from the Truck. „Nice piece of Rust what is it“ i told him it‘s my 54Year Old Wheel Horse 656 directly imported from USA, I like to restore. He meant, „you‘re jokeing me, did you mow today with that Thing?“ Yap. “Whow, that impresses me really i just wonders about the different Sound i hear Today“ i just can answer. Than told me he wanna enforce the Clearance of the Shed, if i really like, i be first he will ask if all his machines he don‘t need further sold. I can take a look if i like something except his Tractor and the huge Trailer. I get an option on 70 Sqaremeters with a Massive Concrete floor, that can at least 40Tons. So a Lift wouldn‘t be a problem at all. than i do another Trail thru the Forrest, keep an eye for that while i ride about one hour thru Forrest, i took a lot of Picts

Upgraded my 606 with a nice fresh K161....

I picked up this little SNAPPER a couple of years ago. Came with all the attachments.

Drove about an hour west of here to pick this up this morning. It has two rust holes in the normal spots. Somebody has done some repairs along the way but all in all the deck is pretty solid. Seems to be the older style 48 inch but there are no serial numbers to be found. Looks possible to be maybe early 70s or late 60s?

Clearly joy on the face of a man @Tractorhead that got a new WH tractor.

I dont know how many of you have ever seen one of these. Craftsman LUV... Lawn Utility Vehicle. Worst piece of junk ever built. Sold it to a fool who wanted to use it to haul fire wood. Told him many times that this isnt going to work for that. .... he bought it anyways. 3 days later he wanted his money back. I asked him how many times I told him it wasnt going to work. He said he thought it would. I told him to think of another use for it then, not my problem. He wanted to fight me over it. On the plus side.... It did have a cup holder !! The grass catcher came off and you use the back to haul. Problem was it barely would move the rider. You sit on it and the metal would flex. Was like sitting on a self propelled mower. Did I mention it had a cup holder !!!

No wires chewed....Incredible .... Gonna need a new Battery too I think......

I tried being a grown up for a couple decades and it wasn't any fun. I tell folks I pay a bill or two once in a while but otherwise My Honey and I are both 5.

@pullstart Get some of those into a smoker. One of my favorite meals. Smoked salmon and some of your fresh veggies out of the garden.

These are pics from the 1st day i saw n got my 1st WH, back in '17, that my Dad gave me, that the ex had taken (an excellent shutterbug, to be sure). Good memory, even today... Toro WheelHorse '92 312-8. Also pictured is Dad's fleet, at the time. Added one not pictured, since, another C120...

Why you can‘t have a Wheelhorse? i picked mine over the Big Pond.. It‘s not a question of can have, more a question of „will have“.... few thousands of miles far from You.. 😉

Ain’t be a Scratch, it‘s a hoobie doobie 😂 today no time for Bacon, firstly bring the horse to run and have a Trial, Griller will be done tomorrow.👍🥳

Back to the house/barn project at my FIL’s place. In floor heat!

And LOOK!!! They didn't find the cocaine.

Repaired my first fee paying mower today, mountfield with broken cable guide. Gave it a clean and brush up before I returned it and the owner was over the moon. We will see if there are any more calls but if there are i can handle a few repairs. Just hope no one calls with a 5 gang cylinder machine for a cricket ground lol.

Very nice tractor!

Several easy fixes and you're on your way..

Seems like we are hearing of more and more surprise family reunions taking place these days.Hope all goes well and you have a great time.

I would have a Wheel Horse even if I didnt have grass !!!!

If you can't have a wheel Horse? If I couldn't have a Wheel Horse then I guess you may as well give me a shovel so I can begin digging my grave!

No reason for it not to fit if it is together right. My pics above are a bit misleading but here is how the valve s/b assembled.

Sounds like a great reunion. Family is where it's at. Enjoy.

Went to have 2 CT Scans today. Get my results next week. Year out from my cancer diagnosis, surgeries, and treatments. Guess i will see whos winning the battle so far. These scans were on my abdomen and chest. I go later for testing on my throat. I feel good but still tense.

Installed the center "console" , the lift linkage, the drive belt idler, the hydro cylinder, and some new hardware.

When Carol, my better half, was not much more than a year old, her mother gave birth to another baby girl. Due to circumstances beyond Carols mothers control, the baby girl was adopted. A few weeks ago, one of the adopted sister's son's, after years of searching, located Carol and got in contact. After some e-mails and phone calls, we have been invited down to meet up with the extended family Carol didn't know she had. Come Monday morning taking Carol down to South Wales, to the farm where they live. Could be an interesting and emotional couple of days.

Definitely the Stertz clan are Case fans.. lots of nice old Cases to eyeball...

Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than anything else. It is ideal when we learn from the mistakes of others, and that is the purpose of this post. It is easy to say that I must have experienced it all because of “all of the plowing” that I have done. However, today I ran into a problem that I have never experienced with GhostRider... My Uncle Bob hosted his annual farm day today. He always leaves some wheat ground for us to plow under with our GT’s. He doesn’t have ideal soil for GT work (heavy clay) but occasionally we get just the right moisture content and it turns fairly decent. TODAY WASN’T ONE OF THOSE DAYS! We have gone through a dry spell for a couple of weeks and this morning ended up with a heavy rain shower. Plowing this afternoon was interesting. Jim @WHX24came over and made a few rounds on his Rat Fink plow mule before the old cable succumbed. I stopped to take this picture of him plowing but then couldn’t get moving without burning the belt. That’s when I looked down and realized that the muck had packed into my fender pan so tightly that it was wedging the wheels. In effect it was creating a massive mud brake on both rear wheels. So what is the lesson to be learned? If you are going to use a 300/400 series WH to plow, make sure that you are using WH spec wheels or space the wheels out far enough. GhostRider has my very FIRST set of AG tires mounted on Cub spec rims. It puts them only about 3/4” from the sides of the fuel tank. With all the plowing that I’ve done over the years, I have never run into the problem I encountered today. Because the surface was so mucky, yet had straw chaff on it, after awhile of the tires spinning—it packed mud in so tightly I could hardly move the tractor. I ended up taking it up to my uncles shed and removed the rear wheel to expose about 75-100 lbs of mud. It had packed the area around the shifter as well. Lesson learned. Time to do what I should have done years ago, switch to WH rims or run wheel spacers. I like the cub spec rims because the WH cast weights tuck nicely into the back side of them. Once I got that squared away, I got back in the saddle and plowed for about 2 hours. Not great plowing like we find at the J&C ranch but it was still Fun to get some seat time! Thanks Jim for coming over to play in the mud with me👍🏻 Remember, soil conditions play a huge part in the success or failure of the GT plowing experience.

Look at that smile, a man and his Wheelhorse, PRICELESS.

Rylee picked us up for a bite of ice cream and some late lunch... We same this awesome Studebaker at our local ACE Hardware... Then got back to work tying the grid together.

It was just a suggest. 😇

Stefan, here’s my engineering change. Look better?

Carol's family is now my family. I don't know where any relations are. Uncles and aunts deceased and as for cousins. Not a clue. I do have two older sisters. Eldest in the US. Somewhere in Virginia and the other in Western Australia. Not seen either for years and little contact now.

Fixed it ! Just knowing it was wrong would've kept me from functioning properly all day. I'd have caught it eventually but thanks cleat !

this is the first thing I saw when I arrived Very Strange I thought....................

Really Honey.....this is the only one I own.

I used this for years . Sorry guys best mower I ever used and easy dump. Could not find a tranny for it so it had to go.

Excellent, thanks, but would be much more entertaining to have the significant other throw open that door and yell about the fumes in the house. That'll happen here, today, at about 3PM. I love Saturdays. Nice job! Run that engine it.

That seat was the cheapest comfy-looking seat Walmart offered

I believe that is the face of "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Just mounted it today. Kinda changes the look of your front end.

I confirm...Short fins go down. Here is a pic. BEFORE you bolt up the hyd pump, make CERTAIN that the Charge Pump Housing is properly oriented. See 2nd pic. Get some assembly lube in there too. I used RED lube...

When installing make sure the lever is under the cam. Highly doubt the cam lobe would ever wear off.