Leaderboard

Made some forward progress today!

Good luck finding a 50-60 year old person with no scars like that... I feel like it’s just a story to tell

Meh... As Monty Python would say: Just a flesh wound...”

Relaxing after a dip in the chem bath spa.

Like my Father used to say .."A little putty and paint, make a job what it ain't"

So, a while back when it was still warm out maybe 5-6 weeks ago, I helped my mother bring home a waverunner, trailer and shorestation lift. The P.O. had re-strung the lift with new 1/4” galvanized cable. He gave me the rest of the spool, me not knowing what I’d need it for. A few weeks back, I found this big winch at a roadside junk shop way up north on the Tunnel of Trees. Well, if I put the two together, I should be able to pull any tractor up to the top of Norman’s deck, right? The winch has two different spots to hook the handle, giving two gear reduction possibilities. It seems very heavy duty and I grabbed it for just less than a song. There’s even a brake handle on it! I need to live it up a bit to allow free spooling though.

What Does Horsepower Get You? When I was a kid it got me lots of speeding tickets.

Horsepower is how fast you can hit the wall. Torque is how far you can push it.

a bit welding and grinding for view, and after a Paintjob it look‘s like as new

One of the reasons I posted this thread, is that I am trying to negotiate a deal on a Wisconsin in-line twin, putting out approximately 18hp at 3,600 RPM. Will it be overkill for a little Wheel Horse? Yeah, probably. Would it be a cool little beast? Heck yeah!

Found a piece of paper that I wrote down the numbers on this motor before I cleaned it all up. Stuck it on there and I think I need to talk to @Vinylguy!! I don't think this tape is going to hold up much longer!

For those inquiring minds, I hereby present... ...the essentials.

I don’t think many people will believe that my 8 hp Kohler will run a tiller, but it can, in good conditions. Typically I struggle with the belt slipping long before I lose power. Now, the question is bigger better? Absolutely! I set this up back when all I had was Putt Putt running the mower, tiller, disc, plow, etc.

More HP, less seat time doing the job.

In my opinion it is hard to get more that 12hp to the ground with most garden tractors. You will loose traction way be for you lose HP. More HP can be needed to run implements though. Hook a 10hp engine to a 60" deck & you will see that 10hp fall on it's face in heavy cutting conditions. Same goes for a large 2 stage snow blower. Torque is what gets your engine up to speed or helps it recover. If you look at most dyno read outs, peak torque will start to fall off before peak HP is reached. More torque will allow an engine to have more HP at a lower speed. Here is a graph of the Mopar Hellcat engine. You will see a similar pattern on most dyno read outs.

Sounds like you need at least a new threaded adjustment rod and trunion.Nothing should be welded on it.It's adjustable so as to put more pressure on the clutch hub.Possibly also a new PTO clutch disc.You install 1 to 2 new belts per year?? Something definetly wrong.I've had Wheel Horses with 40 yr old belts and still going strong. I usually only change them when they finally break.

So I've seen many videos / articles about "flattening" a Kohler head before installing a new head gasket. I assume this process should be done no matter what the engine brand is, correct? I'm working on a S7D Wisconsin (single cylinder, 7HP), and it will be getting a new head gasket (preventative, not due to a blown gasket). This engine has a similar cast-iron block and aluminum head like the Kohlers do. I was planning on doing it anyways, figured it couldn't hurt. Thoughts?

In new tractors HP sells. It’s that simple. In my way of thinking one horse power will run ground engaging equipment.....

^^^^ this with more horsepower you can cut more grass faster if you cut a lot of grass - more horsepower can make big difference I cut around 3 acres ; cut it with three tractors : 704 312-8 416-H Cut it one time with the 704 - and purchased the 312-8. Cut the time significantly - still long but doable. Then got the 416-H - cut the time again.

I can answer this real simply - STROKE Kohler 8HP K181 - 2.938" bore by 2.75" stroke Kohler Command Pro 9HP - 3.1" bore by 2.3" stroke. A longer stroke puts the crank pin further away from the center of the crank. This allows for more torque to turn the crank around when the cylinder fires. Same theory as grabbing a longer wrench so that you can get a rusty bolt loose.

Here is SOME of the tools in my set. All USA made except for the Gear Wrenches. I suppose it was a good thing that I was collecting tools since my early teenage years. The 6-point sockets and two ratchets in the center is what I added to my arsenal. I have a ton of extras that I'll be glad to part with!

Installed the (now loaded) rear tires back on the tractor. And threw on one of the hubcaps i recently got in the mail, probably the best shape out of the 4. I like it now just have to decide on a repaint color or what im going to do to them. Towing all day m-f and 3 overnights a week doesnt leave me any daylight to wrench on this thing. Also gotta do shift boot and change trans fluid asap as it now looks milky when it didnt a few weeks ago. And you can see the cab still sitting on my trailer waiting for 2 more windows to be sewn in. Slowly but surely.

2 bolts come up through the frame

I very humainly, kill them!.

Back story. I purchased this recently. It hadn’t run in two years. Mice moved in and things looked bad. So at the advice of you guys I started with electrical and trying to get it started. Today I added a new battery and new ignition switch. I put a in-line 30 amp fuse and more...

Fell asleep at the fire @WHX24 third time in the same spot!

There's a whole new can of worms, Single Cylinder vs a Twin...

Sometimes I'd rather just not know.

The deck drive belt should be kept tight via the mule drive tension adjuster. The deck trunnion belt that is spring loaded will allow an individual blade to slip if it is overloaded. Here are a couple pictures of the PTO upper plate. Yes, it is to the right of center when engaged. PTO disengaged PTO engaged Here is the PTO engagement lever where the camming takes place to keep the PTO engaged. Disengaged PTO engaged PTO notice how far the threaded rod raises when engaged. This is the camming that keeps it engaged, not the plate at the PTO .

The build kinda wondered off the original path and kinda took on a life of its own.

Fruit snacks! Fruit Snacks! Fruit Snacks! Fruit Snacks! Fruit Snacks! Fruit Snacks! First I go on tractor ride. - Leighton. She’s a poet and din’t even know it!

Boy named Sue is absolutely one of the best songs ever ever and ever and ever.

Belts, oil, lube the gears. Hitch, lift cable, adjust plow. Weights, tires, gas ‘er up!

It's a fricken' franken horse!!

That sounds like a good idea. I may hit it with sharpie first, and do a test cut with something fine. If no high / low spots, I wont have to do a major resurface

Yesterday I grabbed belts, engine oil, 80/90, and various fuel system needs, along with new pins for the hydraulic cylinder. Today, I ordered an assortment of fasteners from www.TheBoltDepot.com including new “shear pins” for Frank’s rear hubs, 9/16-20x4” bolts for Rebel’s inside wheel weights and some other goodies too. I’m on a breakfast date with my cute niece having “toppings and toast” before any work or tractor rides though!

Wheel weight decals inventory updated. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Also was wondering are you going to be making the wheel weight decals? @Vinylguy I wanted to order a set for my d160 wheel weights. https://www.redoyourhorse.com/wheel-weight-decals/

The 654 is a short frame tractor The Raider 12 is a long frame tractor. Depends on the age of the dozer on the 654 if it will fit the Raider 12. You can likely figure it out from this list Dozer DNA of short tractor frame dozer blades 1961 model BD-4271 - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle - replaced by 1962 model BD-4262 - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle 1963 model BD-4263 - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle 1964 model BD-4264 - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle 1965-1966 model BD-4264A - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle 1967 model BD-4267 - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle 1968 model 6-2111 - Fits SHORT frame tractors - Mounts ahead of the rear axle ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1968 model 6-4111 - First to fit LONG & SHORT frame tractors and first to mount under the rear axle - replaced by 1969 model [6-4112 + 6-9621] 1970-73 model [6-4113 + 6-9622] 1973-74 model [6-4113 + 6-9623] 1974 model [6-4114 + 6-9624] 1974 model 6-2131 1975 model 6-2132 1976 model 6-2133 1976 model 66-42BC01 1977 model 76-42BC01 1978 model 86-42BC01 1979 model 96-42BC01 1980 model 06-42BC01 1981-1984 model 06-42BC02 (Up to here they are 42" wide) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1984-1989 model 06-48BC01 (They are now 48" wide) 1990 model 06-48BC02 (Last blade to have 3 angle positions) 1991-1993 model 06-48BC03 (First blade to have 5 angle positions) 1993-2001 model 79350 - (105-1502 kit adapts 2001 and older GT Classic-Series blades to fit 2002 and later tractors 2002 2004-2009 2012 model 79364 - (105-1501 kit adapts 79364 blade to fit 2001 and older GT Classic-Series) A 2012 blade will fit the 654. Questions? Garry

Got it. Will be doing some engine decals soon

I'm telling Trina on you.... Actually never mind. She probably would think it's just as funny.....

Solved the knock! I pulled the engine, yanked off the pan, checked crank end play, rod to journal clearance, cam shaft end play, all within Kohler specs...I even checked the fuel pump for slack on the shaft but could find nothing wrong in a fresh engine. Put it together and was feeling kind of silly for the huge effort to remove this engine. When I was putting tin back on I noticed some oil at the corner of the head, checked torque and the righters bolt was 10 ft lbs. While reading the owners manual for this specific tractor on what oil to put back in I spied the spark plugs is to be gapped at .035 not the .025 that was on a Kohler print out I saw. Every thing back together now no knock smooth run and easy start. Tomorrow I will check the carburator setup and call it good. Loose bolts! Just loose bolts and plug gap! Worth keeping in the back of my mind for sure

My 10 hp C 105 cut through this just fine... slow yes... but just fine... Gearing made it happen...

A healthy 12hp will swing a 48" WH deck and manual tractor very well, 10hp is pushing it.. Manual 8 speeds i can run a 42", forget it with an 8hp Hydro.. All the same.. every 10hp Hydro even with a 36" deck Ive owned seriously struggle on hills. Heck my 14hp GT1848 running a 42" struggles on grades.. All the same.. my whopping 9hp 1951 Farmall Cub will swing a 60" mower moving at a good clip all day with its little 60ci 4 banger. All the while turning 1800rpm.. And my 2hp 1928 Fairbanks Morse engine pulls a buzz saw better than a 16hp Kohler K series does.. Torque is everything.

The deck shell should have the holes in it for you to attach the deck mounting hardware from a 48" deck from a 3/4/5/C series deck. Once you do that, you should only have to switch over the spindle shafts and pulleys and belt tensioner system. I did that swap a few years ago which was relatively easy. I basically took the hardware off a rotted out 48"deck and swapped it over onto a brand new deck that was set up for a vertical shaft powered machine. If you have all the parts in front of you, it can be done in a couple hours.

thats seems like a disposable car....wheel horse goes for 50 years.....Hmmmm Just thinking

Thank you!

If you take a look at most newer push mowers with a Briggs engine, you will notice that there is no throttle control on them. The reason behind this is that Briggs grew tired of warrantying engines because people would run them at low RPMs and wreck them. Now you pull the rope & then engine goes directly to 3600RPMs when it starts, which is where their engine and most small engines are designed to run. RPM & engine life go hand and hand by engine design. A 4cyl 2.5L VW Jetta engine has a cruising RPM of around 3000. My Dodge truck with a 4.7L V8 has a cruising RPM of about 1800. A Lamborghini 6.2L V12 has a cruising RPM of about 2250. All the above cruising speeds are at 65 to 70mph. Most car engines are designed to run at their best efficiency & longevity at cruising speeds. ( Well, may be not the Lambo. )

Time is running short Daylight seems to end so quick Winter on the way

Hello TC, I’ve been a crafty kind of guy all my life but usually concentrated on wood butchering. I met up with a fellow that I knew when I was in my teens, many moons ago, found out he was an accomplished blacksmith, and I started smithing at his shop a couple years ago. He has been tremendously influential in the development of my work and skill set. Right now I have a small shop at my home in western, PA. I am currently working out of a propane forge that I built and should have my coal forge running in a few weeks, if all goes well. Getting the service drop from the power company installed this week and will wire up the shop for electric. I like to do architectural and colonial blacksmithing. Things you’d find around a farm/homestead in the 18th century. Door hardware, logging tools and equipment, hasps, hinges, fireplace, cooking and hearth ware. I demonstrate at Hannastown Fort near Greensburg, PA with my buddy, Rex. He just set up a colonial blacksmithing shop in a log cabin that will let us work on site without having to trailer everything to events at the Fort. It’s going to save a lot of time setting up and tearing down. We both belong to a great group called PAABA (Pittsburgh Area Artists-Blacksmiths Association) in Pittsburgh and to the Fort Allen Antique Farm Equipment Association. Both groups have given me access to some wonderful people (not unlike those on Red Square), resources and venues to meet and work at forges. In good times, Fort Allen meets at our +/- 60’ x 100’ forging building where we have a half dozen forges set up and 12 work stations. Classes for beginners through advanced smiths are held every Thursday night from April to the end of October. Right now all activities for both clubs are on hold. Tell us a little about your interests and what you do in the forge. Don’t forget the photos! Everyone here likes pictures! Cheers! Dave Star Forge + Ironworks 724-875-9991 Below are are a few photos you might enjoy. First two pictures are of the Fort Allen blacksmithing shop. The third is my shop.