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My brother David Ralph, who is on oxygen 24/7 with COPD had an ah hah moment this morning! A Facebook Marketplace listing in northwest Indiana had a much coveted Wheel Horse item - a 4 Wheel Wagon! Pretty good shape too! Mostly light surface rust. Glad to see my brother still has the Wheel Horse itch ! Glad to see he got this home before noon today too! I wish I could tell you what he paid for this wagon but it would ruin the day for the vast majority of Red Square Members!

Finally pulled the Sr hood.

This short little yarn is based on the memories of an experience on a wonderful morning more than a little bit ago by a man now known as The Large Bear. Back in the 1990s I used to frequent an automotive flea market. It was held very early in the morning on the last Sunday of every month, April - October, rain or shine. I had heard to it referred to by some of the older folks as The Ponoma Flea Market. I always knew it as the Amherst Antique Auto Flea Market. Pretty much everybody I know just simply called it Amherst. You going to Amherst? How was Amherst? See or buy anything good at Amherst? It was an automotive related flea market, car show, used car lot to some extent, great place to grab breakfast. An all-around gathering spot for anybody who ever had even a remote appreciation of any car, truck or other machinery or smells such as car paint, hypoid gear oil, or rusty metal. It was... an institution. One of my favorite things to do during that era of my life was to get out of bed at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. and make the hour's drive up to Amherst so I could be there as the cars were driving in long before the gates officially opened at 6:00 a.m. Entries varied widely from month to month. Trucks, cars, motorcycles, etc. Muscle cars. Street rods. Hot rods. Most any vintage car. Drag cars that may or may not have been street legal... Driven in on "Temp" plates. Parking for non-exhibitors was set up in a rolling field maybe 10 or 15 acres that was usually stuffed to capacity by 7 or 8:00 a.m. . After that point in time you could only get in when one of the early risers left. Folks would be lined up a quarter mile or more down the road sometimes. The display area was several smaller fields all connected to one another and divided by Stone walls, rows of trees or even lines of cars of a particular type. I'd estimate maybe 20 acres total, more or less. Having been there more than a few times I had developed a habit of coming out of the parking area through the rows of cars, parts, accessories, and memorabilia for sale on my way to the entrance gate. I'd watch, listen to, smell, and sometimes even feel the sound and thunder of the engines as they came through and went to their respective parking. Walk a big loop around, repeat. On one of these excursions to the mechanical motherland there was a fellow who appeared to be well past his 80th birthday that was selling the hot rod he had built by hand himself many many years ago. The car itself is not super important to the story but I remember it being some sort of a bucket body and I remember pretty vividly there was a nailhead engine in it of some sort. He had put the thing together back in the 40s or 50s and that engine landed in the car sometime in the late 50s or early 60s. The Old Man had run it for a few years. Had a lot of fun. Good times. Good memories. Sometime in the late '60s or early '70s the car was parked, not running anymore. If I remember right he had brought it to Amherst with a price tag around $4,500. Hoping to get $3,500, $3,800. I suppose it was on my second or third circle around there was a couple guys that were fairly young. Might have been 25 or 30, maybe younger, standing there shooting the breeze with The Old Man. They only had about $2,500 give or take, between the both of them. I didn't see most of the interaction but it was pretty obvious that the old fellow had taken a shine to these two and they struck up a deal. He would take what cash they had... If they could get that engine to run for him to hear one last time. Well they started messing around with that old hot rod. Did some diagnostics. Went to their truck and got some tools. Commenced to removing pieces parts. I kept doing my standard issue circles walking around... Well now ya know how lots of folks like to do a certain amount of mechanical tinkering and there's also a fair amount of us that just plain like to help people out. Apparently what was happening in this particular situation is that some so-n-so and maybe his buddy would be walking by and see the nuts and bolts and parts flying off and of course question the situation. Explanation given by the young men, someone would offer to help. I'd swing by a little while later and there would be another guy or two and another tool box or two. As I was going by for the fifth or seventh time there was a crowd around the nose of that car that would have basically amounted to any racing pit crew in America. The intake, carb, distributor, valve covers, and some other things were laid out all around on people's toolboxes, carts, roofs, fenders, wherever it was convenient. The Old Man was standing around and watching the festivities offering advice and help whenever he could. I I think it was maybe two or three hours into the event that you'd start to hear that engine want to come to life when they tried to fire it. I don't recall ever hearing what the symptoms or diagnosis was. A little while later they did achieve success in getting that old beast of a power plant up and running. Needless to say both buyers and seller were something in the neighborhood of ecstatic. The old man shed a few tears past his smile from ear to ear.... The young men got themselves a car. And life went on at Amherst... @Mows4three @OldWorkHorse @Oldskool @JCM

In 1990 I was the Wheel Horse sales representative for Ontario. In that same year I sold a 312-8 to Walpole Lawn & Garden in Simcoe. Last week I was able to buy back that particular garden tractor from Brad Walpole. (Only 320 hours) It's a real beauty and cuts great! Now my garage is getting crowded and I need to make some room. Anyone looking for a very nice 1054?

Video speaks for it self. She does smoke a little but for it age it is what it is. Still like it a lot. Comando Done; 6-1-22.MP4

This year's project of building an entire new garden area from scratch has been going very well. We had 10 yds of loam delivered a few weeks ago. We've been moving it several hundred feet with Trina's 867 hauling her 1976/77 Ohio Steel 10 cubic foot trailer and my '74 C160-8 Cinnamon Horse with a 17 cubic foot trailer. We load them a little more than 1/2 full so they're easier to hand dump. There's maybe 1/4 of the initial pile left. Here's a few pics and a video. Please do feel free to share your own pics/videos of your own grader doing it's thing.

Shined up the ‘ole one bottom last night…

Our local club yearly show. 2022

Digital meters don't play nice with these archaic charging systems, get a good old fashioned analog voltmeter. Example:

I love Vanguards. One of the few engines (horizontal shaft only) that still use ball bearings on the PTO side of the crank. I have several v-twins from 14 to 23 hp. Good solid performers. You will have to make a 3/4 mounting plate to get the PTO shaft to the correct height. They have a different bolt pattern too, but the mounting plate can correct it.

Ready to rest a few days and bust it up again I s’pose.

I'm having a reality check (just turned 77) and know that I need to begin selling off some of my herd. The 1055 was the one that got me hooked on about twenty years ago and I probably will regret selling it but I seldom use it and would like to pass it on to someone who will continue to show it some love. It is a 1965 model 1055 with a good battery and starts and runs awesome, smokes a little but as far as I know this is the original engine and has smoked a little for two decades. It has a nice @BOB ELLISON seat and serviceable tires that hold air/liquid. The fronts are Wheel Horse branded and show some cracks, the rears are Good Year and have been liquid filled with RV antifreeze. The tractor comes with a short frame snow/dozer blade, wheel weights, chains and a 36" rear discharge gear drive mower in good condition (not shown). It has a cone type PTO (parts not mounted because of interference with the snow plow angle arm. The foot operated PTO for the mower deck is also included The going price for a good running square hood short frame tractor with a new seat would be around $ 600 or more. Short frame snow plow should bring $ 150. Wheel weights and chains are going for about $ 150. Rear discharge 36" gear drive mower should bring about $ 100. Add it all up and it is a 1,000 value, but I am asking $ 800 for the package deal. This 1055 will move some snow!

Well..walls are up! Now for that passel of pool noodles accidentally mentioned in the wrong thread, and some carpet installation!

I still have some odds and ends to attend to but it’s back together. I strapped the batteries until I make a hold down and possibly add another layer of smaller batteries. It looks like a new deck or some repairs to existing will be needed, saw a few holes when reinstalling.

Absolutely! I actually took that pic while chatting with my mom and Dug was parked in the shade after a days work and thus offered a comfy cool seat. My footwear for working all day were my steel toed leather shoes!

Which one?

One pull. Fired right up!

Mfg April-May 1955. This old POND resides here in the Hudson Valley, New York.

Hi all, I have been playing with different silencers / mufflers on the C-125 I made a vertical stack which was great but did make a bit of noise. So I changed to a shorter larger diameter stack with glass wool padding inside. This has lowered the noise level and I'm pretty happy with it.

The cannister is all home made, I bought a length of mild steel tube and made up end plates on the lathe. One was brazed in place for the outlet and the other was made with a step to sit just inside the can so I could fasten it with those sprung clips. That way I can fill it with glass wool to try different amounts. The inlet pipe also has a perforated tube inside the cannister to help with noise. I was happy with the stainless steel stack but fancied a change. Mick

Got the pool walls up, have a few new parts on order to replace some rusted ones( we got it used ) as well as some pool testing supplies. Picked up a passel of pool noodles to put in the inside corners where the wall meets the floor.(imagine the 50ish gray haired dude with a bear hug full of pool noodles checking out at the dollar store!) Tomorrow afternoon will be noodle installation and carpeting the dirt floor before the liner goes in.

Brought in the C120 I recently acquired to inspect the charging (discharging per Amp meter) while running. I removed the bolts holding the rectifier an Amp meter and bingo. One wire to battery connection not connected to rectifier. Cleaned up the end of wire and replaced the bad oem connection plug with 3 shielded solderless terminals. Found a few other suspect round eye terminals on solenoid and replaced them too. Hooked battery up and refilled fuel tank and the Amp meter is now reading positive charge. Checked the battery with meter and charging from 14-18 v mission complete. I happened to check the headlights and they now work too!

Absolutely! They are the feature this year! Hoping to get all the Snowmotractor bugs figured out too. Ying ying!

the not dead one

Putting the tractor back to factory original Lane. In so doing, this hood will receive some structural repairs.

Nice looking 312-8. If you are serious about selling a 1054, you should put an add in our "Classified Section".

Mick that looks like it will be just fine. Myself I like a low noise runner. I use when I can find them an old Gravley muffler. Enjoy the ride.

Well, aside from finishing building a new battery box, because I ran out of material, and the trans brake, it is all together. Here is what I did about the hood hinge: I dug through my engineering bin and found a piece of tubing that fit the holes perfect. Then I cut it to length and got some nuts welded in, dressed the ends, tapped the holes for any debris or rough threads, little grease on the ends, and BAM, it works perfectly. One last touch: The big open hole was for the original shut-off. It was a momentary contact push-button, and this engine takes a while to stop spinning. Since I built this for my son, and I am planning on it being operated in at least a few situations where other people might be around, I didn't want to risk an accidental restart, so I opened up a hole on the other side of the dash for a toggle kill-switch. Just based on the way I expect this tractor to get used I think it's safer.

You know, I’ve never pulled a ton with this one. You’re correct at all your assumptions though. I can pick up the front or rear without issue, but it’s an automotive transmission with a ton of gear reduction yielding about 5 mph top speed.

How many Covered Wagons?

Even a Kohler k341 would have even been an improvement on horse power. Not to mention reliability.

Seems a little rich, but I cleaned the plug and we’ll see if it cleans up with new rec fuel!

Old gas, second pull. Not terrible.

I hooked up the empty pontoon trailer and drove to our Mo. location to get those projects moving again. I learned some things along the way: 1) The trailer safety chains work just fine at 70mph. 2) The empty Paddle King pontoon trailer tows surprisingly well using only the safety chains. 3) The trailer relatively little damage while being towed at 70 mph using only the safety chains. 4) The surrounding drivers become very attentive when they notice an empty Paddle King pontoon trailer being towed with only the safety chains at 70 mph. 5) I need to make it a habit to check the nut on the hitch latch lever for proper tightness before driving away. 7) I need to put a tool box with basic tools in the truck. Fortunately, shortly after I pulled off on the shoulder, an Indiana Highway Helper sponsored by Geico showed up with wrenches, crimp pliers and crimp splices to put everything back together to get me back on the road. As I was driving off, I realized I missed a chance to mess with the Highway Helper guy. I should have asked him if he had noticed a pontoon along the side of the road a ways back.

It is likely in the list. Click on the picture

Yikes Madge. .. on my shop list too.... my hood sets crooked and neither me nor Pullhosen can figure out why. PO at some time set her up for crank start and he is the only hero that started it on crank. Front rope start is a home made affair too but started her up after the winter nap on two pulls. Supposedly the hood went thru resto at a shop that specialized in Corvette fiber repair.

Basically you paid $700 for those attachments and got the free tractor!!

Very nice, love my 94 416H

Make-shift tranny brake is working well enough. I glued a piece of rubber hose to the brake flag for now. It's not perfect, but it works. Everything else works as intended as well. Kill switch is good, choke is stiff, but I think it's the angle I had to route it at. Engine seems a bit stiff as well, but it is breaking in again quickly. He's really getting the hang of it too. He's always been a good driver, and I've had him on power toys like PowerWheels and such since he was about 2. It's just the controls and what not.

I have had "skinny" fonts on a couple machines, deestones. Steer real nice and look cool. I was cautious on thinking they would sink into soft ground but we pulled the plow through the garden, worked okay

Post or PM a picture. Assuming it's the original engine, a 6hp H60, the carb is the standard can-be-finicky item. Assuming the throttle shaft isn't to worn, then it'll either clean up smartly and run fine or it'll make you crazy. I've been able to keep mine clean so far (fingers crossed). An aftermarket I got to replace a worn out HH100 snowblower carb (~$19) worked ok for me, though as you'll read here, that isn't true for everyone.

If you are getting 18 volts with the headlights on, they won't be on for long. 14.8 volts should be considered the highest reading for the good of the battery and other electrical items.

OK, thanks everyone! I got the nipple removed and the new shut-off valve ordered. I ran new fuel lines the other day and included a clear in-line filter already so should be a quick install near the tank.

Since i'm not familiar with these: how do these tractors do at pulling stuff? Seems like there is a lot of gear reduction in the drivetrain but relatively low vehicle weight?

@ebinmaine By the time you got your license I probably had gone thru 20 cars.

I've seen guys at the boat club use long square tube hitch extensions on side by sides, would work on the horse I figure. the horse would need some weight.

look real close at the tank bushing too.

Worked her butt off today doing road maintenance.