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I picked up a trail cam earlier this spring just to have some fun with it. We've ben seeing these fawns but couldn't get them to pose. They finally gave in last night.

Between the mower and the mowee there are 120 years of mowing experience and still learning. The mower is still going strong. Not so sure about the mowee! Gary

Some of more interesting visitors. Camera is also good to find out who is getting into the garden at night...

Your comment : "Once the trans got hot it would quit moving" is typical of a Sundstrand that needs rebuild...both the PUMP and the HYD MOTOR. The soft brass internal components (of the pump AND the hyd motor) are scratched or scored and need refinished. When operating temp is reached, oil slips thru these scratches/scorings resulting in loss of oil pressure...leading to loss of power or no motion at all. I have posted here...on RS... a .pdf file instructing what and how to do this rebuild. It is NOT difficult at all...just meticulous care is needed. Here is the file: SUNDSTRAND Piston-Piston PUMP & MOTOR Refurb.pdf

That Predator engine has ball bearings on the crankshaft so it should be able to utilize the manual PTO of the C161. I definitely would NOT set up any tractor without a way to cut power to the attachment it is powering.

I know where I am not parking my senior at the show…

Caught a shot of the wife going back for more mulch.

Maxwell types faster even from Belgium

I have 2 Raider 10 6 speeds for sale. First one is 1972 with Kohler. New exhaust valve, intake valve dressed, 1 new pulley in mule drive, new bearing in other, new fuel lines, filter, electric fuel pump, plug, blades sharpened ready to mow. Little puff of smoke at start up...$375 Second is a 1968 with Techy. I did have it running when I got it, now no spark. $200. Tins are near perfect on both these tractors.

Another fishing derby for the kids today at our Yorkanna Rod and Gun Club pond. I fileted fish for three hours.....probably over 200 trout.

like painting a small dot on the outside to where the valve stem is on the inside. then you know how far to drive.

We have one nice to see who shares our property.

You or the man from the story?

@kwalshy and everyone else... The BBT and I signed on our loan today. Looks like we're building a barn!!!

@Achto Here's the pics from the day me n @JCM Jim went n got the formerly buried tractor. In the last pic you can clearly see where the door was shut by the sun stain. Imagine that the garage bay was SO FULL of boat cushions and paperwork and....stuff. The widow didn't know this thing was there.

Any wheel horses out in Alaska?? Moved here couple of months ago and brought the 120 of course. Just seeing if anyone else has some here too!

paint and started reassembly

Not much pulled them out of the stables for some fresh air.

Ok :: Damage report. So i got off very lucky. The case, the diff and the mushroom gears are not damaged at all. No serious part failures. Failures - 2 bearings. 1) Left side inner axle bearing 1533 Partial failure / full on failure in progress. 2) Right side mushroom gear needle bearing.

Working in the driveway. Pick up tail gate bench

Dug this out of the guys shed tonight for my final haul. This one is one that I'm keeping as I've always wanted a C-160. Biggest problem is that the transmission is shot and he told me that up front so I have to tear it off and have it rebuilt or find a new rear end. I would have ruined it anyway since the release valve was absolutely seized tight and I had to get it on the trailer so I had to tow it. I think a tractor like this is worth putting the money into. I guess I'll be on the lookout at the big show for hyro rear end options.

My understanding of that is to protect the stems from damage and make it easier to mount wheel weights. Most wheel weights are on the outside. On a garden tractor you shouldn't be adding air more than once or twice a year. Fronts usually around 12 psi. Rears usually about 8 psi. Rubber isn't physically capable of holding air long term. In my air filled tires I run on the strong side and check them a couple times per year. Fluid filled tires don't need to be refilled with air if you choose. I run no additional air in my fluid filled tires than what the installer put in 4 or 5 years ago.

Mike: You may only need the snowblower or 2, not the cutting deck!!

Me myself would verify that it really is bad rather than take the po word for it.

Debbie, look carefully for wiring plugs that may have become dislodged when you were changing the belt. @eibbed

Excellent busy day around the EB/BBT acreage today. General yard duty stuff. Moved wood. Split wood. Chipper shredder got some activities. One of the things I've always found interesting about Trina and I is how much we think alike. Earlier today I was out in the forest and took this pic. A bit if time later she's up front by the shed and sends me this. Neither one knew the other one had done that... 🤪 Here's a few more..... And a video...

I have just acquired this old garage for free in Glasgow, will take it down when I get home on Friday and strip it back to its components - thats a nice start to the workshop project. If its any good I could just use it as it is, although obviously would make it look much nicer, decent overhangs, tin roof etc. Will keep an open mind, but at the moment the plan is to strip it down to nothing as a stockpile of construction materials. Have a couple more lined up around the country GIrls have mostly shifted house while I have been away, which is great as it frees up time for getting the new place to a standard that we can live with!

Ordered a bearing puller set to get those 1533s out.

It is a tubeless tire and most of the time the bead breaks. I’ll probably put a tube in it

rebuilt the brake backing plate replaced all the hardware brake activation shafts wear

Your parking pawl is shot.. Somebody kept engaging it while still in motion. A to Z can probably fix you up with good used one... I also use a close size socket to drive out bearings.

I can't tell from the cryptic reply posts if someone actually claimed this engine or not. If you want please state that, if you don't please don't post about the possibility of someone you know who may want it. Seems Adams dad might want it but Jennifer seemed like she was just too late after his post but never actually stated if she wants it. SO, if this engine has not been actually claimed then I'm interested in it and will be at the show and will take it. If the others before me want it, could you please clearly claim it? (Also wish people would stop quoting all of the pictures each and every time over and over. It makes following and reading through threads more difficult and long. You can simply delete those pics before submitting or just highlight the specific words you want to quote and the quote button will appear.) Well, it seemed that way anyway but it's difficult to know for sure huh? EDIT-- Seems @oliver2-44 posted at the same time and beat me to it.

Is this the same problem you posted yesterday and got several responses to? Need a bit of clarification here. Does "Suddenly stopped moving" mean the engine quit running or does it mean the engine is running but the tractor quit moving? Is the "cold start lever" the choke? If so, how would this be connected to "Suddenly stopped moving"?

I was already doing a full frame-off refresh due to a cracked F plate and numerous other issues. I had the frame on the lift table upside down and a simple twist of the sector gear and in it went. I'd also added a front bearing for the lower steering shaft since it was right there and easy to do.

everything in primer

I’m not sure why we would start a thread like this. It’s almost assured to bring out the politics very quickly, which it has. If it wasn’t for this forum being a largely homogeneous group this could get volatile in a hurry. Here are the two things I know about economics in general and gas prices in particular: There is never just one thing that affects prices and we don't have as much control over prices as we'd like. There is little chance of there being one solution to a pricing issue. We can’t oversimplify and think that more drilling is the answer. Or that electric cars are the answer. We have to be sensible in how we react to unpleasant circumstances. And we have to concede that it can take time to see changes. Teachers give us those simple supply and demand charts when we take rudimentary economics in high school and they use examples like the price of sodas at the movie theater to illustrate their point. Supply goes down, price goes up. Demand goes up, prices go up. There’s only so much of any particular thing to go around, so we vary the price to help dole out the product. Seems simple. It sucks that we can’t all afford the same things, but we’ve learned that life itself isn’t fair and to live with economic differences that let the profit motive drive manufacturing, supply, and innovation. But there are things we have to balance against economics – for example not letting a chemical company dump their waste in a trout stream – so we can't always have completely free markets and it’s not unreasonable to expect some well-intentioned governmental meddling. Perhaps this includes mining for resources, diverting water for societal use, or cutting down forests. We all like to focus on the supply side of things. That’s fair. A lot of those causes are easy to identify: We aren’t drilling at max capacity, refineries are stretched, investors are playing poker, a despot invaded a country… At the consumer level we are powerless to do anything about these things so they are where we like to focus our attention. And increasing the supply doesn’t require any effort or cost from us individually. But demand has a huge impact too. The world’s population uses a huge amount of oil for fuel, feedstocks, fertilizer, plastic, energy, iPhones…you name it. There are varying margins to be made for any of these things so they are constantly competing for the finite supply. The mix of output products changes to respond to whatever is the best way to allocate the supply; i.e. whatever maximizes revenue for the sellers. We are still emerging from a range of societal shutdowns and decreased demand, so it's not unexpected to be seeing prices increase as the world's people regain momentum. Gas pump prices are really the about the only thing in our lives that we see changing quickly enough to illustrate how dynamic pricing can be. Although I’m sure there were some who were complaining, when I bought gas on May 3rd, 2020 for $1.19/gallon I didn’t hear it. That low price was temporary of course, but gas producers reacted predictably to it. They slashed production to get the price back to where they weren’t losing money so by January of 2021 I paid $2.58 for the same gallon of RUG. More than double the price in 7 months. I filled up today for $4.60 per gallon in Missouri which has some the lowest prices in the nation. I’m not pleased about this of course. It especially hurts that I have made bad decisions like choosing to drive a truck back and forth to work instead of a car that would get much better fuel economy. And I’m doubly stupid for living somewhat far from where I work. But there is comfort in numbers and I see that most of the people on my commute are also driving vehicles way oversized for the task and are making long daily drives. Missouri loves company I suppose. Because gas has been so cheap for so long we have consumed it prodigiously and more recently worldwide demand has also exploded. What I guess will happen is that the oil refiners will do everything they can to capitalize on the high product price they currently enjoy. They’d love to keep the price high, but they will inevitably overproduce to maximize revenue. Or – less likely - maybe the high price will cause us all to check our tire inflation, slow down, drive less, car pool, and therefore decrease demand. Either way, it’s probable that the price will fall. Eventually we’ll find some new equilibrium that could be back close to where it was or might remain higher. Who knows. It will be slow of course and when it happens you can be sure that there will be legions of people taking credit. Whichever party holds the most sway at the time will be able to claim a victory, deserved or not. One thing is unfortunate about the Supply vs. Demand rule however; the normal relationship where high prices tend to drive decreased demand doesn’t hold up as well in the US for gasoline. We have to get to work and it’s not convenient or possible to instantaneously swap out your vehicle for something that isn’t as thirsty. Despite the younger generations having decreased interest in cars we are still a road-trip culture and have our Suburbans, F150, boats, and RV’s to run around on weekends. So demand decreases severely lag behind price increases. I would expect that we are going to be faced with this for a while. It's weird that we have built our lives and society essentially around cheap fuel prices with the assumption that they would never rise. And I'm not just pointing fingers here, I've done it too. A note about the the Green Deal…I’m not a subscriber to the orthodoxy but their fundamental intent is to use less fossil fuel because it is causing a host of environmental problems. This is a laudable goal to help alleviate a legitimate problem. How you achieve the goal is where there is room for debate. When an administration releases stock from the petroleum reserve and considers measures to get gas prices back down these are entirely antithetical to the Green Dealers’ core philosophies. While they may like that the prices are higher, they aren't directly benefiting from this event and are probably seeing sympathy to their cause evaporate while peoples' wallets drain. We are most altruistic and sympathetic when we aren't uncomfortable. We all view things through our own lens and we are all incredibly subject to confirmation bias. I am continuously disappointed by most of the people I see serving us locally and at the federal level, but these are the people we’ve elected to represent us so we are apparently getting what we asked for. In this age of cable news and Twitter we tend to elect someone from one extreme and then we overcompensate and elect their opposite during the next cycle. We are at an interval in history where the extremes are being the most vocal and effective at voicing their agendas. Terrible media coverage, social media, and our tendency to label and categorize people do nothing to entice people to live and work together. The rational, thoughtful middle isn’t an exciting place to be but I think eventually we will get back there. Gas prices touch all of us. I don't expect this to be a short or painless ride but we should all try to remain open-minded about our options and the realities of our situation. There are no single causes nor are there single solutions to the issue. Steve

Did that with my 310-8. It came with a mid-mount grader blade which I already had one of, sold the blade and have a net investment of $ 150 in a like new Wheel Horse with a 42" RD deck.

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.

motor rebuild is done

Update for anyone that is interested and of course more questions. Got all new pipe and fittings for exhaust and new drive belt this a.m. from agri store. Used Dremel with round stone to remove some of the material in the back of the exhaust port and ran tap in. Repeated about five times. Cut two threads off of tap with cut off wheel. Stone and tap many times, pipe nipple would just get started in the worst area at this point. Stone back some more, tap some more, cut two more threads off front of tap. I think by the time I was done I had cut 5 or 6 threads off the front of the tap. Before I started with the grinding/tapping I rotated crank around so exhaust valve was closed to try and keep grinding stuff out of valve and cylinder. When I was done(several hours later) I removed spark plug and rotated crank to open exhaust valve one put shop vac nozzle over exhaust port. Had good suction thru plug hole! hope I got all the junk out. Got about four threads engaged in the worst spot and almost all the threads in the best spot with it a little tighter than hand tight. Put rest of exhaust parts on hand tight. Checked for spark, not the best but was firing. Put short piece of gas line on carb with small funnel stuck in it(motor on bench) added gas to funnel. Turned it over with battery drill on flywheel nut, nothing. Flipped choke on, spun with drill and it sputtered. Choke off, spun with drill again, it runs,!!!!! Did not run but about one minute, had cooling shrouds off of motor. I did not think I would get as many threads in the block as I did but I think it is going to work. Thanks for all the advise guys. Stevasaurus I Will check fluid in trans tomorrow. Oil in motor was clean and full. How long is the long 3/4 pipe supposed to be going to the muffler? The muffler I have is 1/2 pipe threads and pipe is reduced at last elbow. Is this an issue? I think the reason the threads were broken out is all the exhaust was hanging on the threads with no support. There is nothing on tractor to support exhaust but there are two holes in vertical flat bar on that side. Am I missing some kind of exhaust clamp there? I have the air cleaner thing off and it has lots of oil residue and gunk in the bottom, it and looks like wool or some kind of rats nest on top of a screen in the top. I cleaned all the dirt/oil out of the bottom. It has a oil fill line. Do I need to do anything other than put oil in(what kind?). What do I do with the wool stuff in the top half? There is a small spring around the link between the governor arm and carb. One end is hooked in a hole in the pivot arm on the carb the other hooked end is not hooked to anything. Anyone know what it hooks to? I going to stop for now. Thanks again in advance!!! .

Your RPM's, gear you are mowing in, slipping belts, blades installed correctly and length of grass could all be contributing factors. You should be running at full or close to full throttle. If you are mowing in 3rd gear, try second. As far as belts, (for the mower deck only) wipe belts with Mineral Spirits then you could try a belt dressing. Important...Do not use belt dressing on your drive belt.

I've long the dreamed of having a full set of cast iron wheel horse weights for the 1973 no-name I use for plowing snow. Being a practical man of modest means, I had settled for generic cast-iron rear weights and plastic front weights. But last year, my dream partially came true when in a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story, I acquired a front set of weights for free. My dream was completed about 18 hours ago when I picked up a set of rear weights. Tuesday night, I saw a new Craigslist ad for a set of rear weights with chains. The asking price was $150. I immediately emailed the person, saying I'll take them at that price and gave my phone number. I assumed they were already gone, but about three hours later I got a call from an older gentleman. They weren't gone after all. We didn't have a mutually available time the next day, but set a time to pick them up Thursday morning. I drove back on a long driveway through the woods, to come upon a clearing of his house, detached garage, and numerous sheds. It was a place I would have loved to own. I pulled up to the garage, whose doors were open, and saw a man working inside. I introduced myself, and made a little small talk. He was 81 years old, owned the property for 53 years, and spent most of his working life at a Wheel Horse dealership. We talked Wheel Horses for a while. He said at one time he owned 12, but was starting to sell them off, and had one that he thought I might be interested in. We walked over to a shed, and inside were several Horses, but the one in front was the one he wanted to show me. It was a Lawn Ranger, in completely original (and excellent) condition, except for having an 8 hp Kohler. Another modification was the pulley sizes. He said it went really fast. I asked how much he might want for it, and and he said probably $500. I was all ready to ask where the nearest ATM was, because it would have fit in my wife's Subaru that I came in (she's in Florida this week, which gave me a little breathing room to buy stuff). But then he said, "I don't want to sell it now, I use it to go to the mailbox". Dang! Then we walked around to different sheds, with each one having one or two stashed inside. They were all in excellent original condition, original paint and no rust. I was drooling. He ended up showing me close to 12, so he either originally had more than he thought he did, or sold fewer than he thought he did. The guy knew Wheel Horses. I asked him if he was on any online forums. I got the answer when I had to explain what an online forum was. That was sad, because I thought of the wealth of knowledge that is going to die with him when he eventually passes. He wasn't ready to sell anything else today, and I didn't want to pressure him, so I'll be sure to be on the lookout for the next time he posts on Craigslist. Thank you Will, you made my day. No, you made my week..

Yeah that's the right answer of course. Sometimes not the easiest thing to do though in comparison to just tossing an air hose at it. If you know you're going to have to fill it... Park it in such a position as to grant better access when needed.

I have one out of a Commando 8, that I believe to be almost the same style tractor, if it will work for you can have it. I'll get some pictures and measurement in a little while.

Oh there were FAR more than "a couple". He had unbelievable amounts of boat cushions. Boat gas tanks maybe 5 to 20 gallons that set in the boat for an outboard... Seriously at least 50. Wooden or fiberglass boats? @JCM ??? I don't remember... At least 7 or 10 there in different places. File cabinets.. 10? More? Paperwork. Wow. Sooooooo much more.....

With the ignition key in the RUN position but the engine not running see if you have battery voltage at the DC+ terminal of the regulator. It is required. The regulator must see battery voltage before it can regulate the charge current. The only other requirement is that the regulator body is grounded but rarely fails. I don't think we have a wiring diagram but this one should be very close

Just think how this old gentleman would enjoy the Big Show...

I had similar story. Saw an ad on CL for a No Name 12 8 spd with a deck. Pictures looked decent enough but the price was a bit high to my liking. So a week went by and the tractor was still available and I had time to think. I didn't need the deck so I could sell that. It had the original 2 piece seat and I find these uncomfortable so I could sell that to. I could end up with just about a free tractor. So I call and find out he's an older gentleman. When he found out I was a collector he got all excited. This tractor was his baby and he couldn't get on and off anymore and wanted to sell it to someone who collected them. He was an hour away so I tell my wife we're going to lunch. She asks "where's the tractor?" Before we get to the house I say I bet the tractor is in his drive way and he's sitting in a chair next to it. Sure enough he is. He goes onto explain the tractor was never even rained on in the 41 years he had it and all it did was mow. He still had the original spark plug in it. He wanted that and had bought another one to put in it when it sold. He gave me a box of parts/brochures and receipts to go along with it. We spent over 2 hours there looking at his 1939 fire truck in the garage. 4 years later I get an e-mail from him. He was cleaning the basement and found more parts and pieces he had and wanted my address so he could bring them to me.

Well I made some progress today. Rear wheels are off and set in the parts pile. Hubs are soaking with old school Liquid Wrench spray penetrant. Can you peoples believe the hitch pin actually came right out?? A little penetrating oil. A little tapping back n forth. Voila ! Me n' this gas tank had a little talk. It wasn't particularly willing to let go of the valve. @JCM gave me some advice and I figured it out. Thanks Jim!! Some yutz installed the old valve on TOP of the fuel tank holding shelf. The valve was jammed up in between the tank and the shelf completely inoperable. This left a fair upward bow in the bottom of the tank. I got it levered out and cleaned the tank interior and exterior with a handful of 3/8 lock washers and soap and water. I made a gasket for the cap and drilled 2 small holes near the middle for air ventilation. After cleanup I found that this tank has a cast number on it. I assume it's the build date.

The small block v-twins are still made in Japan. Or I should say the blocks are still cast there. They still have "Japan" embossed on the bearing plates. And yes sir, they are great engines. I have four 14, one 16, a 23, and my only big block is a 26 vertical. So far, they are all excellent. The 14s in particular are bulletproof.