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I am in Bloomfield Hills , Michigan this week for the American Art Pottery Association convention. I have another “collection” than just Wheel Horses. My collection in American pottery is over 250 pieces. We have been on visits to pottery makers, collections etc this week. To my surprise yesterday, at the Kirk of the Hills church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan a tile in the church that had Colonel Edwin George on a mower. I was told he loved his riding lawn mower. It turns out he was the owner of Moto Mower as described below. ***** Cedarholm Estate ( Colonel George had the Kirk of the Hills gothic church built around his home in Bloomfield Hills). Colonel Edwin S. George was an early real estate developer along the Woodward corridor in Detroit. He also owned the Moto Mower Company, the manufacturer of the first power lawn mowers. When he died, the colonel deeded his estate, Cedarholm, to the Presbyterian Church. NOTE***** Some dispute about the first power mower in the USA. The Coldwell Company in New York developed a steam power mower in 1904. Moto Mower may have developed a gasoline motorized mower after that steam power mower was developed.

There are so many unusual tractor brands out there that I will be bring some of them to you in alphabetical order for the net twenty six days starting with “A” American Tractor Corporation The atrocities that befell Europe’s Jewish population during World War Two led to the formation of the American Tractor Corporation! The Rojtman family began building diesel locomotives in Europe during the 1920s. In little more than a decade, this family had become immensely wealthy, their locomotives were utilized over the entire European continent. With the unrelenting zeal of the Nazi Party and its persecution of the Jewish people the Rojtman family made the wise decision to desert their factories in France. In 1938 Marc Rojtman and his family fled to the United States. He had a fascination for military machinery, especially the Clark CA-1 Army Airborne Disposable Crawler. It was lightweight and could be parachuted to areas where airfields were to be constructed. During 1948 and 1949 Rojtman made preparations for the manufacture of his own design crawler tractor. He began by purchasing a manufacturing plant in Churubusco, Indiana and the assets of Warren, Ohio based Federal Machine which had manufactured US Army tanks during the war. His engineering and design team developed the American Tractor Corporation and the Terr-A-Trac trademark. The Terr-A-Trac GT-25 was the first model offered in 1950 by American Tractor Corporation. It weighed only 3,290 pounds and had a turning radius of six feet. It was powered by a four-cylinder Continental F-124 gasoline engine and offered a belt pulley. power takeoff shaft and a hydraulic lift system as options. Late in 1950 the Terr-A-Matic drive was finally released for production after extensive testing had been done, this torque converter transmission was a revolutionary feature. American Tractor followed in 1951 with the GT-30 crawler. It was tested at Nebraska in 1952 under No. 471. This test set a new world’s record for a low-gear drawbar pull when the GT-30 pulled 101% of its own weight. The post war housing boom construction market was flourishing, and all power equipment was in heavy demand. New models with backhoes, front loaders and forklifts were developed to meet the needs of the construction industry. Larger models were added to the offerings of American Tractor, now you could buy the twenty-five HP GT- 25 or go all the way up to 80 and 100 HP units with diesel engines. In 1957 J. I. Case made an offer to merge American Tractor Co. into Case. This was mutually advantageous as American Tractor had innovative designs including the Terr-A-Matic transmission but lacked a strong dealer network whereas Case had not entered the crawler market, but had an international distribution network. Case also wanted the backhoe that American had developed for its construction division tractors. Within the year Case had adapted the backhoe to a Case 300 series tractor with a loader creating the first factory built integrated loader backhoe in the American market. Rojtman moved to Racine as the executive vice-president and general manager of the Industrial division and later became president of J.I. Case Company. By 1965 the gross sales of industrial equipment exceeded the sales of agricultural equipment for the first time.

Loaded for transport….

Not totally wheel horse related but I did use a 520 to haul that brush there. Took just under an hour to chip that.

All loaded up

I should have come up with a better excuse but I just don't think that fast. Obviously my proofreader wasn't doing her job.

I never knew I needed one of these until I got it. About $25 online. If you build most anything, especially out of metal, this thing is awesome. The base is magnetic as well. You can "zero" on a given angle, and check multiple parts for misalignment. Otherwise perfectly level is 0.0. Probably not machine shop precise, but far better than my out of calibration eyeballs.

Ya never know, sometimes I go home with more than I show up with. There was this one time I was in Maine and…..well you know

Loaded up!!

Like @JoeM said, you are feeding cubic inches. Your 312-8 has a 30 CID engine and the C-175 has a 42 CID engine so the twin cylinder engine requires 140% as much fuel/air mixture per revolution. I generally mow with a 310-8 and 42" deck, when I picked up ny 418-C with a 48" deck I mowed with it a couple of times. Fuel consumption with the K-Twin was about one and a half times what the single cylinder engined 310 uses but finished in less time using the hydro rather than stopping and shifting as much and the 12% larger cutting deck. The 418 is far superior to the 310 when it comes to snow plowing and that is its primary function for my needs. The added power of the 18 HP enables plowing snow up the steepest parts of our driveway while the 10 HP could only plow going down hill. With the 310 for mowing I get more seat time in the summer when it is enjoyable, with the 418 I get the job done faster in the winter when I want to get back inside to warm up.

I think I'd be nervous welding next to my phone. If I mess this thing up, I'm out $25. But otherwise the phone app would be nice to use.

Most of us just take them off and use the spring like the older models.

Yes it does but almost seems so empty in there. Might need a big block lol

Not really... the PO got it for free from his dad's estate and neglected it. He was somewhat one of those cakes with fruits and nuts around xmas time. Ran it and put it away wet. To him it was just a a mower. Filthy as sin so i just gave it a quick bath. Hubs were walking has was stale. Least he didn't molest it and kept it inside. I agree with your mechanical resto and that's why Mike has it instead of me! Nuff projects here!

Not super scientific but a good practical comparison…My buddy mows 2.25 acres. He has mowed it with his 417-A with 42rd deck and cannot mow it without refuelling. He estimates it runs out with half an acre or so left. He has borrowed my 312-8 with 42sd deck to mow it and did not need to refuel.

I have one you can use stand alone or it clamps on a 4 ft level. I seldom use it because I forget I have it!

@PWL216, noticed marine , my grandson is also a marine , today got his crew chief wings ! C 130 J , Mira mar, California , started out in a class of 54 , 7 made it , be driving home to Vermont , to drop his car off , be flying Europe / AFRICA . proud grandpa , pete

Had a day off today so I decided to tinker in my garage. Since the 1257HEAVY is complete I havnt had a WH project going this year yet I've been messing around with some mini bikes I got and decided to toss one together with odds and ends parts I have laying around. Working on mocking it all up make sure everything fits b4 paint. But coming along nicely.

I did that the very next day I got home. Some dish soap and that's it. I didn't want to apply too many chemicals. Turned out pretty nice! Didn't notice the horse logo on the back until after I cleaned it!

Lugging an engine creates the most dynamic compression, the carb is wide open, the engine speed is low, so the entire fuel/air mixture is fully burning...maximum torque happens, this also means that the same forces pushing down on the piston, Rod, and crank, are at the same time, trying to push the head and cylinder off the block (newtons 3rd law). Add in higher compression ratios, exotic fuels, more aggressive timing...and you need to add rigidity to the engine. OHV kart engines will run twice the compression as a flathead, and turn thousands of rpms higher, they add a girdle across the head to accomplish the same rigidity. Ive seen a K341 send the jug about 6ft in the air, there was shenanigans involved, its not something a stock engine needs to worry about.

Trina by herself and then with the help of her momma started setting the siding in place.

Paint burning off. Loosen main just until it runs rough, then tighten in very slow and very carful 1/4 turn at a time till it smooths out. That will be good enough. I like mine a touch on the rich side so the head and ex valve is cooler (at the expense of more carbon).

This one shows how small the Landy is.

Today we visited the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire. It's the home of very many beautiful vehicles. And of HUE 166, the first ever production Land Rover. This is the one I will be basing my build on. A really interesting place to visit and I learned a lot to boot.

Primer. It manually works the diaphragm.

That sure beats using my eyecrometer 👁️😂

Two years is all he had it. I noticed that too... didn’t bother me too much as a few of my fixed tie rod tractors have it too. Bent spindles ??

@OldWorkHorse - that Preditor shure change the looks of the mini bike when compared to the B&S engines used back in the day.

thats a great representative comparison -- exactly the kind of head to head comparison i was wondering

interesting comparison of HP in gear vs hydro -- i have used my 312-8 for plowing, mowing and tiller - and the 175 for plowing and mowing but no tiller -- i have told people for 35 yrs i have never had the 312-8 in a situation it needed more hp -- always handled every task -- i suspect thats also the engineering and design of the legendary gear tranny as well

Put the mower deck on yesterday. The pin and clevis fought a little because they hadn't been through the process. This is the first time that PTO has seen a belt. I was a bit surprised to find that style clevis. It's the style they used in the mid 70's and was on my 76 when I purchased it. When I saw the style that came out a bit later I was quick to change that one over. Somewhere along the way they went back to the old style. I've already got a swing down style coming for this tractor. Makes a simple job even simpler.

That last pic is the temp seat I put on it Kev. Note the spacers under it.

If you were to file the dogs like the blue line you may be able to make it work for some time.

Not to mention the extra rotating mass and moving parts that need energy in the twin engines…

yeah compared to first pics, it wasn’t there!

Bob That is one fine looking tractor. It looks like it is in price tag shape. Enjoy the ride.

I have mostly all kohler singles and some briggs twins. I find the kohler 10 (k241) provides the best fuel consumption with a 42 SD deck in third gear. And most 12HP K301/M12 are second best with paired with the 8 speed. Now onto the twin 16hp briggs, they guzzle fuel. Not twice but close to twice.

Our whole Herd is Kohler singles at this time. Trina's 8 HP engines SIP fuel. My K341 16 HP engines probably do use right around twice as much...but... I AM larger. The TRACTORS are larger and heavier. The LOADS I pull are heavier. My PLOW is substantially wider. So yes.... more fuel usage. And.... A LOT more work being done. My K582 Twin for Colossus has only been running for a few minutes at a time. That big beast GUZZLES petro in comparison to the others.

Yes, the these engines are fairly inefficient. The only time they burn more is on the governor. Cubic inches need feed with fuel and the hydro, for the convenience of operation, can be up to 20% parasitic. They generate a lot of heat. I do know the onan 20 hp burns a lot of fuel compared to a Kohler 20 hp CH engine with very little difference in HP. The newer OHV Kohlers are pretty sweet. I know I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice fuel use decrease when I switched over to all non e. But she is about 70 cent higher on price. With about half of this stuff sitting in the shed, I like not having carb issues.

I have ridden motorcycles for the past 61 years, if someone cannot ride thru or around some grass on a level straight road, they need to park it. With the retards on open pipe V-twins making an effort to annoy me while cutting my grass, they will get zero respect from me. Yes, that too has happened. If one wants to turn their back to the traffic, be my guest, Charles Darwin is waiting.

Been a long time comin' but Doug is finally gettin the upgrades that the parts have been lying in the shop for 2 years! So we start out up on stands for the before and work our way through today's progress! Thought I was gonna have to lift everything, but the spacer spaced the tire out far enough to leave just enough clearance! Need lo get longer carriage bolts for the weights. Also pulled both front tires and cleaned spindles ready to weld in the 1" spindle upgrades!

I'll third that ... you can have the seat I had on it. If you don't need it throw it in Pullstart's truck at the BS. I could use those pucks back that were under the seat tho. Newer style seats don't sit down in the pan right without them. Dan knows same thing as his 867. Must have happened on the way to Pullstart's... the way Dan was driving... It was good when I loaded it. Did you clean the carb and check the float? Maybe my repair didn't hold?? I've never had any problems soldering brass. After a bit of running around check those hub screws.

Had to fix that ugly exhaust and go back to the stock look.

Been mowing with my 654. Rear discharge deck w/freshly sharpened blades really cuts nice.

Mrs. K asked "What do you want for Dinner". Me, I'll be back in an hour. Here ya go. Filet, egg dip, roll in Panko crumbs, and pan fry in butter.

My thoughts exactly! Guess I'll have to build another tractor when I find it! Got the hitches pained and installed. On to the grader build!

I like it. I used linen white for my latest restoration and I would have liked it a touch more beige.

Started painting the rims on the C-105. The tractor will be going to my Grandson in Maine. I hope to have it to him in a couple of weeks…

Decided to take a family photo while everything is running good!