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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!

Tried those deck spindles out that you gave me Don. They work great!

Seems like that right rear spot is open in case one hitches a ride home, I've seen that space open before on the way to an event. Cart can always go in the bed. I won't call your wife to warn her.

This one shows how small the Landy is.

I'm no expert but guessing those guys are shaving the heads down and creating higher compression

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

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. love that comment!!!

Forsaken on Flaming Front End Friday.

See I told you it wasn’t there!

Never gave that a thought I know with the hills and layout of my grass, a gear-drive would cause a lot of unnecessary juking and jiving to cover the same ground then the hydro by far.

Jeepers cats still has paint on it!

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.

Mike the more I look at this 1267 I find it to be a very well kept. The owner had pride of ownership. This is worth striping it down to the frame a clean every part. Tap and die all holes and bolts. I am doing this to a 1257 I bout last fall. It will pay you back in the end. Enjoy the ride.

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

Suburban 400 or Suburban 550 my guess.

Lights never worked on my 520-HC so I put a test light on the switch and power going in but nothing coming out. I jumped the switch and got lights. I ordered a new switch from amazon and just had to file the opening about 1/16 wider and it fit perfectly. now I have lights. Switch even lights up when on https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CYZ1TTY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Looks like the piece on the right has rounded peaks and worn ramps. You might be able to grind file them back to fit snugly with the left. I would just replace it if it's available and resonable.

Thanks Joe! I will call them tomorrow. Since I posted I found out that AZ tractor has an aftermarket. Calling Lincoln tomorrow as well. Also thinking of just putting a spring on it.

Here I was thinkin you were thinkin deere...

@peter lena I bet you’re a proud Grandpa! Being a crew chief is quite an accomplishment! Congrats to your grandson!

Yup, the measure app has a digital level and it works very well. You could also measure things like from the street to your house ( from inside the window), height of your roof to the ground, Floor size, How tall is that tree? Is that piece of pipe over there 3.5 ft or 4ft? etc etc. I don't use it a lot but it definitely comes in handy and always with me when needed. Great for quick estimating stuff

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.

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.

I'll give it to you Jeff. I take it you spotted the gold letters to get the year. It's a 314H with a whopping 122 hours on it. Everything about it reflects those hours. I think it's safe to say there aren't too many left with those hours and this clean. It was used to push snow only and has never had a mower deck on it. Everything about it is as about like new as I've seen for a long time. The seat does have a tear in it and critical eyes will spot some discoloration on the edges of the wheels and a very small ding on the rear fender. Being in this condition I'm not going to be able to leave them alone. This is the first hydro I've driven since just after the blizzard of 78. I'm thinking this one will get the snowblade and the blower will go on the 05 8 speed. This pretty much checks all the boxes for what I was looking for.

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!

Ever put something in a special place so you won't forget it, and then can't find it? I looked all morning for my spare tiller/ dozer hitch, and couldn't find it. After a while, I just made one... I'm working on a grader for the 523-H. Might as well make a receiver hitch for it as well. The reciver is short, but it's enough for what this machine will ever do. One more project completed. I'm gonna bolt the dang thing to the tractor this time as soon as the paint dries so I don't loose it...