Leaderboard

I went with @AMC RULES on a 1200-mile journey on backroads through five states led us to vintage wheel horse dealers, both closed and open. We learned about their history and met incredible people, solidifying this trip as one of my favorites. We even returned home with a never-sold 1986 420-LSE #100-200 built . The machine had been at Eckert Bros inc since 1986 until they closed in 2018.

Got a little more done today. Finished the frame up, and mounted up all the pivot parts. Still got to make the adjustment stuff for the pivot. I really went overboard on this thing. It's much beefier than it needs to be, but I was going for mass so it won't need any down pressure. The blade and attachment bar alone have got to be 75+ lbs already.

Yesterday at Zagray I bought a lot of WH dealer manuals, sales brochures, WH school training manuals, stickers, posters… amazing stuff. Going thru the 1972 Dealer Manual I found the price list for what they paid….

Today’s letter is “C.” A centaur is a creature described in Greek mythology as having the head, arms, and torso of a human and the body of a horse. This seemed to be an apt description of the early small farm tractor where the farmer became one with his iron horse. Centaur Tractor Corp The first Centaur Tractor was designed and produced in 1919 A New Way 6 HP air cooled engine provided the power to The Model “A”. It was basically a walk-behind garden tractor with an attached riding sulky. Implements would be attached to the front of the sulky providing the operator with a clear view for cultivation. The left drive wheel was fitted with a ratchet hub rather than a differential, both driven wheels were chain drive from a simple transmission with one forward and one reverse gear. As improvements were made new model designations were given up through the Model “F”. Model ‘G’ was introduced in 1926 featured a 10-hp, two-cylinder Le Roi water cooled engine and a steering wheel operated rack and pinion steering wheel system rather than handles typical of a walk-behind tractor. The 1927 Model ‘G’ Centaur with automatic governor, extension rims and complete lug equipment weighed 1220 lbs. and cost $ 484, ($ 8,500 in today’s money.) With greater power and better ergonomics, the Model” G” tractor was very successful and helped more farmers go horseless. The Model ‘G’ was sold worldwide. It was simple and easy to run, could be used with a variety of attachments and devices the farmer already owned. In 1934 an application for patent for an improved type of tractor was made as follows: ‘A purpose is to provide a tractor in which the relationship of the various parts is such as to provide greatly increased visibility for the ground surface immediately adjacent to and in front of the operator.’ The patent was granted in 1936 and assigned to the Centaur Tractor Corp. This was the beginning of the ‘Klear View’ or KV series of Centaurs. The “KV-22” was a much larger tractor powered by a four-cylinder LeRoi, 22 HP Engine. Weighing in at 2200 pounds he KV was no beauty queen, it had no grill and a rather rudimentary tiller steering system. This KV model stayed in production until the beginning of World War Two. Centaur produced tank transmissions and parts to aid in the war effort and they merged with Le Roi engine company in 1940 adding its name to the company. During the war Le Roi produced the Tractair 125, a mobile air compressor for the military. In 1945 the LeRoi Centaur Tractair was introduced, one of the most unique features was an integrally cast two-cylinder air compressor as part of the thirty-five horse power engine block. It also had built in air storage tanks on the tractor. The Centaur property was sold in 1954, and the Le Roi engine name disappeared soon afterward.

I have a Snap On welder. Big money back in the day, but it came from auction. I’ve needed a new stinger for quite some time. Fed up with the $650 price tag for the proprietary cable, and tired of the counter guys telling me that won’t work, I ordered an $89 cable on Amazon (15% off coupon applied at discount) and got to machine work.

Lots of Cockshutts there @Achto including this cool color coordinated hauler. Fine pair of Hs...

Nice little show put on by the North Woods Club. Couple dozen big tractors and a good hand full of GTs on display. Was somewhat on the way to my cabin and had to run the closed to move some furniture and had some extra room for the 1054 mule so what the heck. Not a lot of plowing but most big tractors were pulling three or more bottoms so some ground was covered. Only myself and a youngun on a JD were the only GTs plowing! @Streetrodchev says he plowed here one year and lots of field trash. Same thing this year. Picked corn with extra long stalks that should have been chopped. Some old shool trip plows were having lots of issues plugging. No coulters mounted here that would have been asking for it. Lots of ROCKS were my issues. Lots of big softball sized, many melon sized and a few bowling balls. Another problem was being in the same furrow as the big tractors. Those guys were turning a foot deep furrow. I swear one run I saw a chinaman looking up at me. Tilting at a 45 and scraping the tranny on the land side was common. A tractor running 23s would have been hanging up. I shoulda started my own rows.

It was John and I at the same show as todays…great memory!

Via the Allied Attachment Program, there were several interesting attachments available. Many of these I’ve never even heard of - like, a fogger or the Gard-n-Cart! Who knew. I’m wondering how many of you have any of these attachments and is it still at work? What’s it’s history?

So work has begun on this Lil pony. Put new tubes in the back tires as they wouldn't hold air. Removed the deck and the battery. Drained the oil. Turned it on its side to replace one of the belts that drives the deck Geeeeez they didn't make it easy to get to. Not sure what needs to be removed to get it in. Once the belt is installed we will change the spark plug, pour in some fresh new oil. Reinstall the battery. Should be good to go. One owner, original bill of sale and manual. Not bad for 75 bucks plus another 32 bucks for tubes and belt.

The Dig Dug saga continues! Managed to get the spindles and hubs on Friday evening. Today was some grease packing and tire squishing to get the beads to seal.(short lifting strap and a big lady slipper to twist with). Results are better than expected! Even the steering is much improved. I may not put weights back on, as they only improve traction and do nothing for balance at the rear axle. Then again, I'll have to see how a heavy load does. And I do like my big WH logos in the weights. First mission.. 6 bags of potting soil!

I just love the sight and smell of the wild lupine in the spring. Last spring it was so dry and a bad year but this year is pretty good. This was taken as I mowed yesterday and the same mowing as the fallen tree episode. At least these guys won't try to squish me.

This is a model that used the CCW mower deck blade rotation. The discharge chute was on the left side. Powered by vertical shaft V-80 Tecumseh.

When I was younger my dad would stuff me inside three old car tyres and roll me down a hill ...... Ah, those were the Goodyears

I agree Bob. Anything You can do to aid in the removal of the hubs should be done. I would even remove the set screws and fill the holes and the axle/hub joints with penetrant . Then mow with the set screws locked loose to act as plugs to keep the penetrant in to do it's work to loosen the hubs.

At the Zagray Farms show today..luckily the paint on my hood ain’t great ! @wallfish bought a set of tires/wheels and we weren’t gonna carry em back to headquarters

Yesterday was the first time my new to me 314-H(check my other thread) turned a mower deck. It kinda seemed a shame to dirty up a cherry 28 year old tractor but I did buy it to work. This is one of the paths I mow. We don't know exactly when it happened other than it was less that an hour after I mowed there. The first thing my wife said was "That could have smashed our brandy new tractor the first time using it!" I... ummmmm.... made mention that I would have been on that brandy new tractor. The tree was healthy and there was no wind today but it has been a very windy spring. The best I can figure it that it got damaged in the wind and being on the edge of the woods it was naturally reaching for more sunlight. As the leaves continued to come out it kept getting heavier until........

Steve, my point is that if they just started leaking, as he said, then the oil may not have had time enough to get between the axles and the hubs. You are not going to drip enough oil onto the lawn to do any damage. If you are losing that much oil, you may have a bigger problem than just seals, probably bearings as well. I stand by my statement as every dry axle/hub of mine has been a pain to remove, and those that have been leaking for sometime usually slide off easily. Love ya mate! See you in June.

If the seals are leaking but not doing any damage to the floor below, and you keep an eye on your transmission oil level, I personally would let them leak for awhile. Yes, I said let them leak. The leaking oil should work its magic and wander down the axles and into the wheel hubs, making them easier to remove, which is the most difficult part of replacing the seals.

The original Carlisle 23x8.50-12 Turf savers on the C81 for winter use were pretty shot. I already had a nice pair of Armstrong 22x9.00-12 turf tires for summer use and the chains fit perfectly. Those will be the next winter's tires. Bought a new pair of 23x9.50-12 summer tires - all set. A side note - not all C series rear rims are the same. The 75 pound weights I bought from @stevebo fit in my C81 rims, but not the others I have - the ID is about a quarter inch smaller.....

Well, I don't seem to have any issues at all with trufuel but wish we could easily get E free fuel from the pump. We need to travel pretty far for ethanol free gas so I use the trufuel for a season ending tank full so the engine will start after sitting for months. 520, 654, walk behind snow blowers etc. At $20 a gallon it's expensive. It's exclusively used in the custom bike engine for quite a few years and it always fires right up after sitting from Oct to May while waiting for the Spring engine show, and it always fires right up and runs perfect all summer long. Never drain the tank of fuel and have done this for years. Have never removed the bowl or adjusted the carb either. There are plenty of little 2 stroke engines here too. (75 ish or so) 90% of them are left with the tanks empty but the unit's I do run are left with trufuel in them and so far so good as they will fire up after sitting a year or two. Chainsaw will fire up no problem after sitting more than a year, just fired up a Homelite circular saw and a C-52 saw the other day after they have been sitting over 2 years with fuel in them. A guy from NY is stopping by to buy them.

Correct, the Sundstrands have a "dump" valve and the Eatons do not. With the dump valve open, the Sundstrands can be safely towed. The Eatons can not be safely towed. The Eaton 1100 can be pushed by hand. Some of the Eaton 700s may be slowly pushed by hand by jiggling the motion control lever. Some Eaton 700s will not move at all. You have an Eaton 700. Best to pick it up to move it.

Thanks @ClassicTractorProfessor Bryce for the gas tank! It’s perfect!

I just love new tire smell!

So it's my understanding that you can't push it around without engine running? There is no dump valve like on my 1075 and 875 ?

Just have to write this, since noone else has. May the forth be with you.

no longer available

@Pullstart I am truly impressed with your modification of the welder. After retiring from teaching Tech Ed five years ago I really miss having access to the millers and lathes where I could make the parts I needed to modify various things. Though none as elaborate as your welder. Well done.

Let's assume two things: (1) both your Sundstrand units 90-1137 and the 90-1140 are in their 50s---or close to it. (2) neither of them has been opened up for an overhaul in those 50 years. Your description of 'no motion in fwd or rev and no hyd lift, leads me to believe that the soft brass internals have been damaged over the years and now require 'resurfacing' to restore system pressure. The hyd PUMP and the hyd MOTOR have similar brass components and share the same oil/ATF fluid. This is NOT DIFFICULT by any means so don't let the repair manuals intimidate you. I have rebuilt a dozen or more of these Sundstrand units and have prepared a FREE 'overhaul guide' for you use...lots of pics too. Here it is: I can also direct you on getting a Gasket and O-ring set if you go for the rebuild. Here is what I bet you'll find inside the hyd pump and the hyd motor....

That did it! Thx @ebinmaine

And here’s a brand new advertising record from 1971…53 years old!

Love it. That old tank looks so much better on a tractor hanging from the ceiling in your shop than it did collecting dust and being a trip hazard in mine

Any ideas @gwest_ca ? I am surprised at the low prices. I think it was around 1970 when I bought a new TSC Huskee rider for $950. It was a good mower and lasted for around 10 years but not 50 years like these WHs.

The man makes good sense

In the transmission section there's a thread titled "Bearing and seal cross numbers" Here's the first post: Click on that and scroll down to the charts. The third one is correct for you. Right near the bottom are the OE and SKF part numbers.

What was the CG-8?

Neat!

but i watched vins and harrisons videos, it looked fun, would be even better in person i imagine

Sounds like she has her priorities right, glad nobody or tractor were not injured.

That 953 would have been on the trailer if I went!

It was a great time Mike and good to see John also and others there. Good time as always.

I have used it for years. Never an issue in my Stihl equipment.

Stihl used to make exceptional equipment. I say that only because I haven't bought any for over 10 years. Point being- Stihl 2-stroke oil should be very good stuff. I would not be afraid to use it at all in an engine that hasn't run regularly with ethanol-free gas. But Trufuel is garbage. I wouldn't use it in anything.

Those Cockshutts belong to Roger Zupon (I probably spelled his name wrong).

I'm like you, I use 2 cycle gas as starting fluid. I just think it would smoke a little if added to the tank ??

I think we watched it for the first time in our lives. I put a penny on grand mo... Mystic @Achto won... horses @$$... We need to run our 🐎 like that... call it the South Bend Derby.

She's working again fellas. I can't thank all of you enough for your help . With your help in helping me understand how it works it was a pretty simple fix . I didn't realize that the set screw had to insert into the pivot ball at the right height for it to work. Thanks again , BJ

Only pic I could manage and those are some ugly mugs!

Great day hanging with @wallfish @Retired Wrencher @stevebo @Chris T @Ken B and many others!

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