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Wishing each of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope it is a memorable time for you all, and may you be blessed!

Last night I was plowing snow with my C-145. 25 degrees out, was dressed warm, had my heated gloves on and a smile on my face. Life was pretty good !! Then all of a sudden the engine stalled just like I had turned off the key. . Pushed the old girl in the shop for some diagnostics. Found that I had no spark. Multi meter showed that I was getting "+" power to the coil but no "-". Down side - points were not making a good contact. Up side - No need to buy a new solid state coil, or a new CDI box. Nor did I have to wait for said parts to arrive or wait till morning to take a drive to get new parts. Instead a quick cleaning of the points with some 1200 grit sand paper and I was back in business. $0 repair and only 15min down time.

The stockings are hung. Any guesses which one is mine?

1971 Raider 12. 1977 C-120/180 8 speed.

Old technology is the best if you have a person with an old soul around to make it work.

1979 C-161. One of those ones I wish I still had.

Conscious me - Got out of the body and paint business in 1995 at the age of 34. Never regretted it. I've only pulled my spray gun out once or twice since, and only because the projects were too large for a spray bomb. Also conscious me - I bought this old Wheel Horse for a couple specific uses only. Decided there's no reason to waste the time and money to repaint it. Subconscious me - sees a rebuild kit for my favoritest old spray gun and immediately clicks "Buy Now"

I was given 4 Craftsman snow blades. Three were 42”, and one 48”. Only one had any of the mounting brackets. I had an itch to make a mid-mount grader blade. I started by cutting the 48” blade length ways just above the mounting plate. Then overlapped that piece onto the lower part. Welded it together. That reduced the height from 14” to 9.5”. Then I made a framework to attach to the rear axle. Test fitted to the tractor a few times for functionality before welding solid. Made up a lever to release the pivot lock. It comes out just above the floorboard on the left side. I can easily reach it and pivot the blade with my feet.Got it all painted and reassembled. Drove it outside for a few pictures. (Damn few, its cold out there.) Thought I would share with you all.

My c160 8 speed and c160 hydro &c125.

The only way Dr. Froyydd can help with your current syndrome is to supply plans and materials for a larger storage shed and workshop.

Rarest one perhaps... Circa 1975

Nicely done man! I'd have been out there doing a sage smudge and creating new words for a few minutes....

Dr. Freud would probably predict a new thread of @Bar Nuthin’s Wheel Horse Restoration!

Before and after refurb pics. Free delivery in the bucket.

I was gonna say we need pics per the Rules... but then again... do we need this visual on Christmas Eve...? Nah...

Luckily we did not get the storm that was forecast and instead only got around 5" The 520HC and snow blade easily cleared that. It is only a few degrees below freezing so a nice warm day to plow without the snow being sticky. My wife shoveled off the decks while I plowed (great woman). It is now back inside the shop warming up and melting off.

Hub set screws and lock nuts ready to install. I reused the originals because they are in great shape and the hubs are tight so likely would never move even without any set screws installed. Hub set screws installed and torqued to 30ft/lb as per manual. I used an 8 point socket and you can see how it just clears the thinner bolt head. I then tightened the lock nuts just good and snug using a box end wrench.

I can reach the blade with my feet to add down pressure. After using a few times I may strengthen the lift point and go with a solid lift link. For now I don’t want to get it dirty.

One like this?

I got my C-125 running today! Maybe 4-5 years ago I went to start her after it snowed and she'd turn over but wouldn't fire so I had to shovel my 200ft driveway by hand. Later that week I tried a few things to see what was wrong but never figured it out. At the time we had an infant, a 1 year old, and a 3 year old plus a pre-teen and I always had other priorities and never got around to looking at it until last weekend. Cleaned out a mouse nest from the engine cover. Drained the tank and fuel lines, cleaned out the carb, adjusted the points, new spark plug and battery, new engine oil and transmission oil. After all that still nothing. Spark, but she wouldn't fire up. Bought a new condenser and after that could get her to fire up and idle but if I'd go past 1/2 throttle she'd shake violently. I must have cleaned & adjusted the points 5 times before finally buying a new set. I had a few minutes to put on the new points today and that was apparently the problem because she immediately fired up and she purrs like a kitten again! We don't get a lot of snow here in Cincinnati, but I just have a feeling that we're due for a good snowfall this year so I REALLY wanted to have my Wheel Horse back!

Same with military vehicles I swear some guys would only be happy if it had NOS air in the tires...

I have some friends who are active in the Buick GS club. Some of the folks involved spend much time and resources restoring their car to 'as it left the factory' status - date codes on the parts, inspection chalk marks, etc. One day at the GS Nationals, my Buick friend and I heard a couple of these types in a discussion about what the proper color was for the markings on the windshield washer hose was - white, or yellow. When we had walked beyond earshot, my friend chuckled amd made a comment that these GS cars were just another car moving down the assembly line when they were made - nothing special to the factory, just a low take rate option package. Whatever common parts that were in the factory were used to get the car assembled and out the door. I imagine that Wheel Horse did the same thing to get tractors out the door to fill their orders.

Earlier this year my sister, who lives 1500 miles away, was complaining that everything started breaking right when her handy-man decided to go to Ireland for two weeks, and so she was begging me to come fix things for her. I just responded "You married an engineer, I imagine there are many things in your life that don't work right."

The front rims are from a boat trailer, with 12” tires I already had. The rear rims are Jeep Cherokee space saver rims with 6:00x16 tires. Fenders were off a Cub Low-Boy, trimmed to fit. Seat is from…???. 16 hp Kohler. I was trying to mimic the looks of an IH 560.

Wheel stud bolts and lug nuts ready to install. These are 7/16x1.5" full thread bolts The two silver grade 5 bolts did not use the washers pictured. I am using chrome plated open ended bulge nuts just because I like the looks of them. Wheel stud bolts partly installed. Note one of them is a grade 5 and the rest are grade 8. Grade 8 likely not needed but I had them so I used them. I need the thinner head of the grade 5 and it's lack of a washer for clearance to install the set screw. Small bit of blue loctite applied to each bolt. Wheel stud bolts tightened.

That is some fine fabrication there. Well done!

Old habits die hard. Something about the feel and fit of the Spray Gun grip in the hand. I too had an early departure from the day-to-day painting for a Paycheck at the age of 26. Our Family Doctor strongly advised me to find another line of work. He asked me how many retired "Dust Bums" I knew - I could not come up with any......

Excellent work on your restoration. The engine sounds great. Love Briggs twins. I'd like to offer one piece of advice, please invest in some PPE. Using a proper full or half face respirator with organic vapor cartridges and disposable nitrile gloves can greatly reduce your chemical exposure. Also purchase safety glasses and/or a face shield and use them. Absorption and inhalation are the two primary methods of unintentional chemical ingestion. I often think about some of the things I did when I was younger and did know better, and I wonder what effect it may have on me in the future. This is a great hobby, enjoy it safely.

I buy Krylon when I can, like it much better than Rustoleum. The all in one primer / paint works good, but I still use a self etching primer first if I am using it on bare metal.

I can absolutely understand. And I have also done both jobs as well. When I did aviation maintenance I remember the tech support engineers as being some of the smartest folks I'd ever met. Our Martin Marietta engineer was a dang genius. Some others were morons that were too dangerous to handle complex tools like a hammer or wrench...

Yeah, I have a decent idea. At least we know where most of them went!

Just when I had finally talked myself out of building a black hood before finishing my 701- you just had to put up that C-125... That is one sharp machine. I'll go ahead and tell you, I'm copying those decals!

If I find a good 1976 or 1977 I don't care what engine is bolted in there I'll buy it.

I should probably also clarify my comments: I am an engineer myself, and no one gives me more grief than I do! My grandfather was the king of making fun of himself. I guess I try to do the same. Ad a kid, I would get embarrassed when I did something stupid and got caught. As I've gotten older, I figure it's more fun to laugh like everyone else does! Side note- my gramps believed Wiley Coyote was literally created in his image. I've found over the years that this too, appears hereditary.

I’d bet a large sum (25¢ at least) that WH was exactly this sort of company. Focus on the customer and competition, excellent engineering, efficient supply chain, low inventory, well-controlled costs across the board. The idea that people might 50 years hence obsess over the product the worker was assembling today? Hilarious! My sense is that the ownership aged out at about the same time the market shifted away from their core product line. The new owners aimed to ride the mature product’s declining demand curve and then close it out.

Merry Christmas

Saving this as a I will be converting a roper blade to fit on a wheelhorse

@CRF857 nice solid detailing , shows solid past equipment experience . that turnbuckle set up , just makes sense , those are great to dial in spring loading , so many opportunities to improve attachment set ups , nice job , pete

The spacers I used were actually the spacers WH used for K181 engines when they were on a shaker mount (#13in diagram). That plus 3 3/8" SAE washers. The tractor is on loan so I can't measure it. The spacers were WH# 106430 I am pretty sure it worked out to 1"

Got the snow blower mounted on the big tractor then did a full service on it. Tractor was fully serviced a few weeks ago. The Wheel horse is ready to plow as well. There is a big storm forecast for tonight so I am now ready.

Those gears are fine. Concerning wear and noise, when you put your 90w oil back in, add about 1/2 qt of Lucus Oil Treatment. It is like adding some STP only better. The trans will take about 1 1/2qt of 90w. Fill until oil starts to come out the fill plug on the left side, close and then add the 1/2qt of Lucus.

My 1977 B-100

Almost nothing more dangerous than an engineer… Except maybe someone trying to transcribe something an engineer says?

1977 C-120 Bought from the original owner. Didn't look like this when I got it. Cleaned it up a bit. Nice solid tractor.