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Well, I guess that puts me back on topic as well! (albeit a temporary mount) 

I added a "peep hole" on my Onan just to make sure I could inspect the fins without removing all the tins. I just added snap-in plastic plugs to ensure airflow wasn't lost. Worked very well just to inspect between disassembly and cleaning. The hole is large enough to allow a compressed air nozzle to pass if debris needs removal in a pinch. @Red Stallion All of this may seem a bit like overkill, but a good running Onan is worth the trouble. This is especially true if the machine will be mowing in hot weather. The Onan has massive air flow near the nose of the cutting deck and left wheel, and tends to ingest blown clippings regularly. But you can see the theme here: protect the cooling of the rear cylinder as much as possible. We'll never have confirmed test results, but every little bit helps to ensure you get more life from that engine. My 520-H carried a 60 inch deck in the hot humid summers I live in for several years without issue, and this engine was around 1,000 hours on the clock as well.

No snow here but brrr cold so hard water fishing ... should be working on horse projects.

Got my tires mounted up. One side painted and mounted. They look good, but they are very small. I had read they ran a little on the small side, but I didn't realize just how small they are. No complaints other than how hard they are to put on. They won't come off the wheels for a long time, that is for certain. At least not by me doing it.

Taryl will be so confused...

I beg to differ Bill. I think they have their good. better & best. In today's throw away mentality however the best is seldom seen. Offshores are giving them a run for the money. It seems that plastic cam gears, intake manifolds and now even complete carbs are the norm. Sure there are advances in plastics and manufacturing but with us old skool coots they are are a hard pill to swallow.

Probably just paid Cheech & Chong a few baggies

I didn’t do anything to the tractors, just picked up some of the parts lot I bought from Eric, @ebinmaine. At some point, I’ll get the last bit. Maybe this spring once it’s warmer. The ideas are a flowing though. I got bit by a horse😁

Well at least she ain't spoiled.

Life is better if I let her win ...

"I'll just fix this one thing. Should be quick and easy..."

I cut my belt guard in two, you don't need it on a hydro like you do on an 8 speed.

I thought I would start a dedicated thread where I can put all my questions, and document my restoration journey. And also ask the brain trust for advice and guidance as I go. I posted in another thread, and was quickly advised that because I live in Australia, I should consider the mod to remove the tins and and increase airflow around back cylinder. Are the tins people referring to, the heat shield looking things around the cylinder head? I have pulled off all the panels, and plan to get them blasted and then repaint. Then it needs a good bath and it has a lot of build up of dirty and lawn clippings.

I never seen one in person, and maybe not even on Classic Tractor Fever. There were 3 versions, two with Chrysler 6 cylinder engines made in 1951 and 1952. And one with a 4 cylinder engine made in 1941-42 called the Twin Row. This one, I believe, is a Twin Row. AQOYdvuhcGcYYR3LUZxDzPg3gdNLP6h7_p_fXR8hQlxPgmwvpxULafc6wuiJqXsuy-QnzLc7YYMKmUuURSomq5Dm.mp4

Even the big box stores of yesterday had a decent basic tractor that could mow grass and pull a wagon for years. I have a garage we deliver oil to every so often, one time he had an old probably early to mid 70's Montgomery wards tractor ....in great shape sitting out front - looking it over he said it mowed grass for years - now uses it to pull the cars and trucks in the garage that won't start - I just pondered it all day thinking of the green ones that passed through my neighborhood people paid 5-7k - broke 75% time and/or the transmissions couldn't handle the slight hills here with a rider . Me and my 40 year old horses watched a lot plastic green/orange stuff come and go broken - I did sell one neighbor a horse so he could lose his plastic green .

The TaperLock by its design squeezes down onto the shaft on its full diameter.Properly torqued, should be just fine...

Let me climb back up on my 55 yo. box. Quality isn't really important. We, USA consumers, can not afford to continue the financing of the CCP. Nothing political, just basic Military Science 101.

Just to confirm for anyone finding this topic at a later date.. I measured my axle and it is 1" on the 1983 WorkHorse GT-1642 with 8 speed trans..

National Bagel Day is January 15. Bagels have a history that is richer than your favorite cream cheese spread! These rounds of dough can be found just about anywhere: breakfast joints, coffee shops, supermarkets, or even your kitchen pantry. In fact, 2018 saw more than 354 million bagels sold. The beginnings of the modern bagel can be traced to the Polish obwarzanek, a thin, boiled, then baked ring of dough.

Just finished my poppy (lightly toasted and buttered) with a dark roast coffee. No drug tests scheduled!

A little late, but thank you. Engine tins, shrouds, heat shields, call it what you like. This is the ductwork that directs the cooling air over the engine cooling fins. Unfortunately the flywheel fan also sucks up grass clippings and blows them across the cooling fins where they become stuck if there is any leaking oil on the fins. Remove the ductwork Locate and repair any oil leaks..look closely around the oil filter base plate Clean the fins..do not paint Remove the heads and decarbon the chamber Set the valves Seal the oil filter to the duct work with the grommet or if not available make your own with a peel and stick door insulation. Does venting the belt guard improve air flow across the rear cylinder But it will not restrict it I do not use my 520 or any twin engine tractor for mowing. IMO they are inefficient using excessive fuel that is converted to heat instead of HP. I only use 10 and 12 HP singles for mowing and dedicate the the 520 to winter snow removal. It excels in this duty using all that heat to warm the cab. Just my based on my limited experience.

Toasted regular whole wheat piled high with extra chunky peanut butter and orange marmalade. Had to have one this morning.

Onion bagel,onion baked in, not on. Toasted with cream cheese.

V twins don't have this issue...

Wheel Horse Makes it But Rehlko Skakes It ? @Vinylguy better get busy making new decals.

What's next ? Gigbrs & Nattorts

I want to agree with this, but my dad used to joke that this is why WH went out of business in the first place. They made them so good you bought one and never had to buy another. The fact that my 855 is still going at 60 years old is kind of evidence that he may not have been wrong.

John Kohler (1844-1900) started the Kohler Co. in Sheboygan, WI in 1873 making plows and farm implements. In 1920, Kohler Co. started to make engines. John's son, Herb Kohler Sr. (1891-1968) took over running the company from his father. Then, Herb Kohler Jr. (1939-2022) took over for his father. In 2019, the engine division was relocated from Kohler, WI. to Hattiesburg, MS. It is my understanding the reason for the move was to try and make the engine business profitable. As many of us know the deep south has a highly unskilled labor force along with high turnover which results in quality issues. It is also my understanding Stanley/Black & Decker, after acquiring MTD, was interested in purchasing the engine division but decided to purchase less expensive engines built in China. FYI, a 22HP Predator from Harbor Freight is $950 versus a Kohler Command 22HP is $2500, 2.6 times the cost. How can you compete? After Herb Kohler Jr's. death in Sept. 2022, both the engine and generator division was sold to Platinum Equity in May 2024. My understanding is Platinum Equity is the same firm that acquired Tecumseh.

Size? Brand?

105763 is 1-1/8 105762 1"

Deailing with A-to-Z will be helpful if (as is likely) your axle is munged around the woodruff key slot. Avoiding the transaxle disassembly needed to replace an axle can make the cost of the taper lock hub look pretty reasonable!

I can get my calipers out and measure my hub / axle to be sure but I've read a lot over the years that the 8speed work horse has 1" and the hydros have 1- 1/8.. but what part number correlates to what size? LOL I use Jacks and other sites more for looking up parts for part numbers.. as above reply states.. I get the number and then go search for that number often times finds a brand new part much cheaper.. Thanks to Paul for the parts download pdf.. now I don't have to use these sites to look up the numbers..

Partstree lists 2, not sure of the difference. https://www.partstree.com/models/a1-164202-gt-1642-toro-garden-tractor-1983/wheels-and-tires-22/

Use a proper puller. They are a little pricey for my hobby. I can save them.

Should be a one inch axle. A-Z sells a taper lock hub that will work with a damaged keyway.

What a great idea. If my engine tins ever need to come off, several peep/cleanout holes will be punched.

The only job title more dangerous than "engineer". ...And as an engineer, I fully agree with my statement!

Eh... @WHX?? I'm noticing her's is bigger...

whhhaaa? Crazy talk I tell ya. Crazy talk. 🤪

I added 120lbs to the front axle this year, it made a world of difference vs nothing before except washer fluid in the tires. I've never needed down pressure but my font end would get pushed around when the plow was angled.

So, 6 months later. ...She's slightly larger. First pic, July. Second pic, January. She's now about 80lbs. Still a puppy of course but still growing. I think she needs a saddle.

Great to see you!

Unless I am really missing something here it uses 1-1/8 hubs part #105763

I'm going to deviate slightly here. When I was a kid, my mother gardened and we usually had most of our food made at home. Going out was something special. In our town, delicatessens didn't exist (hence the trip to Caplan's), and neither did pizza shops. If we got a pizza, it was usually when we went to Ocean City Maryland. They actually had "pizza parlors" on the boardwalk. What I thought was good pizza all changed when I left home and had real pizza in New York City. We now have two real NY-style pizza shops 2 miles from home. We still don't have a good deli although it's nothing for the wife and me to drive an hour for good food.

I am not worried about the stopping. The brakes are one of the only down falls to a wheel horse. This basically will be a show tractor thing. Use around the house on 90% flat ground. With no towing down hill. I think we will be ok. But yes lots of good points. The way we want to attach the lift will make it easy to come off if we decide it’s a dumb idea 😂

Wheelhorse_kid and I started our next project a 854 that we have had here for a while. He got it in a package deal with 5 other tractors and a ton of miscellaneous parts. The previous owner clearly tinkered with it and built a custom tow truck attachment built out of a wheel horse snow plow frame. We knew the engine was stuck so tonight he started taking parts off of it while I made dinner. The mower deck came off and won’t go back on unless we decide to go a different route. Under the head is pretty nasty with tons of rust/dirt on the piston. The cylinder wall at the top is pretty rough. Hopefully we can get it cleaned up and useable. I was impressed with how easily all the bolts came out of the engine clearly the guy had worked on it. Maybe even trying to get un seized. The starter generator was also seized I was able to free it up some what. He discovered that the shifter shifts into all the gears but for some reason the pattern is way to the left it must be bent. It has 5 bolt hubs on it. Was that common on 854’s or did someone swap them? We both like the idea of a tow truck tractor but don’t like how he mounted it. We plan to revamp how it mounts add front weights and maybe doing ag tires all the way around. Everything will be built so that it can come off easy enough if we ever want to put it back to stock. Looking forward to working on this project with him over the winter and into the spring. Hoping we can get it up and running

Started having a poke arounnd for the gasket, but doesn't look like anyone stocks them in Australia, which is annoyong to say the least! I've been looking at people's belt guard mod, and looks like I finally get to fire up the mill again to cut some slots! Any excuse to justify buying the toy.

Spent the weekend prepping the new shop up grade. recently purchased a large gas powered air compressor and had to set up an enclosure for it. Day one, put the 4x9 shed together. This would not have taken all day had every single painted piece not been covered in protective plastic. Spent half of our assembly time pealing that crap off. Finished assembly on the second day and then it was time to move the compressor and shed to their new home. Wheel Horse parts came into play with moving the compressor. Slid a 3/4" bar through one of the fork pockets and installed some front wheels from one of my Horses on it. Then used some hose clamps to attach a bar to one of the handles. Then two of us could easily move the compressor into place. After the compressor was in position we slide the shed out to it. We lifted one end of the shed and slid it in to place. Compressor and enclosure in their new location and spiked down with 5/8" x 30" rebar. Even a little room left to store a few extras. A bit of plumbing left to do inside the shop and we will be ready to do some winter resto's.

I paid $1400 for mine. '96 3/12-8 with 1-1/8" axles, magnum 12, 850 hours when I got it. Came with the 37" deck, bagger, 44" snowblower, cast iron weights and chains. Like others have said in the northeast they hold their value. Even the beaters command $500. Its incredible what 12hp can do. I've pushed and pulled way more than I thought a garden tractor could and I don't feel I've gone anywhere near the limit of the machine. Also mows as good as any commercial mower I've ever used.