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I smoked from an age so young that I don’t want to admit. After several attempts I finally quit for good around 20 years ago. One of the best things I’ve done! I started to feel better within a month or two. Plus now I can’t fathom spending that kind of money on cigarettes. Most of the time when I smell cigarette smoke it’s repulsive, however maybe once or twice a year I’ll smell it and think “Damn, that smells good!” Makes me want a cigarette with a fresh cup of coffee or an ice cold Budweiser! That urge quickly goes away when I think about how much better I feel not smoking.

Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) holds World No Tobacco Day on May 31. Their goal is to spread awareness about the risks of tobacco use and how we can make the world tobacco free. Roughly 6 million people die from tobacco-related ailments every year. And that number is projected to rise to over 8 million by 2030. But this is by no means a guarantee. The Sustainable Development Agenda aims to reduce deaths from noninfectious diseases by a third. Diseases linked to tobacco are on the list, so if we hit the target, 2030 will be a year to celebrate (oh yea!)—not only for our health, but the size of our wallets. Your average smoker drops around $4,000 on cigarettes annually. Imagine all of the other cool holidays you could enjoy with that money (we have a few suggestions, just saying). So let’s use World No Tobacco Day as a launching pad to a brighter and less smoky future!

Well I finished the reinforcements and gave this thing some color. I also took the advice of using Heim joints. I had some 1/2 inch ones and threaded rod, and I put it in a 0.080 walled black pipe. Nothing I can physically lift should bend this thing. I made both sides of the lift arm pivot reach down to the frame with 1/4 steel. I made the reinforcement on the left on the outside and the right on the inside to clear the drive belt. Both sides tie into the runners down the inside of the seat stand. I don't know much, but this thing is as strong as the frame it rides on. There won't be any cracks forming on this one. Odd how the exact same paint looks so different when it's first sprayed compared to the frame being cured out. Just thinking out loud...

I started popping this rig together today. I need to better the idlers, then give it a shot in the field.

Trying to knock out a few of those save it or toss it things in the shop and this 8-speed just needed a wheel bearing...well, the story of my life is that things are rarely that easy. Picked up a pair of bearings and seals so I could put a spare on the shelf. De-grease, pressure wash and time to address the existing bearing, or more accurately, bearing housing. No needles left of that one and I'm just going to drive it in and press in a new one. Went to Ace and got a 1" x 5" galvanized nipple and cap. Ground the end of my new "driver" down to 1 1/4 O.D. and flattened the end. Worked perfectly!

Almost loaded. Hope I can find room for this.

Me too @Ed Kennell, me too! I’m really looking forward to seeing/getting that tractor! Thank you for taking such good care of it👍🏻

I changed up the ramps situation the other day. I figure I’ll never be hauling Norman’s tractor deck AND the flat bed at the same time, so I can borrow the ramps. Norman’s deck for reference… if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Link to the deck build here.

Get out the timing light or do static timing on the engine, it could be ignition timing is causing the knock.

If the engine had been properly rebuilt that would add to the value. A running, driving C-100 in average condition with a tiller in my opinion should bring $ 500 to $ 600, perhaps a bit more if you don't have to drive too far to get it.

We spent several hours in the barn building. Organizing. Swapping positions of items. Removing things from totes. Putting things in totes. Moving from upstairs to downstairs. Moving from downstairs to upstairs. Even swapped some things building to building. Also did some construction. Trina and her momma built in another place for storage upstairs. I started assembly on the new exercise rack.

Waiting for a ride to the Big Show

This coming Monday, June 2nd, it will be 35 years since I quit smoking. 2 packs a day to nothing. It wasn't easy. Was definitely an addiction. Only one (addiction) left is Wheel Horses...

Well... other than your choice of friends and acquaintances...

Same here, but I quit around 50 years ago.

I got the balance gears ⚙️ outta the rebuilt K341 I picked up from @Bill D a few months ago. I had to clean out the holes 🕳 with a wire brush and drill bit. Then I used a 1/2" x 4" Grade 8 bolt as a driver. Worked SLICK. Gotta remember that.....

I get tired just reading all you do. ----- Today I flushed & refilled the coolant in the Mahindra & greased all fittings. Cleaned it pretty well, and ordered all 5 filters, a fuel filter float bowl, & manual. Need to buy 6 gallons of universal hydraulic fluid & 5 quarts diesel oil (Rotella 15W40). Adjusting brakes & replacing the WP/Alternator belt is on the list, too. Previous owner wasn't good with maintenance. 🥺 See "coolant", below.

James Bond had the solution for that, "Shaken, not stirred" works for martinis, why wouldn't it work on Castrol?

Went antique shopping for more old oil cans and found 3 of these. It's a API CF-2 rating. $3.00 each. Not a bad deal. Should work well in my 10HP and under Kohlers.

Never too late to quit John! Do it…..

I decided to do a couple more reinforcement mods. One was simple: added a backing plate to the lift arm lock. The other I borrowed from the 701 design. I braced the upper column just for giggles. The pic below showing the full rod length has the shifters as far left as they go with no contact. Hopefully I can get this one done so I can get back on my 701 and some engine work. The hard part is over on this one.

Right on schedule.

I can report that Giles got his 36 inch mower deck spindle I sent him in the mail to England or the UK as may be! He wrote me a nice note: Very swift, impressive mail service to rural England. (We're about 30 minutes from Stonehenge). Thank you every so much, it's hugely appreciated and will help keep this wonderful tractor going for another 50 years Thanks again, Giles. **** It feels great to extend the Wheel Horse love to others!

There fixed that ... If it wasn't for cigarettes during WW II you could be speaking German or Japanese. I do need to quit but since the doctor took away my alcohol, sex & fried foods not to mention the missus curbing my tractor buying habit it's the only vice I have left.

I quit around 40 years ago after smoking for around 8 years. I felt better soon after as well. I can't stand the smell any more, I can even tell if someone is smoking in a car ahead of me driving down the road.

Ok got back up to VA and started checking the 312, battery is good, fuses good decided to change out the solenoid but when I tried the key still nothing. I was looking at the wiring thinking it had to be the ignition and noticed the wire connected to the 25amp fuse seemed to move very freely as I jostled the tractor, I thought it might be disconnected at the ignition so I gently tugged on it to see if it was free but no, then I gently pulled it from the fuse side and the wire separated with almost no pressure. Turned out the wire gave out between stopping the running tractor and trying to restart it. I stripped the insulation and twisted the wires together and it now starts every time like a champ. Thanks for the help and suggestions, Jim

Here's one with a Bear paw for reference.

Today I brought home my new toy! It's a Mahindra 3015 4x4 tractor, with a 3 cylinder 30 HP 1.5L diesel with 1300 hrs. The 3 speed hydrostatic transmission is simple & effective. The 3 pt hitch allows me to use numerous attachments, like a backhoe, tiller, post hole digger, etc. It's got mid and rear PTOs rated at 25 HP for powering implements. It needs a $15 water pump / alternator belt (got it), a coolant flush / change, and grease everywhere. It lifts 1300 pounds which is just a TINY bit more than the Ark500 on my 1973 1-0440. 😉 The first task will be to remove a fallen ash tree once the lawn dries a bit Oh, despite being about 1000 pounds over it's capacity, the Ridgeline handled it with guts to spare! I'm glad it was only 36 miles over flat roads, however.

My lunchtime walk pays off again....

I’m replacing the spindle bearings on a deck for my 1991 312-8 and after cleaning all the grease out of the housings I noticed 1 of them has some pitting on the inside of the housing. The other 2 are pretty smooth all around except for several, fairly obvious, slightly raised sections evenly spaced around the inside. My first thought was to take a brake cylinder hone and smooth try to reduce the roughness but then I noticed the raised parts in them. The pitting isn’t terrible but it is noticeable and seems to be in the areas where the raised ridges were. Also, I noticed the grease that was in that spindle seemed to be thinner and very gray compared to the grease in the other 2 that showed the green Lucas grease I had used. Has anyone else seen this? What would have caused it? Is the spindle housing usable?

Me too buddy. Me too. And today's work was all in a 3 hour span. We took the morning "off". This evening we met some friends for a good meal out.

@Pullstart Well today is your lucky day Kevin, I have a non tweaked frame! I’ll bring it to the show. I’ll trade you for a cheeseburger,fries and a drink!

Today on this gray rainy day, I took some tractor parts to my parents to be welded/machined. I also started drilling out a granite house number post to mount the plate next to it. . it’s going to take a while….

I'm going to pour it into a glass measure before using. I will report any sludge problems. I would imagine that if I just poured it into the engine it would mix pretty rapidly anyway.

I quit for the first time in 1970, shortly after quitting I went to the farm equipment dealer and ordered a new truck. The salesman was going over the list of options and I proudly declined the cigarette lighter, before the truck was delivered I had started back smoking. About 1974 I took up Scuba diving, the air tank that most people got an hour of diving with only gave me about 30 minutes That got my attention and I quit for good.

Me too, just thought one day, “I’m not getting anything out of this”. So I stopped. A couple of weeks after quitting I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, and found it so easy to decline the offers of cigarettes from friends, it seems that when someone wants to quit, everyone around you seems to want to sabotage your plans? It didn’t take long before the smell of cigarette smoke, etc, became repulsive!!! It still is.

Got mine. Well packed, not smashed flat

I thought you were building a SLAM DUNK tank for the Meet & Greet in September so you could test it out for us, We'll supply the water and audience @ebinmaine

Glad you liked my idea. Amazing fab work as always.

Few more hours of shop time, getting the rear end put back together

The Honda I put into my 312-8 making it a 320-8 is working great. See my thread on the project. 312-8 repower - Engines - RedSquare Wheel Horse Forum

I quit chew and snuff 23 ago. It was real hard, I would go past a store and start checking my pockets to make sure I was not out. It had me. Went to the Dr a couple months later, they checked my BP and it was much lower. The Dr. ask me what changed.....only thing I said was not chewing. In all honesty, I never touched the stuff again but I could start right back up if I did.

@ebinmaine @Easton Rich functional detailing is what I regularly come too on a repetitive issue , that will always point to another stress transfer spot , the DISCOLORATION on the small shafts point to heat / stress issue , check out related lubricants for heat / stress ratings . years back now, tried rislone , zinc , in my oils , the running ease is very apparent , realise this is a very confrontational issue , but it eliminated engine effort / easy operation issue , good exchange , pete

looks like defects in the casting. Should not effect anything. there is no contact in that area.

Had to shuffle a few around today so I figured I’d snap a few pics!

I can see which tractor takes precedence @c-series don , the 420 just in case you need to get it out of the storage barn quicker than the others. Tough to replace or rebuild that one.

I go where the truck goes, cause we travel together