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bought a 312-8 new in 1989 --- my Aunt Alice left me a very small few $ when she passed -- My wife and I lived on very, very tight budget with two young children at that time in 1989 and I could never have afforded a WH - so we used her generosity to go buy a tractor and have called it Big Al to this day in honor of my Aunt Alice --- my son started plowing with it in '89 at age 8 - and has a 520Xi now and his son has a 520HC -- - and now my other two grandsons, age 12, are involved doing a rehab with me on a 314. Great to see the next generations carry on the traditions -

National Jump for Jelly Beans Day is a U.S. holiday celebrated on July 31. Not only is it a day set aside to appreciate jelly beans, but it’s also a day to jump for joy simply because they exist. Jelly beans have been around for more than a century in the U.S. and have secured themselves a position among the most consumed candies in the country. It’s not only a candy loved by most Americans but a candy that even a one-time president described as his favorite. And so, there’s little wonder why it’s so popular and why two holidays were created to celebrate it.

As I get older I really can’t stand extreme hot or cold. I need weather like San Francisco weather where it’s 72 and sunny most of the time, but I’m definitely not moving there😂

Met up with Pullstart briefly today and got him the tires that were on this tractor, he has some much better tractors for those to go on. And got parts from him for this tractor, I will get some pictures and such tomorrow. Very much thanks for his efforts of getting me parts. After I met with him, I got this Brinly plow from FB marketplace that wasn't far away. Used very little and looks like it was probably stored inside.

Some Engines feel like they idle a bit smoother, and accelerate a bit cleaner, could be old coils not quite putting out rated voltage. Magnums, like Onans, really pour on the fuel when you get into the governor and the resistance at the plug goes up, if it exceeds the coils power output you get no ignition. A wider gap means more power, but its a balance. I used to see a bunch of Snapper Joystick Z mowers and Craftsman GTs with Magnum Twins. Sometimes you'd get a momentary dead miss on power up on one side, close up the plugs a hair and that completely went away.

The "D" models were well equiped for the situation you have. The PTO is engineered into the tractor rather than being an add-on and they are a much more robust unit overall.

This is where I put my fuel pump on the 856.It calls for a low placement. Just start fresh and change every thing -lines -filters-carb rebuild.Good luck and hope it turns out well.

I sold this machine, but the new owner’s happy!

My 2 cents.... 8 HP is marginal to run a tiller, even if is in great running condition. Best used to till an area free of rocks & roots, not unbroken unknown soil. The Commando 8 is a 4 speed.... you really need the low range 6 or 8 speed to be able to run the engine at WOT and still have a slow enough ground speed. Or an automatic? Right implement, wrong tractor.....

Today, I repurposed a few extra coffee cups for workshop stuff. I built an exhaust pipe with assistance from my father and mounted the new muffler to it for the C -141. And drove it over to my house. it’s been it’s been sitting at my parents next door for the last 2 months or so. Just little things and painting now.

UPDATE: I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd share it here is well for the benefit of anyone chasing down Mighty Mac topics.

I'm glad to see this, that museum seems like a hidden secret! We went there about 15 years ago and I was very impressed! Back then they had a A10 out back and from these pictures it looks like it's being displayed inside now, so that's good to see. During my time in Desert Storm in 1990/1991 I feel that the Apache helicopters and the A10s probably helped save our lives! I've read how the Air Force is trying to decommission the A10s due the the new F35s and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. C-85

I would agree with that. There is a fairly large torque increase from small block to big block on a K series or Magnum Kohler. Stroke, compression, even the mass of the individual flywheel makes a difference. My point was you don't need 25hp to run a tiller and that low range alone has more impact on the tiller performance than does pure horsepower. All that being said, tillers have been used with small block Kohler-equipped tractors successfully since the 1960s (especially after 1967). Obviously, as with any powered implement the performance rises with the amount of power applied. That is a given.

https://www.gardentractortalk.com/d3/downloads/monthly_02_2013/4ef4770f77cdcfea3ac9b076f67aebc2-ark-loader.pdf Here is a much clearer copy.

I fully agree with the others on the thread. Firstly, the 36 inch rear tillers were some of the absolute best attachments Wheel Horse ever made. I would say this concerning horsepower: I tilled with a 310-8 for years. It was very strong, even in solid red clay that was loaded with rocks. That being said, 10 horsepower isn't much, but the low range on the tractor is what allows less power to do so much work. The slower ground speed allows the tiller to take a far smaller bite. Point being? A healthy 8 hp engine might be enough under certain conditions, but the low range of an 8 speed is what is an absolute necessity.

Try these with your under sized spuds! SMASHED POTATOES 12 small red or yellow potatoes (about 1-1/2 pounds) 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup butter, melted 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 tablespoons minced fresh chives 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley Directions Preheat oven to 450°. Place potatoes in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain. Leave the potatoes in the hot pan until cool to dry them out some. This is a key point! · Drizzle oil over the bottom of a 15x10x1-in. baking pan; arrange potatoes over oil. Using a potato masher or fork, flatten potatoes to 1/2-in. thickness. Brush potatoes with butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with chives and parsley. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Yikes! Those pics reminded me of the time wife bought us tickets to see Eric Clapton in Boston for my birthday. She got us a room in a hotel and we went wine shopping in the North End. Carrying a bag with several bottles in one hand and a box of pastry from Mike's in the other, I tripped on a cobble stone and went down. The wine hit first and the bottles broke. Left hand followed into the bag! A hand surgeon at Mass General had to stitch up 2 fingers, 40+ stitches. Thought I was loosing my pinky, but I did save the pastry! Worst thing, is we missed the show!

I miss Ronnie.......

Robot lawn mowers... Hope those boys run it over accidentally...

The tractor illustrated parts list includes the engine.

I dang near flipped a boat on that river. Oh, to be young again, lolz!

I got this black hood running… and it works great!

If it is outdoors and I can't get it done be 10:00 am it will still be there tomarow. Been doind about an houre of weeding each morning so far but a few cool days are coming up.

Tried D & D. 👎👎 Two thumbs down. Tried a white colored Dayco brand. Nope. Tried blue STENS brand. OK for 60s tractors but NOT for my 1974 and up C Series 8 Speeds. Tried green Gates brand. Those were fine for both vintage transmissions BUT I can get an original OE Wheelhorse belt for less money. Same for the Napa Gates. Why would I use aftermarket when OE is less money......? For Trina's 1960s: We've been using blue Stens from Lincoln at A to Z Tractor in PA when she needs a replacement. For my 1974 and up: OE Wheelhorse ONLY on 8 speeds.

Thought about mowing and trimming bushes yesterday after work, and it just stayed a thought lol today's heat index is 104 here so it might just stay a thought again

Yesterday was so hot, our friends invited us on a boat ride. Went out the Merrimack River to the ocean and across to the Anisquam River into Gloucester for lunch at Cape Ann Marina. Cruised back behind Plumb Island through the Plumb Island River to Newburyport harbor. The Merrimack River mouth can get nasty! Wonderful way to spend a HOT day!

While I'm not fond of this heat and humidity, It always seemed to me that I suffered more when I was just lollygagging than when I was working. I think that while at work (mainly on construction) my mind was focused on the job at hand. When just setting around, heat could almost seemed overbearing. For years I said I'd take the heat over the cold. "I can slow down enough to stay cool but I can't speed up enough to stay warm. We didn't take off too many days due to heat but surely did when cold. In the summer, we'd start work at sunrise. In the winter, we'd delay until 9 or ten o'clock to start working. I believe the cold is harder on tools as well. My worm drive skill saw just didn't like to spin up when it was cold. When we were working, depending upon wind, we just didn't work outside if the temp didn't reach 20 degrees.

No @Pullstarts were harmed in the making of this story

A good running riding lawn mower sells for $4 to 600 at my weekly auction.

This is my 856 directly under carb glass sediment bowl.. bottom screw wet to touch with fuel.. even without turning it.. will have to wait till I get a replacement gasket for it to open it to drain and clean bowl.

Warthogs fly over my house regularly for training. I hate to think that such a proven plane would be history. The F35 is a whole different plane and I think there is a place for both, but spending money seems to be the priority.

I just thank all who served - ground or air - to make our freedom possible...

Lucky you did not get the wedding ring caught then fall - you would have then a stubby finger. That is exactly what happened at a local indoor Tennis / Racketball Club. A woman hit the ball and it went up towards the metal roof, bounced and was wedged in the reachable crotch of the vertical & angled roof support. She jumped up to retrieve the ball, ended loosing 2 knuckles. Not good....

Shut off Valve threads into fuel tank. Go to local hardware and get a "nipple" or better yet a brass hose barb adapter with proper thread (1/8"pipe?) and 1/4" hose barb. Tank will be empty to achieve this. Connect "new" 1/4" fuel line to hose barb with screw clamps(also at hardware store).

I’ll agree it’s hot, but we have only had a few 100+ days. Last summer most of June to mid- September was 100f. So these 95-98f days seem a little better here. But still hot. The window AC in my shop is on its last leg, 97 outside and it will only get it cooled to 80.

Yellow with "C" is the screw clamp. Red with the "V" is the valve. The valve will likely screw into the tank bottom. Check with @76c12091520h Brian Badman? Otherwise PLEASE PLEASE do yourself a favor and get good quality parts. Not off the jungle site. I've had great luck dealing with Aircraft Spruce Company for fuel related parts.

I've had good luck with the TSC belts. That being said, many of my machines have non-OEM pulleys at the transmission. My only complaint is that the TSC belts shed alot of blue dust during break in on the PTO side of the engine and belt guard. They stop after 3-5 hours of use, but it's annoying with a new belt.

Just for starters, dump the sediment bowl on the carb. It's a common spot for condensation to build up and attract crud due to corrosion of the aluminum. Be careful when removing it. Do not twist the bowl so you don't destroy the seal. If that doesn't solve the problem you might have to replace your fuel lines and filter.

Pulled the front tires off the rims to give to Pullstart. And the inside of the rims are a bit rusty... I know people have had worse much worse, but this is the worst of the tractors I have the outsides look fine. Outside of the rims

Only twenty minutes from, but have not been there in years. Use to go with my Tech Ed students.

Son#3 called and said "Dad I need help, I broke a bolt off on my car transmission" He's a software trouble shooter for software used in many electronic financial transactions, (data in motion) so he's kind of techie. But I have to give him credit, he tries to learn and do a lot of house and hands on stuff himself. He had rotated tires, changed engine oil, and was changing transmission oil on his 2017 Chevy Equinox. It has a semi sealed transmission, no filter, no dipstick, but manufacture recommend changing transmission oil every 45k miles. He watched a YouTube where the guy pulled one bolt to remove an O-ring sealed speed sensor to verify full level. Speed sensor is located under front left wheel wheel, pic has tire removed and wheel skirt pulled back to the right. His driveway is too sloped for jack stands, so car is on asphalt pavement street, 97F 2pm. Have I mentioned that broken bolts challenge me! @adsm08 you came to mind as I scratched my head looking at this. I thought about options, but decided dealer or local shops would just say transmission case needs to be replaced. So......I can't make it any more broke! I brought a Dremel with a 1/4" flat end stone to try to square end of bolt for a good center punch mark. I got a small center punch, bolt seemed fairly hard to be going into an aluminum housing. I started drilling with a 1/8" left hand bit, but it quickly walked to the side of the bolt. I also had a 1/4" rounded end Dremel bit and with difficulty ground a cone into end of bolt (ground a little bit of surrounding aluminum too!) I decided since bolt seemed hard, I needed a really sharp/hard cobalt drill bit. Checked on line and headed 7 miles to town, Ace hardware. While I went to town I had him search parts list and find length of bolt and thread. I didn't want to drill to far and cause other problems! M6 thread, guy at Ace said they didn't carry metric taps, but when I looked there was a lone M6 tap on the hanger. Miracle #1. Thankfully the sharp bit and the ground cone got my drilling started straight. (and I prayed to St Joseph the whole time I drilled for it to go straight) At close to depth I tried an EZ-Out but no movement.. I kept praying and put the left hand 1/8" bit back in the drill and gently drilled with a careful /slight side pressure. The bolt started to move a little! Back to the EZ-Out, and it slowly unscrewed. My prayers were answered, Miracle #2 it drilled as close to center as imaginable! P.S. while my son was looking for bolt length he found there is an actual square headed level plug on the rear side of the same left wheel well. So the YouTube video guy was wrong, or doing it the hard way. Cleaned all the metal shaving away multiple times. I let him button it up, add transmission oil, and drive it around as I packed my tools up. He was kicking himself for breaking the bolt, I never ask how he broke it. I told him I've broke my share!) But reminded him I always try to watch multiple YouTube videos.

@c-series don very cool! Thank you for posting. You know you are getting older when three aircraft you have worked on are now represented in a museum... F-14 Tomcat (Anytime Baby!), AH-1 Cobra, and UH-1 Huey. The F-14 from VF-143, squadron name, "The Puking Dogs" Dan

Some are bolted and some are welded. Only matters if once installed it is not a the proper angle to do its job. As for the front axle pin, I found that my axle was shifting fore and aft within its bracket. I got a pack of various-thickness shims to eliminate most of that play.

That steering wheel location gives a new meaning to "Driving by the seat of your pants!" Make a desk lamp out of it or a coffee table.

The Drain Plug is on the bottom of the pump. I did not change the orientation of the pump. I just unscrewed the hoses from where they were and swapped them to the other side. It is a bi-directional pump. The ports on the pump had no markings to indicate which was input/ouput and I could not find anything in the document that came with the pump indicating inlet/outlet. I attached a picture of the pump from the bottom showing the drain plug.

Just wanted to let everyone know I reversed the hoses on the pump and everything works now. Thanks for all the suggestions.