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And I thought you were asking about the MPG fuel stats on Mrs Ks favorite ride.

I don’t know my birds of prey well, but I am continually attempting to improve habitats out back. As much as I don’t want mice, I know they have a place in the food chain, and they move in with the habitats I create. Along with having my chickens and cats around the place, I have more eagles, hawks, coyotes, and other predators around here. It’s a nervous balance of mine, to keep the habitat growing and keep our farm animals on the ground.

So as may of you know in September I bought a 1257. We fully rebuilt the transmission. I got a new ignition switch a few weeks ago and put that in. Then we got snow so it got pushed to the back. Today we finally brought it back in. Cleaned the points and it fired right up. More to come later today. IMG_1453.mov

I figured I should get in a ride while the getting is good because of the uncertain weather conditions nowadays. I used the Side x Side to pack roughly 6 '' of snow on the ground. The 418-A is my mowing tractor and it's nice to get behind the wheel with no mower deck and wind it up some. This was on Thursday after lunch.

January 11, 1838, First public demonstration of telegraph messages sent using dots and dashes at Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail.

Did some cleaning yesterday night. And came how way better then I was expecting. Still have to clean the rims and find a belt guard though. Do have some other plans for this tractor as well

As I recall, I think Mrs. K had 3 of them back in the day. One of her favorites was the one with the two small center facing third seats that could seat 4 rug rats. The rear door opened as a door for loading passengers or as a tail gate for loading 20- 4X8 sheets of plywood or drywall.

Yes you can solder the hole closed...after you get all the gas out. use a soldering gun not a torch

Tony boy does that bring back some memories good and bad. I’ve had four of these 1257 one of my favorites. It has a nice feel at the steering wheel and the foot rest. I’ve always liked sitting over the tractor not in the tractor. The engine sounds good. Nice smooth idle.

Todays adventure - rebuild the steering system. To start off I turned a portion of 5/8" stock down to 9/16" and threaded it to 12 pitch. Next drill a hole in it and tap the inside of it to 3/8-24. Then use a parting tool to cut it to length. OK, what am I building here ?? Remember the fan gear that the PO messed up by welding the drag link to it? The hole in it was too large for a heal-a-coil. So I tapped the hole in it to 9/16-12. What I made was an insert to repair the require 3/8-24 hole in the fan gear. Inserted with Loctite plus I peened the edges to ensure that it does not move. Next - take a peace of 5/8" x 4.5" stock, turn a 15/16" length of each end down to 7/16" and thread it to a 20 pitch. One new drag link. Now for the tie rod that was butchered up. First off, position the front axle and spindles so that everything is held strait. Then cut a 1" x 5/16" flat bar to length. Use a transfer punch to mark the outer holes. Drill the 1/2" holes in each end and the 3/8" hole for the drag link and test bolt things together. Looking good, now it was time to turn the two 1/2' bolts into part #3949 clevis pins. Cut to length and then drill an 1/8" hole 1" deep into the end of the bolt. Drill & tap the end to 1/4-28 to a depth of 3/8" for a grease zerk. Drill an 1/8" cross hole to meet up with the 1/8" length wise hole so that grease can get to the pivot point. Front end repaired & almost ready for some paint.

Got my latest C-160-8 to pop off today. Think she was auctioned off because starter motor was bad. Fixed some wiring issues replaced starter and she popped.. ( can't spray carb cleaner and film at the same time) This is the tractor with the unique K 431 engine.

This service work was done for a 30 year customer by me in their Master Bath installed by others. These fixtures are at least 35 years old. The tub faucets are in polished gold finish which have been very well taken care of over the years. The Symmons shower valve is brass but the trim is not. Always enjoyed working with quality Plumbing products and buying OEM parts knowing full well you could walk away and stand behind your work. I use food grade silicone grease on all parts on reassembly. In todays world you keep your fingers crossed and walk away. One of the main reasons I work for certain customers on a semi- retired basis. Lately I have been going through a LOT of stock and it bothers me to toss it out but I just will never use it all. SAD

This is true. I did the tranny a couple of years ago in order to fix a a bad 3rd gear so with a fresh engine it should be good for another 60yrs.

Not very picture heavy today. One of today's goals was to clean the engine up to prepare it for paint. Part of that goal was to investigate the oil seepage from the head gasket. When I pulled the head, this was the scene. Way too much piston wash for my tastes, not to mention the small puddle of oil laying on top. Given this knowledge, well.. this happened. Thanks to @WHX?? for helping me tear the engine down. Measurements were taken and it looks like it will need a new set of rings & some gaskets. Not a planned event in this resto but nothing that can't be fixed.

I have this Economy Jim Dandy that I bought in 1985 when I was 15 years old. I used to drive it around the neighborhood as it was quite a bit faster than my Work Horse. It has been in my basement now for 29 years. Occasionally I take out the spark plug and drip some Marvel Mystery Oil in the hole, and spin it over by hand. This is the only tractor that I own that is not a Wheel Horse. I’d like to sell it because I realize that I’m not going to restore or even use it. I also have the mower deck for it. I’m not sure of the exact year, but I think it’s early 60’s ?

I have a pile of floats. I could send you one.

Went for a drive to visit our friend yesterday. Got some lunch and went for a nice woods walk. Fresh squirrel tracks. These stone walls are very unusual in our area for several reasons. The height is extreme at about 4 feet in the middle but the length doesn't justify that for any obvious reason. It's only a few dozen feet long and also follows a pretty steep downhill. And... the rocks are flat!

What a lot of folks do not realize is that Symmons will replace all the tub & shower parts, except the brass body, for free as long as you own it. I remodeled my bath in 1985 and installed their Model B unit. About 8 years later, the hot side would not shut off tight. I could not remove the metal 3 flute knob! I called their Customer Service, and a VERY knowledgeable person told me the exact steps to cut it apart and remove it. I received a new loaded valve stem, gaskets, new style plastic knob, and snap-in cover. Shipped to my house - for the bubble.

Hey folks , I haven't been as active here as I once was ( apologies ) . I have been busy . This happened to me this week and I remembered there are "birders" on this forum . Last Wednesday while at work , myself and two coworkers were just shooting the breeze out in our drop lot when something caught our eyes . It was a seemingly injured bird hopping along the fence line. Birds of prey are very common in the city . They hunt the pigeons that nest nearby. We decided to call the SPCA and they forwarded us to the DEC. About 1/2 hour later a woman from the DEC shows up and she can't catch him. My 2 coworkers had left and I decided to help her as she was about to give up . She threw a blanket to me over the fence and told me what to do . I managed to toss the blanket over him and get ahold of both his feet .I carried the bundled injured little guy over to her Jeep and slid it into a pet carrier. He looked in pretty rough shape to my untrained eye . I gave the woman my info and asked if she would keep me updated. This afternoon I get a call . The bird was taken to our SPCA and is doing "quite well". She sent me a pic . He's about a 1 year old Coopers Hawk. He's gorgeous.

No yours went through a spindle off resto and got donated to a tractor for the less fortunate. Page 18

Ya know we really shouldn't talk about Wallfish like that in front of him ...

But what if you only need lunch?

A "Brass Flotilla??", Mike?

Gas dryer has a screaming idler pulley, so replacing the idler, drum rollers, and belt. I much prefer working on tractors opposed to appliances.

Throttle knob ready to install. I like the T style knobs the best. Hair dryer used to heat knob for easier installation and so knob does not crack. This little hair dryer is used a lot in the shop whenever I feel the heat gun might cause damage. Block of wood and dead blow hammer used to tap knob into position. Throttle knob installed.

Lift. PTO, and Tach grips ready to install. Mid tach latch ready for grip to be installed. Mid tach latch grip installed. PTO lever ready for grip to be installed. PTO lever grip installed. You will note that the grips used are the older style as I don't care for the larger new style ones. Hydraulic valve control handle ready for grip to be installed. Hydraulic valve control handle silicone applied to retain grip. Hydraulic valve control handle grip installed.

Foot control pedal assembly ready to install. Foot control rod end ready for Heim joint. Foot control rod end Heim joint jamb nut screwed on fully. Foot control rod end threads greased. Foot control rod end Heim joint screwed on fully (this will be adjusted later). Foot control pedal slid onto shaft. Foot control pedal retainer installed . Retainer is just a large nut drilled out and a set screw added. Heim joint bolted to foot pedal. Heim joint bolted to foot pedal with temporary non locking nut (a nyloc nut will be installed once final adjustments are complete).

...- . .-. -.-- / -.-. --- --- .-..

I love my 1257, had it since my dad gave it to me 10 years ago. My favorite WH tractor. Yours looks like a solid rig 👍.

I only modeled the hydraulic surfaces from the intake to the discharge. So I never got involved with the size or shape of the upper and lower reservoirs. I only needed the max and min water levels and the flow rates to conduct the model tests. There was one TVA project where the prototype index test showed 4.5% less HP output than the model test. After extensive testing and inspection of the new runners we supplied and of the modifications we made to the draft tube shapes, we determined the turbine was not seeing the correct flow. Divers were sent down upstream of the intake and discovered a silt build up that was blocking a lower corner of the intake. Using a Garmin depth/fish finder with GPS I made a map of the silt and installed the same scaled down obstruction on the model. The model test now matched the lower output of the prototype. There is a lot of reluctance to disturb these silt deposits. I do not know if TVA ever removed the silt or just lived with the reduced output.

A “Sparky”

Exhaust covers and air deflector ready to be installed. Engine ready for exhaust covers to be installed. Right exhaust cover tucked under side cover as it was originally. Right engine lifting lug loosely bolted through exhaust and side covers. Both lifting lug bolts have never seize applied to threads. Left engine lifting lug loosely bolted through exhaust and side covers. Note the exhaust cover is on top of the side cover on this side. Both engine lifting lugs loosely bolted through exhaust and side covers. Air deflector sat on muffler and loosely bolted to exhaust covers. Chrome muffler cover attached loosely with the two center screws. Chrome muffler cover attached to muffler with all 6 screws, this also firmly attaches the air deflector to the muffler. Note, all screws have never seize on the threads. Air deflector bolts tightened making sure that there is no contact between the exhaust covers and the intake manifold. Exhaust covers and air deflector installed.

Thats a fantastic rescue story, well done for showing such care and responsibility by doing the right thing. We have all kinds of problems over here for our birds of prey. From road collisions killing owls as they hunt and gamekeepers poisoning hawks to stop them taking game birds. But we have success stories too with reintroduction of some species that had been extinct in some areas. We are only a tiny country and space is in great demand for housing and other building projects, so our government ignore wildlife at every turn and only pay lip service to nature conservation. Look after your wildlife, while you still have it.

I rebuilt the carb on my 416 a month ago or so and it has been running like a swiss watch. Yesterday I started the tractor to warm it up and it ran for seconds and then it shut off. I smelled gas real strong and found it spewed gas out the carb front. So this AM I pulled the carb and found this. A pinhole in the float which I figure would not let it float and shut the needle valve off flooding it. So my question is can I make sure the gas is drained and evaporated out of the float and solder over it? I do have carbs out in the outdoor shed but who knows where and it has wintered up here. The pinhole is at 6 oclock position. Thanks Jack

I ran into DJ this morning, and he even bought me lunch and a coffee! Thanks @hcminis, it was great to run into a familiar face after a 4 hour drive for some car parts!

Was great to catch up with you bud. Thanks for taking time to stop

IT&T International Telegraph and Telephone also owned this company, Mackay Radio. From this location not far from where I live was a major communications station sending many telegraph messages during World War Two and operating until sometime in the late seventies. I remember the many super tall telephone poles that were still standing up until the early nineties on this property that was a couple hundred acres. The buildings were torn down in the early eighties. As kids we would climb up onto the roof of one of the buildings to see the ocean approximately 5 miles away. It was before my time but as a kid I remember the old timers talking about the important roll it played in its heyday. Now because of its high elevation and water views it is mostly high end homes. I’m not sure that date of this photo, it belonged to my cousin and I thought it was so cool that I took a picture of it!

A buddy who is a scrapper called about this hood he picked up with some other scrap metal. Thankfully he called to see if we wanted it. I don't have a use for it but couldn't see letting it get crushed. Pretty straight, no latch or wiring.

I don’t have numbers

Well, that’s it for all the big stuff on the frame… Going to let the paint cure for a week or so, and then apply the rest of the decals. Everything went together perfectly, and I still cannot believe I did not have a single frozen bolt or nut on the entire project! I’ll be shifting focused to the engine and a complete rewire of the electrical. I think I might take a break for a few days or a week or so anyway. Give my back and hands time to recuperate lol.

Many early Economy's didn't come with hoods. This is a 59 hood

I’m not endorsing them since it’s still somewhat new to me, but I have had great luck with the LiTime batteries in boats. They are a good value. Li batteries (regardless of brand) have some quirks. The internal heaters usually are activated when a charger is connected to preheat the battery before charge current tries to push in. Once a battery is warmed sufficiently, applying a load to it will keep it warm enough to run things effectively even in cold temperature. I didn’t look up the specifics of your battery, but most (probably all) of them have built-in functionality in their BMS to shut them down when the interior temperature drops below a threshold. There seems to be some hysteresis between the off/on temperatures, so if you park that in your yard on a cold day and it shuts down it could take some measurable charging time to get it switched back on. the other thing I’ve noticed on some other battery applications (at work, not using LiTime batteries) using this battery chemistry is that the ability to push a high rate of current drops off pretty significantly with temperature. I think they are much more kinetically limited than a lead battery. We were testing last week at -25F and my specialty battery that will easily put out 150A at 32F seems limited to about 15A at -25F. This probabky won’t matter to you other than the point that when it’s cold and your battery is chilled that you’ll probably have plenty of power to drive around without much noticeable performance loss, but it you try to pull a plow or something you might not be able to do it until the battery warms up. We are cranking an engine with this battery and have to do a lot of tricks to get it to work when it’s done that cold. It’s somewhat counterintuitive, but there is a lot to be gained by wasting some power putting a load on them thing for a while to get the battery warmed up before working it. Once it’s warm, it stays that way pretty easy. Another quirk is that estimating the state of charge of the battery from its voltage level is all but a waste of time. A drop of a fraction of a volt at the top end can represent a big decrease in stored capacity. At the bottom rend, the voltage can hold relatively steady for a long time right up until the limit where the battery shuts off. If getting an estimation of how much power is left in the thing is useful, you’ll need to measure the current in and out of the thing over time. There are gizmos that do this for you which aren’t cheap. if your battery has a Bluetooth connection, it probably takes care of state of charge monitoring. I initially didn’t see the point in having a connected battery, but see it as a nonnegotiable now. I’d suggest leaving the charger offboard. No sense subjecting it to vibration and environmental factors if you can avoid it. An appropriate Anderson connector makes it easy to hook it up. This summer I might outfit one of the E-141s with Lithium if LiTime puts their 100A-hr 12 volt batteries back on clearance or has the reconditioned ones available again. Runtime is amazing and unlike a lead acid, you get to use the whole capacity (almost) instead of just half. On a usable power basis, these batteries are potentially less expensive than lead acid. Last fall, they had 100 A-hr 12 volt batteries for right at $100 apiece. It was a steal. They weren’t Bluetooth, but at that price it’s not out of the question to improvise something. I’m enjoying your project! Steve

Check forward and reverse valves springs are known to break. One of are vendors have them. Clean and check valve bore and piston for smooth operation

Decided that's the way to go here. I'll have to drill holes whether they're 2.25" or 2.5" OC. The larger bearing mount is substantially more heavy duty than the original WH one. It also has its own set screws. The larger spread will also help ease of spacing for fasteners. I also decided to make a serious upgrade to the locking collar. Getting on & off the tractor without using the steering wheel as a handle is extremely cumbersome for me. The existing single set screw is degrading due to corrosion. I've personally had them move and I've seen several other tractors with that collar moved down the upper steering shaft from previous owners apparently doing similar. I have a 2 piece collar with 2 screws. Pics later...

Oh man. Like I need more bad ideas.

I had a nice day mostly to myself. It's probably also the most productive day I've had off work in a while. Wife and kids went to her aunt's for their Christmas visit. I chose not to go because it was going to be 13 people in a house with a 500 sq ft foot print. Went hunting for an hour, shot a bird and cleaned it, finished a job I started for work last Friday, replaced the radio in my car with a nicer one, then watched a movie and took a nap. When everyone gets home I'm going to chew on the kids' behinds a bit because I told them to put away the toys they had out before they left, so they got placed on a single cushion on the couch.

Absolutely beautiful trails in the snow! Always good to take the horses for a brisk walk on occasion!