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Kind of a long read here, but I wanted to share a funny story. About a month ago my folks and I were coming back from TN hauling a trailer and we got some bad diesel at a shell station. The truck threw a "water in fuel" code and went into limp mode. We got to the walmart parking lot in Whythville and changed the fuel filter and siphoned out all the bad diesel. We were back on the road, but the truck was making some weird noises. Not being familiar with diesels, we decided to call AAA and tow the truck back to the house. The towing contractor was actually in the same gas sation where we were parked. So when the guy got the call, he walked over and introduced himself. We only had coverage for the truck, not the truck and the trailer (lesson learned). So the driver helped us come up with a solution to get the trailer home. Anyways, mom (who is introverted) and I loaded up in the single cab with the driver, and dad waited for another truck to haul the trailer. Well, I'm pretty extraverted, so we weren't 3 minutes into 1 hour drive and I decided I wasn't going to sit through that long of time with small talk. I started asking the driver questions in effort to find something to talk about. It didn't take long before he mentioned that he had been working on his "vintage lawn tractors" that day before coming to work. I said, " it wasn't wheel horses was it?" And he turned and looked at me like I was santa claus. My mom was relieved that she didn't have to say a word for the rest of the ride, and I had some great conversation! He has several different lawn tractors, including some odd ball brands. The wheel horse he is working on now is a D200. I talked about the big show and how awesome the people were in the hobby. I tried to convince him to head to the big show this June and also to join red square! So Josh, if you are out there, come out to Biglerville next month! Hope to see you there!

That I can believe! ( There probably wasn't much room for her. Did she sit on your lap? )

Made a little 3-hour road trip to pick up this '74 C-160 Automatic. Everything feels tight, no slop in the steering or drive tensioner. no leaks. K341 Purrs like a kitten. When I got it home, the thing was dead as a door nail. I though "Oh Crap"! Turns out I had just never owned a tractor that still had all of the safety switches working properly. Pressed the brake and double checked the PTO lever - BOOM fired right up. Heck, even the internal parking pawl still engages!

Brought more horses home. One is a Commando 8 that runs and mows and the other is a project 800 auto someone gave up on. The wife is growing concerned I may have an addiction. Shame the tires are dry rotted, both rear sets appear to be original and say Wheel Horse on them... which I think is just so neat. Swapped the tall skinny's from the 633 onto the 8. It looks semi-ridiculous but at least it's functional for now.

I bought it just for the key. Seemed like a good excuse to build a tractor around it.

My $5 marketplace score - 6 miles from my house!

Can we assume Kev is teaching the class?

@Fj40z, You can leave the gas dampener in place and just add the clutch return spring as pictured below. Jut need to remove the left rear wheel, no need for a full disassembly.

May 16, 1984, Prince's biggest hit is widely considered to be "When Doves Cry," released on May 16, 1984 from the Purple Rain album, which became his first #1 single, the year's top-selling song, and a massive international success, famously lacking a bassline and showcasing his unique genius.

The running herd…

Seems quite a few of us have loose nuts.

When the local hardware store closed is when I went into full blown having my own stuff. Belts bolts etc, got to have them. 13 mile trip one way now. Neighbor called last fall when he was working on his bath remodel. Got any small lags, yep, up in the shop on the back wall in the orange tray. Help yourself. He said wow! that was nice no trip to town and got it finished. He replaced the ones he took and I told him that was not necessary. He said, oh no, might have to barrow them again!

I typed in "oil" in the search bar and my internet provider called and told me I overheated their equipment!

All packed up and ready to go to AJ's tomorrow!

Just gonna say i seen worse scores. Got good bones and worth the price of admission.

Not a chance in hell Ed Dog... more on the class in another thread. Suffice to say i didn't get a dang thing done on horses today but did get to watch @Achto whack on a busted up hub. Yup saws all came out. @Chris689 he's dipping into my stock of 1" hubs.

Guys thanks for all the welcomes and fantastic input! Really do appreciate all the help and support. I couldn’t help myself this evening, even though I haven’t had a chance to baseline some of the basic maintenance on the 314 I had to try it out and mow a little bit with it this evening. Mowed and ran great until one of the rear deck wheels came off. The wheel and shoulder bolt have seen better days so I went ahead and ordered a new set. Really wanted to get a good feel for it and try it out. Kind of a shake down run. Noticed all the belts are cracked up pretty bad so all need replaced. Also noticed the clutch pedal doesn’t want to spring back up from time to time and I’d have to pull it back up with my foot a little, so I’m hoping that’s not a bad sign. Picked up the stuff to change the oil and gear oil in rear differential and transmission. Got a lot of parts to sort and hopefully get this one in good working order. Thanks again!

What did I do to my Wheel horse today this week. I added a slot hitch so I could pull and lift the new tiller. This required removing the weight rack and moving the support legs to the outside of the drawbar hitch to make room for the slot hitch. The seat and fender pan had to come off so this was a good time to clean the hydro and change oil and filter. Nice surprise when I picked up the filter...NAPAs oil was on sale. Also installed new fuel lines, e-pump, and filter rerouting everything outside the tunnel and ran it along the outside of the right frame rail.

C-105 Black Hood I purchased couple weeks ago..but the hood was all red . Little amateur painting today to fix that.

I had the opportunity to attend a short course today on tractor safety . The Badger Steam & Gas Engine Club put this on as a requirement for all juniors who wish to drive a tractor around on club grounds at their show. https://badgersteamandgas.com/ Rightfully so since any given accidents can shut a show down without a question. Interesting and since I am committed to give a presentation at other shows this was a note taking experience for me in my quest for being a certified instructor. This was mostly centered around big tractors but it still applies to GTs. Lots of farm safety included with loading, tieing down, and grain bin safety. On a tractor's center of gravity and how quickly one can meet a misfortune in a PTO. A nice primer on steam.

Better pics of todays haul. 5hrs of windshield time, low $ for this one. Tractor, deck, snow blower, & a set of tire chains. Runs great, mower deck is smooth & quite, tranny needs a little love. A new set of axle bearings & seals should cure the issue.

Got out the 656 for the show today, thought I'd post some pictures...

We've all read our operating manuals. HA! YEAH RIGHT!!! They all say check all fasteners before operating! Well I was out mowing with the Wheel a Matic and Dino deck and I got to noticing how low it was cutting. Then I saw both "special 7/16-20 shoulder bolts had fallen out that hold the height adjusting rod!!! I had 1 spare so I had to go to the parts room and get a wheel lug bolt and lug nut to secure the adjuster!

Lost part of the deck belt tensioner while mowing. Was out in yard with "construction magnet" dragging around yard , looked across and neighbor is looking at me like i've got three eyes, and asks what in the he$$ are you doing? I did eventually find the part.

We had a little hardware store that closed about 6 yr's. ago. Had everything in there. Had the wooden floors that moved as you walked. One of those ladders with rollers so it would slide along the wall to get stuff way up. The whole works!

Had one lasted a couple years. I am pretty hard on them rolling through grinding dust and a slightly rough floor. I ended up building one with square tube and steel casters and a tractor seat.

A little tail light security. My new led taillights work great but one of them was a little to easy to remove the lens on so thought I would add a little security and put a. #6 screw through lens and base.

Got the Echo CS490 chainsaw back together. Muffler modification completed, and I cleaned out the case of old sawdust. It took me a few tries to dial it in just right. I can definitely recommend doing this mod. The supposed 10% - 15% power gain is enough to make a difference. Not massive. But a usable real-world difference.

I looked for a S/G belt for my 701 the other day. Then remembered I needed two of them. Nope... $6 each online but won't be delivered until the 22nd. $25.99 each at the local parts store. Guess I'll be waiting another week...

I'm lucky. I've got 3 small town old fashioned type hardware stores within about 5 miles. Two of them have the old wooden floors with basements - stashed full of stuff. I'm recognized in all 3 when I walk in.

I never really got into the '80s music at the time but have begun to listen to a lot of it lately. The radio station that was playing '60s and '70s music when I move to Franklin twenty years ago is now playing '80s and '90s tunes and most of it is great. Prince, Queen, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Kurt Cobain, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have all won me over.

I've wanted one of these Bull nose trucks for a looooonng time. I've also wanted to build a particularly strong inline six 300 for a looooonng time. It's been setting around unused collecting dust too long. Time to ask others for help.

I guess I'm fortunate. Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, Ace, Do It Best, Harbor Freight, and 3 auto parts places within 3 miles... but, I miss the little neighborhood hardware store that went out of business about 10 years ago...

For me he was the most talented entertainer in my life time (so far). Singer, writer, produce, could play every instrument on his songs and the best part was his concerts were equal to none and I've seen them all, from Elvis and Frank to Metallica. Least we forget he could dance backwards in 6 stilettos inch heels .

See me at the show Paul. We can probably fill in all the gaps in your belt collection.

Finally had the V61s mounted for the C120 and the AGs mounted for the 10-8

finally got a deck for the c145. It runs well but I’m wondering how tight the mule drive should be.

This morning I ran the boy around to gather up parts for his rototiller project. In that process we both learned how to re-rope a @Pullstart recoil. Then we went to the soccer game, ran him to his GF's one house, came home, mowed and split wood, changed oil for the neighbor, wife ran the repaired tiller through our garden to make sure it worked properly, then after dinner we took the tiller back and got the boy.

I finally figured out why my Bolens weed trimmer was shutting off after 15-20 minutes of running. What i thought was 2 cycle oil in the gas can wasn't, so the engine was overheating due to no lubrication. I emptied the fuel out of the trimmer and refilled with the correct mixture. Took it out and wacked grass and weeds until the fuel tank ran dry with absolutely no problems.

Got ya one of those rare right hand lifts.

So this is the thing that's been blocking access to Colossus??? Glad you finally figured it out...

Just be careful with them. I had a couple but they were so old the plastic got brittle and crumbled off. Hope I didn't just jinx ya ...

Here in our Herd every machine is older than you have so my familiarity is limited compared to other guys. That clutch issue may be a worn out gas cylinder. I believe you can simply replace it with the older style spring. Toro number is 108035. Shop carefully for those. The price varies a LOT. Another maintenance item you'll need to consider is the fuel system. Ethanol fuel is not friendly to older rubber. Your tank valve, its grommet, and all your fuel line is almost definitely dried out. Again all parts are available from good sources.

Think I'm gonna do the winch deal on my tractor also. I mean I have a sleeve hitch off I think was a crapsman if I remember right but the winch man endless options Your running a standard battery nothing fancy?

Timely post Mike. I was mowing with the 48"SD on the 312H Monday when the engine started to bog down. I flipped the PTO off as I stopped. When I looked behind the center blade was scalping the grass. The center spindle bolt and pulley had come loose and allowed the center blade to drop down. All back together and torqued all three spindle bolts.

Did you mark the unmarked belts to make your next search go quicker?

@Fj40z I would recommend becoming a supporter of the site makes it so much better of an experience and a lot easier to post pics. I 4 see more WH's in your future so you may as well join this support group . It is well worth the price of admission in my opinion. So much help and knowledge on here.

Please not another engine oil thread.....

Proud papa here. My daughter defended her dissertation two weeks ago and earned her doctorate in higher education. No she will not become a professor in all likelihood.. She is employed by the university and does research projects as directed by them. She loves her job and is getting good feedback and appreciation from her group. She is living in Ann Arbor so we see her when we can. As always Go Blue!!