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Nowadays if you want to interact with clowns, all you have to do is login to Red Square 🤡

I'm sure you all remember () when I restored this 72 Commando 800 for my grandson. I purchased the tractor back in the early 80's because it fit my pipsqueak Mom just right. She used it many years until she physically couldn't anymore. I hauled it to Florida and went to work on it. According to the picture dates it was in 2014 but I thought it was earlier than that. Here's a few pics before I brought it back to Indiana. I know our daughter and grandkids well and somehow the desire to take care of things skipped a generation. I knew what was in store for the little Commando and they didn't let me down. Our granddaughter drove it around in their yard a bit before I loaded it up to bring to my place. As she turned I noticed the front tires were hitting the mower deck. Guess what caused that. That's at least 3 or 4 times I found the deck on wrong. Each time I explained how to do it. The last time I told then just don't touch the deck. Call me. Apparently they all have hearing issues. Getting it to my garage I opened the hood. Pressured washed it a couple times. Then I removed the deck. This is after I had already hit it with the pressure a bit before I remembered to take a pic. I had a new boot for it. This is why I never use the long dog points that Wheel Horse used to sell. That boot could have still been serviceable if it had the 3/4" dog point I now use. I think the long one is the #1 cause of destroyed boots. I suppose you don't have to pull the boot over the screw but I like to. Drained the transmission, flushed and refilled. No issues but the right axle seal was leaking bad. Left wasn't leaking and the hub fought me. I had damaged the drive bolt on a previous tranny and I finished it off on this one. Got a new bolt and with some Cre Oil soaking I got it off. Transmission done. This is 100% unacceptable. The engine oil didn't even touch the dip stick. This is what I drained out next to a the amount that it's supposed to have. That's just colored water in the reference jar. My wife always tells me to not say anything about it to the kids. They WILL hear about this. Cleaned the deck, sharpened the blades and the spindle belt was shot. Replaced the points, condenser, plug, fuel line and filter, greased, serviced the controls (choke wasn't working) and whatever else I could think of. Just need to get things wrapped up now and get it back to them for mowing duties. I'll bring the deck back once mowing season is over. It's going to need new bearings. I noticed that I can find the 103119 bearings much cheaper buying them separately rather than a lot of 3. I was impressed how well this thing cleaned up and how well the paint is hanging in there. This tractor had been stored in a half falling down barn and battered but it still looks good. Rusty rattle can is pretty decent stuff.

Can't believe no one mentioned a harmonic balancer puller! You're fortunate to get it off without damaging it.

Finally let loose.

I finished a 32" wide by 40" tall cabinet. I was asked to make for an 81 year old former professor at our local university. He keeps detailed records (in some cases for way too many years). The cabinet will be to hold his folders for taxes and expenses. The problem is that with his and his wife's health, I doubt that they will be using the cabinet for many months ( before they will need the services of assisted living) but if he finds satisfaction in his new cabinet at his age-more power to them. I purchased 1/2" AC plywood from local lumber yard to find out it's from South America. Some kind of tropical wood no doubt but that stuff stains awful and isn't smooth surfaced. As I mentioned before, since retirement, I don't charge labor for projects I take on. I tell folks to donate whatever the labor was worth to charities. Dt. Bob has insisted on taking me out for breakfast one morning next week--I'll take him up on that. The material for this small project cost over $160! I do have some scraps left over but I'm sure glad I'm not building a new house. I faced the raw plywood edge with wood I was given by a small sawmill. The sawyer called the wood "Tree of Heaven". It has an oakish/ashish looking grain and seems to work pretty good. Missouri Conservation Department considers the tree invasive. I've been using the water based varnish. I used oil based polyurethane for years which could be a little slow to dry and prone to catch dust and seemed to yellow over the years. The water base dries quickly and easy to work with especially when applied in thin coats. In another posting deck stain was discussed and I liked the old oil based stain. The new "safer" stain just doesn't seem to adhere as well.

Spray spray spray remove the set screw and spray into that hole. The pulleys are cast so they will break if you just start off with a puller and crank. This may seem counterintuitive but knock it in towards the block. The idea is to get it to move which breaks that rust bond. Then try a puller BUT you need to get it to move back and forth a little bit at a time before pulling it all the way off the shaft. Yes tedious, but knock in, pull out, knock in, pull out and repeat. It should move more distance on the shaft each time and get more oil in there each time. Try to spin it if you can as that will get more oil in there too. Clean the shaft off of any rust before beginning which will make it easier once it moves far enough out. That's my

My favorite Bible verse - I think I learned it from @Achto... He who is without oil shall throw the first rod. Lubrications 3:16

With all possible due respect to your wife... IMHO She's flat wrong there. Folks who make errors NEED to know what they did. Maybe they learn. Maybe they don't. Me personally... I wouldn't give the tractor back. But I'm a little more harsh than some. You've done a beautiful job with the tractor!

To tie the whole killer clown thing together. Why don't cannibal's eat clowns ?? They taste funny.

My thought was that I resemble that.

Hey hey hey... I represent that...

You kind of need to look at production numbers a little bit. Oliver production numbers were low. Most numbers were not that low. Now if you are talking about a that there was only 200 made of - like the 420LSE the price tag goes up a fair amount. Supply & demand ya know. Some people get upset when a gets mutilated or scrapped out. Which I have to agree, I get a little saddened when it happens. The other way to look at it is - Every horse that dies, makes the survivors more valuable. I collect because I enjoy the hobby and even more so, the people associated with it. If I was in it to make any money at all, I would not have restored any of my tractors.

Snagged this off CL for an upcoming motor swap in my WorkHorse. $40. Couldn't pass it up for that price!

Medical Equipment is always for sale at the local auction for cheap. Most of it is bought thru Medicare and when the patient no longer needs it, it is sold at the auction for a few $s. I have bought wheel chairs, knee scooters, walkers, canes, crutches, shower seats, toilet risers, electric lift recliner chairs, etc. Mrs K has used most of it for back and foot fusion surgery and her knees are now on the schedule this fall. When needed, family and friends know where they can get it. The Knee scooter is loaned out quite a bit.

Fixed it for ya Don.

August 21, 2016, Greenville, S.C., police investigate reports of creepy clowns hanging around a local apartment complex, trying to lure kids into the woods. The story gains worldwide attention and sets off a “killer clown panic” across the US.

There is no doubt that Oliver has a following...especially in Minnesota. I was at a tractor show in LaSueur in 2010 that featured Olivers. I will share some pictures from that show. Some of the exhibits were outstanding. A lot of trinkets like Wheel Horse does through the years. Value...when I go out to mow my lawn and move snow they almost start when I look at them...and they are from the mid-60's. That is hard to beat and still looking good cutting grass. Enjoy the pictures. Just to show Wheel Horse was there in force!!

Thanks Eric. My usual MO is not to listen to her so they will be hearing about it. My daughter is 48 and the two boys are high schoolers and they all have been shown what to do in the past. I cut the boys some slack because their dad is worthless and wouldn't show them anything. He's out of the picture now so........ Actually, with the situation changed now I'm thinking another basic training session and maybe it will stick this time. I feel the K181 is the toughest of the Kohlers. They start with only a bump and purr from idle to full throttle. Even after the abuse this one is no exception. This one had the 10" rims but it now has the 22-7.50's that came on the 76 B-80's. I think they balance well with the smaller fronts. A few of the other parts from that tractor are on this one.

Day late and dollar short.

When using one of these lifting booms, you will always need to pay extra attention to how light the front end gets as load is applied to the boom. The boom is a long lever with a high attachment point - it does not take much to pull a tractor over. Be really careful when traveling with a suspended, swinging load, or when pulling something - the drive torque on the rear wheels will reduce the amount of load applied to the boom to turn a tractor over. Now, add a hill, which tilts the tractor back....... I noticed this very thing last week when I was moving a load with EJ the 8N. Had a load on a 3 point lifting pole and noticed a reduction in steering effectiveness - depended more on the steering brakes to make it turn. Still got to get those front tires filled with Rimguard.

Same here ... back in covid when we didn't get up to the cabin they overran the place.. Out of three tractors in the warehouse they had destroyed the tins in all three. Finally got them under control. With fall coming this is the time of year they like to get in so be vigilant. If you feed birds it's like throwing out the welcome mat. Pay close attention to the AC unit outside. Best to bait them outside before they can get in but do use child/pet resistant stations. Here too ... my mousers are aging so I recently added two new additions. I can't do indoor cats unless you wanna come clean the cat box. Will always have a barn cat or porch monkey or two around tho.

Ended up buying the 520xi I looked at a few weeks ago after doing a little more research on hydrostat whine. Ordered filters and will do fluid and greasing before anything. The charging light and mowing in reverse lights stay on so I will need to resolve those also. Best thing, no buyers remorse.

For some reason I only have a few facing from the rear. All good.

I have a front receiver but never mounted the boom on the front. I also have the frame braced at the transmission mount transmission. This tractor hasa similar brace, Don't have a picture of the Raider, it has a solid plate with the braces up to the frame. Here is the Raider 12 transmission brace,

Stephen King has a son named Joe. I'm not joking, he is.

I'll bring you some snake skin molts to Zags. The idea is to deter them before they get in there and have an orgy in you shop to reproduce in there. Still use the traps or whatever poison to get any strays but it works naturally. I still use traps to keep an eye on what's going on and the numbers caught, The number of catches in those traps has dropped dramatically so much so that they need to get re-baited with peanut butter more often then they catch anything. Found out they don't work forever so once a year the skins need to be replaced or add new. Keep that snake smell fresh! LOL

I chose a front-mounted winch. Personal preference of mine and pretty simple construction with a section of an old frame. Weight in the rear can be an issue but this attaches just about as quickly and doesn't stress the frame at the uni-drive bracket.

Hello everyone. I have not falling off the face of the earth just yet and have been working on the old C120 that I got from my Grandfather years ago. I didn't really use it much as the old K301 was leaking and very worn out. So, I just let it sit in the barn for a long time. Well I got to thinking lately and I was like it time to get it going again. So I took it to work and stuck it in my work bay to get me working on it. To start we need to do something with the engine. Well, one of my co workers had a good shape K321 from a Cub Cadet. So, they was the first thing to do. (The first two photos of of it mocked up.) Once it was secured, I had to redo the whole wiring harness from scratch. The old one melt at some point and I figured it wouldn't hurt to wire it up correctly. I even used different color wires!!! ( I know right! HAHA) Next was the old 48in mower deck. Yes this deck is used to cut my neighbor's 3 acre horse pasture. So the deck will not need to cut pretty, just handle large tall growth compared to a normal yard. So I welded a rebar for the bottom front to help keep it from loosing its shape. I also replaced the old worn out original blades with some gator G6 blades. (They were a huge bear to drill out the hold from 5/8 to 3/4. That metal is super tough.) I also had some wheels hanging around that I have been wanting to use for a project, so I made them fit for this one. They look and seem to work so much better than the factor rear wheels. After that came the front bumper. I got this sub compact tractor bumper for free 5 years ago that i wanted to mount on the wheel horse. Well it finally happened and now it looks great! It will protect the front of the tractor from the brush and other whatnot in the field I will be mowing, plus it looks cool. What I did was use some scrap metal, welded the bumper to it and then bolts this to the front of a mule drive. The mule drive still works as it should and the hood even opens enough for me to refuel the the mid gas tank and check the oil. Final thing I wanted to do was add a secondary fuel tank to the tractor as the center tank only last about one hour or so in heavy mowing. The field is a 5 min tractor ride from my house and i do not want to keep stopping and walking back over or riding over. I found a scrap fuel tank and welded up a bracket, bolted it under the seat back feet. Then plumbed up some hoses to a valve that is mounted on the dash. Turn it left and it turns on the center tank and turn it right it turns on the rear tank. I think it works pretty well and I was surprised it all fit behind the center tank under the dash. I fixed the oil leak at the PTO input shaft on the transmission with a new seal. I also notice the right wheel hub has a wobble to it. So I got the hub off, and use some JB weld with a key trick in the key hole. The hole was a little worn and the key wasn't sitting in perfectly. Now its all snug as a bug. What's left is the drive pulley to get here and then I can put on the PTO clutch. Then the side cover plate and right foot rest for a test drive. All should be good. Oh, and the drive pulley will be the hydro one sleaved down to 1in so I can still have faster 2nd gear. Overall I'm very please with how this project came out and I hope it will do as I want. Mow the field in heavy growth conditions. Thank you everyone for the inspiration and I hope you all have a great day!

Sold the Workhorse today! Guy I purchased it from bought it back. Looks like everything gonna work out, especially for me. I got the 416 now to replace it.

When my brother passed away he had a dozen or more canes, unfortunately they were all fixed length and he was about six inches shorter than me. Our church has a medical equipment loan ministry and we collect all kinds of usable equipment and loan it to anyone in the community that needs it. They are under no obligation to return it as long as they need it and there is no charge. Every item is sterilized and wrapped when returned, we have a dishwasher type appliance that will hold a wheel chair. Hospital beds and power wheel chairs have to be cleaned by hand. We have fostered loan ministries in other communities and give them any excess equipment we have accumulated.

Score!!! I'm always looking for skis to make benches... bike ride this morning and my favorite four letter "F" word was attached to these on a neighbor's lawn: They will become a bench shortly... Timing is perfect... I just sold two ski benches and a ski end table...! Just noticed I'm wearing another @Pullstart plow day shirt... honest, I do have other clothes...

I bought its "sister", another Commando 800, with a plow, 50 lb weight, and trailer cart, for $75 back in 2015. Sold both implements, broke even - free tractor! It was a dedicated plow tractor all its life. Engine ran great, the 3 speed Unidrive only had 1st & reverse - just enough for plowing. No PTO or lever. Worth waht I paid for it. The bones are destined to become "Yard Art". And that Hammerhead Swisher muffler was a bonus - sounded great, but was severely rusted.....

Looks like history is repeating itself in Philadelphia, PA.

I like Kroil oil, a little pricy but you get what you pay for and don't over do it, what drops on the floor has no effect on what you are doing.

Today I decided to lunges in order to stay in shape. It's a big step forward.

This is all I have right now. This one and 2 others are tucked away over in my sisters spare garage getting ready for the change of seasons.

Had them both off last month to install wheel studs and a second set screw. Probably should have had new seals on hand and done that then

A couple of years ago we had a mouse in the house. So I set out traps and got nothing. We have a house cat who at the time was 15. Got him as a 6 wk. old kitten and has never been outdoors since we got him. One night I heard him meowing down stairs like at 2 in the morning. When I got up at 6 there was a dead mouse on the floor!

Well said Achto! I can relate to that.

I had a 1975 Monza for a while with a warmed over 350 in it. I discovered one day that when a spark plug wire gets between the throttle lever on the secondaries of a Quadrajet and the stop, the car motored happily along somewhere between 60 and 70mph.

Penetrating oil. Give it some time, it shouldn't take too much. I've "lightly" tapped them in with a section of pipe over the shaft but put a flat pry bar behind first to retain that space between the pulley and block. It can tolerate light shocks to break the brown weld if there is any.

Well, I said it's always something but sometimes it's a few things...brake shaft and one axle seal now leak. Replacements (and spares) will be here this weekend. I have bearings on hand but no gasket for the case so hopefully it's just seals...

That kind of depends on what Wheel Horse you are talking about. This one has four and a half days to go on eBay and is at nearly $ 3,000.00 now, you be the judge.

I agree, I have used this mix over some years and it seems to work, it will separate over time but just needs a good shake to get it back together.

You put me on to a Briggs boxer in CT. I'm visiting my son in Monson, Ma at the end of the month and it's an hour and change from there. BTW, thanks for that!

One thing about it: they should not have had time to brown weld back on yet. Should be easier to pull them again, if you decide to.

SWMBO speaks with great wisdom. Chewing out your young ones (no matter how old they are) will only drive a wedge between you and them. If they don't think the way you do doesn't make either of you wrong, just different. We share your pain, dealing with many of the younger generation can be frustrating.