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Stevebo gave me a call that his cousin Toddbo was looking to sell his Commando 8. I really didn't know where this tractor would fit in with my collection but after thinking about it over night I decided to grab it. Besides it was only a two mile trip to Toddbo's place to pick it up! I decided to part ways with my 657 wood hauler. The Commando 8 has factory lights and a charging system with a battery, something the 657 lacked. Though the factory lights aren't the brightest they'll do when I need to clear snow at night with it. No need to light up the neighbor hood, just a few feet in front of me will do the trick. I'm only going to throw a new seat at it and call it done.

After a few months of tinkering I was finally able to hitch up my rebuilt tiller to my trusty 310-8 today, worked great! Special thanks to Kelly for the dial-a-height and Dennist for the hitch, pulley, and input shaft. Tillers seem to be a bit rare in Missouri so I had to convert a RT-366 to work with the newer style tractor (hence the hitch, and input shaft). Can't believe how well these tillers work! Now that everything is in working order it will get tore down once more for a fresh coat of paint!

Yikes!! That's not what I was thinking you were doing at all!

Pull off the air filter so you can see Carb Throat. Have a can of carb cleaner or (gas in squirt can ready). Then start up engine run it till it starts to die then squirt carb cleaner or gas in the carb throat, If it try's to run then it is most likely lack of fuel ie: (Fuel System Problem). If it dies right out then it is most likely (Electrical Problem). Doing it this way is your cheapest systematic start, as your not just replacing parts. You will also know which direction to go, then follow every ones trouble shooting suggestions that are mentioned. ~Duke

I just bought this tractor earlier this week. It was said to have a bad motor , major leaking, and needed a rebuild. The deck was just rebuilt 2 years ago with all new spindles , paint, blades , and reinforced. I have since fixed the leaking and have her runnin really well for the most part. Just a little miss when revving up to different RPMS. I got the engine back in today and presher washed the tractor. All gauges work and the hydro seams strong as well. Im looking forward to using this beast. It was garage kept all its life except for this winter because the PO bought a zero turn and had no room in the garage. I am glad he sold it , instead of leaving it rust away. Its safe to say I got an awsome deal considering the shape shes in and the engine now runs. What do you guys think... Sent from my Event using Tapatalk

well as we all know the winter has been long and cold, so buying stuff has been limited for me, but now with the weather warming a little (it was 23 deg today) and snow melting, I'm getting calls from people wanting to sell stuff, this is a deal I picked up today, nothing great but still a good deal. Tractor needs a head gasket that is why the PO stopped using it, it has been spray bombed but don't look to bad from 5 feet, deck has been patched, but works. I havent ran the numbers yet but I know it's a 76 or 77 B-80 8 speed with 36" deck. This was the bonus part getting a box of goodies, blades, chains, PTO parts, deck parts, and more, a very nice homemade set of weights about 75lbs each, extra set of ag tires, weathered but good tread, the orig. rear tires and wheels and a mid grader, that we found digging stuff out of the barn. All in all a good deal, even though it was COLD and windy out.

C-125 brought some logs from my wood store today.

I'm not sure I would touch any of the things you mentioned unless you are having a problem. I'd have a good look at everything while it is apart, and do a thorough cleaning of the cooling fins, but that's about it. I would fit new valve stem seals on the inlets while putting it back together. Not sure what you mean by the gasket on the oil cooler? Do you mean the filter? If its not leaking now, and the bolts are tight, I would leave it alone. The 2 piece intake manifolds can leak, but if your engine is running well then I probably wouldn't screw with it. Martin has described how he did his in one of his threads. I've never had to buy a carb kit for an Onan. I have always managed to remove the top, clean out the bowl and blow through the jets without destroying any of the gaskets. Mind you I have never had a major carb problem either, if your motor is running OK now, I wouldn't get too carried away.

Nice plows, both of 'em! I used a plow with my slot / sleeve hitch years ago. Worked like a charm!

Heck, I'd be happy with" What are you using to clean the yard" thread

So I got home tonight and fired up the 520 to run it some..... and maybe just to play a little I only ran it for a few minutes yesterday because of my nieces Birthday party. Today it ran much better. No more miss at all. It was missing and would puff a little ploom of smoke when it would hiccup. It must of been the old gas. I drained the fuel and put non ethanol gas in it yesterday. It must have worked its way through. Now shes purrs. The planets must have lined up in a row today. My girlfriend said can I drive..... "me" ofcoarse you can.... "her" I dont like this leaver to make it go, I want a gas pedal. Do they make a tractor like that? ..... "me" Well its funny you say that .... There is a kit you can buy just for that, its only $200. lol Its really hard not to get some seat time on it but I must be patient I guess and pull the heads and adjust the valves. Thanks again guys. Great group here. I am a member of other forums and it can get pretty high school. Kyle

Yikes !! is right. Here is how I hooked up a slot hitch on my 12 /8 spd. I bought 2 5/16" yoke ends from TSC. Then I went to Lowes and bought some cable, crimp ends and cut loose and bought the crimp tool. I crimped on an end ran it through the rear yoke and then through the tube. Slid on the front yoke figured out how long it had to be and crimped that one. Secured the yokes to the hitch and lift with clevis pins and clips.

Here are a few more pics of assembly. Since I was going for that Big Tractor look, I had to put an exhaust stack on it as well. Just for a size comparison, I took a couple pics of the 444 next to my C-160. Matt

Im still watering my garden

Live by the 3...die by the 3.

One more for Regal Red. I found that it took a little while to harden up for me. Wish I had been a little more patient. Don't look too close.

the 875 is a great little tractor. i picked one up a couple years ago. it now belongs to my son, Kent. we spent some time doing a full rebuild on it just recently..... heres how it looks now..... heres the thread on it and a little about when i first picked it up...... got any pics for us?

If there is a guy out there that will put a front blade on his Senior when it snows for a little fun, its the Duke.....

Sorry, too far from the show to make it. Here is a picture of just one shelf of "stuff" the other side of the shed has a larger shelf that is also filled up. I also have shelves full of parts and engines in my shop.

Gentlemen, I recently acquired this little beast and have done a lot of work on it. I put a new battery in from our friends at Tractor Supply, the old one was done. With the engine off/key off, it is showing 12.75 volts across the terminals. With the engine running, I measured the voltage with my multi-meter with the scale on 0-20 volts dc. Couldn't get a reading. Moved the scale to the 0-200 volts dc and the voltage was flucuating from 125-190 volts dc!!!!! How can this be??? I've never heard of such a thing!! The old key switch was worn out, so I installed a new one. Bought a good used regulator/rectifier from Joe's Outdoor Power off of a C-81. It had the same part number. Didn't make a difference. Thinking my multi-meter was lying to me, I tried it on my John Deere, it shows 14.5 volts with the engine running, so my multi-meter appears to be working properly. My question is, wouldn't this extreme high voltage explode the battery? I did use the tractor to haul some firewood and it performed just fine. Iwould imagine the stator would be next thing to look at, but 125-190 volts dc?? I don't get it. The regulator/rectifier appears to have a good ground, the 3 spade terminals are clean. Idea's?

Hi all: So I wanted to share my most recent acquisition, a 1972 Case 444. This is a beast! Came with a 48 inch snowcaster and auxiliary hydraulic valve. I will start tearing into this over the weekend

I used to really like Van Sickle brand myself, very good paint I thought. They offered paint by the gallon or quart and hardener. Add that hardener, mix and run through a gun and you were golden.

It might be time to start talking about what will we be using to mow the grass !!!! Come on spring! Mike...........

If I remember right the cable clamp bags say do not use with coated cable

Great job Matt! My grandad had a lot of Case construction equipment. Over the years I have operated and repaired a lot of their construction machinery. To this day I have not operated a dozer I liked better than the hydro- static 1450. Somewhere size wise to an old D7 I love my Horses but sure got a soft spot for Case. That tractor will be a great worker. Love to have one with a FEL. Sent from my SCH-S720C using Tapatalk 2

Well Andy, compared to my last WH acquisition/project , that one is in good nick!. the 6 x12"s are from the Workhorse 700 Model (called a Commando 7 by Belgium). Edit - P.S. that Drive Belt should last at least 5 mins .....and how small is that Muffler outlet?.

Fantastic job Matt..... I had a 220 and a 446 several years ago, they're a well built tractor. I've always been sorta partial to Case, that's the garden tractor my Dad had. Thanks for the pics.

Update again.....Since it was a little too cold outside to bag all the deprie that my wife had raked up..Cold is not a factor for me, wife said it was too cold for her..So, I decided to dive into de-winterizing the "XI", and make it even more spring ready...So, chains are off and hung up..BTW, no need for oiling them or sparying them down, they were brand new last year.....<LOL that is just a litte jab regarding the thread about preparing chains for storage...Those of you who were on it will understand... Continuing on, dropped the snow blower, then placed it on the dolly. Now it is ready for a good cleaning when I see a nice sunny day in the forecast. Did a once over on the xi, gave all the zerts some grease, and called it a day...I know, I have to post photos..Coming...

2 Carlisle 23x8.5-12 tru power ag tires with new valve stems. Cost $199.00

Nice haul !

OK....Michigan is not overrated... Anyway...the Big Ten has 3 teams in the SWEET SIXTEEN...

FYI and this is with an internationally recognized top quality industrial multimeter. The effects of external interferences can be very specific to models within a brand name and dependent on the proximity and type of electrical radiation. Makes you think about holding the cellphone to your head all day long.

Was out shopping with Jeanine tonight and while at walmart and out of boredom, found myself in the auto section. found this oil filter wrench and thought it was worth a try. i have the plastic ones and they are a pain to get between the filter and tin. this one needed to be 'reshaped' a little to fit the circumference of the oil filter and fit in the small slot that is the Onan tin surround. since this tool is made to suit smaller oil filter circumferences as well it has too much 'curve' to be able to sneak between the small area that the rear tin allows. haven't removed a filter as yet, none needed changing, but will be looking forward to see how it works out. it uses a 3/8 socket drive square. reshaped the clamping area....... test fitted on my 416-8 rebuild with tin in place.

I would first check to see if its fuel or ignition. Saves a lot of time troubleshooting if you go in a systematic route.

This whole end of town on Main St. is a very historical place. These buildings are from the early to mid 1800's. In the picture below, the store front on the left with the bench in front and the flames coming through the front was Miller Lawn and Garden, the dealer that sold Wheel Horse tractors from it's beginning till shortly before Wheel Horse folded. They had some old Wheel Horse memorabilia in the store as well. I remember one of those red folding "director" style chairs and they once showed me what I believe was probably a one of a kind Wheel Horse pocket knife display in a lock box showcase that had only one knife missing that had been sold long ago. I tried to buy it from them but she wanted to get an appraisal first and I never followed up to see if she had a price. Sadly I'm sure it was destroyed unless she sold it to someone prior to this fire. I wish I had asked to take a picture of them. I had often wanted to write a story about their dealership for Redsquare but never got around to asking them about it. I hope they reopen their store somewhere in town to keep their history in the village alive.

Kyle, I'm happy you got it going. it certainly looks like a nice tractor and for what you paid for it, a really good deal. in regards to your ? on the valve seat, while I've never heard one running with a valve seat issue, i would think you would be down on power and it would probably sound like it is missing on one cylinder. compression check would show it too..... almost no time involved in hooking up a comp gauge to check cylinder compression and compare. it doesn't that much to pull the heads and decarbon (which you should do anyway) you can check out the valve seats at the same time. do a valve adjustment as well, easy that way..... plus (if you haven't already), clean out any junk behind the tins. all of this is easiest with the engine off the tractor, but can be done with it in place. a set of head gaskets and some valve box gaskets and you would have some important preventative maintenance done. these engines are worth a bit of tlc to get them running right and keep them that way. best place to get valve box and head gaskets would be onanparts.com. the head gaskets 110-3181 run $10 each and the valve box gaskets 110-3709 are $3.95 each http://onanparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_7_22&products_id=17 http://onanparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_7_22&products_id=24 i kept up with your oil leak thread and I'm happy to see another one saved by just a little work.......

Will this help? Garry

Scott Chuck McColley said he is interested in your GT2500...:-)

Slammer- pull the battery & lower dash panel to gain access to the wiring. Look at the harness closely around the steering shaft ... that's where my 314-8 was rubbing at You may want to get a new ign switch plug harness as well...

I'll try to do that in a few days, gonna need some technical help posting a video on this site.

Like Kelly, I also use automotive paints on most of my Restorations but in the case of this Suburban I figured why not use Rustoleum Regal red. Afterall, this was going to be my fun go to tractor that see's a ton of use (and it does) and at the time I really didn't care if it got scratches or faded in a few yrs. (and I still don't care) Whatever. After a full yr. since I painted it no fading and no scratches and anyone that sees it can't believe it when I tell them its Rustoleum. I've been using Rustoleum since my early teens, I'm almost 46 now so I have a pretty good idea of how to lay it on. The bottom line is you can spend ten times more for paint but if you don't know what you are doing it will still come out crappy but with a lot more money down the toilet...Kelly is our professional painter, I agree with him. For the money it is good paint.

Chuck, thanks so much for your help! Had some time today to do some trouble shooting. I discovered the coil was hooked up backwards. The + was connected to the points/.condensor, and the - was hooked to the key switch. After reversing the leads, with the engine running, the voltage started out at about 14.5 volts DC. Within 45-60 seconds, it was back up to 190 or so volts DC. I then disconnected the R/R and still measured 125-190 volts DC across the battery. At the earliest opportunity I plan to replace the coil and the plug wire. Is it possible, because the coil was hooked up backwards, that may have damaged it? (coil) Could it have fed back through the key switch, thru the R/R, and damaged the stator? Still reading about 190 volts AC across the stator leads. I do understand the RF issue with my multi-meter. The battery is right under the coil very close by. My multi-meter is a good 15-18 years old and was not an expensive one when new. The engine has been run enough now what with trouble shooting and all, I'm thinking I would have noticed some adverse effects with the battery or elsewhere in the electrical system. It starts and runs fine, even when the coil was hooked up backwards. No funny smells form the wiring either, battery has not burst and seems to be fine.

Just bought my 1st wheel horse. I seem to like all tractors so it could be any of these this winter!!

Well, some good news! The fuel shutoff valve was seized in place. I twisted it back and forth a few times and it broke loose. When I cranked the engine over I noticed the fuel flow through the fuel filter was constant and had much more volume than before. The engine fired right up and ran like it should whether at idle or full speed. Regardless, I am going to have Scott's dad go though this machine completely. It has oil leaks, the fuel lines are old, the plug wires look old, and it needs a brand new paint job and body work. It should be neat to see what it looks like done.

Maybe they should consider moving it to your place for a HUGE sell-a-thon!!!

Here's my list with Pics... SHOW

Don't forget the photos....

All dressed up in her winter clothes.

Had planned on using the C-120 earlier this winter, but just now got it set up the way I wanted it. Tonight was it's first workout in the snow and It did pretty well. Google decided my picture needed some animation, and I have to say I agree...

This is how it's hooked up on my rj58. I'm not sure that it's correct.