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Just picked up this 1075 with a plow tonight.. Runs and drives. I've been waiting to tinker around with one of these for a while

Woke up to 4-5" of snow in the driveway. So before leaving for work fired up the 1054 and plowed out the drive and turn around. The tractor worked flawlessly. Now after work it is 41 degrees with wind and rain...... But you have to remember this is Michigan..... lol Sorry, old photo from a few weeks ago.

I thought I would just post the pictures of what happened. I did not want to do a whole "How to" thread, as we already have some excellent threads out there. Prondzy's "How to Thread" was my inspiration...along with the Kohler Manual. Here is Mike's link... The manual is in the Manuals section. I am going to number the pictures so it is easier to talk about things...should there be questions or comments. Thanks Took pictures of linkage, gas lines, etc. to be able to put it back together. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. Now we are looking at the parts cleaned, bored, etc...from the machine shop. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. a short video of the new Kohler running.

Any ? With Horse's being scarce and a limited in your area I see your dilemma . Yes you don't need duplicate attachments but how often do they come along . Keep them as backups , parts or there's always and shipping through Fastenal if need be . We all know what a grader blade can bring . $1700 for a bulletproof tractor with all the extras, it's totally worth it . And you can always try to talk them down !

A well maintained magnum is easily capable of well over 2000 hours. Then go by Home depot and see what they charge for a mower and deck of that capacity, Then add in the tiller, mid mount, dozer blade etc. and 1700 is not out of line.

There is a good looking 418-8 for sale local to me. It is clean and appears well taken care of but priced high. It has rock shaft/clevis hitch and lots of accessories I don't need (duplicates), and a limited market to sell them. How well does the electric lift work compared to the hydros? $1700 asking price, comes with: Original paperwork and manuals, following accessories were all purchased new with tractor. 48 SD deck, with the front mount kit & regular mule 48" Dozer blade 50" Grader blade Wh cultivator Tiller Wh dump trailer Plastic rear weights and chains Front weights

I have had a 418-8 for ten years and its the last tractor I buy. I use a snow plow, tiller, bottom plow and grader blade. The motor handles anything I can throw at it including dragging small logs. The lift is a bit slow but not terrible and plenty strong. With the grader blade on I can lift the front wheels off the ground using the lift. All that stuff for 1700, I would go for it.

It looks like the 418-8 was only made one year, 1987, and had the Kohler Magnum M18 in it. The engine is a good one, so should be no worries there, and the transmission of course is Wheel Horses bullet proof 8 speed. The electric lift will be easier on the left arm than a manual lift, but will be slower than a hydraulic lift and will not have the load capacity of a hydraulic lift. I'm not that familiar with Wheel Horses actuator, but my above assessment of electric lifts should be relevant for Wheel Horse as well. I do like the implements, attachments and accessories you listed.

I have seen many Kohler rods have hairline cracks at the oil dipper. I have sen a lot of damage from them. looks like you caught it in time. When rebuilding a Kohler, get that rod checked even if it looks good.

Jim...this was my 1st one...I am so dangerous about this it ain't even funny. Give me a transmission, I feel better in that arena.

We all been there and done that Richard. Although I'm thinking you had a plan to start a really good discussion....and I worked.

Seems like i didn't think very much prior to typing!

Yep TIGman 35 windy and raining here near Gaylord. No worries, it will change soon. After all, this is Michigan 😁

Really appreciate the help fellas. I wish I could get someone on the horn to run out and look for the tag info! My initial guess was anywhere from 68' to 74'. My Raider 10 (69' hence the SN) is very close in body style, as well as my 68' Commando 8. I am NO expert and really didnt compare the subtleties, but I can't see it being any later than 76' at most. It looks like it could be a re-powered C-120 possibly? Really tough to tell. I hear you on the decal being sketchy at best. I just had a complete set made for my Raider because I'm doing about an 85% restore on it. Thats why I need another tractor! My HH100 is on the bench for a clean-up, seals / gaskets, Stator, and basic paint / decals. I bought a beat up Commando 8 with a good motor to repower the Raider until the Tecumseh is ready to go back in but got it home and couldn't stomach how oily, leaky, and dirty it was. Now I have BOTH motors on the bench and two rolling chassis. Wife is gonna kick me in the apple-bag if I come home with yet another tractor. Ah well, if she divorces me at least I'm pretty sure she'll let me keep'em! She's sick of hearing about them and me coming home covered in paint and grease. I hope....

Thanks guys. @oldredrider , this block had the .003 piston...the manual talks about that they either came STD or .003 from the factory...might have had something to do with the bore. Anyway, the machine shop bored the cylinder to .010. They also turned the crank journal to .010 under. I bought the piston .010 and the piston rod .010 over on E-Bay. The machine shop stamped the .010 on the block...I'm not sure if that means the cylinder or the journal. The piston did not have a stamp on it...nor did the rod. The machine shop charged me $119.34 their work and they ground the valves also. The parts on E-Bay were like $85. I did buy a few tools, but I don't count that. I did have the tappets marked, but I knew the shorter one was the exhaust.

Remove the mule drive form the front tachmatic (the mower drive pulleys)

No, !

Good job Dino! Taking lots of pictures is one of the most important things you could have done as a first timer. Have a couple.if questions: Noticed you originally had the .003 piston installed. Did the machine shop stamp .010 on the block deck? Is that what the cylinder was bored to? Noticed tappets weren't marked for location after install. They are different lengths, did you get lucky reinstalling them? One final question: Do you have a final tally on what the rebuild cost considering you did all the labor? Again, great job on the photos and rebuild!

One thing is the paddle broke off the piston rod. It also had a broken spring on the ACR...and the rings were by-passing oil. I don't know when the paddle broke off, but it caused the scoring on the crank shaft journal. Had that turned to .010 under. Norm, I did not paint it because it was my Dad's and he did the pin stripping on it. I wanted to save that and not have it look new and have to do the rest of the horse. I have another K 181 to do on my 876...I am thinking painting that one and a restoration.

@rlrnot @AMC RULES @JERSEYHAWG / Glenn The car under the cover is a 1966 Mustang coupe with a Vinyl top! Lol! Thank you! This one is going up for sale soon though.. I'm trying to put more RJs in the garage

Here is what I started with. Here is the progress so far. I have been cutting and welding up all the pieces removing as much of the damage as possible. I will end up using body filler to smooth out the welds.

It's also got a front carrier for the mower deck. I just left a message, Im going to try and see it tonight (hate l looking in the dark, but...). I may have a what's in your mirror post later.

Your limited market could be a big advantage! There is a limited availability of accessories for other owners to buy near home, so yours will be very desirable.

try useing the atachments and saying how you all already have them and try useing that to talk him down.

That is true, but it is a lot more precise . Sounds like a heck of a buy

These were two epic builds that Jason scored just scored here.

Not gonna hit the like button on that one.

I wanna play too.... This is from somewhere...don't know Clik it, then change pulley diameters and watct... http://www.blocklayer.com/pulley-belteng.aspx

@T1257 RETIRED WRENCHER. I remember that 8hp Kohler sitting on a high shelf on the back wall of the garage on the west side for years. Somewhere along the way, dad decided that he didn't have a use for it anymore and it got thrown away. This was when I was still young, probably my early teens. Obviously he would never have put the original motor back on it but it would've been a neat keepsake or something that could've helped out one of you guys. Now for a little good news: I uncovered the following photo recently and I was excited to find it. This is dad, me and my Brother Nathan in the spring of 1983. We loved to spend time with dad, especially riding on the Iron Horse! The following pic was taken with me and my youngest Zach on the same tractor 33 years later... I like legacy pics!

@stevasaurus If I tried to rebuild a motor I would have a big pile of parts left over without any idea where they belonged. There would probably parts that were not even related to the motor. You did a great job.

to some that would be high for a package deal,not to me,a magnum 18 hp and the 8 speed,what a combo,id love to have that,shy of the elusive 420 that's the next king of horses for me,not an onan guy personally as all my friends onans are boat anchors,if this machine is in your price range then GO for it,where I live the tractor would go for 750,the deck 200,tiller 350-500,grader 300,front blade 250-500,trailer 100,weights 50-75so really its a reasonable deal,where I live anyway

I'm thinkin'... Rambler American.

Garry

Congrats... another good lookin' score.

Big Block , short frame , square hood ... my favorite ! Great score Is that a Falcon under that cover ?

TIG, it's a nice machine, clean. Seat time is good. Glenn

Have to say 953 I always enjoy every minute of seat time on the 1054. It is a pleasure drive.. Wish I had more attachments for it.

@ACman, sorry Jeff I bought the seat slider tracks from Northern same time I ordered the seat because my orginals were rusted out, the Philip's head screws wouldn't budget in the original from where it had sat outside for 10 years, I wasn't thinking about the new sliders as I bolted them up to the seat then the "U" springs, I'd still buy this seat again just for the fact it's the same dimensionally as the '96 newer O.E. Toro 520/xi seats and more comfortable to me,Jeff.

Jack Thanks for the repost. I am not sure why the Auto in that did not work to my liking. It was mostly on hills that I felt there was an issue. I did find a hard to get original belt on E-Bay for it. But thanks for the comments. And I am glad you are handing down to your son the same love for these tractors as you did with your Father. Enjoy.

Nice job Steve , now that was easy wasn't it? On to the next one.

Back in high school in snow storm in my chevy monza 2 door hatchback. Doing e brake pulls and sliding rear end into newly plow snowbanks until all of a sudden it was not a snowbank rather a curb .... opps. Rear end shifts all the way over until the inside of the tire rubbed on the wheel well. Now thinking what do I do? Decided to do the same thing to the other side and move the rear end back over... Done. Drove home and told dad (big Jim) not a good idea.

I'll just throw out some food for thought. Why do we run our deck drive belts on the larger inside PTO pulley? A. so the blades spin faster B. so the blades spin slower C. all of the above D. none of the above

A LARGER engine pulley will equal faster speed if the driven pulley remains the same but how much depends on the size. How much larger is the new pulley? Change the transmission pulley to a smaller diameter pulley too. Play around with this calculator http://www3.telus.net/shebang/pulley_calculator.html

Thanks Steve ,for the photo tutorial, I'm getting ready to try to tackle one of the K181's I have for my dad's original CUB CADET, I pilfered from a couple old Gravely riders that actually has the ring and pinion gear bendix starters vs the old Delco belt drive starter/generator,Jeff.

I feel a big discussion coming. Think I'll sit back and watch this one. Belt speed / rev is the key.

I know I'd feel better about rebuilding engines if I could walk through it a couple of times with someone that truly knew what they were doing. Hands on kind of thing, I've always learned better that way.

Should be good for another 50 years. Did it throw a rod or just have a bad knock? I'm glad to see you needed to use a hammer to get that pesky nipple out; it was too serene up to that point.

here are better pictures

Like the high backs but, never use the arm rests. Often forget I have them and I feel they get in my way. TSC has high backs usually on the shelf. 'Bout $70.