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I’d like to file this under “Wheel Horses attract some pretty awesome people”..... in this case, Chris G. Here’s the story: I was reviewing posts on the site earlier this week, saw one from Chris G, and noticed that he lived in Batavia, NY. I have an 80-something-year-old aunt in Batavia, currently in a physical therapy/rehab facility there. Seeing Chris’s post made me think about sending him a message, introducing myself, telling him about my aunt, and asking him if, by chance, he happened to go by the facility, would he consider stopping in and saying “HI” to my aunt for me. He replied, and to my surprise, he told me that he lived within sight of that facility, and he would be more than happy to go see my aunt! He even offered to take her some flowers and a box of chocolates! Now, what are the chances of a complete stranger (outside of our WH interests) not only living close to another forum member’s relative, but also being SO WILLING to make a visit to someone else’s aunt!?!?! Chris and I have shared a lot of information about ourselves and about my aunt. I called the facility and spoke to her caretakers, made sure that a surprise visit by Chris was OK, and figured out a good time that fit Chris’s and my aunt’s schedules. So, Chris will be visiting my aunt Monday! I cannot WAIT to hear about the visit from Chris, and I will LOVE hearing what my aunt has to say after it is done! I don’t get to see my aunt very often, as she is in NY and we are in Arkansas, so this offer to visit by Chris really means a LOT to me! My hat is off to Chris!! I wanted all of the folks here to know that Chris is a shining example of the kind of people that Wheel Horses attract, and publicly thank him from the bottom of my heart! THANK YOU, CHRIS!!!!!! You are one FINE individual!!

I found this tractor today that was a traid in at a local mower shop I know nothing about this modle other than it caught my eye. One owner and i have all the original literature that came with it. It has a few implements that come with it. I think the plow blade has been modified and I'm not sure if the seat is original. It runs and has a few extra parts with it. I got it for 300.00 hope I didn't pay to much for it. Your thoughts?

I finally got the templates adjusted and have stayed up past my bed time putting this concept together. I really like the way it turned out. Step 1. prepare your metal dash and powder coat or paint the entire dash plate with whatever color you prefer I chose to try Cowboy's new chrome powder and I think it looks awesome. I happen to think you could do a silver paint or white or maybe even linen beige any of those would look great. Step 2. Get out your decals. the red die cut vinyl (Wheel Horse) decal and apply on the top of your dash. the black letters for the rib are printed on a clear adhesive vinyl which is almost invisible on the chrome powder. It is long, skinny and thin but really pretty easy to lay down on the rib. I found it easier to line up the word ignition centered under the hole for the ignition switch off course. then the throttle lettering will be positioned correctly when laid down. then just work your way back to the left till it is all applied. You should have about a 1/16th left hanging over each end of the rib which you trim off with your exacto knife. Step 3. Remove your black and brushed chrome decal for the bottom of the dash plate from it's backing paper. step 4. position it up against the bottom of the rib with the lock arrow centered over the throttle hole. If it is lined up close to center you will have about 1/16" of decal hanging over the left side of the plate and about 1/4" hanging over the right end and bottom. IT should look like the following image when you turn it over to trim. step 5. turn your plate over and lay the bottom flat against your table (preferably a cutting mat) and trim all excess decal from your plate. then turn it back over and trim out all the holes . BOOM your done!! Much easier to install and you do not have to fight the rib trying to make the vinyl stay down in the creases. What do ya'll think.

Disconnect the negative (-) battery cable at the battery. Keep the key in the OFF position. Connect at test light or voltmeter to the negative battery post and the cable you just removed. If no short is present the light will not illuminate or a voltmeter will show 0 battery voltage. If a short is present the light will illuminate or a voltmeter will show battery voltage. Start disconnecting items one at a time and reconnect until you get the light out or 0 volts. When that happens you have found the problem circuit. Let us know what you find. Garry

Chris is also a wheel horse pal of mine. He's going to bring going room to room asking the patients if they have any old WH parts they don't need anymore. Just kidding he's s great guy. Chris... 1st, Try to keep swearing and cigar smoking to a minimum in there. 2nd, if you want to give rides on junkyard dog or b140, make sure their gowns don't get wound up on the uni drives.

A sad day. Besides and above all the dedication to public service, a truly decent man that really represented what this country is and should be. May we all now look back at all of his life and learn from it so we stop wasting ours and our children's.

RIP George Sr., thanks for the many ways you served your Country.

Missing Man Formation... Godspeed.

His legacy will defend us well into the future

Well, I bought a ratty ole Work Horse for the deck and rear wheels at my local club’s annual show last July. Emory fell in love with it. I did rob the deck and front wheels for my 312-8. Ever since Emory has been asking if I would build it for his Christmas this year. He was wanting an rj or suburban, but neither has come along, so here goes the 1100. Below are a fee pics of it’s current condition - broken steering brace, cobble welded hood, and cobbled up steering/dash tower. Seat could almost go in the ugly seat contest. Engine is a worn, difficult to start pull start Briggs. It’s going to be replaced with a fresh rebuilt k241. I’m optimistic I’ll get it done by Christmas and went ahead and ordered a set of @Vinylguy‘s patriotic decal sets. Keep your fingers crossed! Oh, by the way @WHX21, Jim, the shop isn’t any cleaner yet - maybe after Christmas, then maybe not😂.

An underated President who treated the job with respect as well as respecting his political adversaries. Truly one of the "Greatest Generation"

And although I feel bad, You still can't have my skis

The time finally came - I can't do the heavier mechanical work on things anymore and could no longer stand to watch my beloved Land Cruiser rot into the ground. Mechanically, it was perfect and always ran like a sewing machine, but the body was really starting to suffer from age and the weather here. No garage, no place to store it - so I decided to sell and let someone else take it over. Loaded up as much of the spare parts in it last night that it could carry and handed the keys over to a pretty young fella that promises to care for and restore it - he lacks a lot of mechanical know-how but sure makes up for that in excitement, wow. Almost feel sorry for the truck - he's never owned or driven anything older than himself, not even a garden tractor. It took a while to even teach him how to drive the thing, heavy truck transmission and manual steering isn't for everyone, I was sure nervous the whole time. He didn't understand the old straight six and wanted to rev it to the moon in each gear - uh, wrong idea, kid. Not to mention jerking the shifter quickly when changing or engaging gears - took 30 minutes to drive it into his thick skull this is heavy and very old machinery - not a modern car like the Mitsubishi Eclipse he once had, totally different animal and mentality. Despite the abuse, he did make the 2hr trip home last night without an issue, hope the old girl survives or he's going to learn a hard and very expensive lesson about how you treat such things. Has to come back with a box van to pick up the rest of the parts next weekend, I'm interested to see how things are going. The GSD spent all evening last night mad at me - he knows "his truck" left here with someone else and it's gone. Sarge

I am ready for the winter also! 314-8 and 42 inch plow all set to go!

he lived a remarkable life, this is the same stearman biplane he trained in ww2 prior to flying tbf's in the Pacific. I recently built it for my "other" collection

Hats off to Chris.You have my respect and admiration. If we are ever in the same location I would like to shake your hand. And, yes, the vast majority of members in this forum and hobby are real decent human beings. Amazing that so many people from very different geographical and cultural areas have so many common interests and values. So we again have to thank the creator of these little red tractors for a product that became much more than what it was intended for and brought all of us together.

Fair winds and following seas sir.

that's one thing I noticed about the garden tractor hobby we are all great people, can't say enough about all the travels and people I met searching for parts and pieces. no other hobby compares to this, most of us all have similar backgrounds and intrests.

George and his beloved Barbara are back together again in Heaven. My prayers to the family on their loss.

Something I noticed with the manuals is the blades for the lawn tractors with vertical crankshaft engines were often named snow blades and the blades for horizontal crankshaft garden tractors were named dozer blades. Garry

Well, I pulled off the dash stand, straightened it, welded up all of the fatigued spots, and added reinforcement plates to the top and area surrounding the bushing. I use a flux core and am no pro by a long shot, so please ignore my welding! Getting ready to go back and tackle the hood. More updates later.

Here is another option

Wheel horse parts and more.com One of our vendors here also has them.

Yes..... McMaster is one of my favorite places! They have a LOT of stuff!

THANK YOU EVERYONE spent the day with Jo and had a family get together for dinner Brian

Thank you to all the Garden Tractor patriots, I too can say everyone I have come across in the hobby are great people.

No hiding this time. He knows it’s his. He was wanting this one and I had no intentions of fixing it for me, but with everything else going on, I couldn’t turn him down.

Not a truck, but vintage indeed! This is a 1967 Puch 250. It’s a “Twingle” cylinder two stroke; two pistons, one combustion chamber, no valves, a spark plug above each piston, the left cap on the fuel tank is a tank in a tank for SAE 30 oil. This was my great uncle’s in CA, from what we have figured out this is an Austrian bike that must have made it’s way back on a military return home. Grandpa got it from his brother and it was then given to a family friend, who had it about 15 years. My mom convinced him to give it back to me, and I’ve had it quite a few years now... maybe 6 or 7, maybe more. I’ve redun the wiring, got it running a few years back and rode it 12 miles each way to work a few times (on ‘77 plates). I need to go through it again, but other than wiring and the battery it is all original. The original tires still hold air and show no real dry rot signs, the kick stand has a perfect balance to keep the weight off the tires. I’ve had it up to 70 or so and it’s quite smooth too! I have done pretty extensive research on this bike, and I’ve not seen another Bike stateside with the same air cleaner, gas tank, and seat combo.

Got in a bit of a hurry so I will redo this one and make some adjustments in the template while at it. Was able to cut the red wheel horse lettering ok and the black words on the rib are printed on a strip of clear. The bottom is cut from one of my current dash decals.

Just read he passed away at 94 years old..

Was having issue with belt sliding off idler pulley parking brake of my 69 Charger 12. The pulley rotated fine but had some radial "slop" and the linkage is a little sloppy also so sometimes the belt would slip off outside of idler and jam in between guard and pulley. Usually right in middle of task at hand. I'm getting pretty good at removing guard.It would also not engage belt correctly and was fraying inside edge of belt. Finally had enough and replaced pulley, wanted to move back fan/pulley in a little to help alignment but it was extremely happy right where it was. I thought about adding a sheet metal spacer similar to ones found inside existing guard to maintain belt but decided to fab this roller. Took 1/2" PEX tubing and placed over 5/16" bolt with 1" angle iron ends. Double locked nuts on bolt. Threaded other portion of angle and located in proper place for retention of belt. So far so good. Some may see this as "Blasphemy" and hopefully when I'm gone some young enthusiast will look at this and say "Can't believe what PO did to this WH."

Just now quitting for the night. I did manage to weld the front and top of the hood together to make one piece. It was already butchered with a stick welder when we got it and the factory spot welds were broken loose. I had to weld the bottom of the hood, as the sheet metal was fatigued from flexing. I also put a strip of steel under the rear of the hood to stiffen and straighten the back. All told, it looks and fits better now. Now I dread the mud work!

same blade it was to marketing gimick to sell them to southern people who don't see snow. I am guessing by the way

There are two common sizes and it could be either one, just go to Walmart and buy a pair of each size and return the ones you con't need.

This was in the bag of goodies I got thought I would share it with you all.you will have to expand it to read it unless you have really good eyes.

You paid full price for the headlights, the rest of it was free! You absolutely stole the rest of it, .

https://www.mcmaster.com/tie-rod-ends

If you need parts shimmed, welded or repaired, holler. Shipping turnaround will take some time during this season, but I can work turnaround times down pretty fast. Sarge

Got my new find home today. Well not home home but home to my buddies shop for the winter. I try to get up to the shop a couple days a week to BS over a cup of coffee or three. This little 657 looked better than the pictures so I am very happy with my purchase. Gary and I are both kind of busy for a few weeks but we will try to get the Kohler running before Thanksgiving and see what I have. Here is the good news as this appears to be a good news bad news kind of thing. So here's what was in my mirror this morning. Brake was pretty good rolling of the trailer and it seems to shift in and out of all gears as expected. Here's a little better picture of it once I got her in the shop. The paint is very nice but once you look it over the seat pan and frame are a slightly different shade of red. but all in all it will make a very good looking worker. IT looks to have been a tire on rim paint job but up close it was a good one. The deck is really nice. no rot anywhere. Can not be the original deck. If the tractor had enough hours on it to burn up the Techy then you would think the deck would have some dings and dents? The shifter boot looks to be original but still in pretty good condition Not sure where he got this seat but it is a beauty. Nice to sit on also!! Found the rope when I opened the hood. There is a slot on the front of the frame that appears to be a hood stop but the tab appears a bit bent and does not go in the slot? As usual its not all good news so here is a bit of bad news. Hopefully not too bad. Took a picture under the kohler and found this ugly mess. Sure looks like a big problem to me but I am no mechanic. The wiring is suspect also. the back of the switch looks like it was hot at one time Maybe the wires were hooked up wrong? Also there is no dip stick? Once I know the wiring is right and I get the new battery in we will find out if I have a $400 roller or a very nice 857 ready for work. If the engine is bad I will take it out and get it to Holden's Machine shop and hope he can get it healthy in time for spring. Bill does incredible work but you don't want to tell him your in no hurry. He always has 10 things going at once it seems. So let me know what you think guys. Good and Bad. Will download the manual for an 857. Your input and advice is as always very appreciated.

Happy Birthday @Buzz, we are all glad you were born!

All done.. venison vacuum packed and in the freezer. The cape is fleshed and salted ready for mounting later.

That's interesting. Just wanted to make sure I could push snow with my dozer blade . 😬

I would get the small ones. The only time I have every see the large one was on the wheels of a !964 Ford pickup that we had.

I think you did alright! It runs, looks like it is in decent shape, and has some nice attachments..... nothing wrong with $300 in my book. Will you be gardening with it?

No need to feel bad !!!! I'll get around to building a set sometime.........

Are you telling me that I need to get another tractor and restore it so I can get another set of decals?? Lol. Terry is the best and I have purchased I don't know how many sets from him. Thanks again Terry !!

I finally got the aluminum cut for the fuel tank. I got the tacked together and needed to trial fit it before final welding. I had to cut out the angled portion in the bottom of the tool bin so the tank would drop straight down. Fits like a glove. I drilled the filler neck hole and the vent/feed holes and took it back to my son’s for final welding. Think I am going to do this to the 953 I have also. 👍

Sorry I'm late Brian. Too much buck chasing. Have a great evening.

Happy birthday Brian! Just thought I pop up a pic of my 854 wink-wink

We need proof... no pics (or videos) it didn’t happen, remember?