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Seem like this question is asked nearly every week on here. The answers given quite often include buying expensive Bore Gauges or Inside Micrometers. I have an inexpensive down and dirty method of evaluating the cylinder's wear that uses a tool nearly everyone has or could buy for around $ 5.00. A set of feeler gauges and a ring from the piston you just removed will let you know without any other equipment. It won't tell you how much it should be bored (though you can get close) but it will tell you if it is beyond the point of being successfully honed. In the photo below you can see the first step, placing a ring at the very top of the cylinder above the ridge. The piston ring end gap in this case is 0.080. The cylinder at the ridge measured standard at 3.25" and the cylinder walls and ring edges were worn smooth. Next I used the piston to move the ring down to a point just below the ridge. The piston helps keep the ring square to the cylinder wall. At this point the piston ring end gap increased to 0.110" This step was repeated three more times at 3/4 inch intervals. The results were 0.117", 0.118" and 0.117" Next the ring was moved to the bottom of the cylinder where the piton rings would not have contacted the cylinder walls. The piston ring end gap returned to 0.080". The greatest deviation of the ring end gap was 0.038". Now we can do a little fuzzy math to figure out how much the cylinder need to be bored. Changes in the ring end gap will be a change to the circumference. Bore changes would be a change in diameter. So, 0.038" divided by 3.14159 will show that the greatest wear in the cylinder is 0.012" larger in diameter than standard and should be bored 0.020". This is a quick easy way to get the job done without spending a bunch of money on tools you will never use again. You are going to need the feeler gauges when you put the engine back together anyway.

Hi all. While I was tinkering with Fred in the front drive yesterday a chap wandered up and asked if I'd like an old mower he was taking to the dump. Absolutely I said... At first glance it's pretty intact but needs a good service. First pull of the cord shot a bit of oil out the plug hole but I guess it's been stored standing up so the cylinder was flooded. Feels a it tight as I pull the starter too but I will have a basic strip down look at it to see if there is anything bad happening. Guy said it worked fine till he put some dirty fuel in so I guess a good carb and tank clean are first up. This might be just the thing for our community project. Mick

Found one of the oil guys building his own narrow-gauge railroad ! Can't wait to see what he'll use for power . Maybe we'll even catch some video of him running it !! Pic 2 . getting into some pretty technical stuff .

Trina, her mom, and I spent some time in the woods again today. Sorting out some treetops into cuttable wood and brush piles. Sectioned up some bigger trees into 16 inch pieces. While I was doing that they split some more. Patriot Horse was put back into active duty today as the official Mama mobile.

Wheelhorseman visited one Greencastle today! Picking up some Wheel Horse parts on there cross country trip! we had a nice visit!

Here’s a few recents...

Noticed the last couple of mowing sessions the hydro engagement lever on my 418A was bouncing around more than normal. Pulsed hard when you pressed down on it. Today was check drive belt day. Think the old one was about done?? Glad it didn't fail 1/3 mile from home... Nice new 108501 that surprisingly I had hanging on the belt wall, and she is nice and smooth.

When we lived in Sydney they used to have a massive garbage pickup about 4 times a year. Everybody put anything out on the front lawn and in theory the council came along and cleaned it up. In reality we just drove around "shopping" through all the free stuff. Even at other times of the year if you didnt want something you just left it on the front lawn and before long somebody would take it. I got our lawn mower that way, needed one, drove about for a bit until I found one on the front lawn and took it home. Was an old two stroke that just needed a little TLC and the blades sharpening. When we left the country I put it on the front lawn and somebody else took it away - the circle of life!

Is this good 'nuff for SideShot Sunday? Things start kinda early 'round here, lol. Y'all have a great day!😊

I wish you guys would call ploughs plows! Every time I see the word plough I think of pancakes and biscuits!

I like the clevis type in your photo's. Be lucky to find something like that over here, without someone wanting silly money. I may have a crack at making one, on day. I have a drawing and dimensions. I am? I have? I have been having a think. Do I need two ploughs? Below is the modified Auto Culto walk behind plough. That fits the black slot hitch tool bar. This would be the one to go. The land wheel arrangement could be better I used what I had and didn't want it to be to heavy. Manual lift and age.

the C-160 and the Toro Spartan. Do a little cutting.

Changed the oil, plug and just sprayed the carb. It starts and runs but its lumpy and not revving properly. I will find the manual on line and swat up on settings and trouble shooting. Maybe strip off the carb and tank complete for a deep clean. Mick

Yeah I have no cover over my barrel/spring assembly. I would bust my gourd on it every time I went in if I did. I have enough room to walk in straight up but I duck anyways. I hit my head on enough stuff as it is.

Just a little follow up on this : new fuel line, new hydro filter and 5 fresh quarts 10w30, changed oil and filter, 2 new matching spark plugs(they had 2 mismatched , incorrect plugs in it) , new lt front inner wheel bearing and seal, a few wiring repairs (removed the house wiring they used to bypass the main connector), 2 used tail light lenses and bulbs, cleaned the air filter, added a used decal to replace the missing one over the idiot lights, 2 used choke and throttle knobs, checked and lubed everything. Swapped my 42" recycler and mule drive over to give it a good test run. Used it for 2hrs today in heavy, thick grass and didn't miss a beat. The only thing that doesn't work is the hour meter.

@19richie66 ... Here’s a Corona Free hug from a couple years back! I’ve got the short guy advantage right here... barely ever hit my head on stuff!

Had a little orange spray paint so I feathered in where I had painted the deck. Looks a little better. Each panel on the tractor the paint is faded in different colors.

I gave the bearings a shot of grease today before rolling it around for a while. I hooked up the roller to my C-141 for some "high speed" low 1 cruising and smoothed out the crappy fill in job that the village did on each side of my drive way. I don't have much for hills here but I did have a few spots that gave me some traction issues. That roller is quite heavy. Sorry forgot to get pic's

Furniture dealers will not pick up or deliver inside a house during this virus nonsense, so I took my old stuff to the road in the hopes someone could use it. One reclining sofa, one reclining swivel rocker and one power recliner is on there.

Engine together, cowl and new coil fitted. Need to make a wiring loom next...

I'll let the pics speak for themselves...

My favorite 4 letter word - FREE.

If you have more than one, they breed...

After Dan pulled the cores we had a 1/2" ... this trailer has got a trim cover around the torsion spring Ritchie that is what screwed us. Taking that off would have gained us another 1 1/2". I had it off several times to straighten out cables. Should just leave it off but how many times do we wrangle with a cab??

Wow looks like I started a debate on the merits & faults of a ZT. Not ny intentions I asure you. I'd put up a pic of mine but you canaries would strip me colors and throw me out the club... That said gonna go kick the tires tommorow and deliver a lawn roller to @Achto. Sorry @dclarke I ain't got a tractor with enough traction other than the plow mule to pull it up my hills. BTW the limited slip works on the 1067! I need it I'll just sub out that seat time to Dan with his Rapherd and follow him around on an RJ...

This greaseable bolt was used on 1961 through 1963 Wheel Horse tractors on the front steering. I can find no Part Number and any of the Wheel Horse Manuals for this. I know they are on my 701 and I still grease them Anyone know of a source for new ones?

Got more done today. Painted front rims and got the new tires on. Will be masking off the tires and wet sanding and coating the rims again to get rid of and scratches put in when mounting the tires. Also got the front axle painted and is now drying as well as the rear hitch. Will probably be able to get the axle on tonight along with one spindle and hold the left tire on to see how it looks. I need a new rh spindle. Mine was all bent up and can’t get it bent back right. Also found the updated tie rods on parts tree. Will be getting in some of those as well as new fender bumpers. Didn’t get a picture but decided to mount the rear rims on the tractor for now so it’s not on jack stands. Looks awesome.

Here is a small Video, after dewobbling. think it coud be seen without spit 😂 The Actioncam was fitted with a fisheye lens for wider optics. sorry for the wobble, but the sicklebar shakes hardly and i mounted the Cam in an worse place. FD0ABFDF-75FF-4647-BDA3-2B88F34BD197.MOV

@pullstart Kevin I love my but I honestly believe the IHCC version of the Brinly sleeve/clevis hitch is the most adjustable (@PeacemakerJack do you agree?) Here check out these Kevin... No cables no chains all rigid metal linkage. @Achto, Dan the moldboard plow dad used for many decades had no adjustments except for his IHCC hitch and it worked fine... I know I know it needs polished.

Patriot Horse on it's return to active duty day.

Ok, let me say so, that belt looks close to brandnew 😂 👍 allway‘s a good idea to have a spare Belt.

Kev - you have the imagination, material, and the tools to come up with something like this. Can't wait to see It!

We had a garden when we lived in My. It was about 50' square. Started with the red clay soil typical of that part of the country. Each fall, I would get about two pickup truck loads of leaf mulch from the local university and plow/till it in. When we moved 7 or 8 years later, the soil in the garden was much lighter and less red.

@RBB! I have a tiller on my 8 hp 502, but it really should be on a 10-14 hp machine. There is no “kit” to get what I have, the tractor is a 1962 502 with a bigger engine and newer 8 speed transmission, the tiller is driven via a ‘60’s era mower deck pulley and a not so typical length belt. In my clay based soil, 1st/low is still too fast in spots of the garden, after I’ve plowed and disced already! I should put a larger pulley on my transmission input to slow it down further. At my old house, in sandy loam I barely needed low range.

thank you for all the replies we are looking for a wheel horse with tiller and a plow will put it to work in our family garden I have my dads 1957 David Bradley walk behind in excellent condition that he bought new from sears and roebuck that is retired to the barn always liked the horses its time to get one

Photo's as promised, Dan. May give you an idea or two. The black one I made to take my first plough, that is a modified Auto Culto walk behind plough. The white one is for my Brinly plough. Both fit a slot hitch. The plate on the white one could do with being a couple of inches wider. Plough could then be set over off centre an inch.

Any doubts about ovality can be checked by checking bore once, then turning the ring 90 degrees. Check again.

Nice edit job! I used to to pull a roller like that with a 604 with Tecky power no less. Operator must be too heavy!

Couldn't ask for a more perfect day. Tilled and weeded the garden in the morning, added homemade mulch around the peppers and broccoli in the afternoon after mowing the lawn, and then watered in the evening! Put up my new to me weather vane, and then spent the night enjoying wine and cigars in front of a fire with my wife! IMG_0437.mp4 IMG_0438.mp4

@stevasaurus As EB said it would be great to pin this

Great post Richard! When you started, I didn’t quite see the end of the tunnel... then started thinking about what you were getting to, then the rest confirmed my speculation. Awesome job!

I think you have come up with a simple way for the average person to get an idea of cylinder wear.As a machinist I have the tools you mention to get a more precise measurement but I am well aware of their cost and limited use to most folks.Your method is all most people need to know what they have.You have my vote!

Did a Hedgecut today with my Action Cam on the Beast. that‘s the good news...👍 the bad news it wobbles that strong the camera, that i really not like to post a vid. Will try a smoothening tomorrow, maybe that helps a bit. Actually you just can look 5 sec, before you begin to spit.. 😂

Worked on my newly acquired C-160 all day, and I have a few people to thank. @richmondred01 for the engine @Mikey the Monkey for the seat K&B parts for PTO parts and hour meter Ebay for a muffler Daveoman for his advice I've worked most of the bugs out, wiring is mostly new, and it seems like it should be a good worker. I'll most likely give it a wet sand and a coating of oil and leave it as is. Sheet metal is good, I like it like it is. Of course I've thrown to much money at, but for me its worth it. A fresh coat of paint on the rims and it will look like a true survivor!

Latest... new rubber! hoodstand painted engine cleaned and painted rolling....

Holy cow Buzz. Sounds like you are trying to reenact an episode of The Infamous Back Flipping Commando 8, that aired right here on June 24, 2014. All kidding aside, that can be very scary. I'm glad you are okay.

Never!! Just too little roof.

There was one at a local power equipment dealer parting out, but nothing they have can sell whole. I agree, they are a Dixie Chooper heritage. I like cutting with my ZTR. I seem to improve my methods every time I cut. It leaves a great looking lawn and I can complete my lawn work in about 1/4 the time. I’d love to pick up a ZTR that needs work, for use of parts for a crawler project. That might would turn into my plow day rig!