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Gotta record this here for the future! Our garage has been a mess too long and so today was the day to do spring cleaning! Zach got home from work and jumped right in to help. He had been “dying” to check out/us the WH wagon. I have had it standing up next to the wall for the last 5 years or so. Zach has no memory of riding in the wagon even though he has on a couple of occasions. now he is begging me to restore it. I told him that he has several other projects to finish and then he can do this one. He told me that when he has his own place someday he wanted to buy this from me. I told him that it’s not for sale—and I could tell he was disappointed (I generally don’t sell stuff to my kids). I said, “if you want it that much, it’s yours when you have your own place with a garage or shed to keep it inside…”😎🙌🏻 after all—he is the only one of my four kids that has owned a Wheel Horse since he was three years old and restored it when he was nine💪🏻 He even used the custom @Achto hitch pin to pull it around…thanks again @19richie66 for the sweet Blackbeard decal—looks really cool on there! Another chapter in the Zach/blackbeard story📖

Although I have pictures of Zach in and on this wagon they are from about 6 years ago and he has no recollection of it. We were doing some massive garage cleaning/organizing tonight and he was super excited about the wagon…so I let him hook up Blackbeard and haul burnables to the fire pit! He was in his element!

Mowed all my parent’s lawn with the 312. It powered through with only one stop to tighten the mule drive. The PTO went bad on their mower so it had been a week since it was mowed. The grass is growing like crazy with our odd weather for the time of year lately. I also recruited the 308 for them to use if they need to. Just a little grease in the mule drive and a once over to check it over as my test after I put the deck on had a new noise up front. After it’ll be good to go.

i always thought my 37 SD on my 312-8 was terrific cut - - maybe the 2 blade design, or the lift attachment on the one blade -- but it sure leaves nice cut - and the 12 Kohler always enough power

Looks Like that spring has seen better days too.

I think (I am not an eaton guy ) pic two may be an Eaton 700???

Picture 2 is not a sunstrand...picture one is a piston to piston sunstrand not an early one.

Show prep . Had a little axle drip going on, and decided it’s time to make it like new again . That oem seal from 40 years ago sure gave me a run for my money .

The big spring on the cross shaft provides the resistance to the motion control. The little springs back on the slider were only used on Wheelamatics... (875-1275 vintage tractors.)

Make sure the metal tab on the left end of the shaft (bolted to the hoodstand) isn't broken or the bolt missing. (#24/25)

One has dynamic braking, the other has a mechanical brake. I think it would be a bigger project than you want to tackle. Just my opinion.

Replaced seal behind brake drum(I just noticed when I posted pics I put brake drum on backwards ), and changed oil in rear of the 312-8 I been working. Also got to try out my new headlight, and before anyone ask, no thats not a professional model in last pic just me.

Two things Johnny Carson never did made him a class act and an example that I wish was being followed today. He never got involved in politics and he could tell a joke without being vulgar.

May 22, 1992 Johnny Carson's final appearance as host of "The Tonight Show".

Class act... Nothing like it anymore

There is a bit of work involved and if it was an Eaton 1100 in good condition I would say it is well worth it, a 700, not too sure.

That's a PO fix and is actually 3 springs, works but will eventually get replaced.

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback. I'm on my way to beautiful Anguilla for a bit, so no rototillers for now! Yes, I removed the tines & replaced the seals, but I THOUGHT I had them layed out properly. Boy will my face be red if that is the case! My troy-bilt horse is a beast, and although it has the same limitations, I can apply generous down pressure via the handlebars. Yeah, Central PA clay is no fun. I got a tooth bar for my FEL to get through it. I think I finally got it tilled enough for my zinnia seeds this year. It will be watered generously over the summer, so tilling either this autumn or next spring will be easier. I am also considering adding pelleted gypsum to help lighten it.

Yes it is. Stay with the Sundstrand.

Standard 7.5 inch Wheel Horse wheels will accept most any 10.50 wide turf tire. Ag cleats of the same 10.50 (actual) width on the other hand can be troublesome on 7.5 wide wheels. The bar treads force all the flex to the sidewalls on some tires and make clenching the bead tough without tubes. Better to use 8.5 (like 520 wheels) or wider wheels for these. So 23x10.50-12 turfs (or any non-bar tread) should be good.

They can be a pain, but well worth it when replaced.

This guy here is what sets the friction. There was ones with springs over the top of the plate that set the tension on the plate. Some tractors do not have that spring. I thinks Lowell has the replacement plates. I know he has replacement cam plates. Check that for wear too.

I just saw your truck thread. It looks like a very nice solid, straight truck---definitely worth getting back on the road again. The 300-inch six is an excellent mill. I've owned four F250s over the years (although none with that engine), plus several other pickups, and now I've 'downsized' to an F150. When it comes to axle work, I can't claim to be an expert, although I've overhauled a bunch of rear ends (I used to break them occasionally during my hot rod years in high school and college). I still have a case spreader lying around somewhere. Rear end work can be a bit fussy to deal with, so having a professional take care of it probably isn't a bad idea. I'll follow your thread to see how it goes.

I called the shop you recommended. They seemed very friendly and knowledgeable, but they said it would be about eight weeks before they could get to it, so I took the engine block to Redline Performance in Hallowell, which happens to be a little closer. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see how it's coming along. I will probably have them bore the cylinders .010 over and turn the crank .010 under in order to clean up the rust spots. I'll have them check the crankshaft bores and see if it needs align boring. The cam and lifters look like new, and I think the valve guides should also still be within new specs. The engine only has about 8,000 miles on it, and if it weren't for the rust spots, it would all remain standard size. The exhaust valves looked 'fairly good' and the intake valves looked like new (but I'll still have them touch up the valve faces and seats). The engine came with hardened exhaust valve seat inserts from the factory back in 1954, and they look pretty good, so it shouldn't take much to clean those up, although I'm going to see how much they'd want to install new higher-tech inserts. I have lots of NOS parts...too many to mention...and I just obtained a complete set of NOS exhaust valves, still wrapped in cosmoline-soaked gauze (see below), which isn't very pretty, as they resemble a dog's chew toy (or something you might flush down the loo) but they've been well protected over the years.

And if you have a private well, test the water for radon too

Spent the day doing some more yard projects. Other half and I decided to sell the pool this year and buy a park pass and travel different state parks this summer. We also decided to turn the old pool location into a new flower garden. So spent the day digging out the sand and digging down the under layer of soil and ordered 6 yards of garden soil. They said it was going to be delivered by the end of the weekend. Awesome! Now I have the time to dig all that sand out. We'll I dug all the sand out and wouldnt you know I looked up and tue dumptruck was dumping my garden soil. So no rest for the wicked right to filling wheelbarrows and the new garden spot. Also built a walk way from my pad though the garden to the lawn. Turned out pretty nice.

The Eaton 700 is not as strong as the Sundstrand or Eaton 1100. If all you plan to do is mow a lawn and pull a small cart the 700 would be OK. Do you have any reliable history on either of these transaxles? The only hurdle you will have to cross when replacing a Sundstrand with any Eaton is the motion control linkage. If you have access to the Wheel Horse the 700 was removed from be sure to get the entire motion control linkage and lever along with the parking brake linkage. While this thread covers widening the axles for a GT-14 it does have a lot of good photos of what needs to be done. You do not need to open yours up because you are just bolting it to the frame and connecting linkages.

Please continue on this thread so you can have the benefit of several people's opinions.

John @wallfish is the pro here. I did quite a few radon mitigations when I was in the home improvement business. Most homes with a sump pit are fairly easy to do yourself. However, there are some situations where you might want to get a pro involved. Where I live (Maryland) there is no requirement for licensing or permits, at lease when I did it. Because of that fact, a lot of unscrupulous characters like me were putting in radon reduction fans. Test results were always favorable afterwards because of the simplicity of it. Think of radon as steam in your bathroom. Steam you can see, radon you can't. But when you turn on the exhaust fan, it removes the steam. Same idea with radon, only you are removing the radon from under the basement floor or crawlspace, and you are running the "exhaust" fan constantly.

Picture 2 is definitely an Eaton 700. The plastic thing on top is the fluid expansion tank.

That's what I do for a living. Mass RADON You can find information online and at massradon.com about radon mitigation. Most states would have someone in their Dept of Health which can answer local specific questions. Look through some stuff and give me a call with your questions. Happy to answer them

Put some black tape over the holes in the instrument panel and forget it. Never understood why I need a light to tell me I have my foot on the brake or stood up. That is why I only have one modern horse and much prefer old simple designs.

Worth it, YES. Are you likely to get that much, on a good day, perhaps. I have sold a few Wheel Horses that I bought for an attachment I needed for less than parts value just to pass them on to someone who would appreciate them. Doing that helps promote the hobby and in a couple of cases I ended up with the attachment and a very modest profit. I would rather do that than parting it out and scrapping the parts that don't sell well. I sold off a bunch of Kohler NOS parts and good used Wheel Horse parts years back on eBay before shipping went out of sight. Very few parts are in high demand and they are probably the ones that aren't worth the effort to remove like a manual lift rocker shaft that generally is brown welded together. You end up with a stack of running boards, frames, front axles that are too heavy to be worth shipping, steering towers, and side covers that no one wants.

Brings back memories of my spring bear hunts in Northern Quebec. The flys were deadly. I spent many nights in the woods with several cans of DEET in my sleeping bag and with a head net over my face. Before leaving the sleeping bag, you had to lay down a cloud of DEET to clear the flys long enough to jump in your cloths. One year we had a new hunter that failed to keep covered and was bitten around his neck so badly he had difficulty breathing. We had to rush him South to the Maniwaki Hospital. The strange thing was, the little Indian school children stood by the road every morning in shorts and T shirts waiting for the school bus. Seemed they were not bothered by the flys???

Replaced muffler from parts 310-8 to 312-8 Ive been converting to Electric fuel pimp on. Got everything back together and fired right up, well after I let the epump fill lines and bowl up on carb. Works great this is one of the smoothest running 12hp kohlers Ive ever had powerfull and not a hint of smoke . Notice the tie rod in pic both look like that so thats next on list. Forgot pic of mower deck but its in great shape also. I dont belive this mochine was used alot it has a little over 500hrs showing on meter. This is the mochine I had to buy to het the 520H and really didn’t want it but glad I pulled the trigger on them .

Sounds like a wkrp thanksgiving....

There were a couple of important variations on the gear decks to consider when parts swapping. On the ’68 deck, the cast iron bearing holder had raised shoulders around the eight holes where the gear holders attached through slightly larger holes in the shell to ensure proper alignment of shell to bearings/blades. On later models (’66 onward?) the spindles were ⅛” longer to accommodate thrust bearings (instead of only thrust washers) below the spindle gear increasing the longevity and smoothness of the deck. Hardest bits to find in good condition are the gears so if you have a decent set, hang onto them Keeping them excessively greased is the best practice (it needn’t be expensive grease). If you DO choose to dismantle the deck for parts, be sure to mark both face and spindle gears with the side of the deck they came from and the spindle gears with which side was up. When putting them on another deck, put each gear set on the OTHER SIDE since they will be less worn in that direction!

Meadofield: You have a gift. The quality of your work is A plus. I wish I had half your talent and you have all the right equipment to do the job. Always enjoyed your post.

A couple of weeks ago we got a six speed that we are planning to put in our 854 and make it and 864. We found after tearing it apart last weekend that it has the wrong axles and now we are waiting for axles from ebay to ship. Last week and weekend I painted a bunch of random knick paddy whack parts.

The easier way is to look at the brake drum location and rotation. On six-speeds, the drum & band are very close to the rear axle housing (i.e. within an inch or two). On 8-speeds, they are three or four inches away. If the donor is on a tractor, then you can check the drum rotation: clockwise when the tractor is moving forward on six speeds; counter-clockwise on 8-speeds. Another look is the linkage attachment: six-speed linkage attaches at the end of the band clockwise from the case mounting tab; 8-speed at the end of the band counter-clockwise from the mounting tab. This is a six-speed brake

I'm thinking of putting a 6-speed in a 953 with a sickle. @953 nut says because of the brakes I need to use a 6-speed and not an 8-speed. So if I look for a high/low transaxle with the setscrew in the drive pulley am I safe to say that's a 6-speed?

Since Don used a Raider 6 speed, all his drive components were stock WH parts - same as a 4 speed. No change in belt length either. I used a C81 8 speed with the 5/8" input shaft. I got my pulley from McMaster - same OD as the 4 speed one. I do not recall the part number. I do remember I had to use an 89" long belt, not the OE 90" one...

Painted a belt guard and the brake linkage cover and got my 864 logo stuck on. I haven't gotten to take a photo of the belt guard on the tractor as I need to get the right pulley because the one we have is too thick and rubs on the belt guard. @Handy Don, @ri702bill, what pulley did you guys use for your hi-lo 854s?

Well we found out was causing the problem and got the tranny put back together for the third time and put it in the tractor again and now it works and is a lot slower in low gear. I've also got 100 pounds total weight per wheel plus my 135-140 pounds and limited slip and chains I shouldn't be spinning very much this winter.

Got them nice and shiny with some scotch Brite, elbow grease and patience

Compared to the red supporter status I presume you mean @ebinmaine @702854boy

Wow was I wrong!! Thanks for setting me straight. I'm not going to attempt the swap. It's not worth the time and effort. Thanks 😊