Leaderboard

September 16, 1977, William Alton Carter III, then-President Jimmy Carter’s younger brother, appears at a press conference in Louisville, Kentucky, to announce that he is lending his name to a new beverage: BILLY Beer. The new brew would first hit store shelves in the Carter family’s home state of Georgia, then roll out nationally by November 1, Louisville-based Falls City Brewing Company announced. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll become the Colonel Sanders of beer,” Billy Carter told reporters.

I bought my 953 from Paul 4 or 5 years ago. When I had a couple of small blocks apart and needed some small bits he sent them to me free of charge. RIP Paul.

A bit more thinking…. And progress Steering complete tidied up that butchered end... tube for drive line

Thank you for all the input and comments!!! I have some thinking to do... The C-125 did fine at @Pullstart's plow day this year (well, after some meatball fuse surgery) with turfs and chains... and it's rigged and ready... so I'm leaning toward keeping that as plow mule and setting up the B-80 as dedicated kid hauler and back up snow plow... More to come...

He was a long time member here on RedSquare @oldredrider rest in peace!

I built one like that a few years ago, love it.

I learned this afternoon that Paul Benzinger (oldredrider) passed away the week before last. I talked to his wife, who told me he had been battling cancer for quite a while, and gave me the okay to pass the word along to RedSquare. I didn't know Paul well, only really met him once, at the big show in 2021. We talked about the engines he had rebuilt and had for sale at the show, and generally just had a real easy conversation about Wheel Horses and Kohlers, and just life. I know some of you guys knew him much better, and I'm looking forward to hearing some of your stories. Rest in peace, Paul, and thanks for the chat. @nylyon

Valves removed. Valves wire brushed and cleaned up with a scotch brite pad. Engine cleaned up. Top of piston has some damage from what I assume was a foreign object at some time in it's life as the head also has matching marks. I don't think it will cause any issue and I will likely do more damage trying to repair so I will likely just leave it as is. Valve lapping compounds used mainly because I have it here. Valve lapping compound applied to valve. Valve inserted and lapping tool applied. Valves were both lapped in using the three compounds in order of medium fine to very fine. Valves after lapping. Valve seats after lapping. Valve stems got a thin coat of grease then valves were installed and keepers held in position with grease and valves fully installed. Intake valve clearance checked to be 0.008 to 0.010 using this step feeler gauge. The thinner part slid in easily but the 0.010 part was a tight push so intake valve clearance was perfect. Exhaust valve clearance checked to be 0.017 to 0.019 using this step feeler gauge. The thinner part slid in easily but the 0.019 part was a tight push so exhaust valve clearance was perfect.

A single Billy Beer can is worth between $2 and $10, while an unopened six-pack generally sells for $15 to $25. [1]

Bet the cans are highly collectables.

RIP Paul.

So sad to hear, rest in peace sir.

Maybe stick the turfs on the B-80 and get some gnarly ags for the 125?

Old ranch owner John farmed a small ranch in Montana. The Montana Wage and Hour Department claimed he was not paying proper wages to his workers and sent an agent out to interview him. “I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them,” demanded the agent. “Well,” replied old John, “There’s my ranch hand who’s been with me for 3 years. I pay him $600 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $500 a week plus free room and board. Then there’s the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90 percent of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night.” “That’s the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit,” says the agent. “That would be me,” replied old rancher John.

In a high compression engine with oil and coolant passages I might be more concerned but in this 14HP low compression engine that I don't think has been apart before I think these bolts will do just fine. However, if they looked or felt suspicious I would replace them. I think they are grade 8 or grade 5 it's hard to tell with these for some reason, regular 3/8" bolts. Before I retired I was a mechanic at a chemical plant and when it was taken apart for the yearly shutdown maintenance all but the largest bolts and studs (over 2" diameter) were replaced even if they still looked good. The large ones were thoroughly cleaned then checked by an engineer and had NDT checks done to check for cracks, stretching, corrosion etc.

Rest easy Sir.

Picked up some HEAVY Bolens front cast iron weights. They had "BOLENS" cast into the face, so I filled them with some JB Weld. Decided while I was painting them, that my JD rear weights needed to be red too! Now all my iron weights are red. Just one set of plastic fronts are the odd-balls now. Started doing a little prep work for an upcoming parade in our local festival.

RIP Red Rider.

Fer sure although the 1054 isn't bad on fuel. I take her to WFOT and then just back it off a bit and running in 2nd. not a speed demon but gets the job done. @PeacemakerJack always said it all depends on the soil and conditions with small bore singles. That's why the MN boys run heavy weighted 16s. They are good to go for any soil type.

My thoughts exactly...

Wow ... musta tasted like crap ...

Goober Juice... I concur that the hype was much better than the product. Had Jimmy not won, would we have missed out on this?? I refer to the Trio for this... "Don't know, don't care, don't care to know".

Ed I have a 856 the best tractor I own!. The engine is mint. Starts right up perrrsss like a kitten.

Rest in Peace...

One of those came with the MF GC 23 I bought this spring. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet, though.

So the folks working on my house cleaned up most of the debris from the fire. That being said there is alot of small stuff everywhere. Siding, drywall, burnt pieces of lumber, and whatever else you can imagine. Of course this makes mowing a bit of a challenge. So I bought something to drag around and pick it up. Not to mention it will help smooth some of the ruts left by heavy equipment. At least to the point they won't snag the mower deck. I'll report back how it works later this evening.

Like Jim stated the B-80 would do fine with an 8" plow, might even pull a 10". You will be working the engine though. In my opinion, you can feel the difference between a 10hp and a 12hp engine. Beyond a 12hp, I don't seem to be able feel a difference. I also know that a 12hp seems to be better on fuel than a 10hp is. If I was to build another dedicated plow mule it would have at least a 12hp under the hood.

Split some wood today and the C-121 was on log splitter hauling duty.

B-80 would make a fine plow mule with that 8" Brinly you have. I wouldn't even think twice about throwing a ten on. Heck maybe even a 12 just for a hold my beer and watch this. Guessing you would run out of traction before power in hard dirt. I had a no name eight that was a house mule and it did just fine.

I adjusted the lift links. It sits about 4 inches off the ground now. No not really. It's not "60 inch mower deck heavy", but you know it's there for sure. I'm gonna add another hole in the hitch to slide it forward. It has a radiant for rotating to both sides but it won't get used that way here. I think that will lighten the leveraged load a bit on the lift arm. First test was the gravel driveway. Got rid of the studder bumps on the first pass. So far so good.

My suspicion is when you arced the rush of power broke down a sheet metal to sheet metal contact point in the ground path that was somewhat corroded anyway.

Hallelujah. My persistence paid off and all your help she runs again!! Took ground from battery to engine mount and she's alive! From the mower graveyard given new life then I killed her and brought her back to life again haha 😄

I bought a lift table from Harbor Freight years ago, one of the best tools ever made for us old codgers.