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During a party this past fall my wifes cousin Linda took a liking to my late 1970s C160-8 speed plow rig. Linda is the woman I've mentioned before with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She said she wanted one... well I told her Id build her a unit. I put together a 1985ish 310-8 and got it delivered to her country home in time for this 2 ft snow storm. She knocked back all the snow and im glad she had fun doing it. I believe the quote was "it kicks ass" Yah it broke a tierod... no biggie I'll get one to her before the next storm which is suppose to be bigger this coming weekend. I love spreading the Wheel Horse joy... there is no better unit out there! PERIOD!! Cecil had better have set up shop in heaven... or I aint going!! Tony

Probably not up to code but works great for us.

January 26, 1932, To bypass Prohibition laws, a U.S doctor writes a note for the visiting Winston Churchill, saying his "post-accident convalescence... necessitates the use of alcoholic spirits, especially at mealtimes."

We got about 18” with drifts 2-3’. I’ve had the blower attachment for years, but most of our storms are ink the 6” range so never really had to use it. The beginning of this season however, I said what the heck, and put it on the 416-8. Well I am sure glad I did, that single stage on a 16hp Onan throws the snow unbelievably far. I probably could have done everything with the blade, but my driveway would have been 33% narrower. Had so much fun, I helped my neighbor too.

I woke up this morning to the sound of my neighbor firing up his Kubota. All the driveways were packed tight with 3-4 feet of snow from PENNDOTS plowing. He used the Kubota with the FEL to remove the packed snow so I could get in with the 520H to plow the driveways. We just finished all seven driveways. We had about 10 inches of snow then several hours of sleet creating one of the heaviest snows I had to plow.

Well we got about 2 inches of sleet. I'm not complaining because our power stayed on and we're safe and warm. Had the generator and alternate heaters all staged and ready but we didn't need them this time. Luckily very little freezing rain for this area. I'm very thankful! Temps will stay below freezing for the week. Roads were brine sprayed but they are now solid sheets of ice. We got plenty to eat so we'll stay home and wait it out.

Too much snow for my 520HC with the plow so I got out the big girl. First time it has been started since last fall an parked in an unheated coverall building and we just had a very cold weekend. But the diesel engine roared to life almost instantly.

That's awesome !!!!! She looks like a kid with a brand new toy.

Last night I replaced the transmission drive belt with what I believe is the proper one P/N 7473 on my 417-A. Today I took it out to blow the driveway and it worked fine for about 15 minutes. Then I heard a noise and knew something wasn’t right, so I headed back to the garage. I found the belt had jumped off the pulley and was wedged between the transmission and the pulley. I’ve never had this happen before? There’s two different part numbers given for that belt, I want to confirm this is the correct one? As I was investigating this problem my pager went off for a mutual aid fire call. This was in the height of the storm, to a neighboring department. A department that rarely calls for our help, stating a garage and multiple structures on fire. I am one of the senior members and truck drivers so I was the operator for this alarm. We actually had to follow the town snowplow to get there. The young man in the passenger seat got on the siren, so I yelled at him and said you idiot do you want me to pass him so we can get stuck and not get there? He apologized and I told him in this case slow and steady wins the race. We didn’t get done until dark so my driveway will have to wait until tomorrow, I wasn’t going to have trouble with the tractor in the dark with it still snowing and sleeting. That’s me in the blue coat, I don’t wear turnout gear when I’m driving as I find those big clunky boots unsafe to drive with. IMG_4058.mov

If for some reason you don’t have one, I will gladly send you one for her.

I have just three words... I LOVE HYDROS!

Turn it on it's side and you can gut and clean roadkill... at the speeds these tractors achieve, it's a common problem...

Looks like it came with the super rare cutting board belt guard !! 😂👍🏻

Go with an 8 speed open diff. This is what can happen to the 6 speed 10 pinion with limited slip if you push it too far. The 10 pinion lasted 3/4 of a pulling season. I replaced it with an 8 pinion open diff from a 520H, this diff will be starting it's 3rd season this year.

I like that. I have a Gen Tent on mine. I works great Generator Covers - NFPA Rated | GenTent Safety Canopies

Nowhere near the original forecast here. We're currently setting with 11" of very fluffy snow on the side deck. Driveway likely has a touch more. It appears that we won't see much more.

I don't switch oil. I switch tractors. Winter tractors use 10w30 and summer tractors use 30w.

Gave her a test drive today. Most definitely a huge improvement, and I already loved this thing before. Reduction steering is a massive plus on fat front tires. I can steer with one finger now. Hydro is much faster. Now it drives like any other Eaton as far as I can tell. Of course the foot control makes it better. I went ahead and changed the engine oil and filter, even though it had only 10 hours on the clock total. I built this engine so I wanted to make sure it was cleaned out just in case. I always do that with rebuilt engines. Oil change before 5 hours and once more about 5 hours later. She's good now for 50 hours run time. Took pics just to prove we do in fact occasionally get some form of white stuff...

Got between 8 and 10" Did most of it with the 953 but it had already started to compact itself so the Village and State boys leftovers were a challenge. Got out the Ariens and was hitting the top of the trees but it only made it about 10 ft and it stopped blowing. I had to adjust the auger belt all the way out. Got new belts ordered. I think they are original 1990 vintage. Pushed all the piles back with Elvis. The hydraulic system did not like this cold weather!

Finally got the driveway cleared. The backpack leaf blower experiment was a failure. It cleared newly fallen snow pretty well, but if the snow was allowed to sit for a couple of hours, the snow flakes seemed to sort of cake together and wouldn't blow away, despite the snow being cold, dry, and light. I measured 14 inches in several places on the driveway. Might get some more snow tonight...maybe. Ended up using Mr. Case to clear the drive, which is sort of like using a wrench to fix a watch, but it worked.

We don't get near the lake effect here as we did just northeast of here but it does happen. The bulk of the system snow stayed south but the lake effect hit overnight. By this morning it was just east of us so I got some playtime. Maybe 6" and very light. The county pulled the plows off the roads last night but got them out there this morning. I got most of the drive done but the plow hasn't made a pass yet. I didn't bother doing much at the end of the drive. I came in to unfreeze my fingers and will wait on the plow before I go back out. I thought about getting some of those one use heat thingys to slip in my mittens and I'm thinking about it again. But I still don't have any.

12v defroster. Don't believe some of the pics with fire coming out of it like it gets real hot. It was just a quick search. 150-200 watts isn't much but mounted on the roof and pointed at the windshield it works for keeping the fog down. Connect to the switch so you don't leave it running by mistake. https://www.ebay.com/itm/306627065285

Flew some parts and red for 520 FEL fuel pump install. Some slight mod to the pump mount it goes right in existing holes.

Sorry, I keep posting the same tractor…first pic was sometime this morning, last pic was this evening. Snow is still coming down

Could not handle another day of boredom so I decided to warm the shop up & do something. Took a bit to get it from 7F to 60F but once there I was able to get the sheet metal blasted. Started the filler work on the hood. It was littered with several dings.

I can attest to the tastiness of this pie. Stuck in the house because it's too dad gum cold to be outside so grabbed a homemade pie crust out of the freezer and filled it with blackberries from last summer and WALA good eating . This one is a keeper! I used about 1/2 cup of evaporated milk and about half brown sugar/white sugar mix. Baked for 1 hour and fifteen minutes--maybe could have stayed in oven a little longer--but is still warm when I cut it. I've had the recipe printed out for some time and finally got around to concocting it. It's wife approved and I'll take a chunk to mom tomorrow at assisted living--she gets tired of the food there.

We got close to 12” of sand like snow and have been off and on getting more all day. The 308 didn’t break a sweat.

Fantastic!!

It has been a few years since I got a storm that we’re gonna have that last two days. So hope everybody that is affected by this stay safe get plenty of warm-ups hot chocolate whatever keeps you moving. Here’s a couple pics that I just took.

Made a make shift weight bar and used some old weights that were kicking around so I could get around with the 44” blower. Didn’t have a problem going anywhere but definitely had to watch backing up. Probably going to seek out some wheel weights this year though.

Tie rods ready to be installed. Outer ends stock with new Heim inner joints. Tie rod outer ends greased. I worked it in as much as possible. Tie rods installed. I used non-locking nuts for now on the outer end until final alignment is done. Inner tie rod ends are held tight using lock washers for now at least. Greased spindles and axle pivot. Now out to plow or blow snow.

Pretty slick Bar ...

I like how you think sir!

Maybe a 2 or 3 sided "dog house" type structure. Maybe wheels on it so it can be moved and or turned easily. They sell little generator cover thingys too but... https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=generator+covers+while+running&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2332490.m570.l1311

At the moment (10:15) PM Sunday) there's about 7 inches (measured) of new snow on the driveway, and a bit more on the lawn, which is hard to measure, as there was already snow on the lawn. It's still snowing steadily, but it's nice dry snow so far, and not much wind (yet). Instead of plywood, I dug out some sheet metal that I had stashed in our garden shed to use as a temporary lean-to over the end of our backup generator. It appears to be keeping snow from building up against it, but I'd like a more permanent solution. Perhaps some kind of metal shed over the generator with adequate room around the generator for servicing and meeting any code clearance requirements, as well as providing enough ventilation. Some fireproof acoustic material could be added to the interior, not that I'm all that concerned about noise, as it would only run during a power outage, and it's over a hundred feet from the closest neighbor's house. Or maybe some kind of metal semi-open snow-break fence with staggered slats and a 'roof' of some sort. I'll have to do a bit of research, including calling my local code enforcement officer.

IMG_4058.mov

It was 5 degrees today, so I use 5W30.

Sissy...

WWHHAATTT. At 4:30 this morning it was - 14⁰ ... but now it's MUCH warmer. 2 above.

I just watched my neighbor pushing one of those tiny blowers. He made one path to the road then disappeared into the garage. His is one of the 7 driveways I usually plow. I called all the neighbors that I had numbers for to let them know I will not be plowing until Monday morning. It is sleeting here now and I want to keep all the ice on top of the snow so I can plow it off.

Due to the fact that I am renting my side of the garage to my grandson this winter, the 416-H had to sit out in the weather last night. 9 degrees when I attempted to start it this morning. I had to give it a shot starter fluid to encourage it to fire. But it did and as always, the Eaton 1100 was ready to go as well. Pushed about 5" of accumulated snow with no problem. Two hours later I can't see the driveway. Oh well, round number 2 is going to have some ice.

Here are the pictures of the new one if you haven't seen my wacko thread yet. I know some of you dont think its real yet, but I don't lie.

All good ideas. The generator covers/tents have given me a couple of ideas. @Bar Nuthin, your generator shed looks great...lots of thoughtful features! Since our Generac generator is permanently wired to the house, I'd probably have to jump through more hoops to build a permanent enclosure. At the moment, I'm envisioning a simple metal extension of the top of the generator that's about two feet wider than the generator, extends out over the intake end a few feet and down to the ground, and is open on two sides. Maybe it could be attached to the cover with a couple of thumb screws. If I don't want to drill any holes in the cover, a couple of screws could be welded onto two plates, which could be adhered to the cover with double-sided foam tape. I have some special VHB (very high bond) 3M tape that would certainly do the job. The extension could be left off except when a snowstorm is approaching. Now off to see about some snow clearing. Looks like around 12" of new dry white stuff out there this morning. Might be a bit breezy today, but not much snow on the trees due to being such cold, light snow. NWS says maybe another 1 to 2 inches today and another 1 to 3 inches tonight. No power outages in the area at all. Being on the coast, sometimes we pick up some extra snow from the proximity with water, depending on wind direction and other conditions...sort of like a 'lake effect,' I suppose.

Being locked in was boring (not that I'm complaining) so I put this lady back together, and fired her up and readjusted the hydro cam. I didn't take it for a drive yet but I will in the next day or two. I absolutely love the new height of the steering wheel. I also can understand why Wheel Horse came out with reduction steering. Might be a pain to mow with, but I like it regardless. She needs a bath, but that can definitely wait...

I do not switch oil either. Snow horses get 5w-30 synthetic .... Summer horses Rotella 30w

Trina's 8 HP engines use HD30 all year. My big blocks 12 to 16 HP get switched over from HD30 to 10W30 for the winter. ❄️

I sure hope this ol’ girl fires up later when it’s time to plow out . Was there a heated seat option ??

I'm sure shoveling snow would be a pleasure with a couple of Wheel Horse Jr. snow shovels.

Fixed it for ya... This just in from NOAA... climate scientists have determined the true cause of climate change...!!! earth's gravitational pull has been altered due to a previously unknown and highly irregular concentration of C-160 Wheel Horses in Maine... efforts to verify this have been met with a Black Belt and many damaged field agent egos... this is a developing story.