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A couple pics from inside these immense machines. Sorry for the poor lighting. Inside one of the Grand Coulee spiral cases. Each one of these hydro turbines produces 1,000,000 hp. Muddy Run pump turbine inlet.

Anyone who has driven the Blue Ridge Parkway has seen the beautiful stone walls along the roadway. My father joined the CCC in the late thirties and help to build those walls.

Work continues on the C81 I picked up last July. Three of the four shaker plate isolation mounts were bad - one far worse than the rest - the steel center sleeve was completely broken out of the rubber. All 4 were questionable on the parts donor too. The fix I decided on was to reuse the eight steel flange shells and discard the rubber & sleeves. I made up four make & four female aluminum inserts - they pilot into each other when assembled. An 8 inch length of 1-1/2 diameter aluminum set me back about 14 bucks. Additional centering rings were made to pilot into the steel plate. Not having CNC capability on my lathe, it was fairly labor intensive to turn up the aluminum parts, but the result almost looks like the originals when I did the powder coating...

Two gigantic CCC hydro electric projects that powered the West...Grand Coulee and Hoover Dams. Happy to have worked with the US Bureau of Reclamation and the US Army Corp of Engineers to replace the old worn hydro turbines.with high efficient fish friendly turbines.

Those camps/ living quarters are where many of our state & national parks exist today. The BBT and I and others stay at various former CCC locations nearly every year. Fascinating historical locations.

This is my Jaxon (great nephew). Wonder if they will be posting about each other's Wheel Horses' 20/30years from now on here

April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating an agency called "Emergency Conservation Work." This would later be subsumed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an innovative federally funded organization that put tens of thousands of Americans to work during the Great Depression on projects with environmental benefits as part of his administration’s “New Deal” plan for social and economic progress.

Happy Easter He has risen

To me any complete looking C-series is worth 150-200 Blown motor or seized tranny still the remain parts cover the cost.

Happy Easter Gentlemen! This morning I began the process of figuring out what is leaking on the 312A’s hydro pump. Lot of cleaning ahead of me… I also ordered a new motion control plate as this one is pretty wallowed out.

During the depression my father-in-law's family farm wasn't able to provide for everyone so he and his older brother Joined the CCC and were sent from southern Georgia to Arkansas to work on a couple of dam projects developing reservoirs and preventing seasonal floods. Though he was only 16 years old my FIL was a good cook and the CCC took full advantage of his skills. He loved to tell stories about the boys he worked with and how much they all learned about agriculture and construction as well as life in general.

The 857 mower blades are becoming hard to find and rather expensive, but the blades for the 42" rear discharge deck on the C-125 are no problem. A little six hour trip never bothered ne when I lived in Florida, not too many Wheel Horses down there. The C-125 has the basic safety switches in its electrical system but have no fear, they are seldom a problem. The biggest problem with safety switches is PEOPLE who don't understand electrical wiring and begin by altering the switches. We are here to help you if any problems come up.

It's a 6 y/o thread, but.... A couple A81 kart conversions from the early '90's. The boys loved them..

It is worth $100 all day long. Even if the engine chucked a rod, the 8 speed, the Nelson muffler, and the tires all individually sell for that. Tires - look to be original with little wear - perhaps it is a low hours machine?? And - it won't pitch you off the seat if the pan latch opens like the 857 could!!

Guy about 6 hours round trip from me selling this for a friend, doesn’t run, states most likely fuel pump. Tires flat. Asking $100.00. What would this be worth as is? How is it as a towing mowing tractor overall compared to a smaller older 856 such as mine .. and or hirachery of Wheelhorse tractors if such a concept exists outside my mind.

And those who defeat all of them by hacking up a perfectly good wiring harness.

That was a short dollar investment my son purchased about 10 years ago. HFT had both the machine and the pound of black on sale. He went thru 2 containers doing small car parts. The other two items are a dedicated toaster oven - $5 at a yard sale and a low pressure inline air regulator and a 0 to 30 PSI gauge. The process out gasses heavily - hence the dedicated oven.

Happy Easter all. Hope you get time to spend with family, friends, & maybe a tractor.

I have a C-125 that led a hard life previously... it's a good solid tractor. Starts and runs as it should now. $100 is a great price. $250 after the drive costs... still a great price.

I had a C-125 once, they're great tractors and probably more capable than your 856.

Lotsa water running clean tonight. Flow has improved greatly!

That C-125 has a few things you don't get with an 857: 1. Heavy duty tranny with low range. Very sturdy 8 pinion rear end that will pull a bunch of weight. 2. 4 additional horsepower. A Kohler K301 is a bulletproof engine when properly maintained. 3. A long frame with the attach-a-matic hitches that allow a multitude of more attachments. Basically everything made after 1974 will fit that would fit other classic tractors. That tractor will happily run a 48 inch deck.

That looks like it’s had a bit rougher life. The rust under the seat tells me it stores outside. That’s not amazing for the transmissions. I’d spring for the C series and enjoy the trip!

@FLtractor The choice between the 2 is an easy one. BUY BOTH !! One trip, Two tractors. My normal cap on a non-runner is $150, unless it's a rare one or one I'm really looking for. There was a time when I did not care for the looks of the black hoods, but once you own one they are easy to fall in love with. In my opinion the C-series was one of the most comfortable and capable tractors that made. If I had to choose between the two I would take the C-125 and give it the love it needs to be a good companion for you. It's nice that some one already got rid of the plastic fenders on the C-125.

We need to get @ebinmaine to put these on Colossus!

It’s finally warm enough and dry enough to get back on two wheels (pedal power!). Yesterday was my first ride and only did 9.xx miles and my legs were angry with me, today I did 12.xx and it felt great!

@953 nut those era transitional , works were / are incredible , been inside the hoover dam , turbine , room and related , feed tubes . the upper road side elevator , like a phone booth , sets the pace . opportunity in the area ? VALLEY OF FIRE DRIVE , have to do it , you are so insignificant ! waves of rock / color formation . always had maps , related , what else to see ? that makes you search , pete

Looks like it’s been stored inside. That’s a huge win! Well worth $100, it’s hard to factor drive time in the price. That’s not the seller’s problem, if you know what I mean. The 12 hp and larger frame gets a lot done and not for too much more fuel. I’d say flip that coin and choose whatever lands up.

48" decks are getting too heavy to pull out and clean on a regular basis anymore. I use the lift thing sometimes but lying down to clean it is also getting harder. So the deck rusts out in the next 10 years probably will not be a concern for me anynore

Couple pics of the 1974 C160-8 Cinnamon Horse and Mackissic chipper shredder at work today. The one with the tractor was the very beginning of the first pile. The one not showing the tractor is the end of the second pile. I would say a good strong 4+ hours of work today, off n on. Quite a lot of chips produced. Have to be very very careful. The interior hammers will suck in the material at extremely high speed. But the outside blade, you have to push the material into it. It's quite an extreme workout to operate this thing. This pile is about the size of the tractor. Also, Jaxon was here for a visit today. Him & BBT worked hard, and played hard.

I'm out and working for over an hour already. That pile of chips is probably enough to fill a small trailer.

Good to learn from your experience!

You're correct, the upper portion of the handle is different. Here is a pic of the one on my 855 (same as a 605 handle) This is a pic of the one on my 633 (same as your 502 handle) You should be able to use a lever on yours from any 1962 - 1964 model. Incase you did not know. The last number in the model number will indicate the year of the tractor from 1960 - 1967. Your 502 would be a 1962.

I believe the difference would be on the notches on the bottom. The one for the 502 would only have one notch so you would have to have your brake set just so for it work. The one for the 605 will have many notches allowing you more choices on your locking position. As far as interchange ability, I do think that they would interchange. I'll try to get some pics showing the difference.

Rich I have done some more digging and correct me if I’m wrong. It looks like the 605 lever sits low down near the brake drum and you push it down to lock , the 502 has a cut out in the tin and the lever points upward and you would pull it reword to lock. I could be way off as I’m finding very little information or pictures.

I have a lift similar to Bob's and use jack stands under the tire baskets. Recycler decks are no fun to take on and off. Very heavy!!! I bought a Bronco for my neighbor to use. Came with a deck. I had to take the deck off to get it on the trailer. I'm so used to horsing out that recycler I grabbed that regular deck and gave it a big yank! It flew out from under the tractor so fast it almost ran me over! The wife thought it was pretty funny!

....or two...

We'll be using it a LOT this year. The last several warm seasons here we've been doing larger projects for other folks. All good. Love helping people. .... but we need to spend this spring summer fall catching up with our own chores. We have a brush pile from the barn build that's been setting mostly untouched for almost 4 years. Several clearing projects and the piles from them. Lots of firewood and that brush. And a couple serious winter storms that knocked trees down. I could easily run this chipper 3 to 5 hours every week and not be done this year.

Done it recently. It's alot. Engine removal at a minimum. Just to align the fan gear? I don't think it's worth it. Just my opinion of course. Mine is crooked and other than knowing it, I can't tell it's there. There is plenty of adjustment in the tie rods to null it out.

Yep agreed. I don’t remember what kind of job it is to pull it all to do that.

I fed my moles a good dose of Wheel Horse carbon monoxide over 10 years ago. Haven't seen a mole since.

Use this one... @nylyon has two! It's brand new too!!!

Cinnamon Horse C160-8 is ready for chipping duty.

BUT top shot is Tuesday.

No glue required! Just a pipe wrench. Those are tapered threads that "lock" when tightened...

Added some cabinets in the shop and did a bunch of spring cleaning. Projects have stacked up so I really needed to get things organized and make some space. Finally getting some nice weather and more daylight