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My two 701’s and my 702 out for some Fall air today! One day before Halloween! 🎃 The DePauw University McKim Observatory on the circle in front of my house has an Open House tonight! DePauw post: Saturn and the Andromeda Galaxy at McKim Observatory tonight! Friday, 30 October 2026 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm. If the sky stays clear enough, we will be looking at Saturn and the Andromeda Galaxy at this dark moonless Open House. For your visit, please note the historic building is not ADA compliant. The access to the building is a set of stairs up from street level, then three more steps up into the building. Inside, the access to the second floor is by a wooden spiral staircase with a conventional steepness. Also note that while McKim is an excellent example of a historic observatory, it lacks the modern convenience of a restroom. Parking is in the residential neighborhood. During your visit to our historic observatory, please refrain from touching the antique instruments. McKim Observatory Open Houses are Free!

Something got caught in the gear teeth. Open it up because you can't break it any more than all ready broke. Interested to know what let go.

🎃 👻

Sometimes you just gotta keep your mouth shut and hand 'em the money!

Gotta open her up just to entertain us, we all need a little tractor porn to start the day. We want to see Mike up to his elbows in gear oil and parts and pieces.

Gear oil smell wafting into the house! WHO'S WITH ME!!!!

While you have the transmission out, check the mounting plate for cracks.

A couple pictures of this week's work in our Ky woods. The camper after we dropped it down the hill and got it back up the hill to the Mrs 8n approved level spot: A shot of the storage shed and the new camp bath house. The original position of the camper was just out of the left side of the picture. Oh, yea - the camper's toung jack caster wheel has been replaced with a foot. That, and the four stabilizing jacks on the trailer will go a long way to prevent the 'runaway trailer' syndrome we had the other day.

We've begun the construction of the building. Yesterday we moved all 7 of the heavy boxes across the yard with Cinnamon Horse and the black trailer. We opened and reinspected all materials. All fasteners, framing, and brackets were separated and laid out. Today we began by making the whole roof. Added the first vertical section of the legs and all the cross braces possible. There's a slight lean away from the picture taking position here so we got some paracord and tent cords and tied the frame to the ground at 3 places. Tomorrow we'll continue with adding more screws and then the lower section of the side legs. We've decided to order good quality properly fitting metal roofing instead of using the supplied small thinner multiple pieces. For a few hundred dollars investment we'll have a much stronger build and far less possibilities for roof leaks with the better fasteners and no horizontal seams.

314H is officially ready for snow duty. Weights painted and installed.

2 owners one mochine. @WHX?? is the one who adapted the HY2 unit to the 1257, all Ive done is use it. Was my bestest snow pusher last winter and would be hard to go back to manual lift now. I did make a new handle for lift, had a custom decal from redo your horse made and rebent the shifter for it though. Here is a few pics that might help ya along the way.

Nice knife. Of course it's not stocked in either store near me. They just remodeled them and they are full of stuff but never have anything I want! I like the bright color so it's hard to lose! I have a flashlight that color. Figured I couldn't lose it! Well I got called to a large walk in freezer that was down. As I walked in there were boxes of whatever stacked to the ceiling right by the door. They were partially thawed and collapsing onto each other. The floor moved and they came down on me as soon as I entered. Sent me flying along with the flashlight. Couldn't find it. I told the lady who ran the kitchen to keep an eye out for it. 2 years later she calls me and says she found it.

I think my right pocket contained a knife for the past 75 years. I carried this Case Stockman for many of those years. About 20 years ago one of the shops that did a lot of my machine work gifted me this little Zippo knife. It is smaller and lighter and the SST blade holds an edge forever. so I retired the Case. Both Case and Zippo are made right here in Bradford, Pa. I could not survive W/O my pocket knife. It cleans fish, field dresses deer, tops onions and radishes, strips wire, cuts crab lines, fishing line, zip ties, opens packages, cleans greasy fingernails, and peels apples. Just remembered I cleaned and adjusted a spark plug yesterday.

leaf cleanup begins 2026 it had been a couple years since we last ran Comanche ( @Coulter Caleb’s 854) and so we got it out, dumped the fuel, cleaned the fuel bowl, fresh fuel and then fun! Zach loved driving the little tractor and I was reminded that is seemed like yesterday his older brother was helping with the same work and he was riding in the trailer they grow up quickly this guy looks right at home on the 62 year old tractor then big brother stopped by unannounced (I love it when he does that)! Zach asked Caleb if he would drive him across the backyard for “old times sake” (I’m not crying…it’s just the dust from the leaves🥲)

Well - ok. After planting over 50 trees carrying 5 gallon buckets around 2 acres to water was getting a bit old. Here is my makeshift 'Wheel Horse Watering Station' with parts I had lying around (no laughing). Please note the rubber liner in the dump trailer so everyone can be assured that no vintage Wheel Horse parts were harmed during the contruction or operation of this device. Works great. Another excuse to keep the B-111 rolling this fall!

I got the wiring to my '72 C10's ignition switch wire harness reassembled today. I located the Packard 56 terminals at the local NAPA store and ended up ordering a roll over crimping tool from Summit Racing. They are selling it under the Painless brand. Works well. The crimp looks just like the factory crimp. It passed the smoke test when I hooked up the battery.

Actually, it was just a matter of flipping the tongue around to the other end. The spring latch had been assembled wrong and wouldn't allow the latch to hold. Straightening out the back end will be a challenge.

Cinnamon Horse has been happily helping do some yahd projects.

Many of us carry a small knife of some sort. I've almost always had the habit of keeping one close, but not in a pocket. Fishing tackle box, work "go-bag," personal vehicle, etc. My S/O Trina has one clipped in her pocket nearly 100% of the time. So did my Ole Man. Every once in a while I could use one right to hand, not just within walking distance. My hands are larger than most. Comfort in palm is a challenge. I wanted a flip open style with a locking blade, hopefully with an easy release lock too. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a high quality piece only to leave it on the shelf... After searching the interwebs extensively, I found this Ozark Trail brand from Wally world. Several colors available. It has a clip on the back side. Cost around 8 bucks October of '26. Figured I'd share with the class.

Force field Consider bifolds (or even accordian) to keep as much weight as possible directly supported vertically by the hinge/pivot and not trying to deform the frame when the door is open?

No idea what all that nonsense (and difficult to read I might add) has to do with me swapping a manual transmission out?

This morning Trina, her momma, and I got the lower legs under the roof. Raising the roof structure to set the upper half of the legs was a workout but reasonably done on the first side. More challenging on the other. Different angles and more structure to move. We knew that doing the lower set would be even more "fun". I had a thought yesterday afternoon about using the tow crane setup on Cinnamon Horse to lift the middle leg high enough to get the other four legs set. After some measuring and adding the floor jack to the mix, it was just enough height to work. Here you can see the first set of lowers in place with the lower rail. We then added all the bracing for that side and moved to the last set. As you can see above we stuck the boat winch hook up in the end of the center brace. Lifty uppy and set the other legs. Hers the final part of the metal frame construction. There will be a PT 2 x 6 frame all around. Two layers on the long sides. Single thickness on the shorter ends for easier vehicle access. There's enough room to drive a C series tractor with an 8 foot trailer down the right side to access the forest ramp. Also enough room all the way around to drive a smaller rig or C series with no trailer. Purely by accident we also created a parking spot on the left for another road trailer. Maybe where the 16 foot flatbed will live for the winter. To elaborate on this.. We've also decided to order metal roofing panels for the long walls. This will offer yet more structural integrity and weather resistance. The back wall will likely be a light duty frame of some sort utilizing the kit supplied small pieces of sheet metal. The front wall will basically be a whole door as noted in a post above. Most likely a light duty wood frame with sheets of very thin Advantech. I'm definitely open to other ideas and suggestions there.

October 31, 1984, Madonna's biggest hit is subjective, but "Like a Virgin" (1984) launched her to superstardom. Madonna's hit song "Like a Virgin," the title track from her second album, was released on October 31, 1984, becoming her first U.S. #1 single, topping charts globally, and cementing her superstar status with its catchy synth-pop sound and provocative themes.

Don as i was moving them back in the garage yesterday a guy in a BMW SUV. Drove around the Observatory stopped , rolled down the passenger side window and took some pictures. He shouted out to me, “ Just had to stop and take some pictures of the Wheel Horses !”

At the end of their post, they should have put “While you are here, make sure to stop by and check out our neighbors really nice Wheel Horse collection!”

Today I finished my high voltage battery certification class. I got a 100% on the test, so I officially know all the various ways to vaporize myself working on e-lectric cars.

I bought a replacement Kohler K241 engine from a Air compressor to use on one of my Wheel Horse garden tractors. What I discovered was the brass studs on both sides were stripped bare. The threads were originally 10-32. I did not want to toss it in the trash because it still tested good and they are about $31 after tax. So I found an 8-32 die on Amazon that happened to be about 5/8" in outside diameter so I could use it to rethread the post to 8-32. Came out nice and usable. Who ever had it before me over tightened it to used the wrong nuts. Some of you may of had this happen to your coil and i found this an easy fix. the die was about $11 for a pack of two. The threads came out much better than the picture shows. I had an Craftsman 8-32 die at home but was to large to fit beside the center post. I just used my Knipex pliers to tighten.

Here's the beginnings of the PT base.

Cut most of the front half of the frame off. Welded some square tubing in it's place. Added some bracing. Made a new axle and brackets for said axle. Mounted a new innertube, twice, since I punctured it the first time round.. Repaired it, mounted it again. Gave it a quick sand, wipedown and rattlebomb paintjob and here it is: bigfoot wheelbarrow. Side to side with a regular wheelbarrow. Handles pretty well, bit heavier on the nose but that's okay. Feel free to shoot me any questions or feedback. Testing commences tomorrow. Greetings from the Netherlands, Mark

Had to go to Wally for some carpet shampoo. ( Holidays coming up!) The internets said that that knife had to be shipped to the store, For the heck of it I tootaled over to the hunting dept. and lo and behold there is the knife in a display case. I found the hippie working in that dept. and told him I wanted to buy a knife in the case. He gets the case open and he says which one? I said guess! He points to the orange one. I said yup, I need one that's the hardest to lose!

My favorite EDC knife is my Kershaw Select Fire. They have actually come down in price recently (not sure if that's good or not). I like it because it has a bit driver attachment. I changed out one of the phillips bits, and the larger flat-head bit it comes with for some common torx-sizes (a 20 and 25).

Ditto on having a knife in my pocket. It’s so automatic, that I have to consciously put it in checked luggage when we travel by air or else lose it at TSA (been there, done that). The flashlight has been invaluable, too, and having them linked makes it easier to keep track of ‘em!

My trick or treat went a little better than the above did.

Oh yea its runs good as long as you squirt gas in carb

Ah, yes, the unmistakeable lingering fragrance of 90 weight in the drain pan & on the parts! BT, DT.

@WHX?? and @sqrlgtr should be able to shed some light on the situation. They both have HY on their 1257s.

I wouldn't worry about it.... just make it right and run it as a worker.

Haha! Good eye Bill. Actually was just running it on jackstands to see what the transmission would do and how it sounded (both were bad). Was hoping to find a sheared key on the drive pulley. It’s “plowless” now while it awaits surgery.

This was late yesterday afternoon. The actual sunset was off to the left.

My money is on the differential - as in one or more of the pinions decided enough is enough. You did not drop the plow first before all this? Very optomistic of you!

A 4 pinion transmission is VERY different from the heavy duty 8 pinion version.

Hope they make you stop at Yankee Candle in Deerfield too. Endless isles of ridiculous trinkets and candles! You'll love it LOL

Sorry, the plan is to head up this Sunday. I always go alone on my e-free fuel runs, but…wife wants to hit some deli up in Vermont and my mom is now coming. It’s gonna be a loooong drive

Nope. I just need to know they're heavier than before

It is assembled backwards and upside down! No wonder the latch / release lever does not fit! Still worth $15.

I don't know if the intention for this thread was to post random funny signs or just for the "stay away from my tractor" signs, but I think I'll post some other funny signs here.

Have you confirmed spark at points by hand and if so are you sure the points are set to open at .020 or close to it. I did have one a while back that had a bad wire going to points and was grounding everthing out. Just spit balling here.

This sounds a bit risky to the casting and maybe beyond my skill/tool sets. I may just throw it back together without the return spring and operate it as before by manually returning to neutral.

Not sunrise or sunset but this lightning has been going on for about 45 minutes and still going, Pretty cool to watch and the video doesn't really capture the "big picture" The tree frogs are quite active too!