New project

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

Hello all ! 

I acquired a 1968 Commando for free of charge.He would not take any money but I did gladly purchase a brand new seat he bought for it. 

The nice gentleman that owned it had plans to restore it unfortunately life got in the way decided to give it up.It then sat for about 20 yrs. Until I came along lol 

Its partially disassembled but all the parts are there.He even bought a decal set and some odds and ends parts.

I  have it running and it runs great all it needed was a carb rebuild kit and a condenser and a couple gaskets-  so far.

Engine was Rebuilt at some point and still has hone swirls in the cylinder,no smoke the deck is usable as well just needs some love.

Im redoing the wiring now and in need of an ignition switch .

He was a member here at some point not sure if he still is.

He just wanted someone to bring it back to life and not go to scrap and he knew I would do that .

Someone at some point in its life decided it needed a racing stripe  not sure how I’ll Handel that but I think it has to go .

Enough rambling a couple pix for now .

 

I told myself no more WHs well we know how that goes ! 

 

 

 

[Achto 32,035]

1 hour ago, Wheelhorse#1 said:

Someone at some point in its life decided it needed a racing stripe  not sure how I’ll Handel that but I think it has to go .

 

If your not going to repaint the tractor, then I think it's best to leave it.  Character marks, battle scares, poor decisions at a young age - what ever you want to call it.

Edited July 1 by Achto

[WHX?? 57,278]

Some models (Bronco's ??) did have a stripe there. 

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

44 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

If your not going to repaint the tractor, then I think it's best to leave it.  Character marks, battle scares, poor decisions at a young age - what ever you want to call it.

I believe you are right .Best  to leave it .

have no plans to paint it at all

Edited July 1 by Wheelhorse#1

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

Anyone know what this is for? I looked at the parts break down for the Commando and didn’t see this listed .

looks homemade or repaired, some kind of bracket ? 
 

[Treepep 1,137]

@wheelhorse1

 

Sorta looks like an attach o matic front mounted something??? That year even Have that option?  I know very little

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

3 hours ago, Treepep said:

@wheelhorse1

 

Sorta looks like an attach o matic front mounted something??? That year even Have that option?  I know very little

I figured it out .Its a bracket for the seat ,goes under the rear fender pan.

Not sure if it’s original,I don’t  think so but I’ll  look into it further.

Edited July 1 by Wheelhorse#1

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

Its a home made bracket for the seat pan so it can tilt back to have access to the tool box

it works but sits high.

maybe someone was a midget and needed to sit higher on the seat ? 
or to fit over sized tires on it .

 

The rear fender pan  is missing the ears.

Someone sure did put a lot of time in welding it up that’s for sure .

never know what you may find on these old tractors.

 

 

 

Edited July 1 by Wheelhorse#1

[ebinmaine 79,519]

Looks like a good project.  

 

Do NOT use that seat bracket unless it can lock down.  Ask me how I know......

[Blaine 161]

Maybe it was used to raise the seat pan to run some giant tires on the back, to go with the “racing” stripe. 

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

4 minutes ago, Blaine said:

Maybe it was used to raise the seat pan to run some giant tires on the back, to go with the “racing” stripe. 

Yes Sir It’s all coming together now .Makes perfect sense .

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

11 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Looks like a good project.  

 

Do NOT use that seat bracket unless it can lock down.  Ask me how I know......

 😆 Someone  actually thought of that and made a cut out for the latch .

 

Hope your weren’t popping wheelies when that happened.

Edited July 1 by Wheelhorse#1

[ebinmaine 79,519]

20 minutes ago, Wheelhorse#1 said:

 😆 Someone  actually thought of that and made a cut out for the latch .

 

Hope your weren’t popping wheelies when that happened.

 

 

Oh no no. The Cinnamon Horse tried to leave without me!!

[MainelyWheelhorse 2,803]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

Oh no no. The Cinnamon Horse tried to leave without me!!

So, your Horse tried to buck you off???

[ebinmaine 79,519]

16 minutes ago, MainelyWheelhorse said:

So, your Horse tried to buck you off???

 

Tried??

No. 

 

It succeeded quite well. There's an old post....

 

 

[953 nut 67,240]

11 hours ago, Wheelhorse#1 said:

Im redoing the wiring now and in need of an ignition switch .

The early ignition switches ( # 7262 )can be hard to find and rather expensive if you do find them.

The wiring diagram below uses a reasonably priced 103990 ignition switch and a solenoid.

 

[AlexR 3,057]

10 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Some models (Bronco's ??) did have a stripe there. 

Broncos, Chargers and Raiders I believe it was a option from 70-72

[953 nut 67,240]

14 minutes ago, AlexR said:

Broncos, Chargers and Raiders I believe it was a option from 70-72

You are correct, but they weren't that wide.        I agree with  @Achto that the story behind this modification helps tell it's story.     

 

Edited July 1 by 953 nut

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

2 hours ago, 953 nut said:

The early ignition switches ( # 7262 )can be hard to find and rather expensive if you do find them.

The wiring diagram below uses a reasonably priced 103990 ignition switch and a solenoid.

 

@953 nut Thank you for the information.

This was going to be my next question as for a alternative switch .

Ive been looking for a 7262 and like you said they are  quite expensive ,more than I’m willing to pay.

I’ll go with your recommendation for the 103990 switch.I believe I may even have a spare solenoid laying around somewhere.

Much appreciated 

 

 

Edited July 2 by Wheelhorse#1

[Retired Wrencher 6,773]

On 7/1/2026 at 5:34 PM, ebinmaine said:

Looks like a good project.  

 

Do NOT use that seat bracket unless it can lock down.  Ask me how I know......

Ditto on that Erick. Or Ben there done that. Years ago.

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

I’m getting the 68 back together.I wired it up using a solenoid and a 103990 Ignition switch as suggested by @953 nut it was tight but I found a spot by the tower.

I put on a new drive belt ,had to cobble together some fuel line wile I wait for replacement line.

There is a outer bearing that should be replaced on the generator.It wines a bit even after greasing both bearings but is working fine.

Today I’ll flush the trans and replace gear oil.

The deck is ready I just have to sharpen the blades.

I have to say the 68 commando has an interesting drive set up for the deck with the gears and belts but everything seems to be good.’

 

Shes running great with zero smoke .

The intake valve is slightly out of speck and I’ll have to replace that too.

But she’s running great 

let’s see if I can post a video 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Wheelhorse#1

[Wheelhorse#1 1,948]

Cut some grass today.Cut better than I thought it would.

Deck is a bit noisy but I’m guessing it is just the nature of these old gear driven decks.

Hard to believe that the original tires still hold air after all this time  

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Wheelhorse#1

[sqrlgtr 3,181]

5 hours ago, Wheelhorse#1 said:

old gear driven decks.

they are defiantly louder.

[Blaine 161]

I just re-configured a 32” 64-65 Lawn Ranger gear drive to use on my 401 to replace the one i had been running for the last 10+ years that was pretty beat. I was amazed how quiet it is. I thought the belt was seriously slipping when i first engaged the pedal, but it was just that quiet. I use the red “tacky” grease on the gears.  

 Check the cross shaft for axial play. It should be minimal. Maybe .020”- .025”. 

 

 On my 702, when i bought it and finally got it to the point i could mow with it, i noticed it wasn’t cutting well on the one side. I found that the one cross shaft gear had a sheared woodruff key.

 

 Once i replaced the woodruff, the cross shaft wouldn’t turn. I found that the gear spinning freely on the shaft had smeared the shoulder of the shaft where the gear butts up against, so when the nut was tightened, it was pinching the bearing towers between the two gears. 
 

 The shaft is 3/4” and the bore in the gear is 5/8”, so basically the gear rests up against a 1/16” shoulder on the shaft, so don’t over-tighten the nut or it can damage the shaft. I ended up making a .020” shim with a 5/8” i.d. to fit behind the gear. In hindsight, i could have made it .030”-.035” and shimmed out a bit more of the backlash at the gears also. 
 

 I think there is a service bulletin on thicker thrust bearing washers for the blade shafts to minimize gear noise on some models also, but if you have excessive axial or radial play in the cross shaft bearings, i’d start there. If the gear nuts were over-torqued at some point, or a smeared woodruff, the shoulders on the cross shaft may be damaged, resulting in excessive axial play of the shaft which results in excessive backlash at the gears. 
 

 Cross shaft tower bearings 1630-2RS

 Blade shaft needle bearings B1212

 

The threads in the aluminum(?) bearing towers on my old deck were in rough shape from numerous belt changes. I swapped out the bolts with longer ones and whatever combination of washers needed to grab ALL of the threads possible in the towers.  
 

Maybe inspect the cast housing closely for cracks also. I’ve cracked 3 of them over the last 28 years. They get really noisy when that happens. They break across these same two holes. I added some bolts that kept this one mowing for a few more years. 
 

The Lawn Ranger donor before, and after the Suburban linkage transplant.