It was one of those days........

[whfan74 2,015]

Well some of you may not know but I am an elementary school teacher. It was my idea to get the staff reconnected and have a bonfire tonight. We had 70+ people there and I am guessing at least 20 of those were kids. We were lucky enough to have it out at the folks place since they had plenty of room for parking, a huge fire pit, and most importantly the new barn to hold the food and plug in all of the crock pots.

Since there were so many kids going to be there I decided it would be fun for them, and myself, to have a hay ride. So I loaded up my 6 x 12 landscape trailer with straw bales and seemed to be half way there. Was going to use the D 160 to pull the trailer. Of course I couldn't get the rear draw hitch out very easily so I stopped by Tractor Supply Company yesterday and purchased a draw bar for the 3 point hitch. So when I went out a couple of hours early I decided to get it all set..........of course it didn't fit.

Well I looked over and saw my trusty 312-8 just sitting there ready to step up to the task. Of course I just put the snow blade on this week so a quick change out was in order. Unfortunately when you are under the gun nothing ever goes quick. When I was sliding the blade out the front the angle arm on the plow hit the right front spindle and it broke!!!!

So as I went on a hunt for our 4 new spindles and of course we aren't organized yet so I have no idea where they were. Now all I am thinking is..........

Got out the tape measure and checked to see how long it was, went over to the unrestored, motorless 500 special and they matched up. Took a few minutes to take it off, remount it on the 312-8 and now we are in business.

The old trusty horse didn't let me down and was on hay ride duty for quite some time. The kids had a blast as we went all over the place. So those that think that only one Horse is all they need, well they are mistaken unless they have an endless supply of parts on hand.

So after is all said and done we had a blast and all of the kids went home with a smile on their face. I on the other hand am finally unwinding from the early afternoon stress and kicking back drinking a Pepsi.

Thank goodness Wheel Horse kept a lot of parts the same over the years! :thumbs:

[WH Raider 10 0]

gotta love standardization.

Smartest thing any business does.

Dan B.

[Rollerman 290]

Sounds typical Scott...like you said when you under the gun nothing fits & you can bet on busted knuckles or parts.

Hope everything went well & you had a great time with your staff party.

The hay ride sounds neat, always wanted to do that for a halloween thing here but Tay's tool old for that now.

Just curious....did you buy the category 1 3PH drawbar?

TSC sells a smaller category 0 too that will work on are D's....but it's twice as expensive as the bigger one. :notworthy:

[whfan74 2,015]

Yeah we had a great time! A little sweat and a couple of scraped up knuckles and I was good to go.

I did buy the Cat 0 hitch, the problem wasn't the width but rather the fingers that extend through the holes on the 3 pt. arms was too thick. And you are right......it was more expensive than the other ones. So back to the drawing board. Either grind this one down or find the correct size that will work for me.

[Suburban 550 28]

Scott, glad to see everyone had a great time. I know what it is to have one of those days where nothin' seems to go right. :thumbs:

[stevasaurus 22,273]

Scott...been there...done that. That is why I am sitting here with a pulled out shoulder, and then a week later, I cracked a couple of rib.

someone once said..."i'm not afraid of dying...I'm afraid I may have to go through this again." :thumbs:

[whfan74 2,015]

Thanks a ton Ray!

Steve....what in the heck is going on with you? I hope everything is ok???? It sounds like you have hit a rough spell. Take care of yourself........get some rest. That sure sounds painful!

[can whlvr 991]

good thing the spindle broke before the ride and not in the middle

[whfan74 2,015]

Don,

You are absolutely correct on that one. I had a full load and it sure wouldn't have been pretty in the middle of the pull. I can honestly say it could have been much worse and I am glad that it wasn't.